Slur on Mukroh residents irks CM

SHILLONG, Dec 2: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday expressed displeasure over Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang’s remarks that the Khasi-Pnar inhabitants of Mukroh are “illegal settlers”.
“These kinds of statements should not have been made. We do not appreciate these statements at this point of time when we are having challenges. These statements don’t help the situation at all,” Sangma told reporters.
He said he had taken up the matter with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma and the latter felt Ronghang should not have made the statement.
“These statements should not be looked at as a standoff…,” Sangma said, adding they are made at an individual level.
He said the discussions on the boundary dispute should be held at the Chief Minister-level and at the Home Minister-level.
“The stand of the two Chief Ministers is the official stand of the two governments,” he added.
Trinamool Congress legislator Dr Mukul Sangma had on Thursday asked the state government to register a criminal case against Ronghang for allegedly trying to incite violence.
Ronghang had claimed that the Khasi-Pnar villagers living at the Mukroh village in West Jaintia Hills district bordering Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district are “illegal settlers”.
“It is an incitement; it is instigation to people who are empowered with the so-called authority, that is what is emboldening their law-enforcement agencies. So, a case must be registered by the Meghalaya government for inciting this kind of lawlessness,” Mukul had said.
He alleged Ronghang was trying to add fuel to the fire following the gunning down of six persons, including five Pnar villagers and one Assam forest guard, at Mukroh on November 22.
Several organisations in Meghalaya have condemned Ronghang’s statement and asked him to apologise.