Former cop seeks border policy

SHILLONG, Dec 12: Former Meghalaya police officer and BJP leader Mariahom Kharkrang stressed the need for a border policy to deal with confrontation along the boundary between two states.
Such a policy would guide the police and local authorities on how to react in a given situation, he said on Monday.
Kharkrang, who hopes to contest the North Shillong seat, told journalists that a border policy would prescribe the actions the state, police and administrative officials have to take during critical situations.
He said this in reference to the November 22 incident at Mukroh in which six people, including five Meghalaya villagers, were killed in firing by the Assam police and forest personnel.
According to Kharkrang, men stationed along the border should be made well aware of their roles and actual boundary. He felt posting people without any idea about the border would be a total waste of manpower.
He said a battalion camp set up soon after the Langpih incident prevented the recurrence of violence there and any issues began to be resolved locally.
“We do not seem to have learnt from the mistakes till now,” said Kharkrang, who was the SP of West Khasi Hills when the Langpih incident happened.
Pointing out that a lot of discussions on the border dispute do take place at a higher level, he demanded the setting up of battalions camps in all the disputed areas. The Meghalaya government needs to be more proactive and ensure people at the ground level are sensitive about high-level discussions, he said.
Kharkrang said a border dispute between two states should not have claimed the lives of innocent people. A delegation of BJP from the state would meet Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and convey to him the need to resolve the matter at the earliest, he added.
He also stated that a one-time grant of Rs 5 lakh will not help the family members of the Mukroh victims. The government should support them with jobs, he said.