By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 3: The Langpih sector, one of the regions subject to border dispute, is clamouring for speedy settlement of differences.
Informing this, HSPDP president KP Pangniang on Sunday emphasised that talks between the two regional border committees from Meghalaya and Assam tasked with ironing out issues in Langpih sector of West Khasi Hills should start at the earliest.
“We had anticipated that the talks between the two regional committees to resolve the boundary dispute in Langpih sector would immediately start,” Pangniang said.
According to him, the local villagers want the state government to resolve the dispute concerning Langpih sector once and for all.
He also pointed out that the delay could have a bad impact.
“I would not be able to speak on the other sectors. But as a local resident of Langpih, I would want that the boundary talks commence,” Pangniang said.
The HSPDP president said that the party will be writing to the state government to impress that the boundary talks to resolve the long pending interstate boundary should resume.
It may be mentioned that there are over 200 villages under Langpih sector — 54 of them are subject to dispute.
While the majority of these disputed villages want to remain with Meghalaya, at least seven have expressed their willingness to be with Assam.
Chairman of the Regional Committee for West Khasi Hills, Paul Lyngdoh had said that Meghalaya has prepared a very substantive report on various claims made by the state in regard with the Langpih sector.
“We have now documented them properly and we expect that in the spirit of reconciliation and accommodation, the meeting will take us closer to the final resolution of the boundary problems that we have had in the Langpih sector for the past several decades,” Lyngdoh had said.
According to Lyngdoh, there are various parameters for deciding the status of Langpih sector which include ethnicity, contiguity, willingness of the people, and history of the area.
As far as settling the boundary dispute in Langpih sector is concerned, the minister had said that the two regional committees would primarily try to resolve matters relating to big clusters of villages where majority of the residents are Khasis. He had also stated that there are a few villages which are dominated by non-Khasis and non-Garos.