JH MLA wants Block I villages back in M’laya

SHILLONG, Dec 15: Amid uncertainty over the resumption of the second phase of talks to settle the interstate border dispute, Mowkaiaw MLA Nujorki Sungoh has stressed the need to return 36 villages in Block 1 area to Meghalaya.
“We are yet to call a meeting on the Block 1 issue and nothing can be said much. I have been raising the issue time and again in the Assembly. There are 36 villages in the Block 1 area inhabited by the Pnar people,” he said.
He said that the situation in these areas has been peaceful although not incident-free and a permanent settlement is the only way out of the problem.
Pointing out that Assam claims the area with 36 villages to be theirs, Sungoh said, “I want all the villages to be returned to Meghalaya.”
Referring to the firing incident by Assam forest guards in November 2022 which killed several villagers, he said the land is still being identified for the construction of a police border outpost.
In March 2022, the governments of Assam and Meghalaya signed an agreement to resolve their 50-year-old border dispute in six of the 12 locations, which Union Home Minister Amit Shah described as a “historic day” for the Northeast.
The two states agreed to address the border dispute in phases.
Out of the 12 points of contention, the six areas with relatively fewer differences were taken up in the first phase. Both governments resolved the disputes in Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Ratacherra, and Hahim.
In the second phase, both sides are working to resolve differences in Langpih, Borduar, Deshdoomreah, Block I-II, Psiar-Khanduli, and Nongwah-Mawtamur (Garbhanga).