NONGPOH, Aug 7: The Assam Police on Saturday stopped members of the KSU from staging a protest on a disputed stretch of the Assam-Meghalaya border.
The KSU members had planned to stage their protest at Ummat village in response to a demonstration by the Karbi Students’ Association (KSA) of Assam at Sabuda village against alleged intrusion by Meghalaya. But the KSU team was stopped at Jatalong village, a few kilometres from Ummat.
According to the Assam Police, the KSU protest would have created law and order problems in the area and undermined the ongoing border talks between the chief ministers of the two states.
A heated argument ensued between the leaders of the pressure groups and the Assam Police personnel at Jatalong. Some Meghalaya Police personnel reached the spot within a few minutes and requested their Assam counterparts to let the members of KSU and Ri-Bhoi Youth Federation to visit Ummat.
The Assam Police relented and let a few members of the pressure groups visit Ummat.
At Ummat, the KSU and RBYF leaders visited the cemetery of 12 clans belonging to the Nongtung Ummat, known as ‘Mawbah Khad Ar Kur, Nongtung Ummat’, which they claimed was steeped in history and belonged to the Raid Nongtung of Meghalaya.
Speaking to media persons at Jatalong, the leaders condemned the action of the KSA and warned against any harassment to the Khasi people living in the border areas. The pressure groups also said the Meghalaya government should understand that Raid Nongtung is not a disputed area and does not fall under Block II. “There are 18 villages in Raid Nongtung, and we don’t want our villages to go to Assam,” a KSU leader said, warning of consequences if the KSA meddled in matters related to Meghalaya.
