SHILLONG, May 28: The chairman of the Regional Committee for West Khasi Hills, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar on Saturday said Meghalaya gained 23 villages within the jurisdiction of his panel and lost two villages because of the will of the people to be in Assam.
This, he said, underlined the efficiency of the committee he headed.
Asked about the growing opposition to the border pact in West Khasi Hills, Tongkhar said many villages are part and parcel of Meghalaya but people are presuming they have been gifted to Assam.
“We have done our best by getting 23 out of 25 villages and we lost Malchapara and another village because the people there wanted to stay with Assam,” he said.
But the Meghalaya government still fought for them and suggested they should be in Meghalaya as the people there are Garos, he added. “During the joint inspection, the residents told the committee that they want to be in Assam,” he said.
A sense of betrayal has filled the hearts and minds of the Garo inhabitants of Malchapara and Salbari villages under Nonglang Sirdarship, Gizang in West Khasi Hills as they run from pillar to post to not end up with Assam.
The residents of these areas said they will continue to agitate until and unless the memorandum of understanding is revoked and they are made a part of Meghalaya. But the government has maintained that the residents themselves wanted to be part of Assam.
