SHILLONG, Aug 21: Just hours after the chief ministers of Meghalaya and Assam held talks in Dispur to set the ball rolling for resolution of the problems in the remaining six areas of differences on the interstate border, the Opposition Trinamool Congress (TMC) said it was inappropriate on the part of the NPP-led MDA Government to sit for the second phase of talks when the first phase of the interstate border agreement had created a lot of mess that was yet to be cleared.
Asserting that it would not accept any resolution in the remaining six areas until the dispute in the first six areas was resolved, the TMC said it is gearing up for an attack on the government in the upcoming Assembly session and would not rest until a fresh approach is initiated for the first six areas of difference.
“How can we accept the second phase when the state government has messed up in the first phase itself by giving away 50% of the land claimed by Meghalaya to Assam,” TMC legislator George B Lyngdoh said on Sunday.
He continued: “We stand on the ground that we have to re-sign the MoU for the first six areas and we cannot accept the second round till the anomalies of the first round is resolved through a fresh approach.”
On the ongoing survey to demarcate the border, Lyngdoh said, “This only shows to what extent the government can go in order to play to the gallery and show they have resolved the border issue by disregarding the cry of the people living in the border areas.”
“Assam has won the first round and the second round also seems to be headed in that direction. Allowing Survey of India to go ahead with the demarcation of the border is another instance of the government ignoring the ground realities.”
Recalling that in the last Assembly session the opposition had exposed the fiasco called the border agreement by submitting hard facts and figures in the House, the Umroi MLA said, “This time we will again raise our voices as we cannot remain mute spectators to this ‘sell-out’. We will ensure that the government scraps the border MoU.”
Asked if they will move the central government over the issue, he said, “We have already taken the issue to the corridors of power in Parliament and will continue to do so.”
