HT Bureau
SHILLONG, Aug 25: The NPP-led Meghalaya government is all set to seek transferring of Block I and Block II back to Meghalaya during the second round of border talks with Assam, for resolving the remaining areas of difference.
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Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said that Block I and Block II are not areas of difference.
According to him, there are only 10 areas of difference shared between Meghalaya and Assam since Block I and Block II were transferred to Karbi Anglong through a notification.
“Now it is a question of transferring them (Block I and Block II) back to Meghalaya,” Tynsong said.
As per notification of April 13, 1951, Block I and Block II, which are mostly inhabited by the Khasi-Jaintia tribe, were transferred to Assam.
Expressing hope that the second phase of border talks will bring a positive result, Tynsong said, “The same guidelines, the same spirit and the same formulae will be applied in the second phase that we will take into consideration the willingness of the people.”
“We will go with the same criteria that we adopted in the first phase. There will be consultation, ground inspections as we will have to visit the areas of difference and take into consideration the will of the people,” he added.
On August 21, Meghalaya and Assam started the second phase of border talks by deciding to form 3 regional committees within 15 days, for finding an amicable solution to end the boundary dispute in the remaining six areas of difference.
The meeting held between the Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma – had also decided to include the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) in the regional committee.
When asked, Tynsong informed that the regional committees once constituted will be entrusted to involve the two autonomous district councils – KHADC and JHADC – for discussion and for production of necessary documents.
“Apart from the ADCs, the regional committees will also take all stakeholders including headmen, himas, dollois – on board for solution of this issue which has been pending for the past 50 years,” he added.
Tynsong said it is also the wish of the state government to resolve the boundary dispute before the upcoming 2023 assembly elections in the state. “However, it will depend on the situation as in the first phase, it took us many months (to come to a decision),” he added.
On the recent protest and demand of NGOs for bring back the three villages – Mallang Hahuapara (formerly Okgipu Chiring), Mallang Joypur and Mallang Salbari, which belongs to the Nongbak Aking and the Hima Nonglang, the deputy chief minister said the report submitted by the Meghalaya government in 2011 is a legal document and these three villages were not there in the list of 2011.
“All these three villages which were left out (have) blamed the MDA government as they thought we handed over all the three villages to Assam but as I said based on documentation submitted by Meghalaya in 2011 these 3 villages were not there in the list.
When it was not there in the list means they are already in Assam,” he said while asserting “But despite that, we also have equal concerns like our NGO friends. Therefore, we are still working out on this particular issue and I am sure we will be able to come out successfully.”
