Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today said that the move to displace members of the Garo community residing in forest areas in neighbouring Bangladesh needs to be taken up diplomatically.
“As per news reports, the Bangladesh government through its Forest Department claims that the forest area of Modhupur is government land and has the intention to create an eco-park. At the same time, the Garo indigenous people of Modhupur residing in the same forest land maintain that the place is their ancestral land which has been passed on through the generations,” Sangma said in reply to a zero-hour notice by opposition Congress legislator Process Sawkmie.
“The tribals residing in the forest have been protesting for well over two weeks ever since the Bangladesh government began exerting pressure on them to vacate their land,” the CM said.
The Garoland State Movement Committee (GSMC) in solidarity with the indigenous Garo people of Modhupur has demanded the revocation of the eviction notice.
“This matter needs to be taken up diplomatically with Bangladesh, through the government of India. Since the said developments are taking place in a neighbouring country, which is beyond our (Meghalaya’s) jurisdiction, we can only keep a close watch on the situation and ensure there are no disturbances in the Garo Hills region due to the said issue,” the Chief Minister emphasised.
