Meghalaya and Assam will move beyond simply repeating the need to maintain the status quo when it comes to the disputed border between the two states.
This was decided at today’s Chief Ministerial meeting between Conrad K Sangma of Meghalaya and Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam. The meeting was held at the Secretariat here, with the next round scheduled for August 6 in Guwahati.
“We have reached a common understanding that now we need to move beyond the status quo,” Sangma told the press after the meeting. “Earlier, whenever both the Chief Ministers of Meghalaya and Assam met, there used to be a joint statement that both states agreed to maintain the status quo. This time we are not going to maintain that. What we are going to say to the people of Meghalaya and Assam is that we are firm and we are committed to resolving the dispute.”
Meghalaya has identified 12 areas of difference and claimed them based on historical facts and other relevant data.
However, Sangma opined that depending totally on history and documentation of the past may not be the best approach.
“We are going to look at the factual data but we also need to look at what other ways can be found to move forward and enable us to find a practical solution to the entire problem,” he said.
Sarma said that Assam also placed its documents to prove that these same 12 places belong to Assam and the claims made by Meghalaya are not justified.
“In view of the contradictory stand, it is important to resolve this dispute in a spirit of give and take,” Sarma said. “We have decided that all these 12 sites will be discussed one by one and relevant merits and demerits of claims and counter claims will be discussed.”
In areas where the dispute is easier to sort out, progress can be made at a faster pace but the visiting CM cautioned that it might not be possible to solve the entire impasse in one go.
At some stage of the negotiations, the central government will have to be brought in, he added, saying, “Under our Constitution, states’ boundaries can be changed only by the Parliament of India.”
The dispute, which has been running since Meghalaya was created in 1972, has left the people on the border suffering the most. While largely free of violence, there have also been some unfortunate incidents that have led to death and the destruction of property.
As it has been stewing for decades, a solution will not be found in a matter of days, Sangma stated. “This will require consultation. It will require a lot of homework. It will require us to also meet people at the grassroots level and we also need to look at the current situation at the specific locations also,” the Meghalaya Chief Minister said.
