The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has criticised the opposition Trinamool Congress for criticising the deal struck with Assam to resolve the border dispute in six areas.
The deal was signed in front of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The opposition Trinamool and the Congress have slammed the agreement, even as several civil society groups, border residents and traditional bodies have opposed aspects of the deal for giving away land that they want to be part of Meghalaya.
Trinamool MLA Zenith Sangma had alleged that the people living along the disputed border were not taken into confidence. This despite Chief Minister Conrad Sangma telling the Assembly that the people’s consent would be the guiding force for any agreement, along with other factors down the order.
Reacting to this, the CM said that there could not have been a more detailed consultation with all stakeholders than what the Meghalaya and Assam governments did in the last few months.
He stated that although it is not perfect, nor is it to everyone’s taste, the deal is the best solution that the government could get.
“I’ve maintained from day one that, while we discuss critical matters, we cannot change principles as per our needs and desires. Principle has to apply for both Assam and Meghalaya. We went with the principle of public opinion and public will and that is what helped us reach this spot,” Sangma stated, further claiming that a majority of stakeholders are happy.
“People of the state especially border areas have suffered for far too long and development has been affected, people’s lives were put in danger and we can’t go on like this, so we took a decision to find a solution and, with help of the MHA (Union Ministry of Home Affairs) and with the cooperation of the CM of Assam, we’ve been able to find a solution for the six areas and we are hopeful we will be able to move forward in the other six locations also,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that Zenith could have no idea about what the border committees did or did not do as he was not a part of them.
“Zenith Sangma was not part of the regional committee. I was the chairman of the committee and we involved all traditional heads and headmen. We made our visits and we collected all documents from them. Zenith Sangma doesn’t know anything. He is just going there (to the border areas) to create political mileage, which is wrong,” Tynsong said.
Although the two states have signed the deal, it still requires ratification by Parliament, which will only happen after a detailed survey, Conrad informed, to decide exactly where the border will run; as of right now the agreement only talks about rough areas.
“These are micro details and in this, the Survey of India will come in and we have been asked to coordinate with both the Assam government for joint surveys. Once completed, then we expect the Centre to put up a bill to re-draw the borders in Parliament and that will be a final stamp,” the CM said.
