Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has failed to understand the will of the people and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution by agreeing to sign a deal that will cede Meghalaya’s claim to land to Assam without their consent, advocate Erwin Sutnga has told Highland Post.
The controversial deal signed between the CMs of Meghalaya and Assam will see around 18 sq km of disputed territory go to each state. This was then opposed from various quarters in Meghalaya, namely by residents, pressure groups, opposition and even governing parties. Of late, however, the furore over the deal, which once dominated the front pages, has died away.
Sangma has said that now that the deal has been signed it cannot be revisited. This despite it never being discussed or debated in the Assembly, as the government kept the details of the deal under wraps until after the agreement was signed.
“Any Chief Minister who doesn’t understand the will of the people and the historical rights that we have and our relationship between us and India, especially the position of the Sixth Schedule as the guarantor and protector of our rights, means that he is a CM who is deaf, blind and dumb to the needs of the people,” Sutnga said.
He added the areas being given away are part and parcel of the erstwhile Khasi states and cannot be simply given to Assam by Meghalaya.
JACBOM is planning on challenging the legality of the deal in the Supreme Court. A similar move is planned by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. Having two petitions will not create confusion, Sutnga said, as the apex court will probably club these cases together.
“There is no conflict because our stand is clear – the boundary of the Khasi states must be defined before coming to a final solution of the boundary of Meghalaya and Assam,” he said, adding that the injustice done relating to Blocks 1 and 2 in 1951, where land formerly belonging to Khasi states were hived off by the undivided Assam government, must be rectified.
