The A’chik Holistic Awakening Movement (AHAM) has petitioned President Ram Nath Kovind for a referendum on the border deal signed between Meghalaya and Assam.
AHAM sent the petition through Governor Satya Pal Malik.
The pressure group wants the people of Meghalaya to have a final say on the agreement, which was formally signed by the two states’ chief ministers in March.
Boundaries between what is now Meghalaya and Assam go back to agreements signed a century or more ago in the case of Garo Hills and 70 years ago in Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills, it said.
There was a lack of consultation with local people in the Garo-dominated villages of Malchapara and Salbari in West Khasi Hills, AHAM said. This is denied by the Meghalaya government, which maintains that locals were consulted before the regional committees submitted their reports to the state government.
Letting the people decide on the matter through a referendum would be truly democratic and allow the governments at the state and central levels to understand just which state they would like to be a part of.
