The Coordination Committee on International Border (CCIB) today reiterated that it is not opposed to the fence along the international border with Bangladesh per se but rather against its location.
According to a treaty signed between India and Bangladesh, any border fence cannot be on the border itself but 150 yards further inside.
This has been opposed by individual residents and pressure groups alike, who say that this puts Meghalaya farmers at risk of losing access to their farmland on the wrong side of the fence and at risk of losing their produce.
The CCIB wants this 150 yards rule revoked and the fence set up on the actual border, or ‘Zero Line’.
Today, CCIB chairman Sukkynjai Myrchiang said that government officials came to Rongkong village, in Amlarem sub-division, on December 3 to start fencing work despite opposition from locals.
Two days later, pressure groups visited the village to tell the government officials to halt the construction. However, the officials shot back that permission had been obtained by paying compensation to the landowner, one Wanshalan Dhar, Myrchiang said.
This came as something of a shock to the CCIB, which comprises pressure groups and landowners in the border areas. The committee accused the government of using force to carry out the construction work and also claimed that Dhar has betrayed the group.
