Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today continued to try and pin the blame for negative aspects of the border deal he signed with Assam on his predecessor Dr Mukul Sangma while still claiming credit for pushing the deal through.
This somewhat paradoxical stand has been taken ever since massive opposition from citizens, pressure groups, opposition parties and even coalition allies emerged.
Locals in several villages along the disputed border are furious that the government has agreed to include their property under Assam’s jurisdiction as part of the agreement signed by the two CMs.
According to Conrad, it was under Dr Sangma that Meghalaya failed to claim these border villages during negotiations in 2011.
“They (the opposition) said we have cheated the people and left out the Garo villages in West Khasi Hills but the people should know that the list of villages and areas of difference that were put for discussion and debate was not prepared by the MDA government but were prepared by Dr Mukul Sangma,” Conrad said today. “It was Mukul Sangma who left out the villages in 2011 and never mentioned those villages in the list prepared by his government. Mukul Sangma who is trying to take political advantage of the situation at present should have visited the villages in 2011 and never left them out.”
went on to praise his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma for being generous in the negotiation process, saying that he was willing to part with villages that were de facto under Assam but whose people wished to be with Meghalaya. However, the villages that now, to their chagrin, find themselves under Assam according to the new deal were never claimed by Dr Sangma’s government in 2011.
Facing pressure from all sides, the CM also took a dig at the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, which yesterday said that it will move court to oppose the agreement. The KHADC claimed that it had not been consulted before the deal was signed.
This Conrad denied, saying that those in the KHADC who oppose the agreement now are guilty of double standards as they were “very much” part of the discussions before the accord was agreed to but are now trying to make political capital by opposing it.
He also stated that posterity will judge his government favourably for signing the agreement.
