The Hynñiewtrep Youth Council while welcoming the second phase of talks to resolve the boundary dispute in the remaining six areas of differences said that the boundary settlement and demarcation of border should be done with the consent of all concerned especially Himas and the District Councils.
In a statement issued today, the HYC said that during the first phase of boundary settlement, the five agreed principles of historical facts, ethnicity, geographical contiguity, administrative convenience and willingness of the people were not followed by the two governments while arriving at a decision.
“Too much importance was given upon the ‘will of the people’ residing in the affected areas who in fact are only the tenants and settlers and who are not even owners of the land of the Khasi Himas. Even the agreed principle of ‘historical fact’ and ‘documents’ were not even considered during the whole process,” the HYC said.
“What is most disturbing and amusing is the fact that even though regional committees were formed with an objective of providing a report to the government to come up with a solution, it is found that the recommendations of the West Khasi Hills Regional Committee were not accepted at all by the chief minister of our State. All decisions were taken in contravention of the regional committee’s recommendation,” it added.
Further, the HYC said that even before proceeding ahead with signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the State government did not even consult the important stakeholders like the Himas, Dorbar Shnongs and the District Councils.
“This has hurt the sentiments of the majority of stakeholders in this matter and this action of the government even led to the affected Dorbar Himas to approach the Supreme Court of India to seek justice and remedies,” it said.
The HYC also said that failure to take all the stakeholders on board before signing any documents during the second phase of border talks will not be tolerated.
Urging Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and the Meghalaya government not to be dictated by what Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma or the Assam government is putting on the table, the HYC urged Sangma to rather take a firm stand in order to ensure that all the villages inhabited by the Khasi-Pnar and territories falling under the Himas are brought back to Meghalaya so that this boundary settlement is acceptable to all.
