Congress leader and Mylliem MLA Ronnie V Lyngdoh has said that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma should prove his state’s claim to the village of Mukroh, which Meghalaya firmly holds is in West Jaintia Hills.
“What he (Sarma) has claimed, he should prove it with facts because claiming and proving are two different things,” Lyngdoh told Highland Post recently. “Anyone can come and claim my house as well but, at the end of the day, it is the facts and documents that matter. Let Sarma claim that the whole of Meghalaya is his but let him prove it with facts.”
He maintained that Mukroh village is not even a disputed area since, in the recent state election, the constituents there voted as part of Meghalaya.
Sarma’s recent statement has been condemned in various quarters in Meghalaya.
Mukroh was the site of a massacre in November last year when Assam police crossed the border and shot dead five villagers and one of their own forest guards after a confrontation.
The village has never been disputed between the two states and does not fall within the stated 12 areas of difference that have been discussed in border negotiations.
