More than a year has passed since the Mukroh Massacre of five Meghalayan villagers by forces from Assam but the state’s farmers are still facing harassment and obstacles in accessing their farmland.
Mowkaiaw MLA Nujorki Sungoh, of the United Democratic Party (UDP), today urged the state government to remove all the check gates that Assam has set up in the Mukroh area. The legislator told the Assembly that the people of the area are being illegally taxed by Assam through these gates.
It was a dispute at a forest check gate situated a few kilometres from Mukroh that led to the massacre, when forest and police officials pursued villagers well into Meghalaya territory over alleged timber smuggling. A crowd of Meghalayan villagers then confronted the Assam officials, leading the latter to open fire. Along with the five villagers, one Assam forest guard also died in the November 2022 shooting.
Participating in a motion on the problem faced by the people in the disputed border area, Sungoh said the government is trying to bring development but illegal collection of money by Assam and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council is a problem faced by the residents of Mukroh.
Sungoh further said that the people of Mukroh are very poor and a lot needs to be done to improve infrastructure there. He also informed how the border village does not even have one secondary school, leading to dropouts as many parents cannot afford to send their children to other villages for education.
Although the families of the Mukroh Massacre victims were provided with compensation, Sungoh urged the government to do more. “The widows of those victims are the sole breadwinners of the family with four to five children to feed. I urge the Chief Minister to provide more assistance,” he said.
