The Khasi Students Union (KSU) and border residents staged a sit-in here on Wednesday against the recent murder of a Khasi resident at a village in Ri Bhoi district bordering Assam, and asked the Meghalaya government to come clear on whether it can provide protection to Khasis in areas all along the inter-state boundary.
The union will also move Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to seek his intervention in view of the frequent aggressive acts on the part of Assam in areas along the inter-state boundary.
“The current Meghalaya government should not shy away on this issue or make an excuse that it is a government only a few months old. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure security of people along the inter-state boundary, be it Langpih, Block-I, Block-II and other places,” KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar said, while addressing protesters at the venue of the demonstration near additional secretariat here.
“How many more lives of Khasi people have to be lost due to this inter-state boundary dispute with Assam?” Marngar asked, recalling the killing of Khasi villager Tyngshaiñ Mukhim at Khlieh Umwang village in Ri-Bhoi district bordering West Karbi Anglong district.
He also recalled the firing incident that claimed the lives of four Khasi villagers on
May 14, 2010 at Langpih in West Khasi Hills district, bordering Kamrup district, Assam.
Mukhim succumbed to injuries on September 12, after he was assaulted by one Romesh Thapa on September 9.
According to Marngar, if there is a shortage of police personnel who should be posted along the inter-state boundary, “the Meghalaya government should make its stand clear, as the public is ready to guard against any kind of aggressive acts” in areas along the inter-state boundary.
Marngar said they would no longer submit a memorandum on the contentious issue, but wait for the Meghalaya government to act.
“We feel ashamed to celebrate Statehood Day, and it is an irony that we did not have our own boundary since 1972 till date. The governments of Assam and Meghalaya should show a willingness to discuss and find solution to the problem and Meghalaya had already submitted documents on the areas of difference,” Marngar said.
He said the union would seek an appointment with the Assam chief minister to apprise him of the problems and to seek his intervention as Khasi people residing in areas along the in-state boundary face various problems and Assam should honour the “status quo”.
Chief of Raid Nongtung, Nomiwell Shadap, expressed his dismay over the “soft attitude” of Meghalaya as far as the boundary issue is concerned, and urged the people to stand united in pressuring the governments to find a solution.
“Villages under Raid Nongtung are not under Assam and we have documents to prove that,” Shadap said, praising late MLA Hoping Stone Lyngdoh who had opposed the creation of Meghalaya without aboundary.
KSU general secretary Donald V. Thabah said the union would first adopt peaceful means of protest, and the central executive committee would soon sit and discuss future course of action.
