Senior BJP leader AL Heck on Tuesday criticized the Meghalaya and Assam governments for “piecemeal” signing the border agreement amid protests from all sections. Assam and Meghalaya today signed an agreement to resolve their five-decade-old border dispute at six of the 12 places, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah calling it a “historic day” for the Northeast. The agreement was signed in the presence of Shah. and Assam and Meghalaya Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma and Konrad Sangma respectively.
Heck said, “My concern from the very beginning is that when you want to resolve a border dispute, you must resolve it for the benefit of the entire disputed area, for the benefit of the people living in the border areas, and also for the benefit of the state, Heck said.
Commenting on the protests in several villages like Malchapara, he said, “I cannot say what will happen in future. My concern is that if it is to be resolved, it must be resolved forever.”
“Before taking any decision, they should take the consent of the people living in the border areas. The first consent has to be taken from the key stakeholders who are the residents living in the border areas.”
The senior BJP leader also questioned the government about the need to take due concern of the people as it has caused ruckus in many villages across the border. “I cannot say what is the understanding between the governments of Meghalaya and Assam, but I say people should be taken into confidence,” he said.
This agreement will resolve the long dispute between the two states at six of the 12 places along the border of 884.9 km. “With the signing of the agreement, 70 per cent of the border dispute between the two states has been resolved and it is expected that a solution will be found for the remaining six places soon,” Shah said.
Assam shares a border of 2743 km with Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and West Bengal. It is locked in border disputes with Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. In July 2021, Assam’s Cachar district witnessed a fierce armed conflict between police personnel from Assam and Mizoram. Six Assam Police personnel were killed in an armed confrontation with their Mizoram counterparts, prompting the Center to intervene.
The purpose of Tuesday’s agreement between Assam and Meghalaya is to eliminate the possibility of any such violence in the border areas of the two states. There are 36 villages in six locations, covering an area of 36.79 km, in respect of which agreement has been reached. The two states had formed three committees each in August last year to go through the complex boundary question. The formation of the panel had followed two rounds of talks between Sarma and Sangma, where the neighboring states resolved to resolve the dispute in a phased manner.
As per the joint final recommendations made by the committees, out of the 36.79 sq km disputed area taken for settlement in the first phase, Assam will get full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km. Of the 12 points of contention between Assam and Meghalaya, six areas with relatively less significant differences were taken up in the first phase.
Meghalaya was carved out as a separate state from Assam in 1972, but the new state challenged the Assam Reorganization Act, 1971, leading to disputes over 12 border places.
(with inputs from PTI)
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