Non-tribals residing in disputed areas shouldn’t be allowed to take decision on border issue: HYC
"We want to make our stand clear that the border dispute with Assam should be based on the maps, land documents and boundaries of the Hima Khasi and not just by making people to raise their hands," said HYC general secretary Roykupar Synrem.
SHILLONG:
The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on November 24 said that the non-tribals residing at Langpih and in other locations falling under the 12 areas of difference between Meghalaya and Assam should not have a say in the border dispute issue since they are just “illegal settlers in the areas of the Hima Khasi”.
The HYC general secretary Roykupar Synrem, in a statement released today, also urged the state’s traditional institutions – the Hima, raids and the villagers of the Hima Khasi – “not to allow non-tribals to take decisions on our land”.
"We want to make our stand clear that the border dispute with Assam should be based on the maps, land documents and boundaries of the Hima Khasi and not just by making people to raise their hands," said Synrem.
Synrem further asked the Assam government not to turn a blind eye to the historical facts and urged it not to consider the opinions of the illegal settlers while trying to bring a lasting solution to the decades-old issue.
“These illegal settlers can leave the Khasi villages if they don't want to stay in Meghalaya," he added. The HYC leader also maintained that the council will never accept the raising of hands by such illegal settlers to forcefully allow the lands of the Hima Khasi to be taken by Assam.
"We strongly condemn the raising of hands policy without taking historical facts relating to the Hima Khasi into consideration," he said, asserting that the spirit of the IOA&AA and the paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule should form the basis while attempting to resolve the age-old boundary dispute between the two states.
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