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Border deal 'sell-out' to Assam: Mukul - The Shillong Times

SHILLONG, June 5: Leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma, slammed the state government's handling of the border dispute with Assam, accusing it of "weaponising lies" to manufacture a perception around a disputed 2012 report. He said this report is being used as a reference point for the interstate border negotiations. "Their modus operandi has been to script lies and weaponise them for benefits," he said, rejecting the border resolution as a complete sell-out to Assam. There has been growing scrutiny over the omission of key areas such as Malang Salbari, Ratacherra, and Pilangkata from the joint survey currently underway as part of the March 2022 agreement between Meghalaya and Assam. The two states agreed to resolve their decades-old border dispute in a phased manner, beginning with six "less-disputed" locations. While 80-90% of the survey in these areas is reportedly complete, Sangma argued that unresolved complications, particularly those tied to the 2012 documentation, continue to cast a long shadow over the entire exercise. On Wednesday, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma admitted that Malang Salbari was not included in the 2012 report submitted to the Assam government by the then Meghalaya administration, a technicality now preventing its consideration in the boundary survey. Mukul Sangma, however, dismissed this justification outright. "Let us be clear in this area of difference. We talked about the overall claim reinforced by substantiating documents, which included the notification from the British, pre-Independence era. These documents and notifications, which are centuries old, substantiate our ownership over those villages, which were considered an integral part of governance under our traditional institutions," he said. He further invoked the provisions of the North Eastern Reorganisation Act, stating, "It says all the areas falling under the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District and the areas under GHADC, in the context of Assam and Meghalaya border, apply. The areas falling under the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council were subsumed, along with GHADC areas and the Cantonment Board, to create Meghalaya. So, where is the confusion?" According to Mukul Sangma, the government is selectively ignoring historical documentation to surrender areas not even listed under "areas of difference. "The confusion is when you don't show the document of the notifications, which is what we have done. You cannot go beyond documentation or create new documentation. The notifications include the villages under Hima Mylliem, Hima Nongkhlaw, and different Sirdarships. These are strong documents. I asked them to put it on the table." He took exception to the treatment of villages like Malangkona, saying, "If Malangkona was with Meghalaya before, then it is with Meghalaya, there is no difference. Malangkona was never a part of areas of difference, so how has its name come up?" Raising deeper concerns, he alleged that the state government was deliberately redrawing boundaries to hand over territory. "While you go beyond the area of difference because you want to give away the villages to Assam, this is the modus operandi and scripted strategy. That is why I said this is something which won't be accepted. If it was acceptable, why till now has it not been resolved? They have talked big, but it is nothing but a sell-out to Assam."

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