Meghalaya faces interstate, international border issues

While Assam is accused of bullying border residents, efforts are on to prevent a village on Bangladesh border from being fenced off

Meghalaya is faced with border issues on two fronts – interstate and international – ahead of the golden jubilee celebration of its statehood on January 21.

The State Congress unit has accused the Assam administration of bullying the border residents of Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district with the objective of staking claim over their land. “The illegal occupation of the land of our indigenous communities is beyond the purview of the police in Assam. The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council should immediately probe the alleged move to evict the residents of Meghalaya (from the border areas) and submit a report to the State government,” senior Congress leader Ampareen Lyngdoh told journalists in State capital Shillong on January 14.