Shillong, July 31: Right ahead of the scheduled visit of Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya to Khanduli, a disputed village on Assam – Meghalaya border in West Jaintia Hills district, a major crisis was averted on Monday by alert district officials in the area.
A delegation of Jaiñtia Students Movement (JSM) had gone to Khanduli on Monday with the intention of dismantling the Entry Tax Gate set up by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) in the village.
However, they were stopped from doing so by West Jaiñtia Hills district officials and police personnel present in the village. Although this led to a heated exchange of words between the pressure group members and the district officials, ultimate the pressure members backed down.
They were told by the Assistant District Magistrate that Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya will be visiting the disputed village and discuss about the gate and also about the Border Dispute on August 3, 2023.
President of the JSM, West Jaiñtia Hills Region, said the presence of the Entry Tax gate has been an obstruction for the villagers of the adjoining villages of Khanduli and that they will wait for the outcome of the CM-level visit. But insisted they will not rest until the gate is removed from the village, which has been an obstacle to the villagers of the area.
Khanduli has been a major flashpoint for regular clashes between the Jaintia (pnar) people and the Karbi people living in the area as both Assam and Meghalaya claim ownership of the village.
The gate in question, which was put up in April 2023 by KAAC, has led to several clashes between the two communities living in the area. In April this year, the local Jaintia people residing in the area had forcefully removed the signboard put up by the KAAC in their territory in the presence of district administrators and police of both West Jaintia Hills District and West Karbi Anglong District. Later that month, the Dorbar Shnong of Khanduli organised a rally against the setting up of a tax gate by KAAC in the village.
In May, this year, the two communities clashed again, this time with fists and stones and setting ablaze few huts, when Dorbar Shnong of Khanduli decided to restrict Karbi people from passing through the village. This was after a group of Karbi residents threatened the villagers from going to their paddy fields.
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