Shillong, April 19: Stating that there was no collective decision by the Dr. Mukul Sangma – led MUA govt in 2011 on the boundary issue and that the former chief minister never shared details about the 12 areas of difference, incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Monday asked the Dr. Sangma, the present Leader of Opposition (LO), to stop playing “political games” over the boundary issue.
“He (Mukul) prepared all the details and sent them to Assam. He was the one who did it. Though I was part of the government that time but he never shared what are the areas of difference,” Tynsong told reporters on Monday.
“When Mukul Sangma was the chief minister, the state government had identified that there are only 12 areas of difference and accordingly, the list of 12 areas of difference was submitted to Assam in 2011,” he added.
Reacting to the allegation made by Dr. Sangma that the National People’s Party (NPP)-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government has become a “victim of manipulation” by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Assam for resolving the dispute in 6 of the 12 areas of difference, the Dy CM said, “I think the LO should be responsible by giving the right statement and not create confusion among the citizens of the state. I would urge him to please join with the government. Whatever decision taken or MoU signed I think you need to appreciate, don’t just try to play political games on this issue which is the life and death of the generation to come.”
Stating that the MDA government is sticking to the list submitted in 2011, Tynsong said, “And now we have reached to a stage where it is only a question of time that the Government of India through the Survey of India they will come finalized the exact boundaries of Meghalaya and Assam on the ground very soon.”
The deputy chief minister also cited the case of Maikholi and asked whether Mukul Sangma had done anything about the graveyard there.
“Can he do it? It is this government who did it. Same way with West Khasi Hills, that time I already told you that few places were under the possession of Assam and he never even mentioned the areas of difference. When he has never mentioned the areas of difference he himself declared that these areas fall under Assam so why should he blame us,” he said while asking the Leader of Opposition to come clean on this.
Meanwhile, Tynsong further appealed to all political parties to refrain from politicizing the boundary issue as well as the issue of Them Iew Mawlong.
“People may have different opinions but I am afraid that there may be ‘jealousy’ as within a span of one year, we (MDA) are able to reach up to this level. I am afraid if people are thinking about politics. (Therefore), with regards to the border issue and the Them-metor issue, I urged all the political parties to refrain from politicizing these issues,” he said.
“The NPP-led MDA government is not doing any politics on these issues. We are thinking about the generation to come. Do not say that we are taking a hasty decision as for the past 50 years nobody has dared to resolve it,” he said.
He also reiterated that the question of revisiting the MoU does not arise. Tynsong said, “We have to move forward as we are doing it for the generation to come. Otherwise we will continue to lose our land to Assam.”
