Shillong, Nov 22: Condemning the police firing incident which killed five persons at Mukroh in West Jaintia Hills District, the North East Students’ Organization (NESO) on Tuesday urged all state governments in the North East region to be committed in solving the long pending boundary dispute among them.
In a statement, NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said the NESO is deeply perturbed by the incident along the Meghalaya – Assam border in West Jaiñtia Hills District of Meghalaya and West Karbi Anglong District of Assam which is condemnable in which 6 (5 from Meghalaya and one from Assam) precious lives were lost and many injured as a result of police firing and the ensuing violence. He said NESO is sending its condolences to all the bereaved families who met with this sudden and tragic loss.
He said the clashes that erupted on the border of these two states sent shockwaves throughout the entire region as news from ground zero kept spreading like wildfire.
Stating that the fragile situation along the Assam-Meghalaya border is a reminder of how vulnerable security of border residents can be when such conflicts arise, Jyrwa said past incidents along the borders of Assam-Mizoram, Assam-Nagaland and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh also illustrates the pain and sufferings of the border residents.
He said many lives were lost from the Meghalaya side during 2010 in the border clashes between Meghalaya and Assam and even with the Meghalaya and Assam Government engaging in their border talks, the situation is still not conducive along the Meghalaya – Assam border.
“It is understandable that border disputes vary and differs from area to area, however, NESO once again strongly urge upon all State Governments to be committed to solve this long pending problem once and for all and if necessary, the Central Government should be a party in these dialogues and NESO on its part will continue to encourage peoples to peoples contact and peoples to peoples relationship along the border areas,” the NESO chairman asserted.
Meanwhile, the NESO also called upon all the indigenous peoples that this issue is not an ethnic issue but of border dispute in which the respective State Governments are duty bound to solve.
“If a solution is arrived at whereby borders will be properly demarcated with an unanimous settlement, then peace will usher between different states and the people residing along the borders can live without fear and in harmony amongst themselves,” it said.
