Minister expresses hope to resolve remaining six areas of difference

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaAugust 16, 2022

Cabinet minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar on Tuesday said that people of Langpih and other villages have every right to express their desire as to which state they want to belong to.

Speaking to reporters, Tongkhar said “They should not be denied. The fact that the people’s will is one of the guiding principles…if 100 percent of villages want to be in Meghalaya, they deserve to be in Meghalaya.”

On June 23,  a joint memorandum submitted by the headmen and secretaries of 39 villages including Langpih to the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong expressed their desire to be in Meghalaya.

He also expressed hope that the ‘will of the people’ will continue to be one of the guiding principles for resolving the remaining six areas of difference shared between Meghalaya and Assam.

According to him, peace cannot be expected to prevail if the two states do not listen to the people residing along the inter-state border.

Meanwhile, Tongkhar informed that he had requested the chief minister to initiate the second phase of border talks at the earliest.

“We hope that we will initiate positively and whether we are able to complete the talks, the exercise and to sign the MoU for the second phase that I can’t say as of now” he said.

Stating it was not an easy task to resolve the dispute, Tongkhar said, “We also know that whatever we do we cannot satisfy 100% of our own people. There will be complaints, allegations here and there as it is happening now even though if we have done the best we can, people are still complaining.”

“We know this problem will be there but as responsible leaders and as a responsible government, I think we should initiate and do whatever we can,” he said.