HYC peeved with CM

SHILLONG, NOV 26: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma came under severe criticism for taking keen interest in promoting Amur Falcon festival rather than resolving the age-old inter-state border dispute with Assam.

“We condemned the attitude of the chief minister for showing great interest in promoting the festival but failed to inspect the Madan Umwang, a village affected by Assam police atrocity recently,” HYC Raid Nongtung president Hercules Suting told reporters on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Sangma had inaugurated the Amur Faclon Festival, the first of its kind in the state, held at Sailyndong Playground at Tyrso village under Mawhati constituency in Ri Bhoi district.

However, the visit by the chief minister also came after the Assam police, who allegedly came in 7-8 trucks, had dismantled an Eri-Farming building constructed by the sericulture department of the Meghalaya government at Madan Umwang, which is only 20 km away from Tyrso.

“This shows that the chief minister is more concern about the birds than the lives and welfare of the people residing in the inter-state border,” Suting said.

Adding to this, HYC Tyrso unit president Davidstar Keringki said, “We are very concerned about the attitude of the state government especially the chief minister, who is giving top priority to tourism but ignoring real issues that are affecting the residents of the state.”

Lambasting the state government for being soft-hearted towards the alleged acts committed by its counterpart Assam, Suting said, “We want to question the government that if its developmental activities are being dismantled and obstructed by Assam government, how come Meghalaya is keeping silent and has not reacted against the developmental works by Assam in the disputed areas.”

The HYC has also demanded the state government come out with a clear cut statement whether these areas are falls under the jurisdiction of Meghalaya or Assam.

“If these villages are falling under Meghalaya, then we demand the government to immediately construct proper boundary to ensure atrocities by the Assam government is put to an end,” Davidstar said.-By Our Reporter