A resident of Meghalaya has written an open letter to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma where he has expressed concern over the border disputes between Assam, Meghalaya and other northeastern states.
Joannes JTL Lamare, a resident of Nongkrem under East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, dashed off the letter to the Assam chief minister on July 28, 2021.
The Meghalaya resident has written the letter to the Assam CM expressing his view after the recent developments along the Assam-Mizoram border where six Assam Police personnel and a civilian died during skirmishes between Assam and Mizoram Police.
Lamare has raised several allegations against Assam, its police force and the state chief minister.
He also stated that he has written a letter to the Union Home Minister and the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister to find ways and means to resolve the pending border dispute between Assam and Meghalaya.
Here’s the open letter as it is:
“To,
Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma,
Chief Minister of Assam, Chief Minister Secretariat,
CM Block, 4th Floor, Janata Bhawan,
Dispur, Guwahati:781006, Assam. Dated:- 28th of July, 2021
Subject:- Expression of Dismay, Disapproval, Discontentment, Displeasure, Condemnation and Unacceptability over the inhumane and deplorable behaviours and actions of the Assam Police towards the Common People of Meghalaya and the other States of the North East.
Mr. Chief Minister,
I am writing this letter to you with great concern at the deplorable actions of Your State Police towards the common People of Meghalaya residing in the Inter-State Border Areas.
If I may mention here is that, after Indian Independence from British Rule in 1947, the Northeastern region of British India consisted of Assam and the princely states of Manipur and Tripura.
Subsequently, Nagaland in 1963, Meghalaya in 1972, Arunachal Pradesh in 1975 and Mizoram in 1987 were formed out of the large territory of Assam and Manipur and Tripura remained Union Territories of India from 1956 until 1972, when they attained fully-fledged statehood. Today the world knows that the States in the North Eastern Part of India are referred to as the “Seven Sisters”.
But sad to say and know that even though all these states are a part of the North Eastern Region of India, yet there are States that are being harassed by your state – Assam. Meghalaya is a state that shares its maximum borders with your Assam and the people of Meghalaya residing in the Border Areas are constantly being harassed by your police forces who from time to time keep encroaching, threatening and harassing them without any reason at all.
We have also seen instances where people of Meghalaya have even been killed by your state police like in Langpih. People residing in other border areas of Meghalaya are suffering because of the attitude of your police force which is unacceptable and inhumane.
Surprisingly, when you became the Chief Minister of Assam, inter-state border disputes with Meghalaya are on the rise in which your police force had the audacity to infiltrate, trespass and forcefully occupy territories that doesn’t belong to your state. Yet we have also seen your mudslinging statements blaming others for no fault of theirs.
You even had the nerve to say that other previous governments have done nothing to resolve border disputes when in reality you had been part and parcel of those previous governments be it Congress or BJP. This shows that you are immature and you are not even sure of what you are and what you have done.
It may be noted here that Assam is the only state in the North Eastern Region of India that has only one habit and that is to encroach and trespass in territories that is not even theirs be it Meghalaya, Mizoram or Nagaland.
I have never heard of any states in India trespassing in other states’ territories and harassing common people.
As a concerned citizen of Meghalaya, I am really fuming at the way the Assam Police force behaves with the people of Meghalaya residing in border areas. It is also not acceptable when these police force trespass into others’ territory and pick up fights with unarmed civilians. What are they trying to proof?
It is hard to digest that common unarmed civilians are being harmed, killed, harassed, intimidated and warned and recently Your State Police Force even had the audacity to pick up fights and heckling Public Representatives and NGO leaders and even causing injuries to some of them.
From time to time we have seen Assam misbehaving with other states and due to this reason I have written a letter to the Union Home Minister and the Home Ministry and also to the Prime Minister to find ways and means to resolve the pending issue which is the border disputes between Assam and Meghalaya and also I have sought information as to what had been done in the past to do away with this problem once and for all.
The people of Meghalaya are peace-loving, innocent and are haters of violence and thus keeping this in mind, we do not want enmity to grow, flourish and then explode like a dormant volcano. Therefore, the best way to find peace and mutual understanding is to respect and not provoke.
Keeping this in mind, I hope that you take things seriously and it is never good to be overexcited after becoming CM of Assam. Maintain your composure and Respect others just as how you want others to respect you. Let us brush aside egos and vanity. Let us be men of quality who does not fight over spilled milk.
Hoping that my words hammer your mind and will make you realize that violence is not the option and that ego can lead to larger escalation of violence which will bring nothing but more destruction.
Respect the sovereignty, privacy and rights of the other states that Assam loves to pick up fights – Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland or other states that may have faced similar situations.
Thanking you.
Best Wishes,
(Joannes J T L Lamare)
Address :- Kynton-U-Mon, Nongkrem,
Near Veterinary Dispensary,
East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya.
Email: [email protected]