Shillong: The Voice of the People Party (VPP) after the signing of the boundary agreement between Meghalaya and Assam said it was early to celebrate as the agreement could be historic or could turn out to be a disaster.

In a statement, the VPP said it is too early to celebrate the signing of the boundary agreement between Meghalaya and Assam. 

The VPP added, “At this stage, it is very difficult to say whether this agreement is historic or indeed a disaster. Though we would like to give this government the benefit of the doubt, however the rush to reach an agreement without being transparent, only fuels speculations.”

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The newly formed party stated that there are many pertinent questions that need to be asked. “Why is the government not willing to place the details of the arrangement in the public domain. Secondly, whether the stakeholders have been informed about the entire process before finalising the agreement?”, the added.

NPP further added, “There is also an effort on the part of the present dispensation to convey to the people of the State, that after fifty years of Statehood it has finally managed to settle this boundary problem. However, if we go by what the media reports it is a different story altogether.”

“People are also made to believe, that the Meghalaya does not have a boundary ever since the State was carved out of the State of Assam. And the present agreement between the two states i.e., Meghalaya and Assam were made possible due to the consideration and efforts of the NDA government at the centre”, the statement added.

The statement also said that the fact remains that no state can become a unit of the Indian federation without a proper boundary. “The territory for the autonomous State of Meghalaya was defined by the Assam re-organisation act 1969 and the boundary of the fullfledged State of Meghalaya has been defined by the Northeast reorganisation act 1971. Therefore, the narrative created by both the State and the Central government that Meghalaya does not have a proper boundary is misleading and baseless”, the statement added.

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Moreover, while on one hand, we are witnessing a dialogue on the border issue between the two States, on the other hand, there is a continuous and unrelenting encroachment by the State of Assam into the territories of Meghalaya. It is also quite interesting to notice that the President of the HSPDP who claims to be a follower of the (L) HS Lyngdoh who never accepted the term “disputed land” in his argument, went on record to claim that 12 disputed areas were not even parts of Meghalaya. 

“Even pressure groups who once hailed this government, are now questioning and expressing their apprehensions, on the manner in which the present pact was signed between the two States”, the statement read.

The VPP strongly urged the Government to issue a white paper on the present arrangement and the agreement reached between the two States.