Though harvesting is crucial for our people, lives are paramount to us: Conrad K Sangma, Chief Minister
Shillong, Oct 15: The state government has made an appeal to the villagers of clash-hit Lapangap along Meghalaya-Assam border to suspend harvesting activities to avoid further escalation of the ongoing tension.
“Though the harvesting is, of course, very important for the farmers and the public there, but safety and security are our utmost concern. Even though we would be able to provide sufficient manpower, but this kind of incidents are not completely under our control,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told reporters on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister’s comment came a day after a joint action committee (JAC) representing several organisations met him and sought deployment of security forces at Lapangap to enable the villagers to harvest their crops.
However, the chief minister apprehended worsening of the situation, saying, “We would not want any kind of unfortunate incident to happen out there, which would only escalate the overall tension in that area.”
Calling for patience and suspension of harvesting activities as of now, he said, “To avoid any kind of unfortunate situation, we have urged the villagers that we must restrain (from harvesting activities) at this point in time, we must be patient.”
The situation in Lapangap in West Jaintia Hills has been tense since the recent death of a Karbi villager from Assam during a clash between Karbi and Pnar communities over harvesting of crops by the latter.
Stating that the incident took both Meghalaya and Assam police by surprise, Sangma said, “There was a lot of positive dialogues going on between the different stakeholders and we had expected that we will be able to peacefully move forward, but unfortunately this unfortunate incident took place.”
He also informed that the incident took place completely away from where the people had gathered, further adding, “So, we are still trying to understand under what circumstances this happened, but while that is happening, this may not be a good time to instigate things any further.”
The chief minister assured that the government is working at different levels to try and find a solution.
“We would appeal that we should restrain and allow peace to come in. We are engaging with different stakeholders to see if we can find a way to resolve this issue and work on it,” he said.
“Till then it will be advisable that we should not go ahead with any activity that could lead to any kind of further tension in that particular area,” he added.
Referring to the JAC’s appeal to allow the villagers to harvest, he said, “Only if we get positive response (from Assam)… let’s try to get over this phase and at least allow the people to harvest, only when we have a mutual agreement, will be able to move forward.
“Till then though the harvesting is very crucial for our people, but, as I said, lives and safety and security are of paramount importance to us.”
