Jaintia groups warn against imminent threat to state over B’desh turmoil

Shillong, Aug 8: The Jaintia Students Movement (JSM) and Jaintia National Council (JNC) on Thursday has raised concerns about the state turning into a 1971 refugee camp-like situation given the current turmoil in Bangladesh.
Submitting a memorandum to the Deputy Chief Minister in-charge Home Prestone Tynsong, the pressure groups said that they had convened an urgent meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Bangladesh due to its proximity with Meghalaya.
The pressure groups urged the government to direct the district administration in ensuring that the borders are well guarded at all times, to prevent infiltration of Bangladeshis. The meeting warned against Meghalaya turning into a refugee camp like in the 1971 war.
The joint statement also demanded the state government to set up a temporary police camp with the deployment of sufficient armed police personnel and central security forces to ensure that there are no unwanted incidents with the local indigenous people.
“The state government should direct the district administration for setting up a 24×7 helpline so that the people can report any information of infiltration of any incident in the international border areas,” they said.