Mob of 400 destroys ‘illegal’ plantation at Tahpat, sets fire to huts
Shillong/Guwahati, June 25: The government’s effort to resolve the age-old boundary dispute with Assam took a massive blow on Wednesday as tension broke out along Meghalaya-Assam border following a massive mob from Meghalaya uprooted saplings from a plantation by Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) of Assam.
The mob also allegedly set fire to labourers’ huts and destroyed equipment, including generators and utensils.
The drastic action by around 400 people from Lapangap and adjoining villages in West Jaintia Hills along with members NGOs was allegedly in protest against KAAC’s move to encroach into Meghalaya’s territory by carrying out the plantation at Tahpat village.
Following the incident around 11 am on Wednesday, police forces have been deployed and the situation has been brought under the control, said West Jaintia Hills deputy commissioner Abhinav Kumar Singh.
He said the KAAC authorities from West Karbi Anglong had carried out the plantation without prior notice even to district administration and police of Assam side.
The recent KAAC plantation on a 2-3 bigha land had already created tension with the district administration going to hold a peace meeting on Wednesday to resolve the issue.
It was around a week ago that West Jaintia Hills district authorities got information about the plantation in the disputed region where any government-sponsored activities had to be reported to the district authorities concerned on both sides as a standard protocol.
“Once we received the information, we tried to restrain our people for not going to the site as the peace meeting was supposed to happen,” the DC said.
The peace meeting was scheduled at 9 am at Tahpat, which is allegedly claimed by Assam, according to the DC.
While nobody from Tahpat turned up at the meeting, people from Lapangap village went to the site for “peace negotiation”.
Adequate police forces were deployed along with three border magistrates for effective coordination with Assam side, the DC said.
He said a peace meeting will be held on Thursday between both villages to arrive at an amicable solution.
“Meetings have been held at DC and SP level, and now we want the peace meeting to happen at village level so that both headmen and their councils can sit together and come to a solution,” he said.
Both the states had earlier agreed to maintain status quo till a solution is arrived at and no activities from both sides should happen, he said.
Meanwhile, the DC said he could not confirm if the area of plantation falls under Meghalaya since it is a disputed region.
“Lapangap technically is part of Meghalaya, but the plantation side, there is a hill top which has been a contested one,” he said.
Meanwhile the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) have extended support to Lapangap dorbar shnong it its action against the alleged encroachment from Assam.
A KSU leader said till the government resolves the boundary dispute in the region, the organisation would “do the needful” to defend Meghalaya’s territory and its people.
JSU general secretary Neilkee Mukhim pointed out the violation of status quo by KAAC by carrying out the plantation.
He reminded that Lapangap village carried out a plantation in 2023 but had to stop following an agreement between the two states.
Guwahati correspondent adds: One local resident, Ondro Terang (25) of Tahpat village sustained injuries during the confrontation.
“The situation is under control as the police acted promptly,” said West Karbi Anglong district commissioner Saranga Pani Sarma.
While the Karbi community asserts the disputed land lies within Assam, the Khasi-Pnar group maintains it is part of Lapangap village in Meghalaya.
This area is one of six major flashpoints between Assam and Meghalaya, where border disputes remain unresolved.
Although both states had planned a joint visit to the West Karbi Anglong–West Jaintia Hills sector in September last year, the visit was abruptly cancelled.
No follow-up visit has taken place, despite recent border talks held in Guwahati between Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on May 30.
The latest clash recalls the deadly violence of November 22, 2022, in Mukroh, where five people, including an Assam home guard, were killed.
