After two days of tension at the bordering areas of Assam and Meghalaya where the local communities from both sides clashed over land, a high-level meeting was convened on Thursday to quell the recurrent clashes.
The classes have, of late, been predominantly along Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district inhabited mostly by the Karbi tribe and Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills inhabited mostly by the Pnar tribe (Jaintia) due to the complex nature of land ownership in addition to the State boundaries as some of the lands belonging to the Pnars falls on the Assam side and vice-versa.
A deputy commissioner (DC)-level meeting was held between officials from Meghalaya and Assam on Thursday (September 28) to quell tensions at Lapangap village along the interstate border in West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya and West Karbi Anglong district of Assam.
The DC-level meeting was held between Meghalaya and Assam follows tensions that erupted between Pnars and Karbis residing in the area after a border skirmish.
The Meghalaya team was led by West Jaiñtia Hills DC BS Sohliya and SP C Syrti.
On the other hand, the Assam delegation was led by West Karbi Anglong DC Krishna Baruah and SP I Barua.
In the meeting, the Karbis demanded uprooting of tree saplings at Loom
Moopyrdet and Loom Pdeinphniar.
They said that Pnars be allowed to proceed with the harvest of rice from the paddies at Lapangap and Nongjrong only after their demand is met.
Meanwhile, the Assam police assured escort services to ensure the safety of the Pnars during the rice harvesting process in Lapangap and Nongjrong.
It may be mentioned here that an inter-state border skirmish between people belonging to Pnar and Karbi communities in Meghalaya and Assam took place on September 26 and 27.
During the border skirmish the Karbis allegedly resorted to using bows and arrows, while the Pnars retaliated with slingshots.
Police personnel from Assam and Meghalaya had rushed to the site of the clash to bring the situation under control.