On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Assam and Meghalaya to address the interstate border issue in six areas would encourage other governments in the region to find similar solutions.
He emphasized that “this will give encouragement to the entire region’s development objectives,” while applauding the initiatives of the region’s chief ministers.
Since the creation of Meghalaya from Assam in 1972, there has been a 50-year land conflict. Different interpretations of the demarcation of boundaries in the initial agreement for the foundation of the new state resulted in border disputes.
The Prime Minister said the incidence of violence in the Northeast has decreased by about 75% in the last eight years, paving the way for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from many areas of the region, while speaking at a ‘peace, unity, and development rally’ in Diphu, Karbi Anglong district.
AFSPA had long been in place in many northeastern states. “We have, however, removed the AFSPA from many areas of the Northeast in the last eight years due to the restoration of permanent peace, development, and creation of better law and order conditions,” Modi said.
“Last year, the Centre, the Assam administration, and six Karbi insurgent factions signed a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS), ushering in a new age of peace in the region. The Ministry of the Interior has brought the misdirected youth into the mainstream. “We used to hear bombs and gunshots in this neighborhood (Karbi Anglong), but now all we hear is applause and happiness,” the Prime Minister stated.
