Harvesting to resume in M’laya-Assam border after pact

The harvest of paddy at the disputed Lapangap village between Assam and Meghalaya is slated to begin on Wednesday under tight security, following negotiations between leaders of both the neighbouring states, an official said on Tuesday.
On October 9, a 45-year-old Karbi man died after a scuffle between villagers over harvesting of paddy, with both sides claiming that the land was theirs.
District Magistrate Abhinav Kumar Singh had then imposed a night curfew from 6 pm up to 10 am and further clamped total curfew on October 16 and 17 along the entire Assam-Meghalaya border areas within West Jaintia Hills district to pre-empt any law-and-order situation. With the situation improving, authorities from Meghalaya and Assam brokered a peace agreement between Pnar villagers of Lapangap and Karbi villagers of Tahpat on Monday.
During the meeting held at the Assam Border Outpost (BOP) in Khanduli, a decision was reached to harvest the standing crop mostly sown by Pnar villagers from Meghalaya.
The meeting was attended by the Additional Deputy Commissioner and Border Magistrate of West Jaiñtia Hills district, G.H. Passah, Deputy Commissioner S.P. Sarma, and the Superintendent of Police R. Barua from West Karbi Anglong district, besides prominent headmen and associations from both districts. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma also spoke with Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) Tuliram Ronghang to ensure that the harvesting of crops could go ahead.
“The matter pertaining to harvesting of rice has been resolved and the harvesting of paddy will begin from Wednesday along the Lapangap-Tahpat villages,” Jagpal Singh Dhanoa, the district police of West Jaintia Hills, said on Tuesday.
Dhanoa said the district administration of both states aren’t taking any chances and there would be full security cover for the villagers to ensure that the harvesting would be completed without any untoward incidents.
“As a matter of caution police presence will be there to provide security and to prohibit any outsider influencing the recently acquired state of peace and tranquillity,” Dhanoa said.
Meanwhile, district authorities from both the states have urged all stakeholders to maintain peace and ensure that the agreement is respected.