Meghalaya chief minister to meet PM over Assam police firing
By IANSTuesday, May 18, 2010
SHILLONG - Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Tuesday said he would seek an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to discuss the “indiscriminate” firing by Assam police that left four people dead.
“I will be leaving for New Delhi tomorrow (Wednesday) and would seek an appointment with the prime minister and home minister to brief them about the firing incident at Langpih, besides seeking central intervention to resolve the vexed border dispute with Assam,” he said after visiting Langpih village.
Langpih, some 140 km from the Meghalaya capital Shillong, hit the headlines again when four tribal Khasi people were killed and several injured in firing triggered by Assam Police personnel May 14.
Sangma, who led an all-party delegation to Langpih Tuesday morning, said he would urge the prime minister and home minister for a time-bound independent inquiry by independent agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation into the firing incident.
“I will be meeting the chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi once he returns from his foreign trip as the issue (border dispute) deserves discussion at the highest level,” he added.
“Meaningful discussions in this regard are urgently required between Meghalaya and Assam with the involvement of the centre,” Sangma emphasised.
Earlier, a boundary committee headed by the chief secretaries of both states had been formed to resolve the issue.
The chief minister said he would write to the Assam government to find out what action it has taken against the ‘erring’ Assam Police personnel involved in the firing.
Normal life came to a standstill in Meghalaya Tuesday following a dawn-to-dusk shutdown enforced by six NGOs to protest the killing of four people in Langpih.
The Khasi-Jaintia dominated areas in the eastern part of Meghalaya have been paralysed following the shutdown.
National Highways No.40 and 44, the lifelines for the landlocked Mizoram, Tripura and parts of Manipur and southern Assam, were also affected by the shutdown.
