The state governments of Assam and Meghalaya have come to an amicable solution of settling the decades-old inter-state border disputes by equally sharing a stretch of 36.79 sq km.
Besides, the Assam government has considered handing over 18.28 sq km to Meghalaya.
The Asom Satra Mahasabha, the umbrella organization for Satras or Vaishnavite monasteries in Assam, has claimed that the Matesar Satra and Netuazapa Satra, which include 20 other namghars or prayer houses, would go to Meghalaya.
Besides, there is a village named Jimirigaon located just around one and a half km from Meghalaya where development has been playing hide and seek for a long time.
EastMojo spoke to Sorjya Rabha and Durgeswar Rabha, residents of the village, and also to the satradikhars of the Satras located at Longsai to understand if they wanted to go to Meghalaya or be a part of Assam.
Durgeswar Rabha, a resident of Jimirigaon, when asked where he wanted to stay said, “Be it a piece of land or half a bigha, here in Assam if it is registered (myadi patta) no one can ever snatch the land from us. But the case is different in Meghalaya, as it runs in a rush line and we need to obey their orders.”
“Having Meghalaya land is like a paan shop, which can be carried from one place to another as per their wish, which we can never adhere to. Therefore, we will stay only in Assam as we have complete rights to our land here. We have been living here for three generations now and won’t ever go to Meghalaya,” he said.
