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Our Correspondent
Diphu, Dec. 1 (EMN): The All Party Hills Leaders Conference (APHLC) said that the Khasis living in Mukroh are not illegal settlers as they too belong to the Sixth Scheduled tribe.
During a press conference held at the residence of APHLC president Jones Ingti Kathar in Diphu on Thursday, Kathar said the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), Tuliram Ronghang during his visit to Mukroh on Nov. 29, where a clash broke out on November 22, had said that not an inch of the land of Karbi Anglong can be given to ‘illegal settlers.’
In Mukroh, the settlers are only Khasis and Karbis and they are not illegal settlers, but scheduled tribes as per the Sixth Schedule provision.
‘The statement of CEM has created a serious misunderstanding among the Khasi people. If the Khasis in Mukhroh are illegal settlers then the Karbis in Ribhoi areas are also illegal settlers. The statement of Ronghang is igniting hatred between Khasis and Karbis,’ Kathar said.
Kathar further said that the CEM should know that during the days of Thong Nokbe, the Khasis and Karbis took an oath at Khang Khatwi that no Karbi or Khasi would instigate or cause conflict between them. Every year on Feb. 6 and the 7th, a programme is held in memory of the agreement.
The APHLC asserted that the Karbis and Khasis are not ‘illegal settlers’ in the sixth scheduled areas in Meghalaya and in Karbi Anglong.
‘The question of having a patta or no patta and whether it is reserved forest land or not is a different question,’ it added.