P.A. Sangma, MP, said here on Sunday that Meghalaya should be bifurcated only if all major communities agree to it.
Mr. Sangma, who advocated the need to have a grand federation of the Northeast tribes to accord recognition to all tribes in the region, said: “During my election campaign, I had made it clear that any bifurcation of the State has to be mutually agreed on by major communities — the Khasi and the Jaintia on one hand and the Garos on the other.”
Asked if the creation of a separate Garoland would solve most of the problems in the militancy-hit Garo Hills, he said: “We don’t know. No solution is a complete solution in any issue... but am saying there are sections of people among Khasis and Jaintias who are articulating we should have a separate Khasi-Jaintia State.”
“Similar sentiments have been articulated by a section of the Garos ... We cannot ignore those sentiments but it has to be mutual.”
Stating that the Northeast did not have its own concept of statehood, he said: “We are forcing people to live together. We have to realise the reality.”
