More than 100 families stranded by border fencing at Meghalaya

During a debate on the governor’s address at the assembly session of Meghalaya, a lawmaker claimed that fencing on the Indo-Bangla border had led to the displacement of more than a hundred families. National People’s Party (NPP) official Rakkam A Sangma, legislator of Rongara-Siju constituency in South Garo Hills, said the displaced families are now living outside the international border and they do not need passports or visas to go to Bangladesh. According to Sangma, the displaced families do not receive support from the Indian side when it comes to health, electricity and other amenities. The border gates are often closed by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). “Though the fencing should have been installed 150 yards from the border, in some areas it has crossed 200-300 metres and even up to half a kilometre from the zero line,” the legislator alleged. Sangma demanded that the fencing be brought to the zero line and the matter be taken up with the Government of India.