M'LAYA CLAIMS 2 ASSAM VILLAGES
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Asom Sattra Mahasabha (ASM) has stepped in to rescue two Rabha villages, two xatras and six naamghars in Gauhati West LAC along the Assam-Meghalaya boundary in the Kamrup (M) district. The Rabhas residing at Longsai and Mateikhar villages had embraced the Sankariya Vaishnavism long back, set up Mateikhar Matiphuta Xatra, Longsai Nituwajapa Xatra and six naamghars. They practice the Sankariya Vaishnavism. However, now Meghalaya claims these two villages. And this has worried the ASM and the Rabha residents. The ASM has urged the State Government not to cede these two Rabha villages to Meghalaya.
Talking to The Sentinel, ASM general secretary Kusum Kumar Mahanta said, "The State Government did not pay any attention to border area development in the past few decades. And that led the neighbouring states to claim Assam land. The Rabhas residing in these two villages are sons of the soil. Despite being Rabhas, they had embraced Vaishvism and set up two xatras and six naamghars. The State Government and many-time Gauhati West MLA Ramendra Narayan Kalita ignored the issue over the years.
"The fate of these two xatras and six naamghars will be uncertain if they go to Meghalaya during the settlement of border disputes. Since Christianity is the popular religion in Meghalaya, the possibilities of survival of the xatras and naamghars are remote. We urge Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the regional committees of Assam not to cede these two Rabha villages to Meghalaya."
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