Mukul Sangma during the Run for Peace and Harmony marathon at Madan Iewrynghep in Shillong on Friday. Picture by UB Photos

Shillong, Oct. 31: Meghalaya today remembered India’s first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who gave the hill people statehood, and the country’s first deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who had visited Shillong on January 1, 1948 to discuss on the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement.

The country today commemorated the 30th death anniversary of the former Prime Minister, and the 139th birth anniversary of Patel. Both Indira Gandhi and the “Iron Man of India” had played their part in Meghalaya’s history.

It was on January 21, 1972 that Indira Gandhi set foot at Polo ground here to announce the birth of Meghalaya as a state. Thousands of people from all over the hill state had gathered to witness the historic day.

The country’s first woman Prime Minister had also visited Shillong in December 1966 to attend a huge public gathering when the demand for a separate state from the then composite state of Assam was at its peak.

Patel, on the other hand, had come to Shillong on January 1, 1948 to discuss the conditional treaty, Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement, which then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had wanted tailored in a manner that would suit the indigenous people of the Khasi states.

On August 17, 1948, the conditional treaty, which was entered into with the Khasi states, was accepted and signed by C. Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General of India. But the commitment of incorporating the agreement in the Constitution is yet to be fulfilled.

On October 13, 1947, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had written to Patel where he said, “These tribal people have given us a lot of trouble in the past and we have repeatedly given them many assurances. If there is a feeling in these areas that we are going back on what we have agreed, there is bound to be difficulty and trouble. I feel that the question is wholly different from any other applicable to states generally because of the tribal position.”

Nehru had shot off the letter after it came to his knowledge that the state department (the present Union ministry of home affairs) had turned down the agreement arrived at between Akbar Hydari, governor of Assam, and the Khasi states. He had suggested a new instrument of accession, in keeping with what most states had signed.

At Polo ground today, chief minister Mukul Sangma recollected the lives of the two leaders of the country whose death anniversary and birth anniversary were observed as Rashtriya Sankalp Diwas (National Re-dedication Day) and Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day), respectively.

Sangma led the gathering in taking a pledge to re-dedicate oneself to maintain the unity and integrity of the nation and not resort to violence, but resolve all differences and disputes through peaceful, constitutional means. He also exhorted the young participants to contribute to the cause of peace and harmony.

Earlier in the day, Sangma flagged off and joined the Run for Peace and Harmony from Fire Brigade to Polo Ground. It was organised as part of Rashtriya Sankalp Diwas and Rashtriya Ekta Diwas by the East Khasi Hills district administration in collaboration with sports and youth affairs department

Nearly 700 people, mostly students, participated in the run.

Among the participants was the chief minister himself, urban affairs minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, health minister A.L. Hek, parliamentary secretary Limison Sangma, East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner Sanjay Goyal and other district officials.

Apart from government-sponsored programmes, educational institutions like St Edmund’s College, Shillong observed Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.