Special Correspondent
SILCHAR: Barak Democratic Front (BDF) has questioned the Assam-Mizoram agreement of August 5 signed at the capital of hills state. It was a fifteen minute dialogue that aimed at drawing curtain on days of border imbroglio, the worst in series of skirmishes since the carving out of Mizoram from Assam as an independent state in 1987. The joint statement which was read out in the presence of mediapersons by Gyanendra Tripathi, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary, Border Protection and Development, spoke of easing out the tensions and finding out a lasting solutions.
At the loss of lives of 6 Assam police personnel, lip sympathy for them was expressed by the Mizoram government. "The agreement was nothing but cosmetic. The Assam government yielded to what the UHM dictated," pointed out Pradip Dutta Roy, Chief Convener of BDF.
Large tract of Assam land on three frontiers of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi continues to be under the occupation of Mizoram. Despite the presence of neutral forces, road construction goes on in Rengti hills under Hawaithang forest range of Cachar. National news channel NH 18 on Thursday showed the construction of a parallel road bridge on river Longai by PWD Mizoram.
Dutta Roy said the agreement is silent on how to recover the Assam land. Does it mean buying peace at the cost of our territory, asked the BDF Chief Convenor? It appears from the agreement as if the Ministers Atul Bora and Ashok Singhal accepted the stand of Aizawl on Assam land as a fait accompli. BDF is for peace and lasting solution to the border problem.
BDF strongly demands restoration of 1700 hectares of Assam land under Mizoram occupation in Cachar alone, demarcation of boundary between the two states with erection of fencing in the presence of UHM officials and its surveillance by drone at frequent intervals, identification of the persons responsible for killing of Assam police men for proper punishment and ensuring adequate security for the residents of interior villages along the boundary. Such measures and not statements can resolve the problem, BDF feels.
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