Assam-Mizoram boundary

Mizoram, which was carved out as a state from the erstwhile Lushai Hills district of Assam in 1972, shares about 165 km of inter-state boundary with the latter. But as has been happening with the other neighbouring states, the inter-state boundary between Assam and Mizoram has remained a major dispute which has not seen any sign of resolution in the past close to five decades now. While it was the bounden duty of the Government of India to have properly and minutely demarcated the inter-state boundaries when new states were carved out of the erstwhile large state of Assam, the Centre must now also take the blame of keeping the dispute alive for reasons best known to it. It is unfortunate that border disputes have often resulted in friction, sometimes dangerously violent, between Assam and the other states, with the ordinary citizen facing the brunt of it. Criminal elements, unscrupulous politicians, militant groups, corrupt officers, contractors – all kinds of people have been seen Mizoram, which was carved out as a state from the erstwhile Lushai Hills district of Assam in 1972, shares about 165 km of inter-state boundary with the latter. But as has been happening with the other neighbouring states, the inter-state boundary between Assam and Mizoram has remained a major dispute which has not seen any sign of resolution in thaking advantage of the unresolved inter-state boundary disputes and using the situation to their respective advantages.

Most inter-state boundary areas were once upon a time rich dense forests. But, over the decades, all the above elements have made the best use of the disputes and tension to indulge in massive illegal felling of trees. There is hardly any forest left along the inter-state boundaries, be it between Assam and Meghalaya, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland and Assam and Mizoram. Going by media reports of the last few days, one can easily surmise that the latest friction on the Assam-Mizoram boundary has also emanated from some issue related to a reserved forest on the border which both states claim to be theirs. It is common knowledge that unscrupulous elements from both sides have been illegally exploiting the reserved forest by way of felling valuable trees and encroaching upon it. Both states have been engaged in accusing each other of tree-felling and encroachment. Organizations in Mizoram have also alleged that the people from the Assam side encroaching upon and trespassing into the reserved forest (which according to them is inside the hill state's boundary) are illegal migrants of Bangladesh origin.

The demography of the Barak Valley districts, which has undergone significant changes in the past 50-60 years, definitely makes Mizos suspect that the encroachers and trouble-makers from the Assam side largely comprise such elements. It is important to note that similar allegations have been also repeatedly made by Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland every time there is some incident along the inter-state boundary of these states with Assam. While it is for the governments of the two states to settle the issue amicably, what needs to be immediately done is to lift the highway blockade some organisations of Barak Valley have imposed against the landlocked state of Mizoram. The government of Assam should come down with a heavy hand on groups that have blocked the inter-state highway, failing which Mizoram will be prompted to believe that the blockade has the blessings and patronage of Sarbananda Sonowal's BJP-led government in Dispur. Why should the common people in Mizoram – or for that matter in any state – suffer because of no fault of theirs? Blockades and bandhs have been anyway time and again declared illegal by the Supreme Court.

While the two state governments can carry on their discussions over the boundary issue, it is also the bounden duty of the Assam government to ensure that supply of essential commodities to Mizoram continue without any hindrance. Moreover, there have been media reports from Aizawl that the police in Silchar had not only failed to provide security and safe passage to a number of Mizoram vehicles, but had allegedly left the vehicles and drivers at the mercy of the elements who had imposed the blockade. If this allegation is true, then it reflects very poorly on the Assam Police and the Assam government. What is also despicable is that a section of the media has projected the Mizos as criminals simply on the basis of wild allegations levelled by certain organisations. Similar projections are also often made – again based on statements, press notes and allegations of politicians and some organisations – of Nagas whenever there is some incident along the Assam-Nagaland boundary. Such attitudes only contribute towards creating bad blood between the various indigenous communities of the North-eastern region, which ultimately gives advantage to the illegal migrants and those people who have roots in erstwhile East Bengal/Pakistan and present-day Bangladesh.