Nagaland: Deputy CM Affirms Commitment to Peaceful Resolution of Assam-Nagaland Border Dispute

KOHIMA: In a significant development, Nagaland Deputy chief minister Y Patton affirmed that the state government will continue to seek an amicable resolution to the inter-state boundary issue with Assam.

He also assured that the rights of the Naga people will be protected.

Patton made the statement in response to the concerns raised during the Zero Hour in the state assembly by TN Mannen regarding a statement made by Assam minister Atul Bora on February 8.

Y Patton currently holds the Border Affairs Department while TN Mannen is the advisor for Law and Justice and Land Revenue.

Mannen informed the House that the Assam minister had falsely accused Nagaland of encroaching on around 60,000 hectares of Assam’s land, highlighting the need to correct the record.

Patton said that the border dispute existed before Nagaland’s statehood and involved the return of forest and other areas that the British had taken from the Nagas when they controlled Assam in 1823.

He further stated that the Nagaland Assembly in 1964 had passed a resolution urging the Centre to appoint a boundary commission to demarcate the boundary between the two states.

Despite these agreements, no formal notification to delineate the boundary between Assam and Nagaland has been issued by the Centre.

He further mentioned that there have been interim agreements, the first dating back to 1972 and the most recent in 1985. These agreements have stipulated for withdrawal of all armed police posts within and near reserved forest areas, and a prohibition on setting up new posts.

He added that the agreements also mentioned that the Naga settlements that existed in the forest should remain undisturbed. Additionally, no new settlements were to be permitted along with a neutral force to be deployed instead of Assam Police in such areas.

The Assam-Nagaland boundary dispute saw a significant development on December 10, 1988, when Assam filed a suit in the Supreme Court against the Union of India, the Election Commission of India, and the Nagaland state government.

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