Mizoram government stakes claim over villages without Mizo population

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Mizoram government has staked claim over some villages along the Assam-Mizoram border. Interestingly, these villages are not inhabited by Mizo people.

A few months ago, the Mizoram government submitted to the Assam Government a list of villages along the Assam-Mizoram border, over which Mizoram has made territorial claims. These villages fall under the Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts of Assam. Mizoram handed over the list of villages as per the decision taken during a meeting held between the governments of both states on November 17, 2022, to resolve the border dispute amicably.

The Border Protection and Development Department, Government of Assam, asked the district administrations of Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi to visit the villages and verify the claims. The district administrations of these districts submitted their reports to the State Government recently. According to the reports, none of the villages over which Mizoram has made territorial claims are inhabited by Mizo people. Based on this report, it will have to be seen how the Assam Government proceeds with the talks on the border issue with the Mizoram government. According to sources, the Mizoram government has staked claims over 66 villages along the Assam-Mizoram border.

During the meeting held between the governments of both states on November 17, 2022, the Assam side was led by Border Protection and Development Minister Atul Bora, while the Mizoram side was led by Home Minister Lalchamliana. In the meeting, it was decided that the Mizoram government would furnish the list of villages, their areas, geospatial extent, ethnicity of the people, and other relevant information within three months to support their claim on the villages. The claim will be examined by setting up Regional Committees from both sides to arrive at an amicable resolution of the vexed border issue.

Sources said that talks between Assam and Mizoram began soon after the Lailapur incident of 2021, in which six Assam Police personnel were killed in an exchange of fire between the police forces of both states at Lailapur in the Cachar district. Sources further said that the Assam Government will not stake claim to any village; it will only verify the claims of Mizoram. Assam and Mizoram share a boundary of 164.6 km (Survey of India).

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