Updated: October 20, 2020 11:42:15 am
The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram dates back to colonial times, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam. (Twitter / @ ZoramthangaCM)
Over the past week, residents of Assam and Mizoram have crashed twice for territory, injuring at least eight people and setting fire to some huts and small shops. It highlights long-standing interstate border problems in the northeast, particularly between Assam and the states that were carved out.
What were the recent clashes about?
On Saturday, residents of Lailapur village in Assam’s Cachar district clashed with residents of towns near Vairengte in Mizoram’s Kolasib district. On October 9, a similar confrontation took place on the border of Karimganj (Assam) and Mamit (Mizoram) districts.
On October 9, a farm hut and a betel nut plantation belonging to two Mizoram residents caught fire. On Saturday, some people from Lailapur started throwing stones at Mizoram police personnel and Mizoram residents. “In turn, Mizoram residents mobilized and went after them,” said Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthangliana.
What led to this?
According to an agreement between the governments of Assam and Mizoram some years ago, the status quo must be maintained in a no-man’s-land in the border area. However, the people of Lailapur broke the status quo and supposedly built some temporary huts. People from Mizoram’s side went and set them on fire, ”Lalthangliana said. On the other hand, Keerthi Jalli, the DC of Cachar, told The Indian Express that the disputed land belongs to Assam according to state records.
In the incident on October 9, according to Mizoram officials, the land claimed by Assam is being cultivated for a long time by the residents of Mizoram. Mamit’s DC, Lalrozama, has urged that the status quo be maintained. Anbamuthan MP Karimganj DC said that although the disputed land was historically farmed by residents of Mizoram, on paper it was within the Singla Forest Reserve which is under the jurisdiction of Karimganj. Anbamuthan told The Indian Express that the problem was being resolved.
Mizoram borders the Barak Valley of Assam; both border Bangladesh. Mizoram’s civil society groups blame “illegal Bangladeshis” (alleged immigrants from Bangladesh) on the side of Assam. “Illegal Bangladeshis are creating all these problems. They come and destroy our huts, cut down our plants and this time stone our policemen, ”said B Vanlaltana, president of the MZP (Mizo Zirlai Pawl) student union.
How complex is the boundary dispute?
In the complex boundary equations of the northeast, clashes between residents of Assam and Mizoram are less frequent than between, for example, residents of Assam and Nagaland. However, the boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram, 165 km long today, dates back to colonial times, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
The dispute arises from a notice from 1875 that differentiated the Lushai Hills from the Cachar Plains, and another from 1933 that delimits a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur.
A minister from Mizoram told The Indian Express that Mizoram believes the boundary should be demarcated based on the 1875 notice, which is derived from the Bengal East Border Regulation Act (BEFR) of 1873. The leaders Mizo have argued in the past against the demarcation notified in 1933 because the Mizo society was not consulted. MZP’s Vanlaltana said that the Assam government follows the 1933 demarcation, and that was the point of the conflict.
The last time the border saw violence was in February 2018. The MZP had built a wooden rest house in a forest, its stated purpose was to serve as a rest for farmers. Assam police and forest department officials demolished it saying it was on Assam territory. The MZP members clashed with Assam staff, who also beat up a group of Mizoram journalists who had come to cover the incident.
📣 Click to follow Express Explained on Telegram
Long-standing dispute
The boundary dispute between the two states has been dormant since the formation of Mizoram as a separate state in the 1980s. Under an agreement between the Assam and Mizoram governments some years ago, the status quo should be kept in a no-man’s-land in the border area. However, from time to time clashes have broken out over the issue.
What are the other boundary problems in the Northeast?
During the British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya in addition to Mizoram, which became a separate state one by one. Today, Assam has boundary problems with each of them.
Nagaland shares a 500 km boundary with Assam. According to a 2008 research article by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, violent clashes and armed conflicts, marked by assassinations, have occurred on the Assam-Nagaland border since 1965. In two major incidents of violence in 1979 and In 1985, at least 100 people died, The Indian Express previously reported. The boundary dispute is now in the Supreme Court.
At the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border (more than 800 km), clashes were first reported in 1992, according to the same research article. Since then, there have been several accusations of illegal invasion by both sides and intermittent clashes. This boundary issue is also being examined by the Supreme Court.
The 884 km Assam-Meghalaya boundary also witnesses frequent blowouts. According to statements by the Meghalaya government, today there are 12 areas of dispute between the two states. In February this year, the top ministers of the two states spoke to each other about the need to maintain the status quo and peace.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and keep up to date with the latest headlines
For the latest news explained, download the Indian Express app.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
