Events & Issues
New Delhi, 12 August 2021
North-East Region
PAST & PRESENT
CLASH
By Dr.S.Saraswathi
(Former Director,
ICSSR, New Delhi)
Both Assam and Meghalaya governments appear
absolutely tired of the violent clashes going on between them over the issue of
their borders and are now getting ready to seek a peaceful solution. As the
first and immediate step, the two Chief Ministers have decided to start with six
of the 12 “less complicated” areas of disputebetween them along the long borderand
shelve “more complicated” ones forthe present as they are faced with multiple issues
of different magnitude.They have agreed to constitute three regional committees
to get the views of local people andframetheir recommendations. Assam seems to
bewilling to approach the Supreme Court for an amicable solution to the
dispute.
The committees consisting of five members
each will be headed by a Cabinet minister and will include bureaucrats and
local representatives. They will be visiting the areas under dispute and submit
their reportwithin a month.
The two CMs are reported to have said that
they will focus on “historical facts, ethnicity, administrative
convenience, willingness and sense of people’s sentiments andcontiguity of the
land which falls under the areas of difference”. The idea seems to be broad and well
intentioned, but the “focus” is wide and includes disconnected points like past
history and present administration and speaks of sentiments as well as reality
of location of land.
Official border line between Assam and
Mizoram drawn after reorganisation of Assam and what people of the area believe
and claim as their territorydo not coincide leading to encroachments and cross
border migrations. Added to this are strong ethnic identity and economic
struggles for land and forest resources, which promoted search for livelihood
while commercial ventures of “outsiders” deprived them of what they consider as
their own resources. Infiltration of illegal migrants from neighbouring nations
is a common problem faced in different proportions in all the States in the
region worsening the situation.
After a violent incident in 2018, Mizo youth
and some civil service organisations requested the Union Government to
constitute a boundary commission to demarcate the boundary, but no decision was
taken by the government.Frequent flare-ups were occurring along Assam-Mizoram
border since June, starting with complaints of encroachments into the forest
area of Assam by people from Mizoram.
On 26 July, exchange of firing between the
police forces of the two States left six Assam policemen and one civilian dead
and 60 injured. It led to retaliation by Assam with economic blockade. The
blockade created such a serious situation that Mizoram Government had to advise
its people to curtail their domestic consumption and avoid hoarding. It was
reported that even vehicles carrying Covid-19 testing kits and other life
saving drugs could not reach Mizoram.
Both States blamed each other for the
incident. Local people of Barak in Assam imposed a blockade disallowing trucks
with essential goods from entering Mizoram despite the agreement between the
two States to withdraw their police from disputed area and leaving it to be
manned by central paramilitary forces.
The sentiment of the local people was very
strong and after prolonged discussions for many days, the economic blockade was
lifted on 7 August after locals were assured of justice for police firing by
Mizoram. The two States also agreed to allow neutral forces deployed by the
Union Government to take control of the disputed areas for maintaining peace and
not to send their police and forest forces for patrolling.
The border disputebetween the two States has
a history of over 150 years entangled in many complicated problems. In the
colonial era, it has undergone official boundary demarcations at least twice in
1875 and 1933. Mizoram had accepted only the first of these which fixed the
“inner Line” boundary of Lushai Hills on the southern border of Cachar District
of Assam. A joint memorandum by some political parties and NGOs to the Prime Minister
in 2018 pointed out that the second demarcation was done without consulting the
people of the area and excluded some Lushai inhabited areas from Mizoram and
ignored its historical rights to use undemarcated areas and was unacceptable.
The Assam Forest Regulation adopted in 1877
under which extensive tracks of Lushai Hills came under Inner Line Reserve areawas
cited as a glaring example of expansionist policy of Assam.Despite long
standing grievances, the States did not witness violent clashes as in recent
days.They signed an agreement in1980s to maintain the status quo at no man’s
land set up in the border line.
The States Reorganisation Commission created
only one state of Assam in 1956 in the North-East Region, which included in
Assam present Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, andTripura.
Manipur was centrally-administered. The Commission, which adoptedlanguage as
the basis for creating States, kept Assam multi-lingual with numerous languages
and dialects.
Very soon trouble started with demands for splitting
up Assam and creating separate States for major ethnic groups. Assam consequently
became a permanent party against which the demands and disputes for separate
States were made. Nagaland was created in 1965. Mizoram in 1972, Meghalaya, Manipur
and Tripura in 1974, and Arunachal Pradesh in 1992. This has not put an end to
reorganisation. Border disputes are inevitable in the region. Assam’s disputes
with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are in the Supreme Court. Dispute between
Assam and Meghalaya relates to boundary of erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia
Hill District.
Vast forest areas, hills, and rivers make the
task of clear demarcation of boundaries between States difficult in the
North-East Region. Mizoram shares borders with Assam, Manipur and Tripura, and
alsowith Bangladesh and Myanmar thus having international border running to over
700 km. In 1972, it was made a Union Territory and was constituted as a State
in 1986. The border line between Assam and Mizoram runs to about 160 km known
as Lushai Hills. Second least populated State in India, it has its unique
ethnic characteristics. Over 90% of its area are covered with forests
attracting contractors and businessmen.It is a highly literate State.
Boundary and territorial disputes within a
nation are mostly caused by conflicting claims over land, rivers, forests, and
other mineral resources. History, geography, ethnic origin, and culture
including religion and language are used to make administrative divisions
called states, provinces, cantons, etc, in most countries.
North-East Region has been facing similar
problems in all the States. Historical factors, people’s sentiments, strong
community feelings overtake economic and developmental requirements. Wherever they
are ignored or downplayed, there at some point agitations flare up to question
the changes.
To be frank, narrow attachments and lack of
unity in the units of the union of States are the cause for inter-State
disputes all over India.
The clash is between the “past” and the
present”. Past cannot always be the basis for present arrangements and for resolving
current problems. That is, history cannot always decide contemporary issues. It
is only a reference to what happened in the past. People do not want to march
backwards to their roots, but want to grow with the times.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
|