After standoff and bloody clashes that injured eight people, the Assam and Mizoram seem to have decided to resolve the dispute and clear the blockade on the national highway 306.
The agitators from Assam blocked the national highway after the clashes were intensified between the residents of two states. Recent clashes between the people of Assam and Mizoram highlighted the longstanding border disputes between Assam and Mizoram.
The reason behind the recent clashes
A clash between the residents of Assam and Mizoram was reported on November 01, 2020. Before this, a similar incident of clash took place on the border of Karimganj ( Assam) and Mamit(Mizoram) on October 09, 2020, when a farm hut and a betel nut plantation belonging to two Mizoram people were burned down. After this incident, some people from Lailappur began pelting stones at the Mizoram people and Mizoram police personnel. “In turn, Mizoram residents mobilized and went after them,” Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthangliana said.
Who is responsible for the current clash?
The government of both of the states had agreed to maintain the status quo in no man’s land at the border. However, the status quo was broken by the people from Lailapur in Assam. They allegedly constructed some temporary huts. “The people from Mizoram went and burn those temporary establishments,’ Lalthangliana said.
However, people from Lailapur broke the status quo and allegedly constructed some temporary huts. People from Mizoram’s side went and set fire on them,” Lalthangliana said. The Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, Keerthi Jalli, on the other hand, said that the disputed land belongs to Assam. In October, 9 different farmlands were discovered cultivated by the residents of Mizoram. The land is claimed by the Assamese. Anbamuthan MP said that the residents of Mizoram historically cultivated the land but it became a part Single Forest Reserve that comes under the jurisdiction of Assam.
The border of Mizoram touches Barak Valley in Assam, and the border of Assam and Mizoram touches Bangladesh. The Mizoram civil society groups blame illegal Bangladeshis on the side of Assam. “Illegal Bangladeshis are creating all this trouble. They come and destroy our huts, cut our plants, and this time pelted stones on our policemen,” said B Vanlaltana, president of the student union MZP (Mizo Zirlai Pawl).
The complexity of the boundary dispute
The confrontation between Assam and Mizoram are less frequent than they are between Assam and Nagaland residents. Today, about 165 km long border runs between Assam and Mizoram. Mizoram was a city of Assam when British colonialists ruled India. The dispute started after notification in 1875 separated Lushai Hill from Chachar. The notification of 1933 aimed at demarcating a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur.
Mizoram wants to follow the notification of 1875 for the demarcation of boundaries. It takes inspiration from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873. Mizoram opposes the demarcation notified in 1933 because Mizo society was not consulted.
