Days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's decision to work on the borders settlements, Assam and Mizoram tensions have been intensified as two states traded charges of encroachments in each others.
Assam Mizoram border dispute
Assam: Days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s decision to work on the borders settlements, Assam and Mizoram tensions have been intensified as two states traded charges of encroachments in each others land. Mizoram on Wednesday accused Assam of intruding upon its land in the Kolasib district which borders Assam. However, Assamese officials and legislators accused Mizoram of building structures and planting betel nut and banana saplings allegedly ten kilometres inside Hailakandi in Assam.
The area, locally known as Aitlang or the source of river Aitlang, is a part of Mizoram and is about 5 km from Vairengte village in Kolasib district which borders Assam.
Land Encroachment has been a prominent issue of the northeeast region. While ministers are mulling over the issue to put an end. Katlicherra, one of the north-east state Assam’s region’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Suzamuddin Laskar alleged that residents of Mizoram have encroached around ten kilometres of Assams land in Chuninullah, Aisonanglon villages under Dholcherra-Phaisen bordering area.
Soon after the news, a team from Hailakandi comprising Divisional Forest Officer Montaj Ali, Border DSP Nirmal Ghosh and others immediately visited the border but were stopped by Mizo encroachers and forced to return, Assam government officials added.
The residents of Vairengte generally work on plantations in the area. This is the area belongs to Mizoram as claimed by them since time immemorial, Ralte said.
He allegedly said that a host of district officials and police personnel from Assam arrived and forcefully seized the area on Tuesday.
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Ralte, who is currently camping at the site told that the act is a pure aggression by the neighbouring state as the area belongs to Mizoram. The local farmers were forced to flee for fear of being attacked by armed personnel.
He alleged that officials of both states conducted a discussion at the site on Tuesday but Assam officials refused to withdraw from the area.
Residents of Vairengte, who rushed to the site, however, were returned to home to prevent more violence, the police officer added.
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Three districts of Mizoram — Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit — share about a 164.6 km border with Assam’s Cachar,Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.
The border dispute is not a new issue between the two neighbouring states. It is a long pending drawn out issue. Despite several dialogues since 1995, it has yielded little result.
