The Centre, on Tuesday, informed the Lok Sabha that at least four states in the Northeast have boundary disputes with Assam.
The Centre stated that the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya nad Mizoram have boundary disputes with Assam.

This brings back images of the violent clashes that erupted at the Assam-Mizoram border in July earlier this year in which exchange of fire between police forces of the two states led to the on-spot deaths of 5 police personnel.

The incident brought to the fore the long-standing issue of land dispute in the Northeast which has remained genuinely unattended since decades. Despite formation of various Border Commissions in the past to end the boundary disputes in NE, none of the states have accepted the recommendations and as such no consensus-based solutions have emerged. Whenever clashes have erupted, the Union Home Ministry has intervened, calling the warring states to show restraint. A tension-easing methodology of this kind only has an ephemeral impact, leaving the ailment to turn chronic and that’s exactly what has happened in the region. The Centre must make deeper intervention right now and frame permanent solutions that should essentially honour history, ethnicity, indigenous culture, people’s aspirations and all the present day socio-economic practicalities. 

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya have similar land ownership and boundary disputes with Assam, the state from which they were carved out. 

Arunachal Pradesh has often seen boundary disputes where Assam officials have entered the state and resorted to highhandedness. In November this year, few villages under Kimin Circle of Papum Pare were served "eviction notice" by Assam Forest officials leading to a tense atmosphere. Such episodes long the Arunachal-Assam interstate boundary have been sporadically reported.

 There is a need to expedite the process of settlement of the inter-state boundary row with neighbouring Assam.
The decision to settle the decades-old boundary issue with Assam out-of-the-court was taken in an all-party meeting convened by the state government in August 11 this year , for which a high power ministerial committee was constituted. But little has been achieved on the ground.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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