Arunachal Pradesh's border row with Assam: 4 parties seek President Kovind's intervention

Four opposition parties in Arunachal Pradesh, including the Congress, have written to President Ram Nath Kovind drawing his attention to the state’s recent boundary dispute with Assam. The leaders of the political parties have sought the President’s intervention in resolving the dispute between the neighbours over the Kimin area. Recently, the Kimin area along the interstate border was passed off as Bilgarh in Assam, triggering a fresh controversy.

Assam passes off Kimin as Bilgarh

Following the breakout of the controversy, the opposition parties of Arunachal Pradesh have now written to the President. In a memorandum sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday, the parties narrated the chain of events. Speaking about the events leading to the row, the letter said that the state’s Kimin area was passed off as Bilgarh in Assam. It noted that the neighbour state had reportedly partially whitewashed the signboards mentioning Arunachal Pradesh.

The memorandum was undersigned by the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) president Kahfa Bengia, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) vice president Techi Tage Tara, senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader Jarjum Ete and Janata Dal (United) state unit chief Ruhi Tagung. The leaders pointed out that the actions were done during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to the area to attend an event set up by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The parties, in the letter, also stated that the Centre should lay down a policy to settle the dispute between the neighbours. It pointed out that several students’ organisations, political parties and locals are currently protesting against the move. The letter said that the local protests are being held against the "fraudulent and unprecedented defacements of Kimin and Arunachal Pradesh names from signboards and foundation stones".

Defence Min Rajnath Singh's visit to the Kimin area

The Defence Minister had visited the Kimin area on July 17 to inaugurate the 20-km-long Kimin-Potin road, built by the Border Roads Organisation. The letter stated that the visit was uninformed to the local administration who were "kept in the dark" regarding the same. The leaders demanded that the Assam government’s explanation over the same and why the state deployed its police and administrative personnel for security at Kimin, which, according to them, falls in Papumpare district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Apart from the Defence Minister, the event on July 17 was attended by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union minister Kiren Rijiju, who represents the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency. The memorandum claimed that Kimin is one of the oldest circle headquarters of Arunachal Pradesh and is the gateway to five districts in the western part of the state. The state government of Assam is yet to respond to the issue.

IMAGE: PTI