Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma meets PM Modi, discusses border dispute with Mizoram

In a key development, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital. The Chief Minister, who was accompanied by the MPs of the state, discussed the Assam-Mizoram border issue with the PM. Regarding the same issue, Himanta Biswa Samra, accompanied by BJP MLAs, may also likely meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day. 

The meetings come after Chief Ministers of both the Assam and Mizoram governments agreed to find a lasting solution to the century-old boundary dispute and take measures, including resuming interstate vehicular movement and keeping respective police forces off the conflict areas to de-escalate tension. 

Talking about the meeting, Himanta said,"I have told him about the Assam-Mizoram border  issue. These problems are there since 1972. We are discussing and trying to resolve it." Talking about  border dispute between Assam and Nagaland and Assam and Arunachal, he underlined that the said issues are presently in Supreme Court. "We don't have any issues with other states, but what happened with Mizoram is unfortunate," the Assam CM said, pointing out that now things are comparatively smoother. "Trucks are going to Mizoram, around 400 trucks have gone since yesterday. People are responding to my calls and things are normal. It's not like a war zone." he added. 

Assam-Mizoram border dispute

The border dispute over the 165 km-long Assam-Mizoram boundary dates back to the days of British colonial rule. Essentially, Mizoram has deep reservations about a 1933 notification that demarcated the boundary between Lushai Hills and the then princely state of Manipur. While the Assam government follows this, Mizoram has demanded that the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, which was done in consultation with the Mizo chiefs.

The trigger for the present row, as per Assam, was Mizoram breaching the existing status quo by commencing the construction of a road towards Rengti Basti, thus "destroying" the Inner Line Forest Reserve in the Lailapur area besides building an armed camp in the same vicinity. Assam claimed that the Mizoram Police opened fire on its officials and civilians with automatic weapons including LMGs which resulted in the death of six police officials and left over 50 persons injured. On the contrary, Mizoram claimed that its police personnel fired at their Assam counterparts only after the latter launched tear gas grenades at them.

Subsequently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Assam CM Sarma and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga who agreed to withdraw their police forces from the site. 

Image Credits: PMO India Twitter