'Assam's land was occupied during Congress rule': CM Himanta fires salvo post border clash

On Wednesday, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma hit back at the Congress party over its criticism of the clash at the border with Mizoram which claimed 7 lives. After being stopped by officials from marching towards Lailapur where the incident took place, Congress leaders told Republic TV earlier in the day that there must be an independent inquiry. Congress MP Sushmita Dev contended that the Assam government neglected tensions in the area as it did not want any controversy before Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit.

Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah added, "Being a committed opposition of Assam, we have come here to see the ground situation happening but unfortunately government is not allowing us to go there. This is not the India-Pakistan border, this is an inter-state boundary". Taking a dig at the Sonia Gandhi-led party, Sarma asserted that Assam's land has been occupied by other states only during the tenure of Congress governments. 

The Assam-Mizoram border clash

According to the Assam government, the trigger for the present row 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. It claimed that the Mizoram Police opened fire on the Assam officials and civilians with automatic weapons including LMGs which resulted in the death of 6 police officials and left over 50 persons injured. However, 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 Sarma and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga who agreed to withdraw their police forces from the site. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Zoramthanga lamented that such a clash took place days after the Northeastern states had a fruitful discussion on resolving the border disputes during a meeting chaired by Shah. Furthermore, he exuded confidence that things are now moving in the right direction. 

Addressing a press conference in Silchar on Tuesday, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Many civilians are involved. Where did civilians get the arms from? We will investigate it once the situation gets better as the incident took place within the Assam boundary". At the same time, he made it clear that the Assam government doesn't believe in revenge and seeks a "peaceful and respectful" resolution regarding the border demarcation with Mizoram.