E-Paper
Assam accuses Mizoram of violating status quo along disputed border
Residents said there was also firing from the Mizoram side on March 17 and no one was injured but the incident caused fear
SILCHAR: Authorities in Assam’s Cachar have written to the state government and the Union home ministry accusing Mizoram of violating the agreement between the two states by constructing roads and houses in disputed border areas.
District forest officer Tejas Mariswami said Mizoram was regularly violating the status quo. “We verified the reports of construction, informed the deputy commissioner, and asked her to inform the higher authorities about it.”
He added deputy commissioner Keerthi Jalli wrote letters to the Assam government and Union home ministry. “[Jalli] wrote the first letter in February and the second in March this year. We are hoping for some response from the Central government.”
Residents said there was also firing from the Mizoram side on March 17 but no one was injured. They said the incident caused fear.
Police superintendent (Cachar) Ramandeep Kaur said there were attempts to hunt wild animals and that it was not an attack on humans. “We received information from locals that bullets were found...bullets were fired for hunting deer and wild pigs. Still, we are looking at the matter so that it does not create tension in border areas.”
Residents of Cachar’s Lailapur said Mizos have built houses and roads in disputed sites along the Assam-Mizoram border. They added paramilitary forces deployed in the area spoke to the Mizoram residents, who were building them. “The Mizos told them that they were building the houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and they had the permission of the Vairengte’s village council president. The paramilitary personnel clicked photographs of the houses being built and came back to their camp,” said a local resident.
Residents of Jorkhal alleged trees have also been burnt. “The Mizos are cutting trees, destroying them by burning and gradually taking control of the area. Though the unlawful activities are being carried out in broad daylight, the forest department is totally oblivious and taking no action,” a second resident said.
Young Mizo Association leader Thomas D Lalengliana claimed farmers on both sides of the border were involved in their farming activities. “There is no demarcated border...there is a deep forest. Locals are doing their farming activities without knowing the border. It should not be considered an attempt to encroach land.”
Six policemen were killed and nearly 60 injured in a clash between the police forces of the two stated in Lailapur in July last year. The representatives of the two states met in August 2021 and signed the agreement to restore peace and to deploy the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force in the border areas as per the Centre’s instructions.
