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Assam groups defer economic blockade
Officials in Assam have also alleged that border pillars, demarcating the 512 km long boundary between the states, have been removed by people from Nagaland to encroach on Assamese territory.
Students’ ogranisations in Karbi Anglong district of Assam on Tuesday decided to suspend their protest against alleged land encroachment by Nagaland, after officials of the two states assured them of maintaining status quo in the disputed area.
The protesters, led by Karbi Students Association (KSA), have accused Nagaland authorities of issuing land certificates to people residing in areas falling under the Daldali forest reserve in Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) in Assam.
Officials in Assam have also alleged that border pillars, demarcating the 512 km long boundary between the states, have been removed by people from Nagaland to encroach on Assamese territory.
KSA president Bijoy Bey said that they had been assured that Nagaland would maintain status quo in the disputed area.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Karbi Anglong has convened a meeting with us on Wednesday to further discuss the matter. Until then, we have decided to suspend the economic blockade,” Bey said. He added that the blockade was only being kept in abeyance and the organizations were not calling it off yet.
Earlier in the day, protesters blocked national highway 39, leading to Nagaland, and restricted the movement of commercial vehicles. Officials from the two states visited the spot followed by a meeting between deputy commissioner of Nagaland’s Dimapur district and deputy commissioner of Assam’s Diphu.
While Nagaland claims some parts of the shared 512 km-long border as its territory, Assam has accused Nagaland of encroaching on thousands of hectares of its land.
Over the past five decades, there have been several disputes which claimed more than 100 lives.
Both states have refused to accept recommendations of two commissions set up by Centre, in 1971 and 2006, to resolve the issue.
In 1988, Assam filed a title suit in the Supreme Court seeking identification of the boundary between the states and resolving the border dispute by permanent injunction restraining Nagaland from encroaching on Assam’s territory and handing over of encroached areas. The matter is at trial stage.
