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Assam-Mizoram border sealed, MHA calls meeting of officials
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma alleged that they stopped several illegal activities like drugs, cattle smuggling and infiltration from Mizoram side in the past few months.
The home ministry has called a meeting of senior officials from Assam and Mizoram even as the Central Reserve Police Force has increased deployment of personnel at Assam-Mizoram border, which remained tense on Tuesday, a day after violent clashes between two states claimed 6 lives and left 50 others injured.
As Mizoram increased deployment of security personnel on its side of the contentious border, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said they will deploy 4,000 commandos along 165 km Mizoram border and will move Supreme Court seeking protection against construction of roads by Mizoram government in region, Assam considers to be its own territory.
The border dispute is primarily a difference of perception. While the Mizoram government goes by 1875 border alignment to separate plains of Cachar from Lushai Hills (present day Mizoram), Assam follows 1933 demarcation, done to identify districts of present day Manipur carved from some parts of Lushai Hills.
On Tuesday, the Assam-Mizoram border shared by Cachar’s district Lailapur and Kolasib district’s Vairengte, the epicentre of the bloodiest border violence between the two states, was tense but calm with the CRPF deploying additional personnel. CRPF director general Kuldiep Singh said, “Five companies (close to 500 personnel) have been deployed and another two are on standby”. The border check-posts are manned by CRPF personnel as it falls in no man’s land between the two states.
“We can’t do what Mizoram has done yesterday. Assam will never use bullets against any Indian citizen, this is not in our DNA. We don’t have political fights with Mizoram but there is a reason behind yesterday’s incident. We have discussed the matter and asked Mizoram to investigate properly,” Sarma said on Tuesday, while addressing the media in Silchar.
Mizoram refuted his claim and said the Assam police entered Mizoram and started firing first.
“Our police personnel only fired in retaliation to firing by Assam police. It was Assam police that entered Mizoram and started assaulting our people. Any violence is unfortunate and we condole the deaths,” said Mizoram home minister Lalchamliana.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla will be meeting chief secretaries and director generals of police (DGPs) of Assam and Mizoram on Wednesday in his office over the border dispute, people familiar with the developments in the ministry said on condition of anonymity. Other senior officers of the MHA as well as intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces are expected to attend the meeting.
The MHA has asked the states to resolve the border dispute amicably without any violence and the Wednesday meeting is being seen as first steps towards facilitating such talks. Junior Union home minister, Nityanand Rai, said the ministry only acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement in case of border disputes between states and such disputes can only be resolved with the cooperation of the concerned state governments. There are at least seven such inter-state disputes with Assam being involved in four, he said. Assam has border disputes with Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
On Tuesday morning, Assam CM visited Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) and met the injured police personnel and civilians. He also paid a floral tribute to the five police personnel killed and announced a compensation of ₹50 lakhs for their families and a government job for a family member.
“The moment when the firing started, senior police officers of Assam and Mizoram were sitting and discussing the dispute. Home minister Amit Shah has spoken to the Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga and me several times since yesterday. We have assured that there will be no violence from our side but we will not let Mizoram to encroach one more inch from Assam’s territory.
On reasons behind the attack, Sarma alleged that they stopped several illegal activities like drugs, cattle smuggling and infiltration from Mizoram side in the past few months. “People who have entered Mizoram from Myanmar are trying to come to Assam and stay in Dima Hasao district. But we did not allow them,” he said.
Sarma claimed that on June 8 this year, Assam gave a proposal to the Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga to sign an MOU that forest land will not be destroyed on either side of the border. But he (Mizoram CM) did not agree, he claimed.
Lalchamliana denied Sarma’s claim of Mizoram carrying out developmental activities in Assam’s territory and pushing migrants into Assam. “We have been carrying out developmental activists in our territory, whereas people from Assam are regularly entering our area and trying to block the works,” he said.
The Assam government also airlifted superintendent of Cachar district police Vaibhav Chandrakant Nimbalkar to Mumbai for further treatment. Dr Bhaskar Gupta, head of Silchar Medical College and Hospital said SP was taken to Mumbai in a special air ambulance. “He has severe injuries in the lower part of his body. The family members decided to shift him to Mumbai for better treatment,” he said. Nimbalkar will be admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai, officials said.
