Guwahati: Amid tension along the Assam-Mizoram border, a primary school building near the inter-state boundary in Assam’s Cachar district was destroyed in an explosion carried out by unknown miscreants early Saturday.
Residents alleged the miscreants from Mizoram targeted the Upper Painom Lower Primary School under Hawaithang Post Office, about 41 km from Silchar town.
The sound of the blast in the school building situated in a remote forest area of Sadirkhal in Dholai area was heard from far away, PTI reported police as saying. The report added that there were no casualties.
Cachar superintendent of police, Bhanwar Lal Meena, and Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli rushed to the spot Saturday morning.
This is the second bombing of a school to have taken place in a fortnight. A school in Khulicherra area, which is close to the inter-state boundary, was bombed on 24 October.
An investigation into both incidents is underway.
Tension has been prevailing along the Assam-Mizoram border since 17 October after miscreants damaged huts, following which several rounds of talks were held among top officials of Assam, Mizoram and the central government.
Following Saturday’s attack, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal apprised Union Home Minister Amit Shah of the situation over the phone, and requested the Centre’s assistance, according to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office.
A review meeting was also held Saturday in Dispur, which was attended by the CM, state Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah, Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and other senior government officials.
Mizoram shares a 164.6-km border with Assam, which it was a part of until 1972. It was carved out as a Union Territory, but later became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987.
Speaking to ThePrint, G.P. Singh, additional DGP (Law and Order), said that the border issue has been taken up at the highest level.
“We have been respecting the statutory and constitutional provisions. We have taken up the matter with Government of Mizoram and Government of India at the highest level to ensure that peace prevails in the area and the people live in peaceful environs. The deployment of police forces by Mizoram in Notified Reserve Forests is in contravention to Statutes and also endanger the environment big way,” Singh said.
Central paramilitary forces were deployed along both sides of the border to maintain law and order. Troops of the Sashastra Seema Bal, a border patrol body under the Central Armed Police Forces, were also put on alert.
Also read: Central forces to be deployed as Assam-Mizoram border issue remains on the boil
What is the territorial dispute
The border conflict is a result of an unresolved territorial dispute that dates back at least five decades. The Assam districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj share a border with Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts of Mizoram. Mizoram insists that a 509-square-mile stretch of the inner-line reserve forest notified in 1875 is the actual boundary between the states.
The issue resurfaced on 17 October when clashes erupted in border areas, leaving several injured while houses and shops were set on fire. Then, on 28 October, an economic blockade was imposed along the national highway by groups in southern Assam.
Tensions intensified when on 2 November, Intazul Laskar, a 48-year-old resident of Lailapur in Assam’s Cachar district, died at a hospital in Vairengte of Mizoram’s Kolasib district. Assam Police said Laskar’s demise was a “custodial death”, which triggered an outrage among people in the Barak Valley.
The Mizoram government said Laskar was apprehended by the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Vairengte for selling drugs, and certified his death as “unnatural”. Laskar was “found dead in the hospital bed” where he was admitted after a medical check-up.
The YMA is the apex body of Mizos with more than 4.5 lakh members within and outside the state.
As tensions rose, Chief Secretary Baruah had told ThePrint that a “permanent solution was expected within a short period of time”.
Mizo Students’ Union blame Illegal migrants for blast
While Mizoram government officials said they are monitoring the situation along the border, the Mizo Students’ Union (MSU) alleged that the school bombing was carried out by “illegal immigrant miscreants staying in Assam”.
“The MSU strongly condemns the attack on the school by illegal immigrants in Assam. The sole purpose of this action is to inculcate hatred between the Assamese people and the Mizo people, furthermore to destroy the unity amongst the North East people,” Samuela Zoramthanpuia, MSU general secretary stated in a press release.
The statement said the MSU had lodged an FIR against the incident, which was carried out to defame the law-abiding citizens of Mizoram.
“MSU wants all Indians to know that in the past and recent incidents, the Assam-Mizoram Border issue was flared up by some miscreants, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in Assam. Mizoram always respects the status quo in the boundary and wants to maintain peace and tranquility,” the statement read.
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This have nothing to do with the Mizoram people its all just politics dirty politics from Assam trying to blame it on Mizoram.people are not so stupid you know.