New Delhi: Assam has rejected Mizoram’s territorial claims along the disputed border between the two Northeast states, questioning Aizawl’s interpretation of a map drawn up by the British administration in 1875, ThePrint has learnt.
The Mizo National Front (MNF) government, which is eyeing another term in office in next month’s elections, sharply disputed the decision of the neighbouring state.
Mizoram Home Department Joint Secretary Lalthiamsanga Sailo told ThePrint on Monday that the grounds on which Assam has dismissed territorial claims along the Cachar border was “baseless and illogical”.
The remarks came hours after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that Mizoram will go to polls on 7 November.
In its 7 October letter to Mizoram, the Assam Border Protection and Development Department wrote that the 1875 notification that Aizawl is relying on, had been superseded by the boundary line notification issued on 28 August, 1930. While Mizoram recognises the 1875 demarcation, which it claims was drawn up in consultation with Mizo chiefs, Assam accepts the latter.
Assam Border Protection and Development Department Minister Atul Bora, who represented Guwahati in led the previous rounds of talks on the issue, was not available for a comment as calls and messages went unanswered. This report will be updated once a response is received.
ThePrint has previously reported that Mizoram is also not in favour of a proposal from the Assam government to send a group of ministers to Aizawl to form a “regional committee” to address the issue.
The sharp exchange assumes significance as the simmering tension over the boundary dispute issue had snowballed into a major flare up on 26 July, 2021, resulting in the deaths of six Assam Police personnel, and one civilian at a boundary point between Assam’s Lailapur and Mizoram’s Vairengte towns.
Since then, the two Northeast states have held several rounds of discussions, with the last taking place in November 2022. The MNF, which remains a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has no ties with the BJP at the state-level. On the other hand, Assam has been with the BJP since 2016, when the Congress was unseated after a 15-year-long uninterrupted stint.
In February, Mizoram had written to Assam, submitting its territorial claims. Eight months later, Assam responded to the claims, saying the depiction of the 1875 Inner Line Forest in the map furnished by Aizawl was “erroneous” and sought action for “reconciliation and rectification”. The Inner Line, which was notified by the British administration on 20 August 1875, was meant to regulate the entry of people into Lushai Hills (now Mizoram).
Way back in 2018, political parties and civil society organisations in Mizoram submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that the borders drawn in 1933 were done “without the consent and approval” of its people, unlike the 1875 demarcation for which the British administrators had consulted the Mizo village chiefs.
According to the Mizoram Assembly records, 749 sq km of land remain disputed due to differences between the two states.
Sailo, the joint secretary in Mizoram home department, told ThePrint that Aizawl will respond to Assam raising these points in the due course of time.
Sailo also questioned the argument made by Assam in its letter that the villages claimed by Mizoram do not have Mizo inhabitants. “We are not claiming the territories on the basis of their inhabitants. There are 10 villages in Tripura entirely inhabited by Mizos, but we are not claiming them. We made the claims in the case of Assam on the basis of the 1875 Inner Line Reserve Forest notification, which is still in vogue. So Assam’s response is baseless and bereft of any logic,” he asserted.
The joint secretary added that being a reserve forest, Mizoram was not laying claims on the inhabitants of those villages, but the land. “Any human settlement that is present in that area will be illegal as it is a notified reserve forest. It does not matter if the villagers are Chinese, or Tibetans, or Bangladeshis, or even Mizos. Even Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said this in the past. But the fact remains (that) it is Mizo territory,” he said.
Last month, Mizoram had conveyed to Assam that the next round of border talks would be possible only after the assembly election. “We have already conveyed that talks can be held only after the election process is completed because you have to give due importance to the decision of the people being a democratic country,” Sailo said Monday.
(Edited by Tony Rai)