Assam is part of four of at least seven border disputes India is currently witnessing, the Union Home Ministry data shows. In a written reply to Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, said border conflicts lead to occasional protests and incidents of violence are reported from some of these areas.
Assam has border disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, Rai pointed out.
Responding to a question from Haji Fazlur Rehman, a Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Saharanpur, the minister said the Union government only “acts as a facilitator for amicable settlement of the dispute in the spirit of mutual understanding”.
According to the information available, Rai said there are boundary disputes arising out of demarcation of boundaries and claims and counter claims over territories between Haryana-Himachal Pradesh, UT of Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra-Karnataka, Assam-Arunachal Pradesh, Assam-Nagaland, Assam-Meghalaya and Assam-Mizoram.
At least five Assam police personnel were killed and more than 60 injured, including a superintendent of police over escalation of the long-standing border dispute between Assam and Mizoram on Monday. The clashes erupted after allegations of encroachment of territory by both sides over the past few weeks. Earlier this month, the two states held a dialogue over the issue that remained inconclusive.
This is not the first time that the border dispute turned violent between the two northeastern states. In February, 2021 and in 2020, the two states had a flare-up. In 2018 too, the border row turned violent.
The Assam-Mizoram issue has deep roots. Assam’s Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi share a 164 km-long border with Mizoram’s Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit districts.
The dispute started soon after the formation of Mizoram, which was earlier part of Assam. In 1972, Mizoram became a Union Territory and was later given statehood in 1987.
Apart from Mizoram, three more states were carved out of Assam and all are facing land disputes with the mother state as they are yet to get demarcated boundaries.
Nagaland was the first to be carved out of Assam in 1963. It was followed by Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh in 1972 under the The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
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