Mizoram Govt Forms Committee to Address Border Issues with Assam

In a bid to resolve border issues with neighboring Assam, the Mizoram Government on Friday constituted a border committee to look into the boundary issues with the state, reports said.  

The committee comprises of Mizoram Home Minister K Sapdanga as chairman, forest minister Lalthansanga as vice chairman, and home secretary H Lalengmawia as member secretary, reports added.

Further, Adviser to Mizoram CM (political) Lalmuanpuia Punte, chief secretary, and DGP are also members of the border committee. Moreover, assistant professor of T Romana College – Joseph K Lalfakzuala, one representative each from political parties (MNF, INC, BJP, AAP and ZPM), one representative each from NGOs (NGOCC, CYMA, MUP, MHI., MZP, and MSU), and JAC on Inner Line Forest Reserved Demand, Mizoram are also part of the committee.

According to information received, the chief ministers of Assam and Mizoram are likely to meet later this month to discuss the border issues between the two states.

Reportedly, so far, both states have held several rounds of talks since July 2021 agreed to maintain peace along the boundary and resolve the dispute through dialogue.

Notably, the Northeast states of Assam and Mizoram share a 164.6 km-long border. The border dispute between the two neighbouring states is a long pending and vexed issue, which stemmed from two colonial demarcations of 1875 and 1933.

Assam’s districts, Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj, share a boundary of 164 km with Mizoram’s Aizawl, Mamit, and Kolasib districts. Both the states kept accusing each other of usurping land, from 1987 onwards.

The first skirmish took place after seven years of Mizoram’s formation in 1994. Regardless of countless discussions organized by the Central Government between these two states over their dispute, the hostility continued. Later, in 2021, at least five Assam Police personnel were killed after the old boundary dispute between the two states exploded in violent clashes at a contested border point.

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