July 26, 2021: The age-old boundary disputes between Assam and Mizoram led to violent clashes. According to the report from the agency, five Assam Police staff were killed in the violent clashes on Monday at a tensioned border point. In the clash, fifty policemen were injured. SP of Assam’s Cachar district, Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant, sustained a bullet injury in the leg. The statement given by the Assam government has later clarified that the five police personnel who had died were SI Swapan Roy and constables Liton Suklabaidya, MH Barbhuyia, N Hussain and S Barbhuiya.
In the Twitter post, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “I am deeply pained to inform that six brave jawans of @assampolice have sacrificed their lives while defending constitutional boundary of our state at the Assam-Mizoram border. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.”
Sarma even tweeted that, “Clear evidences are now beginning to emerge that unfortunately show that Mizoram Police has used Light Machine Guns (LMG) against personnel of @assampolice. This is sad, unfortunate and speaks volumes about the intention and gravity of the situation.”
Even last year in October, the border disputes between the two states intensified when a hut and plantations were supposedly devastated by Assam’s Karimganj district on farmland near Thinghlun village in West Mizoram. On the night of October 17, 2020, residents of Vairengte in Mizoram’s Kolasib has set on fire numerous temporary bamboo huts and stalls during a violent clash. These two clashes in the same month in the same year have doubled the tension between both the states.
This violent clash emerges from the age-old border disputes between the state of Assam and Mizoram. The dispute dates back to the British colonial days where the over 165km Assam-Mizoram boundary had two border demarcations.
During the mid 19th century, the British Tea plantation was surfaced in the Cachar plains, the Barak Valley, which now consists of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj. Their expansion steered to problems with the Mizos who’s home was the Lushai Hills. Because of all these things, there is disagreement over which demarcation to follow.
According to reports, the current clashes occurred when the Assam Police officials were having a dialogue with the Mizoram Police officials to restore the normalcy between the two states.
Looking at the current situation of these interstate disputes, discussions need to take place at central and state levels to bring proper closure to this disputed issue.
