Farmers protest at Assam-Nagaland border over land encroachment, palm oil cultivation plans

The longstanding border dispute between Assam and Nagaland has reignited tensions as hundreds of farmers staged a large-scale protest at Shantipur in the Merapani border area. Chanting “We will not give up our land. We need our land,” the agitating farmers expressed outrage over the Nagaland government’s move to begin palm oil cultivation on disputed farmland.

The protest comes in response to a directive issued by the Nagaland Agriculture Department, which prohibits all agricultural activity on a 1,200-acre tract of fertile land in the Velouguri Seed Farm area—land that local Assamese farmers have been cultivating for decades under informal arrangements, despite its location in the contested region.

Farmers allege that the Nagaland government is attempting to assert control over the area by initiating palm oil plantation projects on land they claim is within Assam’s territory but has been systematically encroached upon over the years.

The Velouguri Seed Farm and the larger Assam-Nagaland border issue are currently under judicial review in the Supreme Court of India. However, the Nagaland administration’s latest move has triggered fresh unrest among approximately 1,000 farming families who rely on the land for their livelihood.

The farmers have accused the Nagaland government of acting unilaterally and aggressively, without any consultation or legal resolution, further escalating tensions in the already sensitive border zone.