Assam-Mizoram CMs agree not to allow violence on disputed border

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma on Tuesday said that he and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma have agreed not to allow any more violence along the disputed inter-state border.

Lalduhoma also said that Assam Border Area Development Minister Atul Bora will visit Mizoram next month.

Addressing a press conference in Aizawl, the chief minister said that he recently met Sarma in Guwahati and both discussed the border issue.

He said that the two neighbouring states agreed to maintain peace along the border and resolve the long-standing dispute.

“We agreed that no more violence will be allowed along the border. We have been making efforts to resolve the dispute,” Lalduhoma said.

The border dispute between Mizoram and Assam had taken an ugly turn in July 2021 when police forces of the two states exchanged fire at the inter-state boundary, leading to the death of six policemen and a civilian from Assam.

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More than 60 people were also injured in the violent clash that took place in the disputed area near Mizoram’s Vairengte village.

Three Mizoram districts – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit – share a 164.6 km long border with Assam’s Cachar, Karmganj and Hailankandi districts.

The border dispute between the two neighbouring states is a long-standing issue, which mainly stemmed from two colonial demarcations.

Mizoram claims that 509 square miles area of the inner line reserved forest, notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) 1873, falls within its territory. Assam, on the other hand, regarded the border shown in a map prepared by the Survey of India in 1933 as its constitutional boundary.

Vast areas within the inner line reserved forest now fall under Assam. Similarly, a certain extent of the area, as per the 1933 demarcation, is now on the Mizoram side. There is no ground demarcation of boundaries between the two states.

The two states have held several rounds of talks to resolve the boundary dispute.