Assam-Mizoram border clash

Expressing utter dismay over the Assam-Mizoram border conflict where six Assam Police personnel had to sacrifice their lives on July 26, a Northeast-based citizen’s forum urged the Union government to amicably settle the border issues and also identify the encroachers in the disputed areas.

Patriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA) in a media statement, paying heart-felt tributes to the deceased, demanded a clarification from the Mizoram government in Aizawl how their police forces fired upon the group of Assam Police personnel without intimations even though both are government-recognized armed forces under the same set of rules.

The inter-state flare up resulted in the killing of Assam Police personnel namely Swapan Roy (SI), Liton Suklabaidya, MH Barbhuiya, N Hussain, S Barbhuiya and Shyamprasad Dusat whereas over 50 others, including Cachar district police chief Baibhab Chandrakant Nimbalkar, were injured.  Nimbalkar has been lately air lifted to Mumbai for better treatment.

“It was very shocking that the violent incident took place within 48 hours of Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Shillong, where in fact he met both the concerned chief ministers – Zoramthanga and Himanta Biswa Sarma, who incidentally is the convener of BJP-promoted North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA),” said a PPFA statement.

Lately, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed at the affected Lailapur-Vairengte disputed areas to help both the state police forces to maintain law and order situation. The Centre had also discussions with CM Zoramthanga and Sarma, both of whom were engaged in a war of words in digital platforms over the matter, and asked them to ensure peace along the disputed border areas.

The forum observed that a large area of forests in Assam-Mizoram border has been encroached by suspected nationals and the July 26 incident was an eruption of tenson following an incident of vandalism by some of those lawbreakers. A Mizo couple, who faced the ransacking on their return journey from Cachar in Assam, triggered the flare up. Various Mizo individuals claim that those hooligans are illegal migrants in border arears.

“It is so unfortunate that the encroachers continue to engage in various criminal activities in these areas and on the way to safeguard those illegal migrants, our police personnel have to face the consequences,” said the PPFA statement adding that the Centre should introspect over those criminals seriously while initiating to find a sustainable solution to the border issues.

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About Nava Thakuria

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Nava Thakuria is a Guwahati-based senior journalist. He has been covering socio-political developments of Northeast India, along with its neighbours – Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar and Bangladesh – for various media outlets, for more than two decades.