Assam-Mizoram Border clash
- At least five policemen in India have died after police from two states fired at each other.
- Officials from both sides, including chief ministers, have accused each other of provoking violence.
- Assam shares a 164km (about 101 miles) border with Mizoram, and both states contest its demarcation.
Background
- The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram dates back to the colonial era, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
- Under colonial rule, Lushai Hills, as Mizoram was then known, was part of Assam. The region only gained recognition in 1972 - almost three decades after independence - when it became a separate federally administered area.
- In 1987, it became a fully-fledged state.
- The dispute stems from a notification of 1875 that differentiated the Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar, and another of 1933, that demarcates a boundary between the Lushai Hills and Manipur.
- A Mizoram Minister said last year that Mizoram believes the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873.
- The 1875 demarcation was derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873.
- It differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar in Assam’s Barak Valley.
- This was done in consultation with Mizo chiefs, and it became the basis for the Inner Line Reserve Forest demarcation in the Gazette two years later.
- The 1933 demarcation marks a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur, beginning at the tri-junction of Lushai Hills, Cachar district and Manipur.
- Mizo leaders have argued in the past against the demarcation notified in 1933 because Mizo society was not consulted.
- The dispute has been simmering since Mizoram became a Union Territory in 1972 and then a state in the 1980s.
- The two states signed an agreement that status quo should be maintained at no-man’s land set up in the boundaries.
- While Assam sees its claimed boundary as transgressed, Mizoram cites unilateral moves by Assam inside Mizoram territory. It alleges that in June last year, Assam officials entered Mamit district and visited some farms;
Other border conflicts in the Northeast
- Assam has similar border conflicts with Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, which were carved out of it as seperate states between 1963 and 1972.
- Tripura also has a border dispute with Mizoram.
Violence...
- Violent clashes have taken place along the Assam-Nagaland border since 1965, more recently in 2017, leading to deaths and displacements.
- Similar violence was also witnessed on Assam-Meghalaya and Assam-Arunachal Pradesh borders.