From Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : The situation is getting serious over the Assam Mizoram border dispute. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is calling the Chief Secretaries of both the states to Delhi to discuss the issue. Tension has once again escalated along the Assam-Mizoram border after mizoram police accused assam police of damaging two temporary camps set up by Mizoram policemen. According to the Kolasib district administration in Mizoram, mizoram policemen had set up three temporary camps in the troubled border area. While the Mizoram government accused Assam of damaging two of the three temporary camps, Assam Home Department officials said the temporary camps were set up in the forest area on the Assam side. He also alleged that mizoram policemen had encroached on Assam and set up temporary camps on forest land.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Chief Secretaries of Assam and Mizoram will hold a meeting in Delhi on July 9 to discuss the border dispute between the two states. Sarma said in New Delhi that the state is making efforts to amicably resolve “border disputes” with neighbouring states. He said that as long as the dispute persists, there is a possibility of “issues emerging” and requires “mature management.” “Unfortunately, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram have a border dispute with Assam,” Sarma said. We have started the process of handling this issue. We are talking to the counter states for some amicable solution as well as protecting our borders very strongly”. Assam and Mizoram have been at loggerheads over their borders for a long time. Sarma had earlier said that resolving border disputes between sister states was an important objective of her government.