History, people's will helped Assam and Meghalaya reach a pact to end 50-year-long border disputes

Study of the history, local residents' will and discussion with stakeholders helped Assam and Meghalaya government ink an agreement on Tuesday (March 29) to find an end to 50-year-long dispute in six out of 12 locations on their inter-state borders.

The agreement signed between Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K. Sangma in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah decided to share the 36.79 square kilometer "disputed land" almost 50:50. The six locations are Tarabari, Gijang, Hahim, Ratachera, Khanapara Pilingkata and Boklapara. The agreement also ended Meghalaya's claim over Koinadhora, a hillock in Khanapara area in Guwahati on which Assam CM's official residence is situated.

"The disputes originated after bifurcation of Meghalaya as a seperate state in 1972. Since then Meghalaya frequently has raised its claim over these locations and the conflicts even disturbed the relations between the two states," Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said in the state Assembly in his statement regarding the agreement, on Wednesday.

Assam and Meghalaya share 884-km long inter-state borders. Assam at present has a BJP-led government while in Meghalaya, BJP is a minor ally in the government led by National People's Party.

In 1993, Meghalaya formally informed Assam government about the 12 areas of disputes and in 2011, it was decided to initiate discussions to find a solution. The process included 22 rounds of talks between the CMs, 13 rounds of minister/deputy commissioner level discussions and 19 chief secretary level talks. On July 23, 2021, both Sarma and Sangma met and decided to find solution to six out of 12 areas of disputes. Three regional committees were formed from both the states, each headed by a cabinet minister and having local MLA and deputy commissioners as members.

"Regional committees visited the areas, studied the historical perspective, ethnicity of the people, contiguity for services, people's will and administrative convenience. They also held discussions with local students' bodies, village heads and other stakeholders before submitting their report suggesting how to find a solution," Sarma said. He said an all-party meeting was also held in which Congress and Sivasaagr MLA Akhil Gogoi opposed the move.

"Some of the areas which the agreement decided to give to Meghalaya are already in their control," he said

Sarma said the agreement was an executive action only and the power for reorganisation of the inter-state boundary lies with the Parliament. "Meanwhile, we will continue our efforts to find a solution to other six locations, where the dispute is a little more sensitive."

Other conflicts:

The process to end the border disputes gained a push after six Assam policemen were gunned down by their Mizoram counterparts in July last year on the inter-state border with Mizoram. Assam has border disputes with Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Sarma said Assam government now wants to follow the same model to find a solution to the disputes regarding 122 villages (850 sqkm) on the borders with Arunachal Pradesh. The petitions regarding Assam-Nagaland borders are pending in the Supreme Court while nothing significant has been achieved in finding a solution to similar conflict with Mizoram

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