Morung Express News
Kohima | February 29
The State Assembly today refuted the recent statement made by Assam's Border Protection & Development Minister, Atul Baruah, alleging encroachment of land by Nagaland with the claim facing criticism many members.
During zero hour at the ongoing fourth session of the 14th NLA on Thursday, Advisor, TN Mannen brought up the issue and dismissed the statement as “absolute lie and far from reality on the ground.”
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister-in-charge of Home and Border Affairs, Y Patton, also refuted the allegations, stating that they do not hold any truth.
The border dispute between the two states dates back to before Nagaland's statehood, involving the return of forests and other areas that were taken away from the Nagas by the British government when they took over Assam in 1823, he explained.
“The ownership of these lands belongs to the Nagas, but they were transferred and incorporated into neighboring districts of Assam for administrative and economic convenience by the British Government,” he reminded.
Patton highlighted that there have been seven interim agreements since 1972, with the last one in 1985, which the condition of withdrawal of armed police posts within and near reserved forests and prohibit the establishment of new ones.
However, Assam has not adhered to these agreements and has instead increased the number of armed police posts, he claimed.
The Deputy CM also pointed out that Assam has also allowed oil exploration in the disputed border area, which violates the interim agreements and asserted that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Assam ADGP in 2005 is not in line with the agreements and has been a cause of contention for the past many years.
“All sorts of new settlements in all sectors of the Disputed Area Belt have been permitted by Assam Govt. The Interim Agreements are thus, not being fully honoured by Assam,” he maintained.
The SOP could not be reviewed till date due to non-cooperation of Assam Goverment, he added.
The Dy CM also recalled the significant development in the inter-state boundary dispute when Assam filed a suit in the Supreme Court on 10 December, 1988 against Union of India, Election Commission of India, State Government of Nagaland for declaring the 1925 boundary line Notification made by the British Rule as the final boundary between the two States.
The Supreme Court of India in the year 2006 ordered for appointment of a Local Commission to identify the boundary between Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Again in its order in the year 2010, the Supreme Court of India had appointed 2 (two) Mediators for settlement of the dispute outside the Court.
However, these initiatives didn't see much progress. The Supreme Court thereafter in its order dated 14h January 2014 directed all the parties in the court case concerned to produce witnesses for cross examination.
Subsequently, the cross-examination of witnesses from Assam has been completed and presently cross-examination of the representative of Survey of India is going on, he informed adding that cross-examination of the witnesses from Nagaland shall begin.
Altogether, 44 Affidavit of witnesses for the State of Nagaland has been filed in the Supreme Court of India.
Against this backdrop, Patton asserted that the recent statement made of alleged encroachment of areas in Assam by Nagaland does not arise at all.
“The Nagas living at the borders claim the land as their traditional village lands. The statement on the alleged encroachment made by Assam Government is to bring in the picture, the 1925 Boundary Notification which has not been accepted by us.”
To address the boundary issues, the NLA has formed a Cabinet Select Committee headed by the Chief Minister on August 5, 2021 where District Local Committees in border districts have also been established, and meetings and discussions with stakeholders have been held to explore people-to-people initiatives for a peaceful resolution.
Patton assured that the government will continue its efforts to resolve the inter-state boundary dispute with Assam amicably, while safeguarding the rights of the people and the state.
