SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
There are border disputes not only in Maharashtra and Karnataka but many other States. Chandigarh had to be given the status of a union territory due to disputes between Punjab and Haryana. The complications between the Northeastern states have never been resolved post-independence. Bloody riots are common in Northeast over the issue of castes and creeds. The border disputes here are not in courts. The dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka could be resolved with judgment by the Supreme Court but since the disputes in Northeastern states are not presented in the courts, they will have to be resolved with the help of political will-power. Those who are of the opinion that our country was large in size by default do not have proper information about how India came to be formed.
It cannot be forgotten that the concept of weaving more than 500 princely states into one country after the British granted independence to those princely states was of the then Congress leaders. The physical appearance of people from Northeast resembles that of Mongolian race such as Chinese persons which is what sets them apart from the rest of the country. Most of the castes, creeds there are ancient and stubborn and hence it is reality of the 21st century that the only way to administer this region is by striking peace accords. The border disputes between Northeastern states are extremely old. There are various disputes between Assam-Meghalaya, Assam-Mizoram, Assam-Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur-Nagaland etc. Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram were created by dividing the state of Assam. These States have multiple ethnic and rebel groups. Most of the States in Northeast have an edge of violent conflicts. This part of the country has a long history of violence due to inter-State and territorial disputes while Assam has witnessed violent conflicts over foreign nationals.
A Nagaland rebel group started violent riots demanding to include a part of Manipur into Nagaland. The efforts to resolve the conflicts through the inter-State North Eastern Council have been proved to be futile. There were accords signed during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as a prime minister to end the violence between Assam and Mizoram. Six people died in the recent violent riots on the Assam-Meghalaya border. Five police personnel had lost their lives during a violence that erupted near Assam-Mizoram border last year.
Last year Naga organisations had blocked the national highway on the border of Manipur and Nagaland which hindered the supply of essential goods to Manipur. The government has to take immediate steps to end the inter-state or border disputes prevailing between the Northeastern states. The issue is sensitive and so should be the approach while trying to ease the complications. Since the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act is in place to maintain the public order, the government is constantly held responsible for the violation of human rights because of this very same Act. There are several layers to the border disputes in the northeast such as maintaining cordial relationships with international communities, racial conflicts, inter-state disputes, retaining cultural uniqueness and so on. Meghayala was formed in 1971 by separating it from Assam and the border disputes between the two states have existed ever since. The respective States share a border of 885 kms and both the States have claimed authority over some parts which fueled the disputes further. An effort to resolve this was made recently. There are conflicts between the two states over 12 issues and to have had unanimity over 6 have been claimed. However, the firing opened by Assam forest department's soldiers for self-safety killed six on Tuesday.
Assam is the biggest State amongst the Seven Sisters and hence, the stance of political leaders as well as locals have been about giving Assam the upper hand. The increasing influence of Assam is not agreeable for Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal and Sikkim which is what leads to conflicts. The only way to end the border disputes is by building the bridge of communication.
