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IN WHAT has been termed as a “historic day” for the Northeast, the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya on Tuesday signed an agreement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to resolve part of their five-decade-old inter-state border dispute.
“Today is a historic day for a dispute-free Northeast,” Shah said.
“In July last year, I had met the chief ministers of the Northeastern states in Meghalaya, and appealed to them that these (border) issues be resolved. I am happy that this (agreement between Assam and Meghalaya) has been achieved in such a short time,” he said.
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Shah said that in a very short span of time, six out of 12 issues have been settled between Assam and Meghalaya, and about 70 per cent of the border between the two states has become dispute-free.
He said strong political will had been shown by the two chief ministers, and the Government would make the Northeast dispute-free after discussions with all states. “This agreement exemplifies cooperative federalism and will provide a roadmap for resolution of other border disputes between states,” he said.
Since July last year, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma have been in talks to solve the long-standing dispute along the 884-km border, which has witnessed frequent flare-ups.
Last year, both state governments identified six of the 12 areas under dispute — Hahim, Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata, Ratacherra — for resolution in the first phase.
Tuesday’s agreement was based on the final set of recommendations made jointly by both states in January this year: out of 36.79 sq km of disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam would get full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km.
Officials said the next step will involve delineation and demarcation of the boundary by Survey of India in the presence of representatives of both governments. It will then be put up in Parliament for approval. The process may take a few months, they said.
“We knew that resolving all 12 areas of differences at a go would have been difficult, but if we approached it one by one, then it would be possible,” Sarma told reporters. He added that in the next six-seven months, the second phase of resolution would commence for the remaining sites.
Sangma said the agreement would not have been possible without “political will and leadership.” “Over months, the committee formed by the respective state government travelled extensively to the disputed sites, spoke to villagers…it is because of this hard work we managed to reach a consensus,” he said.
While Assam has a BJP-led NDA government, Meghalaya has at its helm the MDA headed by Sangma’s National People’s Party with the regional United Democratic Party and BJP as coalition partners.
Following the initial meeting last July between Sangma and Sarma, five more rounds of meetings were held in the following months.
Subsequently, ministerial-level regional committees formed by both states made frequent visits to the disputed areas, and submitted reports based on five mutually agreed principles: historical perspective, ethnicity of local population, contiguity with boundary, peoples’ will and administrative convenience.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, and has held a different interpretation of the border since. The resolution at six of the 12 areas under dispute is significant, but the remaining points of friction are more complex and may prove to be a bigger challenge.
A number of attempts had been made in the past to resolve the boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya. In 1985, under then Assam chief minister Hiteshwar Saikia and Meghalaya chief minister Captain W A Sangma, an official committee to resolve the issue was constituted under the former Chief Justice of India Y V Chandrachud. However, a solution was not found.
A senior official from Assam had earlier told The Indian Express that there was a vital difference between attempts made earlier and now: the problem has been “broken down to chewable bits” and the low-hanging fruits identified first.
“Among the four states Assam has border disputes with, Meghalaya was the softest to handle and the six areas taken for study did not have large differences,” he had said.
The frequent meetings among the two CMs — Sangma and Sarma have met as many as eight times since July — also went a long way towards significant progress in the talks. “The remaining areas of dispute are more complex,” the official had said.
During British rule, Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, besides Mizoram, which later became separate states. Last July, in a sharp escalation of the boundary dispute between Assam and Mizoram, at least five Assam Police personnel were killed in violent clashes at a contested border point where tensions had been simmering.
On Tuesday, the Union Home Minister said that during the past three years, the Government had signed several agreements for ending extremism and for “lasting peace” in the Northeast.
“Looking at the journey from 2019 to 2022, we have seen many big achievements in establishing peace in the North East, NLFT agreement in August 2019, Bru-Reang agreement on January 16, 2020, Bodo agreement on January 27, 2020, Karbi-Anglong agreement on September 4, 2021, and today’s Assam-Meghalaya border agreement. Development of the Northeast is not possible unless disputes between states are resolved and armed groups surrender,” Shah said, according to a statement issued by the Government.
(With Deeptiman Tiwary)
