Aizawl: “They came to shoot at us; tried to kill us; so we had to retaliate, to protect ourselves,” says Lalmuanpuia, a resident of Vairengte, a town of Mizoram bordering Assam’s Cachar district.
Boundary disputes may occur and evolve from historical and/or divergent cultural claims, with race, ethnicity, language, religion often playing key roles. No one can deny that a conflict zone – carved out of boundary/territorial disputes be it international or inter-state – is a place where violence, violations and abounding grievances are routine. It is in this reality that people like Lalmuanpuia on the Assam-Mizoram border region have been residing for several decades. Always on alert, and living in absolute uncertainty with the border dispute remaining unsolved for a long period – their everyday life constantly threatened by a series of occurrences, oftentimes violent and aggressive.
However, the scale of the violent clash that erupted this past July 26 on the border was unprecedented and surprised even the residents. “We grew up experiencing confrontations with our neighbouring state over the border issue, but never as violent as this. The past confrontations mostly happened between civilians, but this time, the Assam police themselves came with full combat equipment and ambulances, obviously with the clear intention of forcefully occupying the Mizoram Police post. They came and destroyed the camp, forcing us to retaliate, only to protect ourselves and our land. But unfortunately, it also resulted in the loss of six Assam police officers’ lives,” Lalmuanpuia tells us.
From hope to shock
Significantly, just two days before the clash, the Union home minister Amit Shah had convened a meeting with all the eight chief ministers of the northeastern states in Shillong, and clearly emphasised the need to resolve border disputes peacefully.
This was welcomed by people like Lalmuanpuia, who live in those conflicted areas. For the people of Mizoram in general, the talks led by Shah were reassuring. They hoped that it would usher in a peaceful maintenance of the status quo along the inter-state border. They were in for a rude shock, when in a surprising turn of events – contrary to the hope that Shah’s words had brought to the people – an Assam police team stormed inside Mizoram and occupied a post of the state police on July 26. In an attempt to retake the post, the Mizoram Police – along with the residents of Vairengte – confronted the Assam police team and things took an ugly, bloody turn.
It did not end there though. The battle of words which began on Twitter hours before the incident between Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sharma and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga continued, with blaming each blaming the other’s police force for the mess, rather than looking at a resolution. A section of people from Mizoram and Assam also took to Twitter by trending #shameonAssam and #shameonMizoram in no time. The question of ‘who fired the first shot’ took precedence, rather than any dialogue on ‘what happens next’.
Locals burn an effigy of Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga to protest against the killing of five Assam Police personnel and one civilian, July 28, 2021. Photo: PTI
A statement made to the local media on July 29 by Vanlalfaka Ralte, the superintendent of police of Mizoram’s Kolasib border district, where Vairengte is situated, provides some important context on the July 26 incident. He said, “I was negotiating with the Assam DIG (on July 26). I was telling him we should settle things peacefully. Suddenly, a shot went off from the Assam side. Since I was on the Assam side, there was no way my men could have fired first. But when they came under fire, they responded”.
By then, Assam chief minister Sarma had put out an accusatory tweet where he alleged that the Mizoram police ‘celebrated’ the death of the Assam police personnel. As a rebuttal, Lalmuanpuia, who was at the forefront during the clash, tells us, “This is absolutely not true! We celebrated the retaking of the Mizoram Police post. In fact, we did not even chase them back beyond the post.”
With contradictory claims being made by witnesses and others through the media, an atmosphere of anxiety, fear and lack of faith in a peaceful resolution has descended on both sides. Doubts in Mizoram loom large about any future border talks with the Assam government under the leadership of Sarma.
His style has differed significantly from how his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal approached the border issues. While Sonowal had shown restraint and a certain level of respect for all the parties involved, Sarma has taken a completely different approach to the matter. Instead of diffusing the tense situation, and looking for a resolution, he seems to have irresponsibly added more fuel to a sensitive matter.
When his forces were pushed back, he threatened to deploy over 3,000 commandos along the border, which was definitely uncalled for. His actions smelt of bullying a smaller state. “His (Sarma’s) arrogance led to the death of the six Assam police personnel,” alleges Lalfamkima, another resident of Vairengte whom we have spoken to.
It needs pointing out that just months after taking oath as the Assam chief minister, reports of border disputes between Assam and its neighbouring states began surfacing. Such occurrences, which led to the violence on July 26, may pose a serious threat to the at least decade-long peaceful relations between the northeastern states, in spite of border disputes. The hard-earned peace may also be a casualty here; may trigger the re-emergence of uprising from various groups, who want to take advantage of it, across the region.
Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma interacts with media after visiting the police personnel injured in a clash last night at Assam-Mizoram border, at Silchar Medical College & Hospital. 6 police personnel died and many were injured in the clash. Photo: PTI/Twitter
Here, it is also important to note that the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) had risen against the Government of India in 1966 largely due to the negligent policies of the then Assam government during the killer famine in the Lushai Hills district. The 20-year-long fight for ‘sovereignty’ ended with statehood for Mizoram in 1986 and peace has prevailed since. This particular chapter in history has also shown that unless provoked, Mizos are not known to incite violence.
The longstanding Assam-Mizoram border dispute definitely cannot be solved by either side using violence. The Union government – along with the governments of the two states – need to take a resolution-oriented and non-violent approach. As J. Doungel, professor of political science at Mizoram University, reminds us, “The border issue is a vague and complicated one which cannot be solved overnight. Therefore, an accommodative, persuasive and mature approach should be applied in tackling this problematic issue rather than emphasising on aggressive, populist, propagandist, opportunist and offensive approaches”.
He highlights, “The present border tension between Assam and Mizoram which led to the shooting incident could have been avoided had a persuasive and accommodative approach been applied rather than an aggressive and offensive approach.”
It goes without saying that the parties involved need to take historical records and historical facts into account while deliberating on the border issue. The heart of the problem lies in a disagreement over the border demarcation in the colonial era. 1n 1875, the British government had conducted the demarcation of the present-day Mizoram, then Lushai Hills, from Assam under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873. Another demarcation took place in 1933, leading to the birth of new districts based on culture, linguistic and tribal lines.
Mizoram supports the Cachar Inner Line of 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873, while Assam advocates for the 1933 notification on the Lushai Hills-Cachar border. Though Assam rejects the 1875 notification, for the Mizos, that border demarcation is valid because it took place in consultation with thee then Mizo tribal chieftains.
A land nurtured, protected and preserved for the Mizos by their forefathers should not have been demarcated without consulting the stakeholders. Several, till day, look at the issue through the lens of losing an inch of the land as an insult to the forefathers. They believe that all Mizos would protect and preserve the land for future generations, just like their forefathers did for them. Therefore, one needs to understand that these disputes cannot be solved with forceful occupation but only through careful deliberations and negotiations.
Further, border issues should never be utilised as a tool by any politician to augment their popularity among a constituency of people; the long term effect of such an action could be disastrous to the region’s fragile peace.
Prof Doungel rightly warns, “Let any chief minister or political party refrain from politicising the sensitive border issue for their popularity and political game; it would further problematise the issue.”
Embassy Lawbei teaches at the Department of Media Studies at Christ University, Bangalore. Prerana Srimal teaches history at the same university.