No encroachment by Assam in state's territory: Mizoram Home Minister

Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamlianna Monday told the state legislature that no encroachment was made in the state's territory by Assam.

Mizoram did not lose any land to Assam, rather it occupies some areas which fall in Assam according to the 1933 notification, he said.

No farmer practicing plantation or farming along the Mizoram-Assam border has faced harvest problem till now, the minister said.

"Assam does not encroach or grab Mizoram's territory. In fact, some areas occupied by Mizoram now fall under Assam as per the notification issued on 9 March, 1933, which the neighbouring state (Assam) accepts as its constitutional boundary," Lalchamliana said in a written reply to a question from opposition Congress leader Zodintluanga Ralte.

He said measures are being taken by Mizoram to occupy the inner line reserve forest notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) in August 1875.

The 1875 notification is accepted by Mizoram as its actual boundary, he said.

Mizoram districts of Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit share 164.6 km long border with Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts of Assam.

The border dispute between the two neighbouring states that stemmed from the two colonial demarcations of 1875 and 1933 has remained unresolved for decades.

Mizoram held that 509 square miles stretch of inner line reserved forest notified in 1875 , a vast area of which now falls under Assam, is the actual boundary of the state. Assam on the other hand claims that the boundary as per survey of India's map in 1933 is its constitutional boundary.

The border dispute between the two north eastern states turned ugly on July 26, 2021 when police forces of both Assam and Mizoram were involved in gunfights that lead to the death of seven people, including six policemen from Assam, and injuries to around 60 people.

Subsequently, the two northeastern states began high level talks from August 2021 to resolve the vexed issue. Since then both sides have held three rounds of talks and several virtual meetings on it.

In the last border talks held in Guwahati in November last year, the delegations of Assam and Mizoram had agreed that Mizoram will furnish the list of villages, their areas, geo-spatial extent and ethnicity of the people and other relevant information within three months to support its claim which can be examined by setting up regional committees of the two states to arrive at an amicable solution to the vexed border issues.

The Mizoram government formed a study group in January headed by a senior professor from Mizoram University to perform the task.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma met in New Delhi in November 2021 and September last year to find an amicable solution to the border dispute.