Mizoram seeks Rajnath's help to resolve border row with Assam

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has sought union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's intervention to resolve the Assam-Mizoram boundary dispute, an official said here Wednesday.

"The chief minister met the union home minister in New Delhi Saturday and requested him to intervene in the long pending boundary dispute with Assam," said an official of the Mizoram government speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said Rajnath Singh, as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during an election campaign before the 2013 assembly polls in Mizoram, had said the border dispute would be resolved if the BJP came to power at the Centre.

Occasionally, the border disputes between northern Mizoram and southern Assam have flared-up among the people of the two northeastern states, forcing the authorities to intervene.

Southern Assam's Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi districts share their border with Mizoram's Kolosib district -- which was one of the districts of Assam till 1973 when Mizoram became a union territory.

The official said: "The chief minister discussed with the central home minister about the reimbursement of security related expenditure.

"Mizoram Police have been spending huge money to deal with the militant outfits who are operating from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar and adjoining northeastern states are occasionally doing violent activities in Mizoram."

On the repatriation of tribal refugees from Tripura to Mizoram, the chief minister told Rajnath Singh that a section of refugee leaders have been creating problem opposing the repatriation process.

"However, Mizoram has taken steps for the repatriation of the refugees and as on June 23, 1,237 tribal families have returned to Mizoram from Tripura," the official said.

The official cited Rajnath Singh as telling home ministry officials to do whatever is possible at the earliest.