Students' body urges Mizo govt to settle border row with Assam

A students association in Mizoram took out a rally here on Friday demanding that the state government take necessary steps to solve the border dispute with neighbouring Assam.

Members of the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex students body of the state, insisted that the Inner Line Reserve Forest, spanning 509 square miles, should be "taken back by the state from Assam".

The border dispute has been a long-standing issue between Mizoram and Assam. Many civil societies, students bodies and NGOs claimed that areas, which once belonged to Mizoram, have been grabbed by Assam over the years.

"The students want the state government to take immediate steps to take back the reserve forest, in line with the notification issued by the British in 1875 under Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, a resolution adopted the MZP at the conclusion of the rally said.

The MZP members also said that the present map of Mizoram does not label the boundaries correctly and the state government should take steps to rectify the error.

We vow to protect the land of our forefathers. Not an inch of Mizo soil should be lost to neighbouring states, one of the MZP members, who participated in the rally, maintained.

L Ramdinliana Renthlei, the president of the association, said Mizo students were attacked by Assam Police personnel last year when they tried to construct a rest house at the disputed Zophai area along the border.

He claimed that the land, where the construction was being carried out, belonged to Ch Chhunga, the first chief minister of Mizoram.

Renthlei also noted that the Mizoram government did not take any action when Assam officials renovated a building near Vairengte, another disputed area in the reserve forest.

An ultimatum was sent to the Zoramthanga government for extending help in the construction of wooden resting shed at Zophai area of the reserve forest by July 17, but the state has failed to meet the deadline, forcing us to take out the rally today, he added.