News Analysis India

Tag: Cachar

  • Assam-Mizoram clash: Will approach SC to protect state’s forests, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

    By ANI

    SILCHAR: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state government will move the Supreme Court seeking protection of innerline Forest Reserve from destruction and encroachment, a day after clashes on the border with Mizoram left five dead and many police personnel and a few locals injured in the clashes.

    The Assam chief minister also announced financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh each to the families of the five police personnel who died in the clashes on Monday.

    Addressing reporters here today, Sarma said, “Assam Government will provide financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh each to families of the police personnel who died in clashes at the border with Mizoram yesterday. The injured will be given Rs 1 lakh each. The government has sent the injured SP to Mumbai for treatment.”

    The chief minister stated that the police is investigating the incident and a probe has been launched into where the civilians procured their arms. “The incident took place at the border of Assam. Our police will investigate the matter. It will be investigated where the civilians got the arms from. Five police personnel lost their lives,” he said.

    Sarma said that Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga had apologised and invited him for talks when he called him during the clashes. The Assam chief minister also said that not an inch of Assam’s land could be encroached by the neighbouring state.

    “People have sacrificed their lives but boundary has been protected which we will continue to do at any cost,” Sarma said.

    “I called Mizoram CM six times when firing was taking place (at the Assam-Mizoram border yesterday). He said ‘sorry’ and invited me for talks in Aizawl. No one can take even an inch of our land. We’re committed to securing our territory. Police are on the border,” he said.

    The Assam chief minister told reporters that satellite images had shown encroachment was taking place in the state, roads are being constructed and forests cleared for cultivation which cannot be allowed. Emphasizing that forests are not meant for building settlements, Sarma asserted that the Assam government wants to protest its forests.

    “This is a reserve forest area. With the help of satellite imaging, you can see how the encroachment has taken place. Assam Government has also decided to move Supreme Court with a (law) suit over this. It is a reserve forest. Can reserve forest be utilised for settlement? The dispute is not regarding land, it’s regarding the forest. Assam wants to protect the forest. It’s not organising any settlement in forest area, we don’t want any settlement there,” said the Assam Chief Minister.

    Stating that it is a boundary dispute between states and not a political issue between parties, Sarma said that there were conflicts between Mizoram and Assam even when Congress was in power in both the state.

    “This is not a political issue. This is a boundary dispute between two states. This is a long-standing border dispute. There were disputes even at the time when the Congress government was there on both sides. This is a dispute between two states, not between two political parties,” he added.

    The Assam government, Sarma said, will deploy three commando battalions in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts bordering Mizoram to strengthen security. “3000 personnel will be recruited,” Sarma said.

    Also, Sarma said, “All Assam personnel deployed on the Mizoram border shall get an additional salary of a month.”

  • Five Assam cops dead, SP among 50 hurt as violence at border with Mizoram intensifies

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI:  At least five Assam Police personnel were killed and over 50 others, including civilians, injured when the Assam-Mizoram border row flared up on Monday that saw the police of the two states firing at each other. Automatic weapons, including light machine guns, were used by the Mizoram Police in the attack, the Assam government alleged.

    The injured included Assam’s Cachar Superintendent of Police Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant and the officer-in-charge of a police station in the district. Ironically, while Assam has a BJP government, the ruling party in Mizoram is an NDA ally.

    “Clear evidences are now beginning to emerge that unfortunately show that Mizoram Police has used Light Machine Guns (LMG) against personnel of @assampolice,” tweeted a horrified Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma later in the day.

    The incident came amidst a fortnight-long eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the two police forces and two days after the CMs of the two states discussed the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Meghalaya capital Shillong.

    Shah spoke to the two CMs on Monday and asked them to peacefully resolve the issue. Following his intervention, the Assam Police withdrew from the site. The CRPF is now manning the area.Blaming Mizoram for the flare-up and breaching status quo, an Assam government statement said, “Mizoram began constructing a road towards Rengti Basti in Assam, destroying the Inner Line Reserve Forest in Lailapur area. Simultaneously, the Mizoram side also set up a new armed camp on a hillock next to the camp of the neutral force, CRPF, in the same vicinity.” 

    When Assam officials went to the area to request the Mizoram side not to disturb status quo, “they were surrounded and attacked by a mob of miscreants from the Mizoram side, which was visibly supported by the Mizoram Police.”

    Mizoram blames Assam for flare up

    In the afternoon, Manipur’s Kolasib district SP held talks with the Assam delegation. The SP returned again around 4.30 pm and claimed he had no control over the mob, the statement added. E ven while the talks were on, the Mizoram Police opened fire on the Assam officials and civilians from two dominating high features with automatic weapons, including light machine guns, the statement said.

    For his part, Mizoram CM Zoramthanga condemned the Assam government’s “unjustified act” of intrusion and aggression into Mizoram’s territory. He said the injuries on both sides could have been avoided. Giving his take of the incident, Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana said around 200 Assam Police personnel came to Mizoram’s Vairengte auto-rickshaw stand at around 11.30 am by forcibly crossing a post manned by the CRPF and overran a Mizoram Police post.

    He said the Assam Police damaged several vehicles that were travelling along the national highway between Vairengte and Lailapur. “Upon learning of the arson committed by Assam Police, residents of Vairengte town, Kolasib district proceeded to the site to inquire. These unarmed civilians were assaulted by Assam Police by lathi-charging and firing of tear gas, thereby causing injuries to several civilians,” Lalchamliana said. E ight unoccupied farm huts near the trouble-torn area were torched. Lalchamliana said the SP of Kolasib had gone to the site to try and resolve the issue.

    However, the Assam side was adamant and unwilling to discuss, he claimed. The confrontation continued and a volley of tear gas canisters and grenades were launched at Mizoram Police followed by firing from Assam side around 4:50 pm. The Mizoram Police responded by firing back at Assam Police.

    Who’s the squatter?

    Border conflicts have occurred since Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972 to eventually become a state in 1987

    There have been several rounds of talks between the two states since 1995 to resolve the issue

    Officials and locals in Assam claim Mizos have been squatting on 1-3 km land from the interstate border

    But Mizoram groups claim the authorities in Assam have been using ‘illegal Bangladeshis’ to move 10-12 km inside their territory

    The official stand of Mizoram is that the boundary should be demarcated based on a notification of 1875 that distinguished the Lushai Hills (present day Mizoram and erstwhile district of Assam) from the plains of Cachar

    1933 The point of conflict is another British-era notification of 1933 that Assam follows but is not acceptable to Mizoram, which says their ancestors were not consulted on this

    In 1971, the interstate boundary was redefined and Mizos say it was done without their knowledge or consent. Much of Mizo land under British rule was included into Assam territory

  • 6 Assam cops dead, 50 hurt as violence at border with Mizoram intensifies

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: at least six personnel of the Assam Police were killed in firing by miscreants from neighbouring Mizoram on Monday as violence escalated along the inter-state border in the Cachar district, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

    A senior Assam Police officer, who is still inside the forest amid continuous firing from across the border, told PTI that at least 50 personnel, including Cachar SP Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant, were injured in firing and stone-pelting.

    “I am deeply pained to inform that six brave jawans of @assampolice have sacrificed their lives while defending constitutional boundary of our state at the Assam-Mizoram border.

    My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,” Sarma tweeted.

    The senior police officer said miscreants from across the border suddenly started firing when civil officials of both sides were holding a dialogue to sort out the differences.

    “I immediately cannot say how many people have been injured, but my guess is at least 50 personnel.

    Our SP was also injured in the firing and a bullet hit his leg,” the officer said over the phone.

    The IPS officer spoke to PTI while he was hiding inside a forest and firing could be heard in the background.