News Analysis India

Tag: Mizoram

  • Assam govt withdraws Mizoram travel advisory following joint statement to work towards border peace

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Thursday withdrew its travel advisory asking people not to travel to Mizoram following violence along the interstate border, officials said.

    An order issued by the Home and Political Department’s Commissioner and Secretary M S Mannivannan said in view of the joint statement by the representatives of the governments of Assam and Mizoram, “the travel advisory issued on July 29 is withdrawn”.

    Earlier in the day, the Mizoram and Assam governments agreed to find a lasting solution to the century-old boundary dispute and take measures, including resuming interstate vehicular movement and keeping respective police forces off the conflict areas, to de-escalate tension.

    Representatives of the two states held a meeting in Aizawl to bring back normalcy along the interstate border, where an uneasy calm prevails after six Assam Police personnel and one civilian were killed and 50 others injured in a clash between security forces on July 26.

    After the meeting, Assam’s Border Area Development Minister Atul Bora, who headed the state’s delegation, told reporters that both sides have agreed to maintain peace along the boundary.

    “Both the states have welcomed the deployment of neutral forces in the disputed areas and agreed not to send their respective police forces for patrolling, domination, enforcement or fresh deployment to any of the areas where confrontation and conflict have taken place between police forces of the two states in recent times,” a joint statement issued by the two states said.

    The statement was signed by Bora, his department’s Commissioner and Secretary G D Tripathi, and Mizoram’s Home Minister Lalchamliana and Home Secretary Vanlalngathsaka.

  • Assam, Mizoram welcome central troops, agree to not send state forces to disputed border sites

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Assam and Mizoram agreed to not send their forest and police forces for patrolling, domination, enforcement, or deployment to any of the areas where confrontation and conflict took place between the two police forces in recent times.

    This would include all such areas along Assam’s Karimganj, Hailakandi, and Cachar districts and Mizoram’s Mamit and Kolasib districts.

    The representatives of the two governments, including ministers, who met in Aizawl on Thursday, issued a joint statement.

    According to the statement, the two states agreed to maintain peace along the interstate border and welcomed the deployment of neutral force by the Government of India.

    “The Governments of Assam and Mizoram welcome and agree to take forward the initiatives taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and Hon.ble Chief Ministers of Assam and Mizoram to remove tensions prevailing around the inter-State borders and to find lasting solutions to the disputes through discussions…

    ALSO READ | Mizoram, Assam hold talks on boundary dispute; agree to resolve issue amicably

    “The representatives of Government of Mizoram convey condolences for the loss of lives on 26th July 2021 and convey best wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured,” the statement reads.

    The two sides agreed to take all necessary measures to promote, preserve and maintain peace and harmony among people living in the two states, particularly in border areas.

    Later, the Mizoram Chief Minister’s Office tweeted: “Govt. of Assam & Govt. of Mizoram successfully signed a Joint Statement today after deliberations at Aizawl. Both governments agree to take forward the Ministry of Home Affairs’ initiatives to remove prevailing tensions and to find lasting solutions through discussions.”

    Assam Minister Ashok Singhal, who took part in the deliberation, wrote on the microblogging site: “With great optimism from both sides, we held our discussion with the Home Minister of Mizoram @Lalchamliana12 Ji & other officials on resolving the #AssamMizoramBorder issue. This is in continuation of the discussion initiated by HCM @himantabiswa Ji & HCM @ZoramthangaCM Ji.”

    The Mizoram government was represented by Home Minister Lalchamliana, Revenue Minister Lalruatkima, and Home Secretary Vanlalngaihsaka. The Assam delegation had Minister for Border Protection and Development Atul Bora, Commissioner and Secretary of Border Protection and Development GD Tripathi, besides Singhal.

    The July 26 border skirmish had left six Assam Police personnel dead and scores others, including civilians, injured.

  • Two ministers, home secretary to engage in border dispute talks with Assam: Mizoram chief secretary

    By PTI

    AIZAWL: Three representatives from Mizoram — Home minister Lalchamliana, Land Revenue and Settlement minister Lalruatkima and home department secretary Vanlalngaihsaka — will be engaging in talks with delegates from Assam to find a solution to the inter-state boundary dispute, a top official said on Wednesday.

    Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo told PTI that the meeting of ministers and officials of the two states will be held at Aijal club here at 11 am on Thursday. Sources in Assam said the Himanta Biswa Sarma government will be sending cabinet ministers Atul Bora and Ashok Singhal to participate in the talks.

    A festering border dispute between the two states had triggered a bloody conflict on July 26, leading to the death six Assam Police personnel and one civilian. Over 50 people suffered injuries in the incident.

    Tomorrow the 5th of August, 2021 representatives from #Assam Govt. led by senior Minister will meet representatives of #Mizoram Govt. led by senior Minister.I am sure important steps will be achieved for the solution of the border problem.#NorthEastIsOne@himantabiswa pic.twitter.com/ToLc28TIIj
    — Zoramthanga (@ZoramthangaCM) August 4, 2021
    Taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that he was certain the meeting would help the two states arrive at a solution. “Tomorrow that is 5th of August, 2021 representatives from Assam Govt led by senior minister will meet representatives of Mizoram Govt led by senior minister. I am sure important steps will be achieved for the solution of the border problem,” he tweeted.

    Highly placed sources said that the two sides decided to hold talks to defuse the escalating tension following Union Home Minister Amit Shah intervention. Earlier, on Monday, Sarma had announced on the microblogging site that he will send two of his cabinet ministers to Aizawl to broker peace.

    ALSO READ| CYMA demands probe into involvement of outside forces in Mizoram-Assam border skirmishes

    Sarma’s announcement came hours after his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga declared on social media that he has directed the state police to withdraw cases filed against officials of the neighbouring state. The Assam CM subsequently said cases filed in his state against Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthlangliana and Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Thartea Hrangchal will also be withdrawn.

    Meanwhile, the “unofficial” economic blockade, allegedly backed by Assam government, on National Highway-306 in Cachar district entered its 10th day on Wednesday. A senior police officer in Vairengte told PTI that no vehicle has entered the state from Assam since July 26.

  • Ready to get arrested by Mizoram police if it helps bring peace, won’t seek bail: Assam CM

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Sunday said he is ready to be arrested by Mizoram Police if it helps bring peace between the neighbouring states of Mizoram and Assam, whose police engaged in a fire fight six days ago, which left seven dead.

    The Assam chief minister, while asserting that only talks would help resolve the row, said while speaking to reporters that he would not seek bail to avoid any summon by Mizoram Police.

    Sarma’s statement came after Mizoram chief secretary said earlier in the day that the state’s chief minister had frowned on charges of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy levelled against his counterpart and indicated these are likely to be withdrawn.

    “If I am served a summon, I will go on a `padyatra’ (journey to galvanise opinion) from Silchar to Vairengte (the town where Assam officials have been summoned) and join the probe.

    “If they (Mizoram Police) arrest me and that (helps) bring the situation to normal, I am ready for that. I will not seek bail from Gauhati High Court,” he said dramatically.

    Mizoram’s police had also filed first information reports against six Assam police officers over the clash.

    ALSO READ | Assam blocking movement of vehicles carrying medical supplies: Mizoram Health Minister

    Sarma however said he will protect the officers and will not “allow them to be investigated by Mizoram police for an incident which occurred in Assam.”

    Assam too in a tit-for-tat move has summoned Mizoram Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena and six others Mizoram officials, including Kolasib deputy commissioner H Lalthlangliana and superintendent of police Vanlalfaka Ralte for interrogation at Dholai on Monday.

    Earlier in the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke telephonically with both the chief ministers of Assam and Mizoram in a bid to bring down tensions between the two states.

    Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted after the phone call, “As per telephonic discussion with Union Home Minister and Assam Chief Minister, we agreed to resolve the Mizoram-Assam border issue amicably through meaningful dialogue.” 

    He also urged the people of Mizoram to refrain from posting “sensitive messages and make judicious use of social media platform.”

    However, Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana soon afterwards claimed that medical supplies, including COVID-19 test kits, were being blocked from entering the state from Assam.

    A claim which was hotly refuted by Assam officials who contended that no blockade had been imposed.

    Despite an attempt by Shah to resolve a raft of long-standing border disuptes between Assam and its neighbours earlier this month, at least six Assam Police personnel and one civilian were killed and more than 50 people injured, including the police chief of the district of Cachar, in a fire-fight between the police of the two states on a disputed stretch of their boundary, near Dholai in Cachar district.

    A subsequent agreement was hammered out on Wednesday night, by the Union home ministry to maintain calm on the border and allow a neutral central police force to act as peace-keepers.

    Nevertheless, the two states have continued to trade charges of reinforcing police pickets and of refusing to honour the agreement which calls for pulling back forces from the border.

    Assamese local organisations which had soon after the clash announced an economic blockade of Mizoram have since lifted their `blokade’, but truckers afraid of possible violence have opted to either park their vehicles near the border in Cachar district’s Dholai or to circumvent the troubled boundary by taking a longer route through Tripura.

    Assam government on Thursday had also issued an unprecedented travel advisory asking people not to travel to Mizoram and advised people from the state working or staying there to “exercise utmost caution.”

    Tension along the border with Mizoram in Cachar and Hailakandi districts of Assam have been escalating since October 2020 with frequent incidents of burning of houses and encroachment of land.

    The two states share a 164.6-km border between Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, and Mizoram’s Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts.

    Both states have differing interpretations of their territorial border.

    While Mizoram believes that its border lies along an ‘inner line’ drawn up in 1875 to protect tribals from outside influence, Assam goes by a district demarcation done in the 1930s.

  • Assam blocking movement of vehicles carrying medical supplies: Mizoram Health Minister

    By PTI
    AIZAWL: Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana claimed on Sunday that medical supplies, including COVID-19 test kits, were being blocked from entering the state from Assam due to the imposition of blockade in the Barak Valley region following the border dispute.

    Assam, however, said that no organisation is currently staging any blockade in the state.

    Mizoram is currently battling the second wave of the pandemic and is one of the most affected states in the country.

    Lalthangliana alleged that vehicles carrying COVID-19 related materials like test kits and medicines were stranded on NH-306 in Cachar district of Assam.

    “As per our information, a state-sponsored economic blockade has been clamped in Assam. Vehicles carrying consignments of essential commodities and life-saving medicines are stranded in the Dholai-Lailapur area in Assam. We will approach the Centre again to take the initiative for resumption of movement of traffic,” Lalthangliana told PTI.

    ALSO READ | Mizoram to withdraw FIR lodged against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

    Seven people, including six Assam Police personnel, were killed and scores injured in an armed clash along the Mizoram-Assam border on July 26.

    Meanwhile, Mizoram chief secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said the state government has strong faith in the Centre and will send another letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) seeking its intervention for immediate resumption of traffic movement from Assam.

    According to the chief secretary, about 95 per cent of essential supplies come to landlocked Mizoram through Assam via NH 306, which is the lifeline of the state.

    The Mizoram Home Department had written to the Union Home Ministry twice in three days between July 28 and July 30 seeking its intervention to lift the alleged economic blockade clamped by people of Barak Valley, and restoration of railway tracks damaged by miscreants in at least three locations in Assam.

    Kolasib Superintendent of Police (SP) Vanlalfaka said on Sunday that no vehicles, except those of security forces, have entered Mizoram from Assam since the boundary clash.

    ALSO READ | Centre trying peaceful solution to Assam-Mizoram dispute; no plans for CBI probe in border clashes

    The police officer claimed said that there is no restriction on traffic movement on the Mizoram side and a handful of vehicles are entering Assam every day.

    At least 70 vehicles left for Assam on Saturday, he said.

    “We are making efforts to ensure that vehicles manned by non-tribals move freely to Assam. No resident of Mizoram is creating any problem as the people are convinced that it is not a communal issue but a border dispute between the two states,” he told PTI.

    He said that there is no further escalation of the situation along the inter-state border as troopers of Central Armed Forces have been deployed and are patrolling the border areas.

    Mizoram Chemist and Druggist Association had recently written to the state chief secretary seeking the government’s intervention for resumption of supplies from Assam.

    The association alleged that the Assam government under the guise of security concern had on July 29 verbally instructed all transporters in Guwahati not to book goods, including medicines, for transportation to Mizoram.

    Even courier companies have been barred from booking letters and parcels, the letter alleged.

  • Centre failed in handling Assam-Mizoram border dispute: Congress

    #39;Lives are being lost and homilies and preaching is happening, just because, there are at least one of them is a full BJP government, #39; Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

  • Mizoram claims no vehicular movement from Assam so far despite ‘lifting of blockade’

    By PTI
    AIZWAL: Officials in Mizoram claimed on Saturday that no vehicle has entered the state from Assam since the boundary clash despite the neighbouring state’s assertion that the “economic blockade” staged by several groups on National Highway 306 has been lifted.

    Seven people, including six Assam Police personnel, have been killed and scores injured in a clash along the Mizoram-Assam inter-state border on July 26.

    “No vehicle has entered Mizoram from Assam from Monday to Saturday,” Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthlangliana told PTI. Lalchawimawa, officer-in-charge of Vairengte police station, close to which the border check-gate is located, echoed the DC but said that some trucks from Mizoram, however, have left for Assam.

    “No vehicles have entered Mizoram from Assam till 3 pm on Saturday. However, few trucks from Mizoram have left for Assam,” he said.

    The officer claimed that there is no restriction on traffic movement in Mizoram and vehicles from the state are entering Assam every day even after the clash. He said that the situation along the inter-state border is under control and peaceful now.

    The Centre has deployed more troops of central armed forces in the border areas. The Mizoram government had on Friday written another letter to the Union Home Ministry alleging economic blockade in Assam and seeking the Centre’s intervention to lift it.

    In the letter, Mizoram Home Secretary Lalbiaksangi alleged that several vehicles carrying COVID-related materials like test kits were stranded on NH 306 in the Lailapur-Dholai area in Assam.

    Mizoram also sought the restoration of railway tracks damaged by miscreants in three locations in Assam. Assam, however, has claimed that no group is currently staging any blockade on NH 306 in the state.

    Meanwhile, the Mizoram government has opened alternate routes to bring essential commodities from Tripura and Manipur.

    Lalrozama, Deputy Commissioner of Mamit district, which shares border with Tripura, said that essential commodities including fuel and LPG, are coming in from the neighbouring state.

    A sizeable number of traders from Tripura have entered Mizoram on Saturday and the administration is making efforts to ensure smooth traffic movement between the two states, he added.

  • Northeast India will always be one: Mizoram CM Zoramthanga

    By PTI
    AIZAWL: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that Northeast India will always be one, amid deadly violence at its border with Assam, which advised its residents to not visit the neighbouring state.

    Zoramthanga also shared on Twitter a notification issued by his government, stating that there will be no restrictions on the movement of non-residents of Mizoram in Kolasib district, which borders Assam’s Cachar district. “#NorthEast India will always be #One,” the chief minister tweeted on Friday.

    Public Notice to all.#NorthEast India will always be #One @prag_newsAssam @DGPAssamPolice @BarakBulletin @dccachar @cacharpolice @mygovassam @diprassam https://t.co/2sHp2HYlHK
    — Zoramthanga (@ZoramthangaCM) July 30, 2021

    Zoramthanga’s comment came a day after the Assam government issued a travel advisory, asking its residents not to travel to Mizoram and those staying there to exercise utmost caution. Meanwhile, the border row continued to simmer as police forces of the two states registered criminal cases over Monday’s violence that left at least seven people from Assam dead and more than 50 people injured.

  • Incendiary statement on border violence: Assam Police summons Mizoram MP Vanlalvena

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Assam Police asked Mizoram’s Rajya Sabha member K Vanlalvena to depose before it on August 1 for questioning in connection with his alleged incendiary statement pertaining to the July 26 violence on the Assam-Mizoram interstate border that left six Assam cops dead and scores others injured.

    An Assam Police team visited the MP’s official residence in Delhi on Friday but did not find him. This made the cops to paste a notice at the residence asking him to depose before the officer-in-charge of Dholai police station in Assam’s Cachar district at 11 am on August 1 “without fail”.

    A case was registered with the Dholai police station two days ago.

    Assam’s Special Director-General of Police, GP Singh confirmed the notice being pasted at Vanlalvena’s residence.

    “He is supposed to come and depose on August 1. It’s a Sunday and there is no House (Parliament session),” Singh told The New Indian Express. “If he doesn’t depose, we will have to take the next step which is (issuance of) warrant (against him),” Singh said.

    A team of the Delhi Police accompanied the Assam cops when they had gone out in search of the Mizoram MP.

    An Assam Police team, including officers of the Criminal Investigation Department, arrived in Delhi on Thursday to take “lawful action” relating to the conspiracy behind the July 26 incident in light of a media interview of Vanlalvena, indicative of his active role in the conspiracy.”

    Vanlalvena had made the alleged provocative statement outside the Parliament on Wednesday.

    He had stated: “…They are lucky that we didn’t kill them all. If they come again, we shall kill them all.”

    He was on Friday not available on the phone. Calls made to him went unattended.

  • No curbs on travel to Mizoram, says Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government had not issued any curbs on people’s travel to Mizoram.“The Assam government has not blocked any road (leading to Mizoram). The road is open. We have only asked the people of Assam to not hurry in travelling to Mizoram. Let us study the situation and when there is peace, people can visit the state,” Sarma told journalists on Friday.He said the Assam Police would register cases against anyone found making provocative statements. They will be dealt with as per law, he said.Stating that Assam has a friendly relationship with Mizoram and other states of the Northeast and the state will protect it, he said, “We will solve the boundary disputes through dialogues but we will never allow if somebody forcibly attempts to take away Assam’s land. If need be, we will make self-sacrifice. We will protect our land.”The Assam government had on Thursday issued a travel advisory, asking the people of the state not to travel to Mizoram.“Even after this (July 26) incident, certain Mizo civil society, students and youth organisations are constantly issuing provocative statements against Assam and its people…“It has been reliably learnt from video footage available with Assam Police that many civilians are heavily armed with automatic weapons etc. In view of the above and with the purpose of ensuring safety and security, a travel advisory is hereby issued to all the people of Assam…“The people are advised not to travel to Mizoram as any threat to personal safety of people of Assam cannot be accepted,” the advisory stated.