Assam police erected two temporary huts in the disputed region of the 2018 confrontations, close to opposing Mizoram's first CM Ch. Chhunga's paddy field.
Digital Desk: Conflict along the Mizoram-Assam border on Sunday, when Assam police built bamboo huts on disputed property near Bairabi town in Kolasib district, a year after a deadly border battle between the two states killed seven people, according to a senior police officer.
Mizoram and Assam share a 164.6-kilometre border, and the two northeastern states are currently negotiating an equitable solution to the vexing border conflict.
Assam police, according to Kolasib Superintendent of Police (SP) Vanlalfaka Ralte, have erected two temporary huts on the disputed territory immediately opposite Mizoram's first chief minister Ch. Chhunga's paddy field, where the border skirmish happened in 2018.
The incident occurred on disputed terrain between Mizoram's Kolasib district and Assam's Hailakandi district.
According to Ralte, the two cottages were demolished by Assam police on Monday in response to the Mizoram government's reply. According to him, chief minister Zoramthanga and home minister Lalchamliana have also discussed the problem with their Assam counterparts.
According to Ralte, last week saw the completion of a survey in the area by Assam officials.
The Kolasib deputy commissioner and I informed our Hailakandi counterparts that the location is within the disputed land where both state governments have decided to maintain the status quo after learning about the survey and attempt to build huts.
Officials from Assam asserted that they were unaware that it was a contentious area.
"After the huts were removed on Monday, the situation near the interstate boundary is slowly returning to normal," he said.
Ralte continued by saying that they had reason to believe the Assam government was attempting to set up a permanent police base nearby.
The ongoing boundary negotiations between the two states could be hampered by any actions, including the construction of structures along the disputed areas, he continued.
Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the leading student organisation in Mizoram, fiercely accused the Assam government of being responsible for the tragedy.
According to a statement made on Monday by the prominent student organisation, the Mizoram people as well as the peace process between the two states were insulted by the Assam police's construction of huts on the disputed land in contempt of the status quo.
When MZP officials sought to erect a wooden cabin there in March 2018, there was a violent altercation.
When police charged the demonstrators with lathi and started firing on them that year, more than 60 people were hurt.
The border dispute between Mizoram and Assam has been ongoing for a long time and has yet to be resolved. Seven persons, including an Assamese civilian, were killed in July last year when forces from both states exchanged fire on the disputed territory on National Highway-306.
Both countries are now negotiating a solution to the vexing border problem.
The chief ministers of the two states, Zoramthanga and Himanta Biswa Sarma, met in Delhi last month to discuss the border problem and decided to continue the current ministerial-level talks, which were last conducted in Aizawl in August.
The next round of ministerial-level negotiations is set to take place in Guwahati later this month.
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