Fear of land grab by ‘illegal migrants’ could be factor behind frequent Assam-Mizoram border clashes

Screenshot of a video posted by Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga (Image: Twitter/@ZoramthangaCM)

The fear of land encroachment by suspected “illegal migrants” from Bangladesh could be a factor behind frequent clashes reported from Assam-Mizoram interstate border. On July 26, five Assam Police personnel and one civilian were killed when violence broke out in a disputed area.

The incident happened just two days after Union home minister Amit Shah chaired a key meeting of chief ministers of northeastern states on interstate border disputes in Shillong. And it is believed the meeting failed to generate any consensus among states such as Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

Successive central governments have ignored the importance of a long-term solution to the interstate boundary issues, leading to frequent skirmishes, violence and bloodshed.

There are conflicting accounts of what led to the bloodbath on July 26, with people on the Mizoram side blaming alleged illegal migrants from Bangladesh trying to encroach upon their land.

An Aizawl-based journalist told Moneycontrol that there is a perception among the Mizos that “illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in southern Assam are being pushed towards the areas bordering Mizoram, and they are trying to grab Mizoram’s land”.

Violence broke out at a disputed border area shared by Lailapur in Assam’s Cachar district and Vairengte in Mizoram’s Kolasib district.

Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga tweeted, saying that “two companies of Assam Police and civilians” came to the Vairengte autorickshaw stand inside Mizoram and Assam policemen “lathicharged and tear-gassed civilians”, adding, “They even overrun CRPF personnel /Mizoram Police”.

The Assam government, on the other hand, said in a press statement that Mizoram breached the existing boundary agreements and status quo and “began constructing a road towards Rengti Basti in Assam, destroying the Inner Line Reserve Forest in Lailapur area”.

It further claimed Mizoram also set up a new armed police camp “on a hillock next to the camp of the neutral force, CRPF”.

When a team of senior police and civil administration officials reached the area to defuse the situation, they were allegedly surrounded and attacked by a mob of miscreants from the Mizoram side, “which was visibly supported by the Mizoram Police”, the Assam government claimed.

Decades-long dispute

Assam has a long history of land conflicts with neighboring states such as Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh which were once part of it. Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills in undivided Assam; it was given the status of a union territory in 1972 and then became a full-fledged state on February 20, 1987.

However, there are no reports of Assam getting embroiled in any boundary conflict with Manipur and Tripura. The two former princely states were annexed to India after its independence and both attained full statehood on January 21, 1972, according to the provisions of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

The latest Assam-Mizoram border clash was a result of conflicting territorial claims that have persisted for over two decades. Similar incidents of violence were reported in 1994, 2007, March 2018, more recently in October last year.

According to the Land Conflict Watch portal, the current dispute can be traced back to an 1875 notification of the Government of India. Mizoram, which shares a 164-km border with Assam, apparently refuses to accept the present boundary and suggests that the Inner-Line Reserve Forest (ILFR), as described in the 1875 notification under the East Bengal Frontier Regulation of 1873, should be the basis of delineating the border.

The Mizoram government had in 2012 constituted a 5-member committee to resolve the matter, but its request to the Centre to form a boundary commission has not yielded any result yet.

On July 27, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government will move the Supreme Court seeking protection of ILFR from destruction and encroachment.

‘Illegal migrants’ — a recurring theme

The issue of illegal migrants is a recurring theme in the Assam-Mizoram border clashes. A large section of people on the Assam side of the border is Bengali-speaking Muslims, whom Mizos suspect to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They also fear that these people are trying to grab their land, leading to clashes from time to time.

Lalrintluanga Sailo, a legislator from the ruling Mizo National Front, had earlier said that Mizoram is not hostile to Assam or its people, but is protecting its territory from infiltration by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, who are living in the border areas. He had alleged that more than 80 per cent of people living along the Assam-Mizoram border are illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

The MLA had made this remark in the wake of a violent clash in October last year. A large number of Vairengte residents assembled when some people from the Assam side, armed with sticks and machetes, pelted stones at a group near the autorickshaw stand on the outskirts of the village, according to officials from Kolasib district.

At least four persons were injured in the clashes; several temporary shops and huts were set ablaze. Mizo civil society groups pinned blamed on “illegal migrants” from Bangladesh.

An Assam minister had then dismissed the incident by saying such incidents happen in the area every year as people from both the sides illegally cut trees.

Even in the latest incident, Mizo civil society groups have accused Assam government of protecting “illegal migrants”, an allegation the latter outrightly rejected.

“The illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are trying to occupy our traditional land. I don’t understand why the Assam government is supporting them,” B. Vanlaltana, president of the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the apex students’ body in Mizoram was quoted as saying by India Today.

However, Assam CM Sarma said that if there is any evidence of encroachment, the state government will order eviction.

“We have no settlements in the forest areas and, if Mizoram can give evidence, we will immediately carry out an eviction,” he told reporters in Silchar.

Assam to deploy commandos

Meanwhile, CM Sarma said on July 27 that 4,000 Assam Police “commandos” will be deployed in certain areas in southern Assam’s Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts sharing the interstate border with Mizoram.

He also enquired about the health condition of Cachar police chief Vaibhav Nimbalkar and other police persons who sustained injuries in Monday’s clashes.

The state government will provide ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh to the families of the five Assam police personnel who lost their lives in the incident.

Sarma tweeted saying, he had spoken with his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga on phone and “reiterated that Assam will maintain status quo and peace between the borders of our state. I have expressed my willingness to visit Aizawl and disscuss these issues if need be”.

According to revenue records of the Assam government, Nagaland allegedly encroached upon 19,819.62 hectares of its land, Arunachal Pradesh 5,756.02 hectares and Meghalaya 65.62 hectares since 2001.