‘Peace has returned to Assam, Mizoram’
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma speaks to
Choudhury Sunetra
about the border dispute with Mizoram and the efforts that were made to ease tensions.
Is the peace arrangement with Mizoram lasting?
My ministers visited Aizawl and after that meeting, we issued a joint press release whose operative part was that no state will deploy their police forces at the border and they will try to resolve all disputes peacefully. Second, both states have decided that CRPF will be at the border till we come to certain solutions. With these two statements, I think peace has returned and vehicular movement has resumed. You cannot keep on fighting with your sister state and I hope peace will be lasting.
You met the home minister and the Prime Minister. What did they say about handling the situation?
First of all, the home minister was involved from day one. When clashes broke out, it was he who advised me to hand over that police post to CRPF. On that day, he called both of us 4-5 times, so we handed over the disputed post’s force in our possession to CRPF. Initially, the post was with the Mizoram police, then the post was reclaimed by us because we consider it our territory. Then, on the home minister’s advice, we handed the post back to the CM and then Mizo police also entered in that police post. The home minister said “chhor do” (leave it) because, after all, CRPF is there. He started playing that critical role from day one. Finally, he was talking to both of us through those 6-7 days and daily 2-3 times, advising and counselling us, understanding our points of view and finally, it was he who drafted the joint press release ....
As far as the PM is concerned, I talked to him over the phone. He said “the country is pained when I see people of two states fighting, especially in the North-east”. The PM has taken so many initiatives to keep N-E away from the underdeveloped tag. So, it was out of respect to him that both states signed the peace statement.
Could you explain the issue?
The issue is very, very complex. For Assam, the 1932 boundary, which was ratified by an Act of Parliament, has become the constitutional boundary. Mizoram nurtured a sense of historical injustice. When the state was carved out in 1985, these were dense forests and people of both states weren’t going to these border areas. At that point in time, you could have defined which parts were south, north, etc. You didn’t do that and referred to a geographical territory which is vague, and same with Nagaland and Meghalaya. These are injustices done to the region as a whole. But there are sensitivities and if you transfer that territory, where will the people go? If you transfer them to Nagaland or Arunachal, they are tribal states where nontribal cannot have land. So, for our people, this is a battle for everything. These are very intense conflicts and even when Kiren Rijiju was home minister (MOS) in 2014, he visited the Assam-nagaland border where 13 people died. So, it keeps happening every 4-5 years.
On 26th July, I had to settle with three states; there was conflict with Mizoram, there was a problem at the Meghalaya border, there was a problem at Arunachal Pradesh and, at the same time, also with Nagaland. In all four states, at the same time, police were eyeball-to-eyeball.
You cannot solve it. Habitation has come and Mizoram and Nagaland have protection against Article 370. So there are various issues involved there and if you try to solve it, there will be eruption. Today, we are trying to solve the problem in Meghalaya, and every day, there are disturbances. There was a chance when you carved out the state, but you missed that bus. In India, so far, no interstate dispute has been resolved except a small portion of land in Belgaum. It’s not easy. It may be easy to advise but not easy to execute.
...It sounds almost as fractious as the Valley situation.
Ours is not comparable as people are not against India. It is a conflict between two states, both loyal to India and both look at Centre for mediation. The Supreme Court has tried to resolve it, but it could not be done. The home minister in Shillong advised us, that when India enters into the 75th year of Independence, you need to resolve at least some dispute to show work between some states through formal or informal negotiation... Between July 26 and 28, I handled with colleagues like Conrad to not make it an issue right now.
So, with three states, you managed to handle the situation but one remained (Mizoram)?
Even that one has gradually come down.
You spoke to Arunachal, Meghalaya chief ministers, but not to Mizoram CM Zoramthanga?
On July 26, I called him eight times. He kept saying we will call back. I also kept reverting so if you look at my call logs of that day, you will see our interactions. When firing was going on, we were both just talking on the phone. I told him “look, my men have died”. Zoramthanga said “so sorry, how could it happen?” So when these things were going on from 11am to 5pm.
So the impression of you interacting only on social media is wrong?
No, we were on the phone – the home minister, Zoramthanga and I... The home minister called me to say: “Himanta, dekho, aage mat jaane do (Don’t let them advance)”.
Then I told Zoramthanga: “Firing ho gayi hai, abhi rukwana zaroori hai (firing has happened, we should stop them now)”. I called my DGP: “Bhai rukwao (make them stop)” . ... We were talking and not through Twitter. Even after that, every day we talk.