Mizoram accuses Assam of human rights violation
The ongoing border dispute in north-eastern states took a new turn on Monday with the frontier state of Mizoram accusing its counterpart in Assam of committing human rights violations and atrocities on the tribal people residing along the inter-state border areas.
Mizoram’s Kolasib district Deputy Commissioner
H. Lalthlangliana in a letter which has also been sent to the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), alleged human rights violation and atrocities on tribal people by Assam government officials and police during a border stand off on July 10.
In the letter, Lalthlangliana said that a road was constructed on July 10 from Assam to Buarchep without any prior notice and officials of the neighbouring state backed by police destroyed crops belonging to people of the Mizo tribe. The tribal people who gathered to protest were forcefully driven off by armed police personnel from Assam, he alleged.
Also, two loud explosions were heard on July 11 around 2.40 am by Mizoram police forces guarding the border at Saihapui ‘V’ village and
Buarchep on the border with Assam, he said.
A criminal case under the Explosive Substances Act was also registered at the Vairengte police station in Mizoram. The latest escalation came even as top officials of the two states, including the chief secretaries and DGPs, met in New Delhi to defuse the tension and resolve the dispute. Mizoram’s Kolasib, Aizawl and Mamit districts share a 164.6-km-long
border with Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts. The Kolasib district deputy commissioner claimed that the situation along the interstate border is still tense.
Meanwhile, Assam police has rejected the charges of human rights violation and a senior police officer pointed out that the tension on July 10 started when around 25-30 people from Mizoram came up to
25 metres ahead of
Khulicherra CRPF camp and tried to encroach the land inside Assam, attempting to stop the forest track clearing work and prevent PWD officials from constructing a road.
“On receiving the information, the police rushed to the spot and observed that Mizo people, including women, obstructed the route at Khulicherra leading towards Upper Painom LP school which is around 6.5 km inside Assam,” the officer said adding that repeated attempt to de-escalate the situation failed.
Assam Police personnel then announced over loudspeakers that their congregation inside Assam territory was illegal and they should disperse peacefully, but they continued their “aggressive and abusive behaviour” towards government officials on duty and kept threatening them with sharp weapons, he alleged.