AIZAWL — Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Mizoram on March 15 when
he will attend a function for shifting of Assam Rifles establishments from
Aizawl to Zokhawsang, around 15 km from the state capital, an official said on
Wednesday.
Shah, who will embark on a three-day tour of Assam from
March 14 to March 16, will pay a day-long visit to Mizoram on March 15 to
attend the function.
He will return to Guwahati on the same day after attending
the function, the official said.
During his visit to Assam, Shah is scheduled to attend
multiple programmes, including the annual conference of the All Bodo Students'
Union (ABSU), he said.
The Mizoram government and Assam Rifles had signed a formal
agreement on October 23 last year in New Delhi for relocating the paramilitary
force's establishments from the heart of Aizawl to the designated battalion
complex at Zokhawsang.
The agreement will come into effect in April this year and
the country's oldest paramilitary force will vacate its main barrack complex,
AR Ground or Lammual, unit hospital, Loch House, quarters guard and other
establishments and lands in different parts of the state capital and shift
those to Zokhawsang, officials said.
As per the agreement, Assam Rifles will retain its 23 Sector
Headquarters, Mizoram Range in Aizawl's Khatla neighbourhood (95.88 acres) and
DIG residence near Raj Bhavan at Tuikhuahtlang area (0.85 acre), they said.
The lands and buildings vacated by the AR will be reserved
for public use as per the Restriction of Use of Transferred Land Act, 2022,
they said.
The demand for relocation of AR bases from the heart of
Aizawl to Zokhawsang was first raised by the erstwhile Mizo National Front
(MNF) government headed by former chief minister Laldenga in 1988 after the
paramilitary force allegedly killed 11 civilians in a violent clash.
