Dimapur, Aug. 5 (EMN): Leader of the NPF Legislature Party (NPFLP), TR Zeliang, has sought the Nagaland Legislative Assembly to adopt resolution to amicably settle the Assam-Nagaland chronic border issue outside the court by involving local communities from both sides.
Participating in the discussion on Assam-Nagaland boundary issue at the ongoing eighth session of the 13th Nagaland Legislative Assembly in Kohima on August 3, Zeliang urged the house to recommend to the union home minister for implementation of status-quo in letter and spirit as well as constitute a parliamentary panel to study the border dispute issue and to submit its report within a stipulated time period.
As Assam-Nagaland boundary dispute witnessed border clashes in 1965, 1968, 1969, 1979, 1985, 2014 and 2015, Zeliang said it has created unrest for people of both the states particularly those living in the border areas of the two states. Despite such conflict and turmoil, he added that even the Supreme Court has not been able to finalise the boundary issue till today.
Citing historical background, Zeliang said the Naga Hill District was created as a part of the Assam province by the British ruler in 1866 after they took charge from the Yandaboo Treaty in 1826 and remained as part of Assam till 1957. He lamented that boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland continues to persist till date despite numerous agreements between the two states.
He has attributed the problems to certain defects in some clauses of the agreements signed between the governments of Assam and Nagaland saying, “If we take a close look at the agreements, we can see that there are clauses which have worked to the disadvantage of our state to a large extent.”
He also recalled the Sundaram Commission Report, formed by the government of India under the leadership of KVK Sundaram in 1971 to observe the border dispute between Assam and Nagaland. He claimed that on the basis of the report submitted by Sundaram, four Interim Agreements were signed between Assam and Nagaland which later became a huge advantage for Assam.
(1) Interim Agreement signed on March 31, 1972 regarding boundary between the two States from Teok River to Desoi River,
(2) Interim Agreement signed on March 31, 1972 regarding maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the Geleki Reserved Forest and Construction of a portion of Amguri-Tuli road,
(3) Interim Agreement signed on May 02, 1972 regarding boundary between the two States from Disoi River to Gororjan Stream and from Kakadang River to Doyang River,
(4) Another Interim Agreement was signed in the same year which demarcated the border of Gororjan Lake and the border of Kakadang River.
Zeliang stated that in all the four (interim) agreements, Nagaland was restrained from undertaking any survey or construction of road or any structure all along the reserved forest, while it did not restrict Assam on road construction, development of tea gardens inside reserved forest etc.
He went on to add that after Nagaland was carved out of Assam in 1963, Nagaland never cross-checked how many hectares of land had been deforested and converted into tea gardens and how many villages and townships were established inside forestland in the name of deforestation. With the declarations of reserved forest all along the border, he stated that some portion of lands owned by the Nagas was kept under the control of Assam.
While maintaining status-quo, Zeliang pointed out that Nagas only check themselves but seldom do the same with the activities happening across dispute areas. He cited examples of oil extraction undertaken by ONGC from Assam side inside Geletki forest dispute area near Wamaken village in Tuli area and Bhorhola oil field in Champang.
Zeliang also opined that the issue should not be left entirely to land owners as they might not know the nitty-gritty of the case.
“If we strictly pursue to maintain status-quo, a compromise formula is imminent otherwise Assam will never agree for amicable settlement because going by past instances, the state of Assam has benefitted out of such status-quos,” Zeliang said.
In order to maintain status quo in its true sense, Zeliang stated that any kind of new activities on both sides should be completely stopped including operation of oil fields, tea gardens, construction of road or railway tracks etc.
Nagaland Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a three-point resolution on Assam-Nagaland border issue on August 5.
The house has decided to constitute a select committee to examine all aspects of the Assam-Nagaland border issue and submit its report within a period of three months. The committee consisted of the chief minister Neiphiu Rio as convenor, deputy chief minister Y Patton and NPFLP TR Zeliang as co-convenors along with P Paiwang Konyak, Jacob Zhimomi, Mhathung Yanthan, Amenba Yaden as members and MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha KG Kenye and Tokheho Yepthomi as special invitees and commissioner and secretary in-charge of Border Affairs as secretary.
It also resolved to request the union home minister to ensure maintenance of status quo in letter and in spirit in the disputed area till settlement of the issues.
It further resolved to amicably settle the border issue outside the court by the two state governments involving the local communities from both sides.