SAPO bandh manifests boundary rage in northeast
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 28, 2022 -

IF at all existing as well as future boundary disputes are to be solved on the basis of traditional ownership system as suggested by the Tenyimi Peoples' Organisation (TPO), which is learnt to be the apex body of Tenyimi tribes in Nagaland and Manipur, then there is no foreseeable reason for the northeast region to frequently witness escalation of tension and clashes between villages along the inter-state boundaries over land.

As land disputes crop up mainly due to disagreement between the adjoining villages, which technically underscores unreliability of the traditional system in settling differences on land ownership the ultimate recourse is to approach the court of law and intervention by the concerned governments to ensure that such cases do not go out of hands.

Moreover, tendency of the larger villages to dictate terms and impose their will upon the relatively thinly populated villages that makes the traditional system of settling cases incompatible to one party or another.

In the context of the mountainous northeast region, bringing amicable resolution to boundary disputes had been a difficult proposition for villagers residing along the inter-state borders mainly depend on agriculture as a means of livelihood.

With shifting cultivation still in practise, the border villages need expansive land to grow food and cash crops, consequently leading to encroachment on unsettled zones, both intentionally and inadvertently.

While rivers and mountain ridges generally define the traditional boundaries between neighbouring villages or states, instances of defying the ancestral land possession system have been the root cause for the multiple cases of land disputes in the region. On its part, the Union government made efforts to resolve the disputes, but without much success as one or the other state remained non-cooperative.

Non-resolution of these disputes has given rise to strong community sentiments among states concerned and resultantly vitiated the inter-state relations.

For instance, the recent clashes between Assam and Mizoram as well as the on-going talks between Assam and Meghalaya at the central level suggest that the issue of border disputes in the northeast can't be resolved through academic discourses and intellectuals' meets.

While consensus and compromises between the villages in disputes would be the most convenient means of ironing out the differences for finding lasting solutions, regular parleys among the regional governments are equally important so as to understand the root of the conflict and to avert possible loss of lives, which might be the likely fallouts in case the ambiguous stands of respective governments on the border dispute persist.

It is imperative that the governments hold discussion on the probable mechanisms or the ways out for settlement of the border dispute between the states, inhabited by mongoloid stock of people.

Thus, no efforts should be spared in bringing an end to the boundary dispute between Manipur and Nagaland, though the latter seems to be least worried about the evolving situation.

The two governments cannot afford to overlook the situation as a discord between the neighbouring villages as could be comprehended from the July 2021 border rage between Assam and Mizoram that escalated into clashes among the people and exchange of firing between forces of the neighbouring states which resulted in the death of six people and left scores injured.

The need of the hour is to shape public opinion for peaceful borders and redouble efforts for a political solution to the dispute.