Uneasy calm in northeast as border rows rage
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 24, 2022 -

THERE is every chance that the investigations ordered from both sides into the firing incident at the disputed Assam-Meghalaya border on Tuesday morning, that left six people, including a forest guard, dead, would be officially categorised and concluded as a law and order issue but to many northeast denizens the hostile reactions from the Meghalaya villagers against interception of a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber and use of firearms by Assam police testify deep mistrust among the neighbouring states where the chronic border rows remain unsettled.

While clashes do occur periodically among villagers settling along the inter-state borders in the northeast region, Tuesday's incident is anti-thesis to the regional governments' efforts to not only find lasting solution to the boundary disputes but also project the numerous indigenous communities in the north-eastern states as homogenous and hard-sell the tourism potentials.

For instance, the violent incident happened at a time when Manipur is hosting the calendar tourism promotional event under the theme 'festival of oneness' and Nagaland preparing for the Hornbill Festival both signifying importance of unity among the indigenes in the whole of northeast, and Meghalaya was preparing for conduct of its annual literary and Cherry Blossom festivals which are usually attended by litterateurs and visitors from across the region.

As a consequence of the blood shed on Tuesday, the Meghalaya events have been shelved and its government suspended mobile internet service to avert aggravation of law and order situation for there is no guarantee that the people would exercise restraint and wait for outcome of the investigations, which both the governments have promptly ordered.

Apart from ordering an enquiry headed by a retired High Court judge into the matter, Assam government instructing its police forces to remain on alert in the border districts indicates volatility of the situation and trust deficit between the two states, which have longstanding dispute along 12 stretches of borderlands.

Ironically, the incident took place barely seven months after two the neighbouring states signed a memorandum of understanding in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi towards ending the dispute in six of them.

Taking into account of the fact that Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972 and had since then challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, which is recognised by Assam as its border, it is obvious that every action and reaction between the two states would be viewed with suspicion and construed as fallout of the big-brother attitude.

Moreover, the contention by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, whose party is an ally of the BjP, that the Assam police and forest guards entered Meghalaya and resorted to unprovoked firing underscores that the firing incident has only soured the relation between the neighbouring states.

Regardless of Conrad's complaint, Assam Police officials, as had been reported, asserted that the truck was intercepted in West Karbi Anglong district of the state by a forest department team and a mob from the Meghalaya side had later attacked the forest guards and policemen from the state, which led to firing by the Assam side to control the situation.

Such charges and counter-charges corroborate that tension gripping the regional states over border disputes could turn volatile anytime.