MANY of the North-eastern states have been carved out of the state of Assam. Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have simmering border tensions with Assam. While Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have been and are at the receiving end of the Assam Police in border skirmishes, the people of Nagaland residing along the borders of Merapani and Golaghat have defended their territory with a belligerence that is unprecedented. They are dismissive of the Assam Police’s attempts to cramp their style. It is interesting to note in fact that the Nagas have been able to inflict casualties on the neighbouring state on several occasions. The latest border flare-up between the two states has however taken a huge toll for Assam.
The chief ministers of Assam and Nagaland have both been summoned to Delhi by the Union Home Ministry to discuss the matter. Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju has been told to sort out things between the two states. Now this is an interesting development. Tarun Gogoi is a senior Congress leader and a was a Union Cabinet Minister at one time. That he should be summoned to the national capital and that he should be told to speak to a junior minister could not have been music to his ears. Of late Gogoi has been at the receiving end of public criticism after the inability of the state police to control mob violence thereby leading to three unnecessary deaths.
There have been suggestions from experts in the Central Government that disputed areas should be turned into special economic zones or health hubs which would benefit people from both sides of the border but this has not got traction. Perhaps it is time for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to step in and come up with tangible actions to avoid future inter-state boundary skirmishes that take a toll on human lives.
