It is ironic that 48 hours after the chief ministers of the eight North Eastern states met at Shillong on July 24-25 to deliberate on the issue of contested borders, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in attendance, violence erupted in the Assam-Mizoram border claiming the lives of six Assam policemen and injuring many others. Coincidentally, there was a fracas in the Assam-Meghalaya border at Iongkhuli in Ri Bhoi District too where Assam Police prevented the setting up of electric poles in areas they claim to belong to Assam. These border skirmishes between Assam-Nagaland, Assam- Mizoram and Assam-Meghalaya have also been the location of much violence and bloodshed. Between 1979 -1985 at least 100 people have died in the clashes between Assam and Nagaland. While some of these disputes have reached the Supreme Court or have been referred to Commissions headed by retired judges, their recommendations have been disregarded.
The North Eastern states could gain more by collaboration, more so when Assam is the link state to the other six states. In the past Assam had inflicted economic blockades on Mizoram and Nagaland after every border tussle and caused pain to people of these respective states. No central government has taken these border disputes seriously, much less tried to resolve them. Institutions like the North Eastern Council and later the Ministry for Development of the North East (DoNER) too never invested their time and effort to iron out these differences. Land being a scarce commodity is much sought for by states with bigger populations and shrinking spaces for accommodating their growing population.
It is evident that the borders will continue to remain contentious until some creative solutions are found. In the past there were proposals to turn the contested areas into economic zones which will benefit both states and become growth centres. Disputed borders can, through a process of give and take, also become educational hubs, IT parks, health centres and tourist destinations where investments will come from DoNER and the benefits shared by people across borders. It would be in the interest of all concerned if all these contested areas were administered by a central agency to prevent future claims and counter-claims. How would it be if these areas were brought under one umbrella administration such as a centrally administered territory so that there is no quarrel over which state is investing more and which one less, even while people from both sides of the divide who are already residents there gain economically and also by way of good educational and health facilities that could come up in these contested spaces.
