TURA, Aug 2: The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) along with youth Congress bodies from Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura on Monday invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately iron out the interstate border disputes in the North East.
Maintaining that interim measures to tackle the predicament will no longer serve any purpose, the youth Congress bodies, in a joint statement, suggested that the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, be thoroughly re-examined by involving all the stakeholders.
“In light of the recent unfortunate clashes between the Assam Police and the Mizoram Police in the fringe territories of Mizoram, and the recent incidents at the Meghalaya-Assam and Nagaland-Assam borders, and bearing in mind the long-standing border disputes the states of Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have with Assam, we urge the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to settle and resolve the boundary disputes on a high priority basis,” the youth Congress bodies said in their statement.
Pointing out that the conundrum has been a major factor in dislocating peace and harmony in the region, the youth bodies dreaded that the situation can be exploited by the vested interest groups to stem discord and hatred amongst the communities here.
The historical and cultural sensitivities of the Northeastern communities cannot be lost sight of and must have a meaningful bearing on the settlement process, they maintained.
