Context: The long-standing border dispute between Mizoram and Assam escalated unprecedentedly Monday and five Assam policemen were killed after violence erupted along the interstate border in Cachar district.

Issue

• The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram, 165 km long, dates back to the colonial era, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
• The Assam-Mizoram border is shared between three districts of South Assam — Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj — and three districts of Mizoram — Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl.
• In the decades after Independence, states and UTs were carved out of Assam – Nagaland (1963), Arunachal Pradesh (UT 1972, formerly NEFA), Meghalaya (UT 1972), Mizoram (UT 1972).
• Officials said according to an agreement between Mizoram and Assam, status quo was to be maintained in the no man’s land in the border area. 
• But in February 2018, there was violence when students’ union MZP (Mizo Zirlai Pawl) built a wooden rest house for farmers on land that was claimed by Assam and which was demolished by Assam Police.
• Again, last October, clashes erupted twice in a week over construction in Lailapur (Assam) on land claimed by Mizoram.

History of Assam- Mizoram Border Row

• The dispute dates back to the days of British colonial rule, and disagreement over which demarcation to follow.
• After independence, states such as Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Mizoram were carved out of Assam. 
• When the princely state of Manipur was demarcated in 1993, tensions emerged since its boundary began from the Lushai Hills and Cachar district of Assam. 
• This was not accepted by the Mizos. 
• British tea plantations surfaced in the Cachar plains – the Barak Valley that now comprises the districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj — during the mid-19th century. Their expansion led to problems with the Mizos whose home was the Lushai Hills.

2 Border notifications were passed
In August 1875

• The southern boundary of Cachar district was issued in the Assam Gazette
• The Mizos say this was the fifth time the British had drawn the boundary between the Lushai Hills and the Cachar plains
• It was the only time when it was done in consultation with Mizo chiefs. 
• This also became the basis for the Inner Line Reserve Forest demarcation in the Gazette two years later.

In 1933

• The boundary between Lushai Hills and the then princely state of Manipur was demarcated – it said the Manipur boundary began from the trijunction of Lushai Hills, Cachar district of Assam and Manipur state. 
• The Mizos do not accept this demarcation, and point to the 1875 boundary which was drawn in consultation with their chiefs.
• Mizoram statehood: Border conflicts have happened intermittently since Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972 and got statehood in 1987.
• Several rounds of talks between the two States since 1995 failed to resolve the border issue.
• Assam’s claims: Mizos have been squatting in areas 1-3 km from the interstate border.

Mizoram’s claims

• Assam has been pushing its people 10-12 km inside their territory.
• The boundary should be demarcated on the basis of notification in 1875 that distinguished the Lushai Hills (erstwhile district of Assam that became Mizoram) from the plains of Cachar.
• British-era notification of 1933 that Assam follows is not acceptable to Mizoram, which says their ancestors were not consulted on this.

Road Ahead

• As suggested by the Supreme Court in 2005, Boundary Commission should be formed to resolve such issues of these two states or any other.
• Help of Remote sensing satellites can be taken to check the mapping and actual border situation.
• The interstate council and the Zonal Council must be revived so as to provide better options for dispute settlements.
• A democratic decision should be worked upon where stakeholders from both the sides are involved.