Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K Sangma signed an agreement in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi last week, settling six of the 12 areas of their differences in the 50-year-old inter-state boundary dispute.
Shah described the accord that saw Assam making concessions it had refused so far as “another milestone in the fulfilment of PM Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous northeast”. He praised Assam’s “large heartedness” for facilitating the pact.
According to the settlement formula, both the states will divide the disputed area of about 36 sq km, covering the six points of differences, in almost equal parts between them.
Shah said this agreement has ended the dispute in about 70% of the inter-state border area and the areas of differences in the remaining six places will be resolved soon.
The pact, which, as per the ministry of home affairs statement, exemplifies cooperative federalism and will provide a road map for resolution of other boundary disputes between states, now paves the way for Survey of India to redraw the inter-state boundary between the two states at these six points. The freshly demarcated border will have to be passed by Parliament by amending the North Eastern Region (Re-organisation) Act of 1971 which then will have to be ratified by the legislative assemblies of both states.
The dispute between the two states has was there ever since Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972. Assam also has border disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.
Partial rollback of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced the reduction of “disturbed areas” under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland with effect from April 1. The decision was based on the recommendations of a committee the Ministry had constituted on December 26, 2021, to study the possibility of withdrawing the AFSPA from areas in Nagaland in the wake of public anger against a botched ambush by an elite unit of the Army that led to the killing of 13 civilians at Oting in Mon district on December 4.
How did the AFSPA come about?
The British colonial government had on August 15, 1942, promulgated the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance to suppress the Quit India movement. It was the foundation for four ordinances, including one for the “Assam disturbed areas” invoked in 1947 to deal with Partition-induced internal security challenges. The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act, 1958, followed the Assam Disturbed Areas Act of 1955 to deal with the uprising in the Naga Hills and adjoining areas. The Act was replaced by the AFSPA for wider application. A similar Act specific to Jammu and Kashmir was enacted in 1990.
In Assam, the AFSPA has been removed completely from 23 districts and partially from the Cachar district. The Act has been revoked from 15 police station areas in six districts of Manipur but continues in 82 police stations in 16 districts. In Nagaland, the AFSPA has been removed from areas under 15 police stations in seven districts but remains active in areas under 57 police stations in 13 districts.
