Assam and Meghalaya signed an agreement to resolve their five-decade-old border dispute in six of the 12 locations.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma respectively.

The pact will resolve the protracted dispute in six of the 12 places along the 884.9 km border between the two states.

Resolving border dispute

• Assam shares a 2,743 km boundary with Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and West Bengal. It is locked in border disputes with Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

• In July 2021, Assam’s Cachar district had witnessed a fierce armed clash between the police personnel of Assam and Mizoram. Six Assam police personnel were killed in an armed confrontation with their Mizoram counterparts, forcing the Centre to intervene.

• Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 but the new state had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to dispute in 12 locations in the border areas.

• The boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya has lingered for 50 years. However, the effort to resolve it gained pace in recent times.

• The two states had formed three committees each in August last year to go into the vexed boundary question. The constitution of the panels had followed two rounds of talks between Sarma and Sangma where the neighbouring states resolved to settle the dispute in a phased manner.

• Out of the 12 points of dispute between Assam and Meghalaya, the six areas with relatively less critical differences were taken up in the first phase.

• The six areas included in the agreement are: Hahim, Gizang, Tarabari, Boklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata and Ratacherra. 

• There are 36 villages in the six places, covering an area of 36.79 sq km, with regard to which the agreement has been reached.

• According to the joint final set of recommendations made by the committees, out of 36.79 sq km disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam will get full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km. 

Major agreements related to northeast

The northeast region holds an important position from a strategic point of view as these states share their borders with other countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. The terrain, the state of socio-economic development and historical factors such as language/ethnicity, tribal rivalry, migration, control over local resources and a widespread feeling of exploitation and alienation have resulted in a fragile security situation in the northeast states. This has resulted in violence and diverse demands by various Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs).

Recently, the Centre has signed several agreements to end extremism and bring lasting peace in northeast states.

NLFT Tripura Agreement 

• An agreement was signed on August 10, 2019 by the Centre, Tripura government and National Liberation Front of Twipra led by Sabir Kumar Debbarma (NLFT-SD).

• NLFT has been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 1997 and has been involved in violence, operating from their camps across the international border. NLFT has been responsible for violent activities including 317 insurgency incidents in which 28 security forces and 62 civilians lost their lives during the period 2005-2015. Peace talks with NLFT were initiated in 2015.

• As per the MoU, for the overall development of the tribes of Tripura, the state government will be provided with a Special Economic Development Package (SEDP) of Rs 100 crore by the Centre for a period of five years. Out of this Rs 100 crores an amount of Rs 40 crore has already been released to Tripura during the financial year 2020-21.

Bru agreement 

• Bru, also known as Reang, is a community living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. Reangs are the second largest tribal community of Tripura. They are recognised as one of the 75 primitive tribes in India. Their language is known as Kau Bru.

• In 1997, following ethnic tension, as many as 5,000 families comprising around 30,000 Bru-Reang tribals were forced to flee Mizoram and seek shelter in Tripura. These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur in North Tripura.

• An agreement was signed by the Centre, governments Tripura and Mizoram along with representatives of Bru migrants for the permanent settlement of 6,959 Bru families (37,136 persons) in Tripura with a financial package of about Rs 661 crore.

• As per the agreement, each resettled Bru family would be given financial assistance in the form of a fixed deposit of Rs 4 lakh, free ration, Rs 5,000 per month for two years, housing assistance at the rate of Rs 1.5 lakh, and a land plot of 30x40 square feet.

• For the rehabilitation of Bru migrants, the Tripura government has already been provided with an amount of Rs 140 crore in the financial year 2020-21 and Rs 117.14 crore in the financial year 2021-22. Out of a total of 19 identified locations, rehabilitation work is going on in a phased manner at seven places in three districts of Tripura.

• So far, 2,228 families (out of 6,959 families) have got resettlement at seven locations and 2,231 families have been provided house building assistance and construction of 942 houses has already been completed.

Bodo Peace Accord

• The Centre signed an agreement with the Assam government and factions of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), All Bodo Students Union, etc on January 27, 2020 to resolve the long-pending Bodo issue.  

• The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), which has been spearheading a movement for a Bodoland state since 1972, and another group called the United Bodo People’s Organisation were also signatories to the accord.

• Due to the violence perpetrated by the Bodo militants, more than 4,000 people lost their lives in the past few decades.

• After the signing of the agreement, 1,615 cadres of NDFB groups surrendered their weapons in January 2010. The NDFB groups dissolved in March 2020.

• As per the agreement, a special development package of Rs 1,500 crore (750 crores by the central government and 750 crore by the Assam government) will be provided over a period of three years for the all round development of the Bodo region in Assam. 

• The agreement seeks to increase the scope and power of Bodoland Territorial Council and to streamline its functioning.

Karbi Anglong Agreement

• To end the decades-old crisis in the Karbi Anglong region of Assam, an MoU was signed on September 4, 2021 between the Centre, the Assam government and representatives of Karbi groups (KLNLF, PDCK, UPLA, KPLT). 

• As a result of this agreement, more than 1,000 armed cadres renounced violence and joined the mainstream of society.

• As per the agreement, a special development package of Rs 1,000 crore will be given over five years by the central government and the Assam government to take up special development projects in the Karbi areas.

• This agreement will ensure the protection of the culture, identity, language, etc of the Karbi people and all round development of the region.

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