Assam police open fire near Meghalaya border

Assam police open fire near Meghalaya border

Subject : Polity

Context:

• Recently, Five Meghalaya villagers were among six people killed in a clash between a mob and a contingent of police and forest guards from Assam in pursuit of a truck allegedly smuggling timber across the inter-state border.
• What is Assam-Meghalaya border dispute:
• During British rule, undivided Assam included present-day Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
• Meghalaya was carved out of Assam under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971.
• Due to different interpretations of this act, it was challenged by both the parties which led to the boundary dispute between these two states.
• As a result, both sides have a longstanding dispute in 12 stretches of the 884-km-long shared border.
• The Assam-Meghalaya border dispute are the areas of Upper Tarabari, Gazang reserve forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Nongwah, Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, Khanduli and Retacherra.
• A major point of contention between Assam and Meghalaya is the district of Langpih in West Garo Hills bordering the Kamrup district of Assam.
• Langpih was part of the Kamrup district during the British colonial period but post-Independence, it became part of the Garo Hills and Meghalaya.
• Assam considers it to be part of the Mikir Hills in Assam.
• Meghalaya has questioned Blocks I and II of the Mikir Hills now Karbi Anglong region being part of Assam. Meghalaya says these were parts of erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts.
• What are the efforts to resolve the dispute:
• The two States had in June 2021 adopted a give-and-take policy to start the process of resolving the boundary dispute.
• For this, they constituted three regional committees
• The draft resolution, released in March 2022, was prepared on the basis of the recommendations of these regional panels.
• What was Assam-Meghalaya Border Pact:
• In March 2022, Assam and Meghalaya partially resolved a 50-year-old border dispute in six of the 12 sectors along their 884-km boundary.
• The two governments had taken up six of 12 disputed sectors in the first phase of discussions.
• As per the agreement, out of the disputed 36.79 sq. km land, Assam will get 18.51 sq. km of the disputed areas and Meghalaya will get the remaining 18.28 sq. km.
• The 70% of the inter-State boundary became dispute-free with the signing of the agreement.
• The problem in the six other areas will be resolved in the near future.
• In August, both the States decided to form regional committees.
• The second round of discussions was set to commence by the end of this month.