Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s 73rd Republic Day speech at Kohima was significant in respect of exuding confidence towards getting to the table and in an out of court effort to resolve the border dispute between Assam and Nagaland. The border issue has remained unresolved due to the adamant stand taken by both states. It may be recalled that Rio along with UDA colleagues- deputy chief minister Y.Patton and NPF leader T.R.Zeliang-had met with Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on January 23,2022. In his republic day speech, the chief minister informed that the meeting primarily sought to address the unresolved dispute that had seen two boundary commissions bringing the states no closer to any agreement. The boundary dispute has been hanging fire for years in the Supreme Court. Then chief minister S.C.Jamir and his Assam counterpart late Hiteswar Saikia sought to resolve through an out-of-court settlement but it did not materialise. Jamir and late Tarun Gogoi, the then chief minister of Assam also mulled the same approach but it did not go further. The meeting in Guwahati comes close on the heels of the agreement arrived at between the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma in a give-and-take arrangement over 36 villages between the two states. It may also be mentioned that as part of the NDA, the alliances in Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, are attempting to beat the deadline set by union home minister Amit Shah that all states in the north east resolve their respective border disputes on or before August 15,2022 when India attains 75 years (diamond jubilee) of independence. In this regard, Rio disclosed that his government has constituted(or plans to) four committees to look into the border dispute involving (1)Dimapur, Peren and Niuland districts(2) Wokha district (3) Mokokching district and (4)Longleng and Mon districts. Each of the committees will include the local legislator(s), government official and member(s) of civil society organisation. The boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland is not only about the land but the controversial 1925 notification issued by the then British colonial ruler through which huge tracts of land were transferred from Naga areas to Sivasagar purely for administrative convenience. Defending its stand, Nagaland insists that boundary be demarcated as per the earlier notification on 1866 that included also Naga-dominated areas in North Cachar Hills and Nagoan districts. The dispute is beyond drawing the line since and that itself could be factored by the proven oil and gas reserves across disputed areas being explored and extracted by ONGC and over which Nagaland has reiterated its historical and traditional ownership. Unlike the Assam-Meghalaya or Assam-Mizoram disputes, the oldest border dispute between Assam-Nagaland is also about ownership of huge crude oil and gas reserves. On the Oting killings, the state’s Special Investigation Team(SIT)is still awaiting Forensic reports and could take some more time. The army’s Court of Inquiry (CoI) has submitted its preliminary report and it will be months before there is any indication whether it will conclude with a summary court martial. On the Naga political issue and expected solution, it may have to undergo further meandering across as even the all-party legislator government that now claims to act as a pressure lobby is not in the driving seat. Resolving these issues would be a herculean task that would demand focus, commitment and determination to achieve the objectives.
