Of fault-lines in Assam-Mizoram conflict

Raju Korti

The travel advisory issued by Assam government asking people not to travel to Mizoram is a serious reminder of how the states on the North-Eastern fringes of the country lapse into serious internal conflicts at the drop of a hat. Since the last few days, the border between Assam and Mizoram has seen a a number of violent skirmishes following provocation from the latter's civil society, mostly students and youth organizations. Matters precipitated with reports of fierce gun battle on the border leaving some policemen and civilians dead. This is a dangerous augury for a country that has been grappling with one internal conflict after the other, especially in the post 80s era.

The gravity of the situation can be gauged by the fact that this is the first of its kind advisory any state government has issued. I do not think this has happened even in the wake of worst violence resulting from the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute. While other cases of internal conflicts relating to Khalistan, Gorkhaland, separate Vidarbha and Tamil Eelam have quietened down, the North-East cauldron remains on the boil with periodic trouble on its porous borders. They are perennially vulnerable to armed support from hostile neighbours. The North-Eastern states have shown a marked inclination towards solving their disputes to armed struggle and insurgency. Little surprise panic and apprehension prevails on the border at all times and peace processes are tenuous.

Armed rebellions are not a new phenomenon in the mercurial North-East. Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim have never had a track record of lasting peace on their borders. If it is not about an armed conflict with the Indian government, it is about internecine feuds. There was some respite in the early 90s when the situation appeared to ease but the situation is usually compounded by the presence of several armed factions. These factions nurse their own ideas of separatism -- from regional autonomy to complete independence.       

Most of these states are at loggerheads with the Centre. There is constant tension between native tribals and migrants from other part of India. Remember how in the 80s; Prafulla Kumar Mahanta led the students to become the chief minister with the 'sons of the soil' electoral plank. Besides, these states are not well connected with the country's mainland. They stand alienated despite being on the same map. I suspect, the situation was further aggravated when the Centre applied the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) that was intended to quell the armed rebellion with similar tactics. The constant overt and covert attempts by China and Myanmar to stir up trouble queer the pitch.      

Assam has jealously tried to retain its political and cultural identity. Rampant infiltration from Bangladesh keeps altering the state's demographics. The anger of the Assamese is rationalized on the premise that illegal migrants could become the majority if their intrusions are not checked and that would mean loss of political power. There is nothing to show that this alone is the cause of unrest in these states. The North-East is not an industry-rich region. It is resource--deficit and does not have economies of scale to match. The security is uneven with its borders open to intrusions by militants and arms smuggling. 

One would expect that the Governors of such states as executive heads are competent to deal with such crises. The Sarkaria Commission set up in 1983 -- just around the time when North-East was a growing hotspot -- to look into entire gamut of Centre-State relations, made a number of recommendations on the appointments of the Governor. Since most of these went completely against the spirit of all political parties, the key recommendations were kept in cold storage. None of the governments at the Centre had the political will to implement the recommendations in toto. For the Centre; the Sarkaria report was like a razor asking it to cut its own throat.

Although "Seven Sisters", as the North-Eastern states are referred to, have a tumultuous history of border disputes, the backlash has been much severe this time.  In my considered opinion, it is not just a question of bringing these states into the country's  political mainstream. I wonder why the Centre gave the North-Eastern states a short shrift when it went about the reorganization of states and territories along linguistic lines. If anything it showed that these states were never on the check-list of the Centre if the idea was to streamline them. It allowed the disputes to get uglier and open to manipulation by external forces. The Centre just dithered and drifted making no worthwhile attempts to convince the states to accept a workable solution on accepting boundaries. Piecemeal solutions have not worked. It will not even now. '

Assam and Mizoram have been talking through their chief secretaries in a Centre-chaperoned dialogue process to douse inter-state border tensions before their respective police forces fatally clashed. The funniest part is the parties to the dispute swear by peaceful resolution and the unfortunate part is the quest for peace is through war and strife.