Nagaland and Assam are no more sisters. Or at least that’s what the present impasse between the two North Eastern states seems to imply. The border between the two has been a bone of contention for the last three decades, with the Merapani war of 1972, deepening the already uneasy relationship then. The conflict, with both sides asserting their own versions of claims, remains a challenge to the governments of Assam and Nagaland. Rather than trade charges, both sides must arrive at a realistic meeting point to resolve the long lasting problem. Given the wide differences that exist even on the basic question of how to arrive at a talking point, the setting up of a Local Boundary Commission at the behest of the Supreme Court therefore presents the much needed opportunity for both the contending parties to resolve the issue through dialogue and mutual sympathy.
While there may be varying opinions on the mechanisms to be adopted depending on which side of the fence one is sitting on, the argument of the Nagaland Government—that any decision taken by a court of law in relation to the Assam-Nagaland border row would be detrimental to the interest of the people residing along the inter-State border—is a valid one. One does not see any positive outcome arising out of a court settlement and therefore seeking an amicable solution through mutual understanding is the best way to approach the problem. The logic behind going in for a comprehensive review lends credence because to resolve the dispute one will have to look beyond a zero sum game formulation. It will be only fair to say that a court diktat would lead to a winner-loser situation and this will ultimately not allow the people on either side to live peacefully. The idea of a political settlement (out of court) therefore has to be appreciated by both the State Governments including the NGOs and civil societies on both side of the border.
While the Central Government has made efforts from time to time to resolve the issue and a study conducted on the boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland in 1976 by constituting the Shastri Commission, not much headway has been made because either one of the party involved refused to accept the findings. At the end of the day, therefore it is essentially for the concerned State Governments to resolve their differences through discussions and mutual accommodation. There is no reason why the Assam government should not sit down for mediation and work for an alternative dispute resolution mechanism where rest assured nobody goes home a loser.
The convening of tripartite talks involving representatives of the Local Commission and the two contending states should be used as an opportunity to go into the various facets involved including the on the traditional boundary of Ahoms and Nagas and the 1925 notifications of the then British government, that transferred control and administration of the reserve forests, from the Naga Hills District to Sibsagar district, both of which were then part of Assam province. The 1925 Notification itself being the root cause and genesis of the dispute, a judicial intervention merely to demarcate the boundary in terms of the 1925 Notification would not be hardly acceptable to the Nagas. Instead of solving the problem, it may rather aggravate it.
The Assam government on its part should forgo its rather rigid and uncompromising stand of refusing to take a more comprehensive approach involving historical factors and actual ground realities. The Local Commission should not merely limit itself to the constitutional and legal factor alone but take into consideration all relevant factors, including constitutional, legal, historical factors and actual ground situation. For the Local Commission, the one point that deserves serious attention is in the way boundaries in the Northeast had been drawn up keeping in mind more of the administrative convenience rather than the aspirations of those inhabiting the land (the cultural and historical realities). That Assam has border disputes with all of her Northeastern neighbors only goes to prove this point. A negotiated settlement on the basis of ‘give and take’ or a settlement through a Boundary Commission will be the only road to a lasting and permanent solution to the border dispute between Assam and Nagaland.
