Settling border disputes

THE Assam-Mizoram border dispute, which claimed the lives of six police personnel and a civilian in a clash last week, has prompted the Centre to make use of technology to resolve such contentious issues. The Centre has decided to demarcate the boundaries of the northeastern states through satellite imaging and settle all inter-state border disputes. This is a welcome step that was long overdue; had it been initiated earlier, much of the bloodshed and bad blood could have been avoided. The North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC), a joint initiative of the Department of Space and the North Eastern Council, will conduct this exercise. The Shillong-based NESAC is already using space technology for flood management in the region. It is expected that the use of scientific methods for the demarcation of borders will leave no room for any discrepancy or disagreement. The onus will be on the Union Government to ensure that such solutions are mutually acceptable to the states concerned.

It is heartening that the Centre’s active intervention is helping to cool frayed tempers. Inter-state relations had touched a new low in the aftermath of the clash when the Mizoram police registered an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the charges of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, even as the Assam police had booked Mizoram MP K Vanlalvena for allegedly threatening that all cops who trespassed into his state’s territory would be killed.

There are several inter-state conflicts awaiting resolution in the Northeast, a strategically important region that has witnessed prolonged unrest and violence in the past few decades. The political leadership of various states needs to exercise restraint and respect the decisions taken by the Centre in its role of a mediator. The CMs of Assam and Mizoram have been insisting that talks are the only way to resolve disputes. Such statements should be backed by stern action against law enforcers who take the law into their own hands. Hemmed in by two hostile neighbours, India cannot afford to let civil strife and territorial conflicts imperil national security.