http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=oct1807\edit1
Naga encroachment— While the vexed Assam-Nagaland border row continues to elude
a solution, it is the people of Assam living along the border that are bearing
the brunt of the imbroglio. Planned acts of violence by Naga miscreants in the
border areas are nothing new, as are the incidents of imposition of tax on the
people of Assam. Many innocent lives, too, have been lost over the years. What
is regretful, however, is the refusal of the Assam Government to treat the
matter in the urgency it deserves. In the last Assembly session, the State
Border Areas Development Minister had mentioned the “well-coordinated and
planned move” on the part of Nagaland to encroach on Assam’s land through
“illegal and violent activities.” That there has been a calculated and
persistent move by Nagaland to acquire Assam territory should be evident from
the fact that it has set up schools, churches, police stations and even
subdivisions on Assam’s land. All this, however, is having little impact on the
Assam Government, with the people in the border areas left to lead a life of
second-class citizens under the diktat of Naga miscreants. What compounds the
woes of these people is the lack of basic infrastructure, civic amenities and
security along the remote border. The prevailing situation has given the
miscreants the leeway to carry on merrily with their nefarious deeds. The
situation is unlikely to improve unless the State Government accords priority
to border area development. The State Government is under a constitutional
obligation to protect the lives and property of its people and also to maintain
the State’s territorial integrity. Nagaland must be told firmly to respect the
sanctity of the border and put a curb on violence. The demand for a greater
Nagalim with a major chunk of Assam and Manipur’s territory has been an old
one, fuelled by the misplaced belief that Nagaland was denied justice when it
was carved out of the then undivided Assam .The ‘historical facts’ often cited
by the advocates of a greater Nagaland to bolster their claim for inclusion of
Assam’s territory in Nagaland are far from convincing. The obstinacy on the
part of successive Nagaland governments to abide by the recommendations of
several commissions on the border dispute has not helped matters either. The
only way for both sides to arrive at a lasting solution of the border imbroglio
is through means devised by the Constitution and not by use of force and deceit.
“In order to make spiritual progress you must be patient like a tree and humble
like a blade of grass”
- Lakshmana
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