Pol parties unanimous over boundary settlement

Aizawl, Mar 13: The Mizoram State Legislative Assembly was unanimous that the Centre should set up a boundary commission to ascertain the actual boundary between Mizoram and its neighbouring states.

Putting party differences aside, all members of the House said it was high time that the boundaries between Mizoram and its neighbouring states, especially with that of Assam, should be settled once and for all.

According to Revenue minister B Lalthlengliana, the then Assam authorities had demarcated Mizoram's territory in 1933 which is still the official boundary till today without giving due importance to the Southern Boundary of Cachar district as notified in the Calcutta Gazette on September 21, 1870 and subsequently in the Assam Gazette No. 299P of August 20, 1875. It was only in 1912 that a notification was issued in the Gazette for the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation 1873 to become effective whereby the Inner Line Reserve Forest was accepted following the demarcation made through the Southern Boundary of Cachar notification.

''The present boundary between Mizoram and Assam is just a boundary on paper without ground realities. The Assam authorities of that time had never bothered to consult the people of Mizoram when they changed the boundaries from time to time, " he said.

He also asserted that the boundary dispute was not something that can be ascertained through talks between the two chief ministers of Mizoram and Assam since the Constitution provided the alteration of any state boundary through an act of Parliament.

UNI