Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 18
An unresolved and a little known dispute over boundary demarcation with Assam continue to simmer in the border village of Rilan, Dimapur.
Situated on the western periphery of Dimapur district bordering East Karbi Anglong, Rilan village has witnessed largely ignored episodes of tension, intermittently, with the Assam Forest Department and Assam Police (AP) in recent years, while the larger inter-state border dispute between the Assam and Nagaland state governments drags on at the Supreme Court.
On June 18, tension gripped the village yet again after an under-construction brick perimeter fence was demolished. The villagers alleged the AP and Assam Forest department personnel of intruding into village territory earlier in the morning and demolishing the brick wall.
The village claims the site where the incident occurred is well within its land. According to the villagers, the Lengri stream, which flows in between, is the accepted (inter-state) boundary and well within the designated village boundary. On the other hand, the Assam Forests department claim it is part of the protected Daldali Reserve Forest and part of Assam.
It has been a bone of contention that keeps on recurring at sporadic intervals. The disputed site nestling a slope overlooks an encampment of the AP on the other side south of NH 36 towards Diphu.
Nchumbemo Lotha, a headman of the village, maintained that the people carrying out development activities at the site possess land deeds issued by the Nagaland state government. He questioned whether the site under dispute forms part of the ‘Disputed Area Belt’ between Assam and Nagaland. “If it does, it is incumbent upon both the (state) governments to deploy neutral forces,” he said.
Describing life in the village as a constant harassment as a result of the largely ignored dispute, he alleged, “They (Assam Police and Forests personnel) come and destroy property without any intimation.”
In the meantime, he demanded that the Nagaland government should also deploy the state police at the site to maintain peace like the Assam government does on its site of the disputed borderland. A unit of the state police was previously stationed at the site but the personnel were relocated during the state Assembly elections in March, he added.
After the demolishing act in the morning, labourers were re-laying the wall, when a larger force of AP and Assam Forests personnel along with East Karbi-Anglong administration officials arrived at the site in the afternoon. Dimapur district administration officials and police also reached the site.
An official, who identified herself as A. Bemthoi, an Executive Magistrate (EM) from Diphu, called for maintaining “status quo.” “We feel that it is an encroachment on our forest land. That is why we are stopping it (construction),” the EM maintained.
She said that as per the Assam Land Records, the land is under Assam. With regard to the village maintaining they have land deeds issued by the Nagaland government, she said, “Whatever documents we have, let both sides produce the papers and discuss over the table (at the governmental level).”
Meanwhile, she held that “status quo” should be maintained, meaning no further construction should be done till an amicable solution is arrived at. Zubenthung Ngullie, SDO (Sadar), Dimapur said that as per the land deeds, it is well within Nagaland state. He said that if at all the officials in Diphu felt that Assam land was being encroached upon, they should have followed official procedure by intimating their counterparts in Dimapur. He maintained that they simply cannot come and destroy properties whatever may be the dispute.
He added the state government will be intimated of the incident and the village was asked to formally write to the appropriate state government authority outlining the issue.
