Jamir backs 1984 deal for border settlement

Testupila (Mokokchung), September 1 (MExN): Former Chief Minister of Nagaland and present Goa Governor Dr SC Jamir today said that the border issue between the states of Assam and Nagaland should be, and can best be, settled by the people themselves and called for peaceful co-existence among the different communities living in the disputed areas.

Interacting with a six-member delegation of Border Peace Coordination Committee (Assam-Nagaland) led by its president BP Bora at Tetsupila Check Gate this morning while enroute to Mokokchung, Jamir pointed out that harmony and peace  have prevailed among the Assamese and Nagas for centuries and urged the leaders to maintain this cordial relationship.

“Our forefathers have lived together in peace like brothers, so we Nagas and Assamese should also live like brothers,” the Governor opined. He said the 1984 Saikia-Jamir Agreement was a humane and more practical agreement between the two peoples which took into consideration the ground realities since both of them, Saikia and Jamir, were very closely related with the peoples of the areas and knew what their aspirations were.

He said that if this 1984 agreement were to be implemented, there would have been a clear cut boundary right from the tri-junction of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland border where there could have been some give-and-take for both the parties, but which would have satisfied all the people in the entire border belt.

He however regretted that due to powers-that-be who did not know the ground situation and who had never even visited the areas, the agreement could not be implemented. He appealed to the delegation not to blow up issues out of proportion saying that such news create bad impression and spoil relations between peoples.

“Why should there be border disputes between us? Whether the land is there in Assam or here in Nagaland, we are all part of the same country and there is no reason why fellow-countrymen should fight over land,” he reasoned. “Moreover, we people of the northeast should realize that our collective interests can be fulfilled most only when we start to consider the entire region as a single political, social and economic unit.”

BP Bora, president of the committee was of the opinion that the Supreme Court’s setting up of a Boundary Commission to settle the issue may not be very practical since the members may not know the ground realities and psyche of the people living in the affected areas.

The Border Peace Coordination Committee (Assam Nagaland) was formed on August 19, 2005 after a “historic” meeting of NGOs, village elders, Police and administration officials from both the states at Saring, Assam, and the Committee continues to work for “protection of peace and tranquility” in the border areas.