Naga accord not to alter Assam territory: Centre

GUWAHATI: The Centre has reassured Assam that the state's territory will not be altered because of the fresh Naga peace accord expected to be signed between the Union government and NSCN(I-M) before the assembly election in Nagaland early next year. "Last month, when we raised the issue of protection of our territory vis-a-vis the upcoming Naga accord, we were assured from the highest level of the central government that Assam's boundary will not be changed," a top state government official said. He added, "There is no question of parting with our territory. Rather, it is the border dispute with Nagaland that needs to be settled now. The Constitution has already demarcated the border in 1963 and that can't be changed." Assam has told the Centre that it wants the border dispute with Nagaland to be resolved now. While Assam is sticking to the constitutional boundary demarcated when Nagaland was carved out of Assam in 1963, the hill state wants the dispute to be settled on the basis of 'historical rights' of Nagas. According to Assam's claim, Nagaland has grabbed nearly 60,000 hectares of its land in Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts. Nagaland, on the other hand, says these areas belong to it historically.

The NSCN(I-M), which signed a 'Framework Agreement' with the Centre two years ago to form the basis of the final agreement, wants large parts of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh having Naga inhabitants to carve out a greater Nagaland." The Centre has recently expanded the perimeter of the peace process, which was started way back in 1997 with the NSCN(I-M), by bringing all other insurgent groups, barring NSCN(K), on board. In 1971, the Centre had appointed a committee headed by then chairman of the Law Commission, KVK Sundaram, to examine Nagaland's claims. Sundaram had suggested a joint survey of the border which was rejected by Nagaland. However, the two states signed interim agreements to maintain status quo on the border. In 1988, the Assam government moved the Supreme Court and in 2006 the court set up a three-member commission headed by a retired SC judge to identify the boundary.