There were 300 cartons of eggs with Bikram Singh. “This is for the first time that I will be driving to Mizoram through Tripura," said the interstate truck driver, having set off from Guwahati in Assam. “They asked me to take the Damcherra route. There are 10 trucks with me and we are unaware of the road conditions.”
With the Assam government’s travel restrictions on movement to Mizoram after a violent standoff last month over a border dispute between the two states, Tripura has become the alternate route for many trucks in the region. For the landlocked state of Mizoram, the most favoured route to connect to the rest of the country is through Lailapur of Cachar district, where the bloody brawl took place. The other one is through Bazarichera in Karimganj that connects to Kahmun in Mizoram. However, if these two routes are closed under any circumstances then Tripura remains the only option. Damcherra and two other routes in the Jampui Hills connect Tripura with neighbouring Mizoram. The 170-kilometre-long road to Aizawl through Damcherra is smooth and consumes less time than the other two.
Protesters objecting to the movement of essential commodities through the state, demanding “don’t help Tripura”, blocked the Assam-Tripura national highway 6 for several hours on Monday at Luwairpuwa in Karimganj district of south Assam. They alleged that trucks move to Tripura through Churaibari at the Assam-Tripura border and then drive to Aizawl through Damcherra.
A smouldering border dispute between Assam and Mizoram erupted into a bloody conflict on July 26 after six Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed in a turf tussle while more than 50 people were injured. FIRs have been filed by both sides against police personnel and other officials. In signs of a thaw, the Mizoram government said on Sunday that it will remove the name of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from an FIR, while Assam also agreed to withdraw a complaint filed against a Mizoram Rajya Sabha member.
Mizoram shares a 95-km interstate border with Manipur and a 66-km one with Tripura. The hill state has been getting gas supply from Tripura since the violence.
Mizoram sports and tourism minister Robert Royte said on Twitter that his state welcomes the peace initiative of home minister Amit Shah and the 28/7/21 agreement signed between the MHA, and chief secretaries of Assam and Mizoram is being pursued. “Mizoram demands immediate revocation of Travel advisory and Order for checking of all vehicles coming from Mizoram. Assam should also lift economic blockade immediately. The Centre should intervene," he also wrote.
Mizoram’s health minister R Lalthangliana on Sunday said that medical supplies, including Covid-19 test kits, were being blocked from entering the state from Assam due to the imposition of a blockade in the Barak Valley region following the border dispute. Assam, however, said that no organisation is currently staging any blockade in the state.
Officials in Mizoram also said on Saturday that no vehicle had entered from Assam since the clash at the border despite the neighbouring state’s assertion that the “economic blockade” staged by several groups on national highway 306 had been lifted.
The Dasarath Setu on Longai river that separates Tripura and Mizoram at Damcherra can withstand a load capacity of 20MT, and with heavy trucks plying on it frequently now, the robustness of the bridge is being put to the test.
According to a recent tweet by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, the royal scion and Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) chairman, “Humanity is about helping not taking sides. We have a problem with Mizoram regarding our borders but in times of crisis we should help. During the famine of 1940 Maharaja Bir Bikram send trucks of food grain to present day Bangladesh. Humanity is important.”
After almost a week of the tussle at the borders flowed by accusations and counter-accusations, the clouds of ambiguity cleared when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Shah met the BJP MPs of the Northeast and the governor of Mizoram and assured of resolving the issues of discontent.
Mizoram CM Zoramthanga going the extra mile tweeted on Monday, “In order to build a conducive atmosphere for amicable solution to the #MizoramAssamBorder dispute & to reduce the plight of suffering citizens, I have directed @mizorampoliceto withdraw FIR dt. 26.07.2021 filed at Vairengte, Kolasib District, Mizoram against all the accused persons."
Earlier in the day, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, whose name was mentioned in an FIR filed by the Mizoram Police, took the first step towards resolving the impasse, and asked Assam Police to drop the case against Mizoram Rajya Sabha member K Vanlalvena for his “threatening" remarks on the matter, saying that he was not present at the spot of the violence. However, the cases filed against Mizoram police officers remain.
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