On Mizoram talks eve, oppn ruckus in Assam assembly

GUWAHATI: The Assam assembly witnessed bedlam on Wednesday over the border flare-up with Mizoram, forcing speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the proceedings on the eve of conciliatory talks in Aizawl involving the Zoramthanga government and two ministers deputed by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma to represent the state.
The ruckus started after the entire opposition gathered at the well of the House, demanding "a neutral probe" by the CBI or the NIA into the July 26 firing on the Cachar border in which six Assam cops were killed. Some opposition MLAs carried placards that read, "Give security to our people at the border".
As Congress, AIUDF, Bodoland People's Front, CPM and independent MLAs joined forces in a bid to corner the government on its border response, BJP and its allies jumped into the fray to counter the allegations.
Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha said the decades-old boundary dispute flared up October last year, but the state government failed to act on the warning signs. Parliamentary affairs minister Pijush Hazarika said Assam and Mizoram were not two nations, but neighbouring states of India.
Both CM Sarma and his counterpart Zoramthanga tweeted that Thursday's talks would help break the ice. "Two of my senior colleagues @AtulBora2 and @TheAshokSinghal will visit Aizawl tomorrow with a message of peace from people of Assam."
Zoramthanga held out hope for a breakthrough. "Tomorrow the 5th of August, 2021 representatives from #Assam Govt, led by a senior minister, will meet representatives of #Mizoram Govt, led by a senior minister. I am sure important steps will be achieved for the solution of the border problem."