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The gains made in Assam-Meghalaya are significant. They offer a roadmap to the other states, have the potential of bringing down the temperature, and denting the Northeast’s image of a region of innumerable conflicts. The Assam and Meghalaya governments have made an impressive beginning towards resolving a border dispute that has festered for 50 years now. The chief ministers of the two states have signed an agreement to settle six of the 12 contested spots on the 884-km border they share. True, the six other points of contestation are expected to involve longer and more complex negotiations. But that only highlights the pragmatism in not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. The pact is a result of sustained talks and follow-up action between the two governments since last year, with the prodding of the Centre. It also suggests that both Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, whose NPP is also an NDA partner in the state, have staked political capital in disentangling this knot. That’s a striking — and refreshing — contrast from the situation in last July, when violence on the Assam-Mizoram border led to the death of six police personnel and descended into unseemly grandstanding by two CMs, both unwilling to yield an inch.
The many border disputes in the region are a function of history. While colonial Assam was a large lumbering landmass, administered to serve British revenue interests, several states were carved out from it after independence — as smaller tribes and local communities remained apprehensive about their interests going unrepresented in a vast political unit. Indeed, the map-making of the colonial-era ended up drawing random, arbitrary lines, leading to fault lines between communities that have only widened over time. Unfortunately, they also left a mark on the political boundaries that were drawn post-1947. As a result, nearly every state in the region has a disputed border with Assam. Land is a fraught issue in the Northeast, and often pits state against state in bitter disputes — the demand for a Greater Nagalim, for instance. Smaller states, especially, have remained anxious about not ceding territory. The contentions over the demarcation of Assam’s border with Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are more numerous and more intractable. While Assam has initiated conversations with them, they remain at a very preliminary stage.
The gains made in Assam-Meghalaya, therefore, are significant. They offer a roadmap to the other states, have the potential of bringing down the temperature, and denting the Northeast’s image of a region of innumerable conflicts. That can only work to the region’s advantage in inviting investment and pushing for an infrastructure boost. For both Sarma and Sangma, however, the test will be to sell the agreement to their respective domestic constituencies, and ensure that the residents on the border villages are not alienated in the process. While this is a good beginning, neither the Centre nor the leaders of the region must underestimate the task that lies ahead.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on March 31, 2022 under the title ‘Resolving stress’
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