An unhappy Commissioner & Principal Secretary for Border Affairs, HK Khulu has shot off an elaborate clarification to the Editor of The Sentinel to “kindly restrain your Correspondent from cheap and irresponsible reporting.” Otherwise would mean that such ill-informed news could lead to serious law and order problems between Assam and Nagaland, the state official cautioned.
Ill-informed news could lead to serious law and order problems
The state official pointed out that the “cheap correspondent from Jorhat” has been time and again, “feeding the esteemed daily with irresponsible and distorted facts about Assam-Nagaland border issue for cheap publicity, without even realizing the fact that such distorted reporting may lead to serious consequences and spark off serious law and order problems between the two states”.
Drawing the Editor’s attention, the Nagaland Commissioner referred to the publication where the Staff Correspondent had alleged that the Naga encroachers are all set to establish a new “Naga Police camp” at a ‘village’ called “Bihoto Basti in Sector-B.” Likewise, the allegation that ‘a new sub-division’ is to be created by Nagas in Sarupathar areas and that the required papers works are being carried out in the department concerned of the Nagaland Government.
Asking the newspaper to set an inquiry on the “source” of the report, the Nagaland Commissioner made it clear that there was no such village call “Bihoto” in the entire sector-B of the Assam-Nagaland border. The question of setting up a new police post does not arise and there is no such plan of the Nagaland Government to set up any new sub-division in the so call Sarupathar area, the commissioner stated. The commissioner also sought explanations on why the Staff Correspondent was “so interested in one police post of Nagaland whereas Assam has 44 AAP posts set up all along the Assam-Nagaland Border in violation of the interim agreements.”
Khulu then referred to the accusation of the Correspondent that Nagas are setting up “madrassas at Gelajan, Bidyapur and Dayalpur” areas with more than “500 suspected Bangladeshi students taking religious teaching every year and regularly being shifted to various parts of the state for religious purposes.” Khulu made it plain: “In this regard if the report of your Staff Correspondent is correct than perhaps the onus of this state of affairs squarely lies with the Assam Government for setting up such villages for illegal Bangladeshi in the disputed Rengma Reserve Forest areas under sector-C despite strong objection from the Government of Nagaland”.
The commissioner reminded The Sentinel that the Nagaland Government was aware of the state of affairs and illegal activities being taking place in Bidyapur areas and the Border Magistrate of Nagaland has pointed out these facts to their counter-part in Assam and even suggested joint operations against the illegal settlement and trade. But, the official reminded, it was in fact the district administration of Assam that opposed such a move.
Further, the Staff Correspondent accused Nagas of “violation” of the interim agreement signed in 1985 to maintain status quo. Khulu stated that the terms of interim agreements signed in 1972 provided for a neutral force to be deployed under mutual understanding between the two state governments. However, he stated, instead of pursuing a mutually acceptable deployment of neutral forces in the disputed border areas the Assam Government unilaterally started deployment of its own forces (CRPF/Assam Armed Police) all along the disputed border areas with a unilateral Standard Operational Procedure (SOP). This so-called neutral force has to take the command from the Thanas (Police Station) and district administration of Assam only, the official reminded.
Explaining the terms of the Interim Agreements of 1972, the commissioner informed The Sentinel that the Government of Nagaland agreed to temporarily allow the management of all the reserve forests to the Assam Forest department. But “over the years due to the mismanagement of the Assam Forest department, peoples from the Assam side and Nagaland side had settled in this disputed forest areas and subsequently both the Government of Assam and Nagaland has given recognition to this settlement,” he said.
For this, any arbitrary and unilateral action on the part of Assam to evict Naga settlers only from the disputed areas will amount to violation of the agreements and will also tantamount to infringement on their rights as citizen of India and their rights to settle anywhere in the country as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
The Nagaland Commissioner has also reminded that a local commission has been appointed to identify the boundaries between the states of Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for which the hearing is in progress. “Since the above matter is subjudice in the Supreme Court matter may be left for the court to adjudicate and to the Government of Nagaland and Assam to decide and not left to some cheap correspondent from Jorhat”, the Commissioner’s letter stated. The commissioner also advised that the correspondent should not decide nor come to any conclusion which portion of the disputed border areas of Assam-Nagaland will fall under whose jurisdiction.
The commissioner has appealed to the Editor of The Sentinel to restrain the correspondent from cheap and irresponsible reporting. The interest of both the states and the people specifically living in the border areas along the disputed border belt should be considered, Khulu stated.