Changlang Border Issue Raised in Arunachal Assembly
Chief Minister Pema Khandu said the state government will raise the alleged status quo violation along the inter-state boundary in Changlang district with Assam after the neighbouring state's Assembly elections.
ITANAGAR- Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, on Wednesday informed the state Assembly that the government will take up the issue of the alleged violation of status quo along the inter-state boundary in Changlang district with the government of Assam after the Assembly elections in the neighbouring state.
Responding to a question raised by BJP MLA Laisam Simai during Question Hour, the chief minister said he would also direct the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police of Changlang district to coordinate with their counterparts in Dibrugarh district to prevent any escalation of law-and-order issues in the disputed areas.
Simai alleged that although Arunachal Pradesh had maintained the status quo in the disputed zone, officials from the neighbouring state had made unauthorised visits to the area on 17 occasions and had allegedly assaulted local residents.
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Responding to a supplementary question from BJP MLA Wanglin Lowangdong regarding the unresolved boundary issue in Tirap district despite the Namsai Declaration of July 15, 2022, Khandu said that according to the report of the Survey of India, the dispute between Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh and Tinsukia district has already been settled.
“Even if there are any discrepancies, we can look for out-of-the-box solutions through discussion with Assam, but officially we cannot do anything,” the chief minister said.
Earlier, replying to the question raised by Simai, Inter-State Border Affairs Minister Mama Natung informed the House that five villages in Changlang district were not included in the Namsai Declaration, as the regional committee constituted for the district was kept in abeyance due to initial objections raised by Assam.
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Natung said that no disputed villages from Changlang district were reflected in the report of the local commission submitted in 2014, and therefore no final resolution has yet been reached in the Changlang–Tinsukia sector.
He further stated that the Tarun Chatterjee Committee had recommended that the five villages fall under Assam, a conclusion that was also reported by the then deputy commissioner of Changlang.
However, the matter remains unresolved as villagers have approached the court and the case is currently sub judice, preventing both state governments from arriving at a mutually agreed solution.
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The Namsai Declaration, signed by the chief ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, marked a significant step toward resolving the decades-old inter-state boundary dispute. The agreement aimed to address disputes concerning 123 villages along the boundary, which was later reduced to 86 villages following negotiations and joint verification.
Arunachal Pradesh, which became a Union Territory in 1972 and attained statehood in 1987, has long maintained that several forested areas in the plains traditionally belonged to hill tribal communities but were transferred to Assam earlier without consultation.
After statehood, a tripartite committee recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal Pradesh. However, Assam contested the recommendation, and the issue remained pending before the Supreme Court of India for a prolonged period.
