Around 600 people killed in inter-state border clashes in NE till date: Rijiju

Itanagar: Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday informed that around 600 people have lost their lives in North East (NE) due to inter-state border clashes to date.

“Till today, around 600 people have been killed in border clashes in NE states. This is not a good sign, it is very saddening. There should not be any violence in border areas,” Rijiju, who is on a three-day ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in the frontier state, told reporters at the state BJP headquarters here, on being asked about the Arunachal-Assam boundary issue.

Rijiju, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal West constituency, while pointing out that the decade's old boundary matter between Arunachal and Assam was pending in the Supreme Court, said that the Government of India wants that the NE states maintain status-quo.

“We are no enemy; we are all citizens of the same country... Why should we treat each other like an enemy for territorial matters? Whether it (boundary row) is between Arunachal and Assam, Assam-Mizoram or Assam-Nagaland, we all should maintain peace and harmony with the spirit of brotherhood,” the Union minister said.

For this (boundary issue) there is a mechanism, everyone has to follow this mechanism, he emphatically said.

Referring to recent violent border clashes between Assam and Mizoram, he said, “Everyone should act in a balanced way and nobody should give any provocative statement.”

“United NE is for united India. If we fight among ourselves, we would be scattered. ‘United we stand, divided we fall’ - this formula has to be implemented every day,” Rijiju said.

It may be mentioned here that Chief Minister Pema Khandu in his 75th Independence Day address, had reiterated that all border disputes with the neighbouring Assam would be settled out-of-court and the state government would make claims and carry out all the exercises taking into consideration the Apex Court appointed ‘Local Commission’ report.

In this regard, the Arunachal Pradesh government had constituted a High Power Ministerial Committee (HPMC) headed by state Home Minister Bamang Felix. The committee so far has held two meetings with different stakeholders. The next meeting is scheduled to be held on August 20 with all the stakeholders of the districts sharing boundaries with Assam. (UNI)