Assam-Meghalaya border tensions rise amid recent land dispute

Accusing KAAC of illegally encroaching into Meghalaya territory, the protesters dismantled picket sheds and uprooted a whole bunch of saplings, triggering a confrontation that escalated when Assam Police fired 5 rounds of tear gasoline. Two makeshift buildings within the fields had been additionally reportedly set on fireplace by Karbi locals.

District SP Chemphang Syrti stated, “A crowd of round 400 entered the plantation space and uprooted the saplings. Both administrations tried to include and disperse the group. The state of affairs is now underneath management.”

The incident occurred in Block I, a long-contested space alongside the 884.9-km Assam-Meghalaya boundary. West Jaiñtia Hills deputy commissioner Abhinav Kumar Singh confirmed that the plantation was carried out by KAAC “with none prior coordination” and regardless of ongoing peace efforts. “We had suggested restraint as a peace assembly was scheduled at Tahpat village within the morning. But the Assam aspect didn’t flip up, prompting villagers to take issues into their very own fingers,” Singh stated. “The plantation has now been halted, and police together with three border magistrates are stationed to observe the state of affairs.”

The protest has discovered robust backing from civil society and college students’ teams. A Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) chief warned, “This is a message. We will defend our land if the state can not. Despite tear gasoline, we didn’t retreat.” Neilkee Mukhim, basic secretary of the Jaiñtia Students’ Union (JSU), accused the Karbi aspect of violating a 2023 settlement to keep up the established order. “They resumed planting regardless of prior understanding. Today’s motion was crucial.”

The protest comes simply weeks after the second chief minister-level spherical of border talks was held in Guwahati on June 2 between Meghalaya CM Conrad Okay Sangma and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. This assembly was lengthy delayed—initially deliberate following the primary spherical of talks on May 17, 2023, the place each leaders agreed to collectively go to disputed sectors together with Block I and Block II. But that momentum was shattered by the Mukroh firing on November 22, 2023, by which six folks had been killed—considered one of them a forest guard—after a truck allegedly carrying unlawful timber was intercepted. The killings, which befell in one other a part of Block I, triggered widespread outrage and unrest, placing all dialogue on maintain.

The border subject between Assam and Meghalaya traces again to 1972, when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state. The border was demarcated underneath the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971—a framework Meghalaya has contested ever since. Over the years, the 2 states have held 32 rounds of official conferences, trying to resolve 12 areas of distinction spanning over 2,700 sq km.

After a long time of impasse, a breakthrough got here in March 2022, when Assam and Meghalaya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi within the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, resolving six of the 12 disputed sectors. Under this MoU, out of 36.79 sq km of contested land, Assam retained 18.46 sq km and Meghalaya obtained 18.33 sq km—a near-equal division hailed as a mannequin for cooperative federalism.

However, the six unresolved areas—together with Block I, Block II, Langpih, Deshdoomreah, Khanduli, and Nongwah-Mawtamur—stay flashpoints, significantly as a result of ethnic sensitivities, historic claims, and lack of ground-level enforcement.

During the second spherical of talks held this month, each CMs agreed to start erecting border pillars within the six resolved sectors by August 15, 2025. Further discussions will proceed by means of regional committees headed by cupboard ministers of each states.

Crucially, each states have additionally agreed to carry science to the desk. The North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) has been tasked with conducting a high-resolution satellite tv for pc imaging survey to map forest boundaries, pure drainage traces, and settlement patterns throughout the disputed zones. This impartial information will function a scientific foundation for additional demarcation, assist mitigate future conflicts, and feed into broader environmental and infrastructural planning.

“Once the NESAC survey is full inside three months, we’ll interact technical specialists like IIT Roorkee to analyse the info and recommend actionable options,” CM Sangma stated after the assembly. “It’s not nearly border traces—that is about understanding the terrain, the folks, and the ecosystem.”

The talks additionally noticed a tentative settlement to collectively fee the Kulsi multi-purpose hydroelectric and irrigation venture, with each states pledging to seek the advice of native communities earlier than implementation. Sangma described the initiative as “an emblem of Assam-Meghalaya friendship,” with potential for enhancing energy technology, irrigation, and tourism in each states.

But as Wednesday’s unrest at Lapangap proves, ground-level sentiment usually strikes sooner than coverage guarantees. A recent spherical of peace talks between Lapangap and Tahpat village councils is now scheduled for Thursday. Whether this leads to real de-escalation—or just paves the way in which for an additional confrontation—will rely on how shortly the choices made in Guwahati translate into motion on the bottom.

Even after 32 conferences and two chief minister-level rounds of talks, the street to peace alongside the Assam-Meghalaya border stays perilous. Science, diplomacy, and group participation are all now in play—however as Lapangap has reminded everybody, so is defiance.