This was the suggestion of former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai, who is well versed with the situation in the region as he had also served as Joint Secretary (North East) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) before taking over as Home Secretary.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Pillai said that the State Governments should hold regular talks and try to settle the boundary disputes amicably. Referring to the recent clashes in the Assam-Nagaland border areas, he expressed the view that such incidents cannot be prevented till the border is settled. He pointed out that the leaders of the states visit the disputed areas only when trouble breaks out. But such visits would not help in improving the confidence level of the people living on both sides of the inter-state boundary. Both the Governments should constitute high level committees to visit the borders regularly to instill confidence in the minds of the people, he suggested.
As a case regarding the Assam-Nagaland border dispute is pending in the Supreme Court, Pillai said both the states should appeal before the court to dispose of the case as soon as possible, as delay in settlement of the inter-state boundary can lead to fresh incidents of violence. He admitted that in such cases of boundary disputes, the Supreme Court is the final arbitrator and the verdict of the court would be binding on both the states.
Commenting on the allegations that the neutral force deployed along the inter-state boundary in Golaghat district failed to maintain status quo, Pillai expressed the view that forces cannot solve such disputes. He pointed out that as the villages are scattered, it would never be possible to provide adequate security in each and every village. He further said that forces never solved any problem and in a democracy the problems can be solved only through dialogue.
The former Union Home Secretary further admitted that Assam is having boundary disputes with other neighbouring states like Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and in those cases also, regular talks between the Governments should be carried out. He suggested that the Governments should settle the disputes through give and take policy as keeping the disputes alive would only complicate matters and affect the daily life of the people living in the bordering areas. “If international boundary disputes can be solved through talks, there is no reason why the inter-state boundary disputes cannot be solved through peaceful negotiations,” he added.
Pillai further pointed out that the governments concerned failed to protect the reserved forests along the inter-state boundaries and now the forests remained only on paper. But the Governments concerned never approached the Ministry of Environment and Forests with petitions to de-reserve those areas, he added.
Source: Assam Tribune
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