AIZAWL, July 19 - Spearheaded by the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (Mizo Students� Association), hundreds of students took out a rally here today, protesting against the Mizoram Government�s alleged inaction to resolve the long-standing border dispute with Assam.
The rally was organised by the State�s apex student body as there has been no follow-up action even after it set a deadline for the State Government to evict staff of the Assam Forest Department from a disputed land near Lailapur along the inter-State border before July 22.
MZP president L Ramdinliana Renthlei said that the Assam Forest Department occupies an old security forces building near Vairengte or Lailapur along the National Highway-54 on the Mizoram-Assam border, breaching the status quo.
�We demanded of the Mizoram Government to evict the Assam Forest staff from the building before July 22,� Ramdinliana said.
The MZP also pointed out that the State Council of Ministers recently adopted a resolution that the Mizoram boundary with Assam was as notified in a notification issued in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873.
�The students want the State Government to take immediate steps to fulfil the announcement. Also, 509 square miles of Inner Line Reserved Forest area should be handed over to the Mizoram Government by the Assam Forest Department,� a resolution passed after today�s rally said.
The students also said that the present map of the State is incorrect and the State Government should take immediate steps to rectify the errors.
Addressing the rally, the MZP president accused the State Government of soft pedalling on the issue of solving the border dispute as the core committee chaired by State Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo failed to take any action even after three months of the MZP submitting important documents to the committee on April 16 last.
He urged the Government to take immediate action and ensure resumption of border parleys with the Assam Government.
The border dispute between Assam and Mizoram (earlier one of the Assam districts till 1972) has persisted and tension arose at many places on several occasions due to provocations from both the sides along the 123-km-long inter-State border.
