Assam's all-party delegation to visit Delhi, urge Centre to resolve Mizoram boundary dispute

A 19-member all-party delegation of Assam assembly, headed by Speaker Biswajit Daimary, on Saturday decided to visit Delhi and urge the Centre to resolve the state’s boundary dispute with Mizoram at the earliest. The delegation visited Lailapur close to the inter-state border where the clash took place on July 26 in which six Assam Police personnel and one civilian were killed and later held a meeting at Silchar. “It was decided at the meeting that an all-party delegation will meet the central government authorities and urge them to resolve the border dispute at the earliest as well as ensure that the constitutional boundaries were maintained,” an official release said. The delegation members unanimously decided to support the Assam government in all measures it takes to “protect the border” at any stage of the ongoing dispute in the interest of the people of the state. The speaker also appealed to everyone to remain united to protect Assam’s land and its people. “Just as all parties in Mizoram are united in protecting the borders of their state, all parties in Assam must also be united,” Daimary said. He said that there is a need to formulate new policies or enact laws in the interest of inter-state border security to ensure that not an inch of the state’s land was encroached upon. Besides Daimary, the delegation comprised Deputy Speaker Numal Momin, BJP MLAs Jayanta Malla Baruah, Bhuban Pegu, Rupak Sarmah and Krishna Kamal Tanti, Congress members Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Misbahul Islam Laskar, Siddeque Ahmed and Khaliluddin Mazumder. Other members of the delegation were AGP’s Ramendra Narayan Kalita and Prodip Hazarika, AIUDF’s Zakir Hussain Laskar, Suzamuddin Laskar and Karimuddin Barbhuiya, UPPL’s Lawrence Islary, BPF’s Charam Boro, CPI(M)’s Manoranjan Talukdar and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi. Cutting across party lines, 15 MLA from the three Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi have assured full support to the Assam government in dealing with the inter-state border situation.