Guwahati: All Assam Tea Tribes Student Association (ATTSA), All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), and other unions held a protest against the Naga invasion in the Mariani area of Jorhat on Thursday.
The ATTSA organised a large-scale demonstration to demand the removal of Naga encroachment in the Mariani Desoi Protected Forest.
However, one of the locals claimed that encroachers had previously occupied Desoi Valley and have now entered several places of Mariani’s Nagajanka grant.
Earlier, in May 2021, when Rupjyoti Kurmi went to investigate claims that some residents of Nagaland had encroached on territory near the Assam-Nagaland boundary, several unidentified miscreants who were presumed to be from Nagaland opened fire at him.
Additionally, after a fruitful discussion with his counterpart from Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio declared last year that both states are prepared to settle their long-standing state border conflict outside of court. The oil royalties from the disputed territory will be split equally between the two states.
It should be noted that in 1988, the Assam government petitioned the Supreme Court to settle the border dispute.
The Nagaland CM said that the Home Minister Amit Shah will meet with a group from Assam and Nagaland in Delhi at the beginning of February to discuss next steps.
This is a developing story. Further details awaited.