Militants behind land trespass

A minister in the Assam Government alleged that large swathes of the states land was being encroached by Nagaland,possibly at the behest of a militant outfit in the neighbouring state. Making this startling allegation in the Assembly,Assam Border Areas Development Minister Gautam Roy claimed that over 66,000 hectares of Assams land was currently under encroachment by Nagaland.

Though he refrained from naming any militant outfit,he did specify that the desire for a Greater Nagalim was one reason behind unabated encroachment. Roy was responding to a question by Abdul Aziz (AGP) in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.

The Minister said the unwillingness of Nagaland to accept the constitutional boundary demarcated by the Union Government during its creation in 1962 was yet another reason behind the encroachment being undertaken by both the Government and the people of Nagaland.

Nagaland has been violating its boundary with Assam because it does not abide by the constitutionally-demarcated boundary, Roy said. A case had been filed in the Supreme Court against the Nagaland government as far back as 1988 and the apex court had set up a local commission to go into the details of the issue,he said.