Assam-Mizoram border

Why in news?

• There was a recent flare-up along the Assam-Mizoram border in which several people on both sides were injured and some huts were torched.

What were the recent clashes about?

• On October 18^th, residents of Lailapur village in Assam’s Cachar district clashed with residents in Mizoram’s Kolasib district.
• On October 9, a similar clash took place on the border of Karimganj (Assam) and Mamit (Mizoram) districts.
• According to an agreement between governments of Assam and Mizoram some years ago, status quo should be maintained in no man’s land in the border area.
• Mizoram claims that people from Lailapur broke the status quo and allegedly constructed some temporary huts which lead to clashes, as people from Mizoram tried to burn them down.
• As per Assam’s officials, the contested land belongs to Assam as per state’s records
• Mizoram borders Assam’s Barak Valley; both border Bangladesh.
• Mizoram civil society groups blame “illegal Bangladeshis” (alleged migrants from Bangladesh) on the Assam side.

The roots of the dispute:

• The boundary between present-day Assam and Mizoram, 165 km long today, dates back to the colonial era, when Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
• The dispute stems from a notification of 1875 that differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar, and another of 1933 that demarcates a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur.
• Mizoram believes the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873.
• Mizo leaders have argued in the past argued against the demarcation notified in 1933 because Mizo society was not consulted.

Add on: About Barak Valley:

• The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam.
• The region is named after the Barak river, which flows through the states of Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam.
• The Barak valley mainly consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Barak Valley, recently in news is a region located in the state of:
(a)West Bengal
(b)Tripura
(c)Arunachal Pradesh
(d)Assam 

Answer to prelims question