The Northeast Students’ Organisation (NESO) has said that peace will usher and prevail among the Northeast states, if the inter-state borders are properly demarcated.
“If a solution is arrived whereby borders will be properly demarcated with a unanimous settlement, then peace will usher between different states and the people residing along the borders can live without fear and in harmony amongst themselves,” the NESO said in a statement on Thursday.
The NESO is a body comprising eight student unions from seven Northeast states: All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Khasi Students Union (KSU), Garo Students’ Union (GSUGSU), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU) and Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF).
This statement from the NESO comes in the backdrop of the bloody inter-state border clash between Assam and Mizoram on Monday.
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The NESO has expressed disappointment over the Assam-Mizoram border clash. The students’ body condemned the incident.
NESO said: “…would like to express its anguish and disbelief at the recent border conflicts along the Assam-Mizoram boundary which is condemnable and which had taken a huge toll on human lives, injuries to scores of people and destruction to people’s property.”
It said that many rounds of talks between different states at different levels on the issue of boundary dispute have failed to bring about a solution.
“It appears that many levels of boundary talks bear no solution to this plaguing problem,” the NESO said in its statement.
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“Recently, the organization (NESO) sent a representation to the Hon’ble Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah on the vexed border issues during his visit to Meghalaya,” it said.
“NESO once again strongly urge upon all State Governments to be committed to solve this long pending problem once and for all and if necessary, the Central Government should be a party in these dialogues and NESO on its part will continue to encourage peoples to peoples contact and peoples to people’s relationship along the border areas.”
The NESO added: “NESO would also like to call upon all the indigenous peoples that this issue is not an ethnic issue but of border dispute in which the respective State Governments are duty bound to solve.”