- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE northeastern state of Assam, which is in the middle of a confrontation with the neighbouring state of Mizoram, on Friday (30) defended issuing an advisory to its people against travelling to the southern neighbour alleging its civilians were keeping advanced weapons and the situation could turn dangerous in the wake of the bitter relations between the two states at the moment.
Six personnel of Assam Police were killed while several were injured after a gunbattle started between the forces of the two states over the border dispute. Political leaders of both states have accused each other of fuelling the crisis.
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On Thursday (29), Assam’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma advised its people against traveling to Mizoram, a move which soon faced a backlash.
6 cops killed in violent border dispute between Assam, Mizoram
“Civilians in Mizoram roam around carrying AK-47s and sniper guns,” Sarma said, defending his government’s move to issue such an advisory.
The advisory had said earlier that even after the firing incident, “certain Mizo civil society, students, and youth organisations are constantly issuing provocative statements against the state of Assam and its people. It has been reliably learnt from video footage available with Assam Police, that many civilians are heavily armed with automatic weapons etc”.
Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga of the Mizo National Front, which is an ally of the BJP in northeast India, reacted to Assam advisory saying “north-east India will always be one”. He emphasised that there will not be restrictions on non-residents of Mizoram on travelling through Mizoram’s Kolasib district which borders Assam’s Cachar district.
India’s main opposition party Indian National Congress, which ruled Assam for a long time till it lost power in 2016 to the BJP, slammed the Sarma government over the advisory saying it was an “embarrassing day” for the country as one state had to issue an advisory to its people against travelling to another state.
