Assam-Meghalaya border clash: What is the 50-year-old dispute about?

The incident has reignited the Assam-Meghalaya border dispute that was partially settled earlier this year.

Undivided Assam under British rule comprised the present-day states of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram. In 1972, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state and its borders were demarcated as per the Assam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act of 1969. The state challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, which led to disputes in the 12 areas.

A major part of the dispute arises from the recommendations of the 1951 committee headed by then Assam Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi. The committee had recommended that Blocks I and II of Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya be made part of the Mikir Hill (Karbi Anglong) district of Assam. Apart from this, the committee had also suggested that some areas from Meghalaya’s Garo Hills be transferred to Goalpara district of Assam.

Although the 1969 Assam Reorganisation Act is based on the recommendations of the Bordoloi committee, Meghalaya rejects these claims. According to Meghalaya, these areas originally belong to the Khasi-Jaintia Hills. However, Assam believes that its neighbour does not have the requisite documents to prove that these areas are historically a part of their state.

Earlier, several attempts were made to resolve the five-decade-old Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute. Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia and Meghalaya Chief Minister Captain WA Sangma constituted a committee in 1985 under former Chief Justice of India Y V Chandrachud to resolve the issue. However, the committee was unable to find a solution.

In March this year, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma signed a ‘historic’ agreement in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah with regard to the border dispute between the two states.

The two states, which have been in talks since 2021, identified six out of 12 disputed areas for resolution in the first phase. These included one area contested between East Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya and Cachar in Assam, two areas of contention between RiBhoi in Meghalaya and Kamrup-Metro, and three disputed areas between West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya and Kamrup in Assam.

The two states jointly recommended that of the 36.79 sq km of the disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Meghalaya would get full control of 18.33 sq km while Assam would get 18.46 sq km. In March, the two states signed an agreement based on these recommendations.

Shah said the agreement helped resolve 70 percent of the border dispute between the two states.