The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) has claimed that the firing incident reported in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Siang district on August 10 was not related to the long-standing boundary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the Assam-based students’ organisation, the incident was triggered by a dispute over the ownership of a plot of land located along the inter-state boundary.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, TMPK general secretary Sun-Donyi Pangging said the incident involved two groups of people from Badati village in Assam and Hime village in Arunachal Pradesh.
He said the dispute arose from claim and counter-claim over the ownership of the land, and should not be viewed as an issue involving the larger Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary dispute.
Pangging appealed to the people of both states not to give the incident a communal colour or interpret it as a conflict between different communities.
He said the land dispute was not connected with the interests of the Mising community in Assam or the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh.
“The incident should not be taken in a communal way,” Pangging said, urging people from both states to avoid misunderstanding and maintain peace.
The TMPK general secretary also alleged that some politicians with vested interests were attempting to gain political mileage from the incident by presenting it as a clash between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
According to him, such attempts could mislead the public and create unnecessary tension between people living on both sides of the inter-state boundary.
The organisation maintained that the August 10 incident should be examined in the context of the local land dispute between the concerned groups and not linked to the broader boundary issue between the two neighbouring states.
TMPK leaders also expressed confidence that the regional committees constituted to address the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary disputes would continue to work towards resolving the remaining issues through dialogue.
They said the committees could play an important role in finding mutually acceptable solutions in accordance with the provisions of the Namsai Declaration.
The organisation appealed to the people and authorities concerned to allow the matter to be addressed peacefully and through established mechanisms, while avoiding attempts to create division or tension among communities living in the border areas.
The Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary issue has been the subject of discussions and negotiations between the two states, with regional committees formed to examine disputed areas and recommend solutions through consultation and dialogue.
TMPK said the August 10 firing incident should not be confused with this larger process, maintaining that the immediate cause of the incident was a dispute over a specific plot of land between people from the two neighbouring villages.
