Border row: Farm lands stuck in 'enemy zone', farmers lose livelihood

Many villagers have suddenly found that the farmland they had been cultivating for several decades, are at present, within the "enemy zone". A ground zero report by ETV Bharat Senior Correspondent Gautam Debroy.

Lailapur/Buarchep (Mizoram): The border clash between Assam and Mizoram on July 26 was not only about the loss of lives, but it was about the loss of livelihood too. As ETV Bharat visited some of the border villages along these two neighbouring States, it was found that the people living here have found themselves caught in the boundary dispute.

Several Mizo villagers have now been claiming that they are being prevented by the Assam police from going to the fields depriving them of their livelihoods. "Many of my villagers and I are afraid of going to the other side of the border as the Assam police prevents us. We lost many of our agricultural lands following this dispute," said Vanlalzawna, president of Saihapu-V village council.

Many of the Mizo farmers are traditional jhum cultivators. They clear nearby hillocks through the burn-and-slash process for cultivation. Jhum cultivation is commonly known as shifting cultivation since after one harvest, the land is left to regenerate for a few years. In a rotating process, the farmers cultivate in other hillocks. Many villagers of Kolasib, Buarchep along the border area suddenly find the farmlands they had been cultivating for several decades are within the "enemy zone".

Forward posts set up by the police forces of the two States have created a new conflict zones along the border. The villagers alleged that the Assam police's forward push-started even before the July 26 clash. The villagers claim that the Assam police overtook the farms and ponds of some villagers on July 10. They were not even been allowed to indulge in farming and fishing.

Thousands of villagers have now been affected due to the border conflict. A village council member alleged that the broom cultivation done by the Mizo farmers have been severely affected as the people from Assam have started planting tea on their land.

"Our villagers used to do broom cultivation in the land which has been occupied by tea cultivators from Assam," claimed the village council member. With the recent violent clash between the two States, people living in the bordering villages have found themselves in a dilemma as they can neither withdraw their claim over the land nor be able to get it back from the "present owner."