"Ours Since Over 100 Years": Mizoram On Himanta Sarma's Territory Claim

Satellite images show Mizos had been living there for years, Mizoram has said.

Mizoram today rejected Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's allegation that the state had encroached into parts of Assam's Barak Valley. It asserted yesterday that native Mizos had been living in the said territory for over a hundred years and cited "satellite images" to prove its claim. "Assam is laying claims to Mizoram's territories, which the residents of border villages have been occupying for over 100 years. Satellite images will prove that," Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said on Friday. "There is no encroachment by Mizoram into Assam's territory. It is the other way round," Mr Chuaungo told a news agency. He alleged that Assam officials had encroached Mizoram's territories under the supervision of their police and forest departments in the past few weeks despite the decision to maintain status quo in disputed areas.