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Fresh tensions erupt as armed Naga encroachment sparks panic along Assam-Nagaland border

Residents accuse authorities of inaction as protected forest areas are cleared and settled amid growing fear and unrest.

By The Assam Tribune
Fresh tensions erupt as armed Naga encroachment sparks panic along Assam-Nagaland border
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Office of the New Sonowal Dissoi Valley reserved forest

Jorhat, June 27: Tensions along the Assam-Nagaland border have escalated once again, with alarming reports of fresh encroachment emerging from the Mariani area of Jorhat district. Local residents have accused armed groups from Nagaland of forcibly occupying Assamese land and clearing protected forest areas to establish settlements and rubber plantations.

The latest point of friction is Nagajangka, where villagers claim that land once used for agriculture by Assamese residents has been taken over for the creation of a rubber garden, allegedly by individuals from the Naga community, who arrived armed and cleared the area by burning sections of the forest.

“This is Assamese land. We’ve cultivated here for generations,” said a distressed local from Nagajangka.

“Now, they’ve cleared it, set fire to the forest, and planted rubber saplings just last week. When we protested, they threatened us and told us to leave. The police came once, but now no one from the administration is here”, he said, distressed.

According to multiple residents, the newly established Bihato settlement in the Dissoi Valley reserved forest area, which falls under the New Sonowal Range of the Mariani Forest Division, marks the beginning of aggressive encroachment.

Satellite villages and plantations have since mushroomed in adjoining zones, all of which are part of the Jorhat forest circle.

Villagers from Udaypur Basagaon, Panchwal, and Nagajangka have voiced grave concerns over increasing instances of armed intrusions and the perceived silence of the authorities.

Despite long-standing allegations of Nagaland's administrative support in setting up settlements in disputed forest zones, neither the Assam Police nor the Forest Department has taken visible steps to address the issue, residents say.

“Earlier, forest guards used to come and inspect. Now they don’t even show up. The Nagas enter with weapons, take over land, burn down trees, and establish plantations. How can we live with this constant fear?” said a resident.

Community leaders and civil society members are now demanding immediate intervention from the Assam government to:

  • Reclaim encroached land in the protected forest regions,
  • Ensure security patrols along sensitive stretches of the border,
  • Deploy joint forest and police teams, and
  • Initiate dialogue at the inter-state level to address these recurrent violations.

Despite multiple inter-state talks and court-monitored boundary agreements, ground-level implementation remains weak, leaving local populations vulnerable to repeated cycles of encroachment and violence.

Earlier, on June 11, a new settlement of around 15 houses was established by alleged armed Naga encroachers within the Dissoi Valley Reserved Forest area near the New Sonowal Forest Office and the Border Observation Post. It followed the previously established Vikto Akahuto settlement in the same reserved forest region, both of which locals claim were set up by armed settlers from Nagaland.

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