Truck drivers unwilling to enter Mizoram fearing COVID "harassment", says Assam minister

GUWAHATI:

Assam minister Parimal Suklabaidya on Thursday said truck drivers have expressed unwillingness to enter Mizoram, fearing "harassment" on the pretext of Covid-19 testing.

The Minister for Environment and Forest, Excise and Fishery, who visited the inter-state border at Dholakhal and Lailapur areas, said steps are being taken for facilitating testing in the camps for Seema Suraksha Bal jawans deployed along the border.

Movement of vehicles between Mizoram and Assam resumed on November 9 as the blockade on National Highway-306 was lifted after 12 days amid border tension between the two northeastern states.

Residents of Lailapur began the blockade on October 28, demanding the withdrawal of Mizoram forces from what they claimed as Assam's territory.

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Mizoram had refused to pull out, arguing that forces were deployed within its territory.

Later, at a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, between the chief secretaries of Assam and Mizoram, it was decided that Mizoram will partly withdraw its forces from the border areas and the blockade on NH-306 will be lifted.

"Mizoram will have to retreat eventually and we are not going to budge an inch from our territory," Suklabaidya asserted.

He, however, said that Assam wants to keep brotherhood and harmony intact with the neighbouring state.