Fresh clashes have broken out along the Assam-Nagaland border in Golaghat district's Merapani sector this week, after a Forest Department vehicle check at No. 2 Negheribil escalated into an armed confrontation, a police complaint, and warnings of an economic blockade against Nagaland-side villages. The flare-up is the latest in a string of incidents in the area since Assam launched a large eviction drive earlier this year targeting more than 2,000 Bengali-origin Muslim families settled inside the Rengma Reserve Forest along the disputed frontier.
Background
The Assam-Nagaland boundary dispute dates back to 1963, when Nagaland was carved out of Assam under the Nagaland State Act, 1962, which defined the new state's borders according to a 1925 colonial-era notification. Nagaland rejected that delineation, arguing that Naga-dominated tracts of forest land — including areas around Merapani — historically belonged to Naga tribes and should fall within its territory. The dispute has never been formally settled: Assam approached the Supreme Court in 1998, and the case remains pending even as periodic ceasefire and status-quo arrangements have tried to keep the peace on the ground.
Merapani itself carries a violent history. In June 1985, a three-day confrontation between Assam and Nagaland's state police forces left dozens dead — Assam government figures put police casualties alone at 28, with other estimates of total deaths running into the hundreds — and destroyed large parts of the settlement inside the Doyang Reserve Forest. In the aftermath, both states were forced to withdraw their armed police from the area, which has since been patrolled by central paramilitary forces rather than either state's own police. That arrangement is precisely why the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), not Assam or Nagaland police, was the first responder to this week's clashes.
The current round of tension has a more immediate trigger. Earlier this year, the Assam government launched one of its largest eviction drives in the Golaghat district, aiming to clear roughly 15,000 bighas (about 4,900 acres) of the Rengma Reserve Forest in the Uriamghat area, where an estimated 2,700 families — mostly Bengali-origin Muslims — had settled. Because Uriamghat sits inside one of the long-disputed sectors of the Assam-Nagaland boundary, the eviction immediately reverberated across the frontier: Nagaland placed its side of the border on high alert, deploying police and district officials to prevent evicted families from crossing over, while Naga civil society groups, including the Dimapur Naga Students' Union and a faction of the NSCN(K), publicly accused Assam of using the evictions as cover to permanently entrench police presence on disputed land.
Key Details
This week's specific flashpoint was at a checking gate set up by the Assam Forest Department at No. 2 Negheribil in the Merapani sector.
- Tuesday's incident: An argument broke out at the Forest Department's checking gate after Naga residents objected to officials stopping a vehicle carrying rubber saplings/rolls bound for a recently evicted stretch of land.
- Escalation: According to local residents, around 30-40 people — described as arriving from the Mikirang and Lugayum/Longayim areas on the Nagaland side and led by Hussain Lotha, chairman of the Longayim and Mikirang villages — entered Negheribil carrying sharp weapons, intimidating residents.
- Wednesday's follow-up: Two Naga individuals allegedly involved in Tuesday's disturbance returned to the spot, triggering a fresh heated argument that turned into a physical scuffle before CRPF personnel and Merapani Police intervened and dispersed the group.
- Separate protest-site clash: In a related flashpoint reported at the same border sector, Nagaland police personnel who arrived to dismantle a protest stage and remove banners set up by local demonstrators were confronted and chased back toward the Nagaland side by protesters who outnumbered them, before Assam Police arrived to restore order.
- Police complaint: Residents of No. 2 Negheribil have filed a formal police complaint alleging assault, intimidation and unlawful entry by the Nagaland-side group.
The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), an organisation representing the Mising community with a presence in the affected villages, has warned of an economic blockade against Nagaland-side villagers bordering Assam if the matter is not resolved through dialogue. A TMPK representative was quoted saying: "The miscreants must face legal action and we demand the two councils to sit for discussion with local residents of Mising village and TMPK and find a resolution through deliberation. If they fail to do so, we will be compelled to undertake economic blockade." Separately, farmers in Assam's Merapani area have also lodged a complaint against Nagaland's Agriculture Department, adding an administrative dimension to the dispute beyond the immediate street-level clashes.
District officials in Golaghat have appealed for calm and said fresh talks are being arranged with Nagaland counterparts to de-escalate the situation, while local residents have vowed to continue their protest until they receive clear assurances that Assam's territorial claims in the sector will be protected.
At a Glance
| Episode | Year | Scale / Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 Merapani Incident | 1985 | Three-day inter-state police confrontation; dozens to over 100 dead by various estimates; both states' armed police withdrawn from the area |
| Rengma Reserve Forest eviction drive | 2026 (earlier this year) | ~2,700 families, ~15,000 bighas (4,900 acres) cleared in Uriamghat; triggered high alert on Nagaland side |
| No. 2 Negheribil clashes | This week (August 2026) | Forest-gate dispute over rubber saplings escalates to armed confrontation, police complaint, blockade threat |
Local Impact
For residents of border villages like Negheribil, Merapani, Mikirang and Longayim, the practical impact is immediate: heightened fear, disrupted daily movement across a porous frontier that many families on both sides have historically crossed for farming, trade and social ties, and now visibly increased security presence. Farmers whose land or produce routes intersect the disputed checking-gate area — such as those transporting rubber saplings, a cash crop increasingly cultivated in Upper Assam — face direct economic disruption when gates are contested or shut down amid unrest. The TMPK's blockade threat, if carried out, would cut off trade and movement for Nagaland-side villages that depend on the Assam side for market access, escalating an already fragile local economy built on cross-border interdependence despite the political dispute above it.
More broadly, the recurring nature of these flare-ups — this is far from the first Merapani-area clash in recent years — means border communities live with a low but persistent hum of insecurity that periodically spikes into acute crisis, disrupting schooling, local commerce and administrative services each time paramilitary forces have to be deployed to restore calm.
What Happens Next
Golaghat district officials say fresh talks with Nagaland counterparts are being arranged to de-escalate the immediate situation, and security has been tightened in the Merapani sector to prevent further incidents. At the state level, Assam's Border Protection and Development Minister has previously said talks are ongoing at the Chief Minister level with Nagaland even as the underlying boundary dispute remains before the Supreme Court, where Assam's original 1998 petition is still pending. Given the pattern of past incidents, a durable resolution is unlikely to come from this round of local talks alone; residents and officials on both sides are expected to continue treating each flare-up as a separate crisis to be managed rather than a symptom of the unresolved 434-km boundary dispute between the two states, which covers roughly 66,000 hectares of contested land in total.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggered this week's clash at the Assam-Nagaland border?
An argument at an Assam Forest Department checking gate in No. 2 Negheribil, after officials stopped a vehicle carrying rubber saplings bound for a recently evicted area, escalated when a group of 30-40 people from the Nagaland side reportedly entered carrying sharp weapons.
Why did CRPF, not state police, respond to the clash?
Since the deadly 1985 Merapani Incident, both Assam and Nagaland have kept their armed state police forces withdrawn from the immediate Merapani area, leaving central paramilitary forces like the CRPF as the primary security presence there.
How is this connected to the Rengma Reserve Forest evictions?
Earlier this year, Assam evicted roughly 2,700 families, mostly Bengali-origin Muslims, from about 15,000 bighas of the Rengma Reserve Forest in nearby Uriamghat, which lies in a disputed boundary sector. That drive put Nagaland's side of the border on high alert and heightened cross-border tension that has continued to surface in incidents like this week's.
What is the Takam Mising Porin Kebang threatening?
The TMPK, representing the Mising community in the affected villages, has warned it will call for an economic blockade against Nagaland-side border villages unless the two sides' local councils sit down for dialogue and resolve the dispute.
How old is the Assam-Nagaland border dispute?
It dates to 1963, when Nagaland was carved out of Assam and given borders based on a 1925 colonial notification that Nagaland has long disputed. Assam took the matter to the Supreme Court in 1998, and the case remains pending.
How much land is in dispute between Assam and Nagaland?
Roughly 66,000 hectares of land is disputed along the two states' 434-km shared border, according to Assam government figures.
Has there been any progress toward resolving the dispute?
Assam's Border Protection and Development Minister has said talks are ongoing at the Chief Minister level, and the Nagaland Assembly has previously adopted a resolution supporting settlement talks, but no final boundary agreement has been reached and the Supreme Court case continues.
Sources
- The Assam Tribune
- Sentinel Assam
- Pratidin Time
- Northeast Now
- Scroll.in