It is easier to fuel passions over a dispute than to solve it. The governments of Assam and Nagaland seem to have a dangerous strategy about the boundary dispute between them. One would expect governments to try legal and administrative solutions. Instead, the two governments stand back and allow people on both sides to take the law into their hands. It is true that the latest twist to the dispute was a result of the ?economic blockade? by the All Assam Students? Union on Nagaland. Irresponsible as the move was, it exposed the two states? incompetence and even connivance with the trouble-makers. Worse, the call by Nagaland?s chief minister, Mr Neiphu Rio, to the Nagas living in the area to tackle the Assamese ?aggression? could be seen both as a provocation and as an abdication of his authority. That, however, does not absolve Dispur of its failure to foil the AASU?s blockade. It is amazing that the governments were so insensitive to the dangers of their ways. The boundary dispute between the two states barely conceals the ethnic element in it. The ugly ethnic flare-up of 1985 should actually put the two states on a permanent alert.

A better idea, of course, is to try and find a solution that would be acceptable to both sides. The boundary dispute is a legacy of the division of old Assam into the other states of the North-east. Other states in the region also face similar problems. The tensions are due also to the fact that the arbitrary division of the states? boundaries did little to redress traditional ethnic rivalries. The Centre obviously has a crucial role in persuading the states to take a more conciliatory approach to the issue. The Supreme Court has proposed that a judicial commission look into the dispute between Assam and Nagaland. It is a complex issue and the commission may not easily find a mutually acceptable solution. Even history may not be of much help because most of the area was covered by forests until recently. Whatever the commission?s judgment, it would be difficult to implement it without the political will of both states. But things can only get worse if politicians pander to ethnic passions. Until a settlement is reached, the least the governments can do is prevent the use of force by people on either side. It is not enough to have police posts. Both Kohima and Dispur must act, not like partisans, but like sensible governments.