Writer Hiren Gohain speaks at the meeting in Guwahati on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Oct. 26: Uttered often by leaders of nations trying to mend fences, the magic mantra of “people-to-people contact” will now be used to end the festering, four-decade-old boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland.

A team of activists from Assam and Nagaland will conduct a “confidence-building exercise” involving residents of villages on either side of the border tomorrow at Merapani, the flashpoint of the dispute between the neighbours.

Located in Golaghat district, Merapani first made the headlines when nearly 100 people died in police firing from either side in 1985.

Citizens’ organisations from the two states met for three hours in Guwahati today to brainstorm on how to improve the tenuous relationship between the neighbours, particularly residents of the villages dotting either side of the boundary. A delegation of members from these organisations left for Merapani in the evening.

Naga Hoho leader H.K. Zhimomi, one of the participants in this exercise, said people-to-people contact just might achieve what official talks had failed to.

“A 12-member team from Nagaland participated in the session (in Guwahati). Tomorrow, we will be having the first grassroots-level dialogue involving residents of Merapani. The idea is to improve people-to-people contact and also impress upon the governments of the two states to resolve their differences amicably,” he said.

The participants in the discussion included writer-academician Hiren Gohain, AGP general secretary Hitendra Nath Goswami, former Gauhati University vice-chancellor D.P. Baruah, Naga Mothers’ Association president Khesheli Chishi and engineer Mukul Mahanta, who is a member of the Ulfa-constituted People’s Consultative Group.

Leaders of the Naga Students’ Federation, Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad, Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti and the Asom Mahila Sachetan Mancha were present, too.

The chief convenor of the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam, Lachit Bordoloi, said tomorrow’s event at Merapani would be the culmination of amicable talks between organisations of the two states. “We have worked out a strategy to improve ties through people-to-people dialogue. We will be holding more meetings at sensitive points along the inter-state border and involve residents of both states.”

His colleague Dilip Patgiri said four rounds of talks had been held so far, including one with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah)’s leadership at Camp Hebron — the outfit’s council headquarters near Dimapur — on May 5. “The discussions so far have been encouraging. The NSCN (I-M) top brass was happy with the initiative and said that the boundary dispute should not affect people-to-people ties.”