AITF Calls for Calm and Dialogue After Assam-Arunachal Border Clash Injures 18

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Indigenous Tribes Forum (AITF) on Wednesday urged people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to maintain restraint and communal harmony following recent firing along the inter-State border.

The forum, an umbrella body of indigenous tribal organisations in Arunachal Pradesh, condemned the firing during a confrontation between Hime village in Lower Siang and Mingmang Basti in Assam's Dhemaji district on Monday, which reportedly injured at least 18 people.

The AITF said violence and retaliatory measures would not resolve the long-standing border dispute and urged people on both sides not to circulate unverified information or take the law into their own hands.

It welcomed the contact between the Directors General of Police of the two States and the deployment of reinforcements to prevent further escalation.

The forum also criticised the indefinite road and economic blockade against Arunachal Pradesh launched by the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), describing it as "uncalled for". It said the blockade would cause hardship to ordinary people, particularly those travelling for medical treatment and other essential work.

The AITF appealed to both States to restore peace and resolve the border issue through dialogue, stressing the need to preserve the longstanding ties between the people of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

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