Brothers divided: Why Naga tribes are locking horns at the Nagaland-Manipur border

Kohima/Imphal: Inter-state border disputes are not uncommon among Indian states, and especially the Northeastern states. At the time of filing this report, the borders of Assam-Mizoram, Assam-Meghalaya, Assam-Arunachal, Assam-Nagaland remain matters of dispute. In July 2021, tensions between Assam and Mizoram led to the death of six Assam policemen, while Assam and Meghalaya nearly came to blows in November 2022 after forest officials from Assam shot dead five civilians in the village of Mukroh in Meghalaya. 

Lesser known but equally divisive is the border dispute between three Naga tribes along the Nagaland-Manipur border. The deeply rooted ancestral land claims of an uninhabited forest area and their approach to resolving the dispute through a traditional court system.

So, what is the land at stake?

The land in dispute is the Kezoltsa/ Kazürü/ Kazing Karyi/Dzükou area between Southern Angami Public Organisation (SAPO) in Nagaland and the Mao Council and Maram Khullen Village in Manipur.