Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Tensions are boiling over in the border region of Merapani. The Lotha Lower Range Public Organisation (LLRPO) is demanding the Nagaland government stop an eviction drive in No. 2 Negheribil. They claim the land actually belongs to the Nagaland villages of Lugayum and Mikirang. The group asserts they have paperwork to prove some residents bought land there.
Assam authorities do not agree. The state Forest Department and the Golaghat district administration remain set on clearing the settlements. Back in 2025, officials served notices to 205 families. They managed to evict 146 of them before the remaining 59 families took the matter to court. That legal challenge bought them time, but the state moved forward again on August 16 to start the demarcation process.
Local leaders in Assam are furious. Raju Narah, the village head of No. 2 Negheribil, insisted his roots run deep. "Since 1960, our forefathers have been living here. How can it be Nagaland’s land? I was born here and grew up here, so this is our land. Just because they claim it does not make it theirs," Narah said.
Other groups, including the Takam Mising Porin Kébang (TMPK) and the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), are pushing back hard against the Naga claims. AJYCP leader Nikunj Medhi challenged the timing of the LLRPO intervention, noting the organization stayed silent when the state carried out initial evictions on August 8, 2025. Medhi mocked the claim as baseless, questioning if the same logic would allow Nagaland to claim property in Guwahati if people bought land there.
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