The insurgency problem started in Assam in the late ’70s. With the formation of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in 1979, almost simultaneously with the six years long Assam Agitation, a new dark era of conflict started in the eastern State of India. After the fallout of the Assam Agitation, the demand for separate tribal states in Assam also picked up pace. The tribal insurgency problem started in the mid-’80s with the formation of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in 1986.
Subsequently, several other tribal insurgency groups formed in the State, demanding separate states like Karbi, Dimasa, Adivasi, etc., in the coming decades. Fueled by external forces (foreign enemy agencies), Assam had witnessed the darkest, and most blood shredded three decades of insurgency starting from the early 90s. But the insurgency in Assam and the rest of the North East remained an issue of debate for three long decades for the previous governments in the centre and the states. While the whole region suffered from continuous violence, the Government remained silent. It never worked seriously to resolve the decades-long insurgency in Assam and North East.
With time, the insurgency problem in the North East remains an election issue for the political parties. It was 2014 when Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister of Bharat, and the union government seriously considered making the region insurgency and violence free. With continuous efforts from the Central Government under the leadership of PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah, the decades-long insurgency of the NE region has curved down almost 70 per cent in the last nine years. With most insurgency groups laying their arms and coming forward for peace talks, the union government has recently withdrawn the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from 60 per cent of the region.
In Assam, bearing ULFA (I), a small fraction of ULFA led by Paresh Baruah, all the insurgency groups have laid their arms in the last nine years.
The settlement is another significant milestone towards making North-East insurgency-free by 2024 and fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East
All tribal insurgency groups of the State have joined the mainstream in the last nine years. The previous tribal insurgency group, Dimasa National Liberation Army/ Dimasa Peoples’ Supreme Council (DNLA/DPSC), signed a peace accord with the Central and State Government in New Delhi on April 27, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
After signing the peace accord, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said with blessings from the Prime Minister and under the leadership of Home Minister Amit Shah the Central Government had earlier signed a peace accord with Bodo, Karbi, and Adivasi militant groups. The last remaining tribal insurgency group DNLA/DPSC, also inked the peace accord on April 27. After this, there is no active tribal insurgency group in Assam.
A tripartite Memorandum of Settlement between the Government of India, the Government of Assam and representatives of the Dimasa National Liberation Army/ Dimasa Peoples’ Supreme Council (DNLA/DPSC) was signed in New Delhi.
The settlement is another significant milestone towards making North-East insurgency-free by 2024 and fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East.
The agreement aims to end the Dima Hasao District of Assam insurgency.
This agreement will end the insurgency in the Dima Hasao district of Assam; with this, there are no more armed groups in Assam today; all the tribal groups are contributing to the development process of India by joining the mainstream.
Under the agreement, the representatives of DNLA have agreed to abjure violence, surrender all arms and ammunition, disband their armed groups, vacate all camps occupied by DNLA cadres and join the mainstream.
A Special Development package of Rs 500 crores each will also be provided by the Government of India and the Government of Assam over five years for the all-around development of NCHAC and Dimasa people residing in other parts of the State.
The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah, said this agreement is another significant milestone towards making North-East insurgency-free by 2024 and fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous North East. He said that this agreement would end the insurgency completely, and with this, there are no more tribal armed groups in Assam today.
Home Minister Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put forward the vision of a terror-free, violence-free and developed Northeast before the country, and the Ministry of Home Affairs is moving forward in this direction under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi. He said that under the agreement, the representatives of DNLA have agreed to abjure violence, surrender all arms and ammunition, disband their armed organisation, vacate all camps occupied by DNLA cadres and join the peaceful democratic process established by the law. As a result of this agreement, over 168 cadres of DNLA are joining the mainstream by laying down their arms.
It should be mentioned that due to the efforts of the BJP-led central and State Governments of Assam, over 7,500 tribal youth cadres of armed outfits have joined the mainstream in the past nine years.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma mentioned that on January 27, 2020, around 1,615 cadres from the Bodo tribe laid down arms, and on September 4, 2021, over 1,000 cadres from the Karbi Anglong abandoned the path of violence.
“On September 15, 2022, under the Union Home Minister’s presence, 8 Adivasi insurgent groups laid down arms, and on April 27 2023, the armed outfits from the Dimasa tribes also surrendered their arms,” CM Dr Sarma added.
With the efforts to bring the tribal youth to the mainstream by the Central and State Governments, more than 757 arms and 5983 ammunition have been recovered with the formal end of the insurgency in tribal areas in Assam.
On January 28 this year, 246 insurgents of two militant groups laid down their arms in Assam and returned to the mainstream.
In an arms laying ceremony held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, 169 United Gorkha People’s Organisation (UGPO) and 77 insurgents of Tiwa Liberation Army (TLA) surrendered their arms before Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. These two groups were mainly active in the middle Assam (Tiwa) and the north bank of Brahmaputra (Gorkha).
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma mentioned that on January 27, 2020, around 1,615 cadres from the Bodo tribe laid down arms, and on September 4, 2021, over 1,000 cadres from the Karbi Anglong abandoned the path of violence
With the signing of a peace accord with the Bodo insurgency group (NDFB) in 2020, peace was ensured in the Bodo Territorial Region (BTR). After signing a peace treaty with the Karbi groups in 2021, peace prevailed in the hill districts of Karbi Anglong (East-West).
The latest peace treaty with DNLA ensures permanent peace and development in the beautiful hill district of Dima Hasao in the State. Undoubtedly, this will remain a golden time for the tribal population of Assam, with the beginning of a new era of peace and progress. North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma opined that effort is on to bring all the insurgency groups of the North East region to the mainstream in the coming days.
