New Delhi: With the Union Home Ministry all set to sign yet another peace accord with different militant outfits of Assam Saturday, question remains as to whether this accord can bring peace in the region.
As many as five different militant organizations from Assam's Karbi Anglong district including People's Democratic Council of Karbi Anglong (PDCK), Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT), Kuki Liberation Front (KLF) and United Peoples Liberation Army (UPLA) will sign a peace accord aimed at ending a decades long insurgency in central Assam.
It was in 2011 that a tripartite agreement was signed between the Centre, Assam government and the United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), which was formed with the merger of two insurgent groups, the Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) and Karbi Peoples Front (KPF) in 1999.
The accord was marked by the release of a huge financial package for the development of Karbi Anglong.
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UPDS signed a ceasefire agreement with the government of India in 2002. The agreement split the faction with two groups, namely UPDS (pro-talk) and UPDS (anti talk). In 2004, the anti-talk faction rechristened itself as Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF).
After fighting Indian security forces for a few years, the KLNLF called for resumption of talks in 2012 by forming a three-member team.
"We have been fighting for a separate Karbi state. However, we came to understand that a separate state is not viable, so we decided to accept more power to the already existing Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC)," said Rajek Dera, publicity secretary of KLNLF in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat.
The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) was formed in 1952 with the name Karbi Anglong District Council (KADC). It was later rechristened as KAAC. Constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India with administrative power vested upon the Assam government, the KAAC aims to bring overall development and protection of tribals living in area Karbi Anglong.
On Saturday, the five currently active insurgent outfits of Karbi Anglong will sign a peace deal with the Centre and the state government.
"We hope the signing of the peace accord will definitely end insurgency in the trouble-torn Karbi Anglong," said KLNLF leader Dera.
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Apart From getting a one time financial assistance of Rs 1,500 crore and empowering KAAC, the accord is also likely to give more financial strength to the autonomous council.
"Under Article 280 of the Constitution, provision has been made to release funds directly to the autonomous council from the consolidated find of the government of India," said Dera.
He said that the central fund will be released either by the Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER) ministry or Niti Aayog or the North Eastern Council (NEC) under the monitoring of the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
"There will be no state government intervention in such annual central funds to be released every year," said Dera.
As of now, the Assam government used to allocate yearly financial aid for the KAAC.
A 152-member delegation from these different outfits from Assam is already camping in New Delhi for the signing of the peace accord.
It is learnt that the accord will also have provision of setting up a Sainik School, a veterinary and agriculture university, a central university as well as an airport in Karbi Anglong among others.
"The accord will give more political power to the Karbis in the autonomous council by keeping seats on the council reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) people," said Dera.
However, history tells that such "peace deal" is unlikely to bring everlasting solution of the insurgeny problem not only in Assam but entire Northeast.
A similar situation has been witnessed in neighbouring Dima Hasao district, where the Centre and the Assam government sealed a pact with both factions of the Dima Halim Daoga (DHD) in 2012 to end right years of conflict. However, another group called Dima Hasao National Liberation Army (DNLA) emerged to continue subversive activities.
Three accords have been signed since 1993 to end insurgency in Bodoland in Assam. However, the atate government has officially confirmed on the formation of a new outfit named Bodo State Liberation Tiger Force (BSLTF).
The outfit was floated by some disgruntled National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) cadres.
In 2011, a section of top United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) started peace talks with the government of India skipping the elusive commander in chief of the outfit, Paresh Barua, who opted to continue subversive activities.
Since 1997, peace talk was started with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) but the accord is yet to be sealed.
KLNLF leader Dera said that it was necessary to sign the accord with NSCN at the earliest as members of the Naga militant organisation were involved in subversive activities along the border areas of Karbi Anglong and Nagaland.
