On Saturday, a historical agreement took place among five groups of insurgents of the Karbi Anglong region, centre and Assam Government at New Delhi to resolve the dispute in the Karbi Anglong region.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who witnessed the occasion, said the Pact would bring peace and development in Karbi Anglong.
The insurgent groups which signed the peace accord include Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front, People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri, United People’s Liberation Army and Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers factions. About 1,000 militants of these groups have surrendered along with their weapons.
Amit Shah said the signing of the Karbi-Anglong Agreement is another landmark in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an “insurgency-free prosperous Northeast”.
The surrender of 1,000 insurgents shows their trust in PM Modi.
Amit Shah said that a package of 1,000 crores would be given to Karbi Anglong in a time-bound manner for development purposes.
The Home Minister Assured that their government is committed to maintaining peace and All-around development in the Karbi Anglong region.
Shah said that “their government prioritise peace and overall development in the Northeast region and ensured comprehensive peace with no violence, no firing in the Northeast.”
Shah added that the policy of the Modi government is very cooperative to those who have surrendered and came into the mainstream.
Due to this policy, only the country is solving its old problem.
The Pact is a historic landmark as Karbi Anglong, the territory of ethnic Karbi tribals has gone through years of savagery, killings and brutality for a discrete homeland.
Union minister and former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who was there at the event, acknowledged the efforts of the central government to bring peace and development to Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said it was a historic milestone as the militants of these five rebel groups will join the mainstream and work for the overall development of the Karbi Anglong region.
The peace agreement will ensure more excellent distribution of accountability to the group Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KACC), providing the protection of identity, a culture of Karbi people, language and overall development of the area, without influencing the territorial and administrative unification of the Assam State.
​​​​​​​The Karbi groups have accepted to withdraw violence and join the democratic procedure established by the state’s law.
The agreement also allows the rehabilitation of members of the militant mass. The finance fund of the state will increase to supplement the resources of KAAC.
Meanwhile, the present settlement planned to provide more legislative, executive, administrative and financial autonomy to KAAC.
The official said that the Northeast region is crucial for our country from the security aspect, and the government aim to resolve all disputes in the area by 2022.
The government also hopes the settlement will focus on rejuvenating the integrity of the regional culture and generating a sense of attraction for it all across the nation.
The goal is to make the Northeast a developed state and level it with the addition made in the pre-independence GDP.
The recent past is the result of several rounds of talks between the central government and representatives of the Karbi and Kuki organisations to find an overall solution to the demands of the Karbi group while upholding the territorial integrity of Assam.
The official said Karbi Anglong militants surrendered 338 weapons and 11,000 rounds of ammunition, including AK-series rifles, M16 rifles, LMGs, rocket launchers.
PROJECTS APPROVED
Under the Pact, 32 projects estimated at Rs 350 crore under the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council package announced under the previous agreement are in various stages of completion today.
“Moreover, 22 crore projects have been approved under the North-East Infrastructure Development Scheme. Under the NLCPR (Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources) scheme of Central Pool, 20 projects costing Rs 200 crores are under development,” the official said.
