Peace pipe

Peace pipe

The Centre has signed a tripartite agreement with five rebel groups of Karbi Anglong.

After a long time, there’s some good news from Assam, which had recently witnessed skirmishes at its border with Mizoram. A tripartite agreement has been signed to end the cycle of violence and take the Karbi region towards development. Nearly 1,050 insurgents had in February pledged to shun violence, setting the stage for the signing of this pact by five insurgent groups, the Assam Government and the Centre. The treaty has provisions for the rehabilitation of the insurgents who have laid down arms. Moreover, the Centre will make available a special development package of `1,000 crore over the next five years, which the State Government would use in the Karbi areas. The agreement paves the way for greater devolution of autonomy to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), protecting the identity, language and culture of the Karbi people. The pact would also ensure that the territory and administration of Assam are not affected, a win-win situation for everyone. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the Centre would implement the agreement in “letter and spirit”. Indeed, that would be the litmus test for the pact as unfulfilled promises would lead to a chaotic situation and the credibility of the Government will suffer.

This agreement can go a long way in resolving such disputes and fulfil the aspiration of local people by offering autonomy at the local level. Most cases of insurgency stem from the fact that the administration is insensitive and does not take local sensitivities into account. The Karbi Anglong movement, which has been going on for quite some time now, has a history of violence. The Karbi district, where most of the Karbis live, had a set of demands including saving their culture, identity and recognising their language. The Karbi insurgency is among several similar “movements” that Assam has seen in recent times. Songbijit, the self-styled leader of the People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK), was allegedly involved in the killing of 69 tribals in December 2014 in Kokrajhar. Several cases are pending against him for allegedly killing non-Bodos and Adivasis between 2014 and 2015. Before forming the PDCK, Songbijit’s National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) was allegedly responsible for the killing of more than 200 people, mostly Adivasis and Muslims, living in the tribal districts.