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Disarming the rebels, the northeast way
Two insurgent groups from Meghalaya recently laid down their arms but such overtures may not bring permanent peace to the Northeast.
Two insurgent groups from Meghalaya recently laid down their arms but such overtures may not bring permanent peace to the Northeast
“Welcome my dear friends,” Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said, opening his arms to a crowd assembled at Dakopgre’s Dikki Bandi Stadium in the Garo Hills recentlyu. However, this time, he was not receiving any foreign delegates, but addressing the people of his own Garo community.
Sangma used these warm and welcoming words at the venue, where the A’chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) and its breakaway faction ANVC–B formally disbanded on December 15. A total of 748 cadres, from both the factions, were present while signing the peace agreement with the Meghalaya government. Will this have any bearing on the unending bloodshed in the region? Let’s analyse.
In reality, disbanding ceremonies like this are nothing new in the Northeast India, a region plagued by insurgency right from the 1960.
“If you look at the recent history of conflict in the Northeast, you will find several examples of the same. In Tripura, the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) signed a peace accord with Rajiv Gandhi when he was the Prime Minister. The leader of the group, Bijoy Hrankhawal, then became a politician. Take Bodoland for instance. When the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) decided to join the mainstream, during the previous NDA regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a Bodoland Accord was signed. After that BLT leader Hagrama Mohilary formed a political party, the Bodoland Peoples’ Front, and came to power in the local territorial council but Bodoland still remains a hotbed of insurgency and turmoil. Bureaucrats in New Delhi under different regimes have allowed piecemeal deals and ad hoc policies,” explains former MLA and noted intellectual from Tripura, Tapas De. “The fact that fake encounters are taking place in the Northeast is an open secret.
Hence, it boils down to the will power of the Centre to end the rot plaguing the system. Peace in the region cannot be achieved by mere lip service,” warns Shillong-based human rights activist, Agnes Kharsiing.
It is highly unlikely that ANVC’s peace gesture would help phase out terror from Garo Hills. Garo National Liberation Army is waging a bloody armed movement in the Hills for a separate Garoland and the Centre is not so keen to talk peace with the rebel group headed by Sohan D Shira, who was once a top area commander of the ANVC.
By: Ratnadip Choudhury
