Altogether 568 members of the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), a group that had launched an armed movement for a separate state for the Karbi tribals of Assam disbanded itself and laid down their weapons. They have pledged to work within the framework of the Indian Constitution to resolve their grievances. The arms surrender at Diphu, district headquarters of Karbi Anglong, came in the wake of an MoU that the UPDS had signed with the Centre on November 25 following one year of negotiations. The UPDS militants handed over as many as 177 assorted weapons, which included
AK-47s, rocket launchers, M-16 rifles, carbines and other arms. They also deposited
18,740 rounds of ammunition and 322 magazines. Longsidar Senar, self-styled Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the UPDS led the mass surrender.
The UPDS was formed in March 1999 and initially it demanded the creation of a separate Karbi homeland. Last month, it settled for a territorial council under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution that would comprise four districts into which the Karbi Anglong district would be divided. The UPDS had perpetrated a series of violent acts particularly targeting Bihari agricultural labourers engaged in sugarcane cultivation. The Karbi territorial council will mark a further step in the pacification of militancy in Assam. First came the Bodo territorial council which ended a prolonged and violent agitation. The ULFA is now in a conciliatory mode though Paresh Barua is still recalcitrant. If the ULFA takes the road to peace, the National Democratic Force of Bodoland (NDFB) will follow suit. The Assam government has to play its cards deftly and then the long-awaited economic development of the state may well be on its way.