From Our Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Sustained operations, dwindling public support and cooperation from the present regime in Bangladesh in evicting insurgent leaders during the year have brought many insurgent outfits in Assam on their knees.
Insurgency has been, by and large under control in Assam, especially after beginning of the peace process with a major faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.
Most of the pro-talks ULFA leaders had been arrested in Bangladesh late last year and was handed over to government of India, thanks to the efforts of the government of India to persuade Sheikh Hasina regime to launch crackdown on militant leaders from North East India taking shelter in that country.
Once they are held in captivity, the Government of India’s peace interlocutor P C Haldar, the former IB chief, succeeded in persuading ULFA leaders to agree for dialogue without much efforts.
A civil society peace group called Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan (SJA) also played a role to make the government and the ULFA leaders agree to negotiation on popular demand.
For the purpose of peace talks, the ULFA leaders were released from the jail on bail beginning with the release of the ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa on the First day of 2010.
The ULFA leaders were then flown to New Delhi in February to meet Indian leaders including the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to set the stage of future negotiation that started later in the year.
It was a major boost to counter-insurgency efforts in the state when Karbi tribe militant group called United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) gave up the path of violence with surrender of weapons by all its 568 cadres earlier this month and the outfit was disbanded.
It was a fruit of a decade old peace process with the outfit.
The year also saw beginning of formal peace process with a faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) by the government of India while the former IB chief Haldar has been put on the job to start negotiation with the other faction of the outfit led by Ranjan Daimary who was also arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to Assam police last year.
Meanwhile, peace negotiations are on course with both the faction of Dimasa tribe insurgent group Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) even as several Adivasi militant groups are waiting their turn for peace talks after calling truce.
However,there is still cause for worry with the anti-talks faction of the ULFA led by fugitive ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua trying to create disturbance in the state.