Guwahati, Sep 14: The Centre and the Assam government are set to ink tripartite peace pacts in New Delhi with at least eight Advasi rebel outfits, also comprising three breakaway groups, from the state on Thursday.
Among the militant outfits set to sign the pacts, in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, are the Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam, Birsa Commando Force, Adivasi People’s Army, All Assam Adivasi National Army, Santhal Tiger Force besides three breakaway groups.
The groups have been in ceasefire for many years now after announcing suspension of operations and reportedly living in designated camps under police protection.
According to reports, about 1200 cadres, who were operating mainly from the Bodo heartland, will return to the mainstream as part of the agreement.
In September last year, a tripartite agreement was inked with five Karbi insurgent groups to pave the way for peace in the Karbi Anglong region.
The central government had in January 2020 signed an agreement – Bodo Peace Accord – with all factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had recently held a meeting with the Adivasi groups regarding the final settlement, said that the peace pacts would usher in a new era of peace and harmony in Assam.
“The peace pacts will be inked tomorrow. With it, we would have signed peace pacts with more or less all militant outfits (barring ULFA-I) in the state,” the chief minister informed mediapersons on Wednesday.
Reportedly, the peace process with the Adivasi outfits had gained momentum in the past six months with state government officials, assisted by adviser (Northeast), ministry of home affairs, A.K Mishra, holding several rounds of discussion with the militant groups to finalise the modalities of the peace accord.