New Delhi, Dec 31: Tackling challenges like ethnic violence in Manipur while taking landmark steps in overhauling the British-era criminal justice laws and signing peace pacts with insurgent outfits in the Northeast, the year 2023 was a mixed bag for the Ministry of Home Affairs.
A long-delayed peace agreement with the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) at the fag-end of the year has given a firm indication that the Home Minister Amit Shah-led ministry is serious about resolving the problems that have affected the Northeast for decades and claimed many lives.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and over a dozen top leaders of the pro-talks faction of the ULFA, headed by Arabinda Rajkhowa, were present at the signing of the peace agreement here.
The accord will take care of a host of long-standing political, economic and social issues concerning Assam, besides providing cultural safeguards and land rights to the indigenous people, officials said.
A major crisis came to the fore on May 3 when ethnic violence erupted in Manipur after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts of the Northeastern state to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
At least 180 people were killed in violence that continued for months. Shah visited the state for four consecutive days to calm down the warring communities – Meitei and Kuki.
A series of confidence-building measures were taken including the constitution of a judicial inquiry committee, financial aid to the victims and sending additional troops.
Even though fragile peace returned to Manipur after several months, the mistrust between the two communities poses a serious hurdle.
“Normalcy has returned to a great extent in Manipur and the law and order situation is by and large peaceful. Even though the trust deficit between the Meitei and the Kuki communities remains, the government is trying its best to bring them closer,” a senior home ministry official said.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.
The government, on November 13, also extended by five years the ban imposed on nine Meitei extremist groups and their associate organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, for their anti-national activities and launching fatal attacks on security forces.
On November 29, a peace pact was signed by the government with the Imphal valley-based oldest terror outfit United National Liberation Front (UNLF), dominated by the majority Meitei community, under which the insurgent faction has agreed to renounce violence.
The Modi government has signed a series of agreements with Northeast-based insurgent groups in the last five years.
These include one with the Tripura-based insurgent group NLFT in 2019, with the groups belonging to the Bru and Bodo communities in 2020, with a group of the Karbi tribals of Assam in 2021 and with an Adivasi group in 2022.
The Assam-Arunachal border agreement and agreement with the Manipur-based insurgent group UNLF were signed in 2023.
On August 11, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced in Parliament – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill – aiming to completely overhaul the century-old Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. (PTI)
