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North East : Assam : Historic accord with Bodo militants

	May 30, 2005

In a significant development which is expected to cause a major dent in the terrorist activities of extremist elements of the north-east, the Union Government last week reached an accord with a militant outfit, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), bringing to an end the nearly two decade old agitation by the Bodos in Assam.

The Bodos have been demanding a separate state for themselves within Assam.

The accord signed on May 24 states that all the three sides - the Centre, the State Government and the NDFB - will suspend operations for a year beginning June 1, 2005. The NDFB will also maintain peace during the one-year period and not carry out any hostile or violent activity against the security forces or civilians. The security forces will, in turn, not carry out any operations against the NDFB. However, ground rules on the cessation of hostilities are yet to be finalised. These are likely to be framed in the days to come.

The Centre made the move following bilateral talks with representatives of the outfit. The Assam government was not involved as the outfit had earlier rejected deals with Dispur.

Addressing a press conference on May 25, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the ceasefire agreement with the NDFB was a “major initiative” to encourage peace. He said NDFB cadres would neither move about in uniform nor carry arms. They would not give assistance to any other militant group. The outfit would also not carry out any fresh recruitment during the period of suspension of operations.

Gogoi attributed the ceasefire agreement to the “conciliatory approach” of the State Government as well as the UPA Government at the Centre that was paying dividends in terms of consolidating peace initiatives.

The Chief Minister disclosed that indirect contact with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has also been established and hoped that peace talks with the major militant group would be held in the near future.

Observers note that the accord will pave the way for negotiations between Delhi and the Bodo militant organisation for ending the 18-year-old armed rebellion. The accord also gives a boost to peace initiatives undertaken by the UPA Government with various militant outfits of the North East.

Formed in 1986 as Bodo Security Force (BDSF), the outfit changed its name to NDFB in 1994 and has a current cadre strength of about 700 men. About 1000 cadres have surrendered in phases since 1992, while about 300 died in clashes with security forces.

The NDFB has been on a unilateral ceasefire mode since October last year, and its chairman D.R. Nabla alias Ranjan Daimary had been asking the Union Home Ministry for a formal meeting for long. The group has agreed to hand over a list of its cadres as well as its weapons, and also set up a joint ceasefire monitoring group.



Sense of relief in Bodo-inhabited areas

The Bodo-inhabited areas of Assam were happy because the development took longer in coming than was expected after the militant group announced a unilateral truce. Community leaders hailed the ceasefire as the best thing to have happened to the Bodo heartland in recent times.

For the Tarun Gogoi government, the truce could not have come at a more opportune time. Opposition parties and Bodo organisations have questioned its role in the recent elections to the Bodo Territorial Council.

The Bodo Peace Forum, which played the role of a catalyst in bringing the NDFB to the negotiation table, thanked both Delhi and the militant group for taking the ‘historic decision.’

The Bodo Sahitya Sabha echoed the Bodo Peace Forum. Its president, Brajendra Kumar Brahma, said: ‘We hope the quest for peace continues and a solution acceptable to all sections of the Bodo community is hammered out.’

The biggest boost for the peace process was former Bodo Liberation Tigers chief Hagrama Mohilary’s assurance of support. The disbanded Bodo Liberation Tigers and the NDFB had been engaged in a bloody factional war.



ULFA up in arms

Even as the Centre and the State governments are trying to solve the problem of insurgency by engaging militants in peace moves, the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) on May 26 killed a Congress leader and ambushed an Army convoy.

Amrit Dutta, 45, president of the Dergaon unit of the Congress and the North-West Jorhat Anchalik Panchayat, was shot by two suspected ULFA rebels inside his office in Dhekorgora block of Jorhat district on May 26.

In the second major incident of the week, ULFA militants ambushed an army convoy on the periphery of the Upper Dihing reserve forest in Tinsukia district.

Earlier, Ulfa militants targeted an Indo-Tibetan Border Police convoy in Sivasagar district on May 20, killing a jawan and injuring four.

Admitting that the police had received intelligence reports about ULFA’s plan to target Congress leaders, a police official said security loopholes would be identified and plugged.

An intelligence official said the frequency of attacks on Congress leaders and security forces was likely to increase as Assembly elections draw nearer. ‘As in previous years, ULFA will most likely step up its violent campaign in the run-up to the elections. Ruling party members have generally been the outfit’s prime targets.’



PCC elections

Meanwhile, on the political front, intense lobbying for the posts of vice-president and treasurer of the Assam PCC is going on. The AICC-appointed returning officer for the PCC polls, Subhash Chopra, has been given the responsibility of selecting the two functionaries in consultation with party president Bhubaneswar Kalita and chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

The top contenders for the post of vice-president are transport minister Anjan Dutta and former PWD minister Sarat Barkataki, while the leaders in the fray for the post of treasurer are social welfare minister Gautam Roy and the incumbent, Jai Kumar Jain.

A senior general secretary of the party said: ‘In the election year, with ministerial berths becoming more or less redundant everyone wants an important party post to pull the strings in organisational matters. And this is precisely what is happening in the party now.’

‘If the bargain comes to “You take one post and I take another’, then Kalita will back Barkataki despite the fact that the post of treasurer is more crucial during elections,’ he said.