GUWAHATI: Hours after the withdrawal of the “draconian” Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from parts of the Northeast, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday appealed to militant groups still wielding the gun to join the peace process.
Sarma’s message was directed, particularly at the Paresh Baruah faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
“I appeal to all groups, including ULFA, waging an armed struggle to join the peace process so we can build a strong Assam and leave a peaceful, progressive and developed state for the new generation,” Sarma told reporters.
He was hopeful that the partial withdrawal of AFSPA would further ensure the development of the Northeast.
The ULFA is a major extremist group outside the purview of the peace process and the Assam government under Sarma is trying its best to bring the group to the table for talks.
Meanwhile, the demand for AFSPA’s withdrawal from the Northeast had gathered momentum after the killings of civilians in a botched ambush by an elite unit of the Army in Mon on December 4, last year. However, the controversial Act, which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces, has not been withdrawn from this eastern Nagaland district.
In a notification on Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the “disturbed areas notification” vis-à-vis AFSPA was being removed from 23 districts and partially from one district of Assam, 15 police station areas of six districts of Manipur and 15 police stations in seven districts of Nagaland with effect from April 1.
In Nagaland, AFSPA was fully removed from Tuensang, Shamator and Tseminyu districts and partially removed from Kohima, Wokha, Longleng and Mokokchung districts.
A senior Nagaland government official said a section of people in Mon was not happy that the Centre ignored the demand of the locals.
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“There is no protest as such but the central government must have taken the decision after studying the ground situation. Some elements still use the soil of Mon for transit to Myanmar,” the official said.
Mon shares its border with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar. The members of some rebel groups, particularly ULFA and an NSCN-K faction, use the territory for their movement to and fro Myanmar where they have their camps.
The Naga Hoho, which is Nagaland’s apex tribal organisation, said the demand of the people of Northeast was AFSPA’s complete, not partial, withdrawal from the region.
“I am not happy. We have often seen the double standards of the Government of India and we cannot trust them. The Indo-Naga talks are continuing even after the signing of the Framework Agreement. So, even if AFSPA is removed, there is no guarantee it will not be re-imposed under this or that pretext,” Naga Hoho president HK Zhimomi told this newspaper.