A tripartite Memorandum of Settlement was signed between Government of India, Government of Assam and Dimasa National Liberation Army/ Dimasa Peoples’ Supreme Council (DNLA/DPSC) in New Delhi on Thursday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
After the group signed the agreement, home minister Amit Shah said Assam no longer has any tribal militant group.
“With this, all tribal militant groups in Assam have joined the mainstream,” Shah said.
According to the agreement signed today, the DNLA will lay down the arms and abide by the Constitution. A total of 179 DNLA cadres will surrender their arms and ammunition.
The central and state governments will provide Rs 500 crore each for the development of the Dimasa tribal areas.
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Shah said that the agreement is another significant milestone towards making North-East insurgency-free by 2024 and fulfilling the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a terror-free, violence-free and developed Northeast.
He said that under the agreement, the representatives of DNLA have agreed to abjure violence, surrender all arms and ammunition, disband their armed organization, vacate all camps occupied by DNLA cadres and join the peaceful democratic process as established by the law. As a result of this agreement, over 168 cadres of DNLA are joining the mainstream by laying down their arms.
Union Home Minister said that today’s agreement will bring a complete end to the insurgency in Dima Hasao District of Assam.
Under the agreement, Dimasa Welfare Council will be set up by the Government of Assam to protect, preserve and promote social, cultural, linguistic identity to meet political, economic and educational aspirations and will ensure speedy and focused development of the Dimasa people residing outside the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Council. Along with this, the agreement also provides for appointment of a Commission under Paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India to examine the demand for inclusion of additional villages contiguous to North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) with the Council.
On September 2021, the DNLA had declared a unilateral ceasefire for a period of six months following an appeal by the chief minister. The ceasefire has been extended since then.
The DNLA announcement in 2021 came two weeks after the insurgent group allegedly fired upon on a convoy of seven trucks in the Dima Hasao district, killing five people and injuring one.
The DNLA was established in April 2019 seeking a sovereign territory for the Dimasa tribals and launched an armed insurgency to achieve its goal.
(With inputs from PTI)
