Assam CM After Signing Tripartite Pact: “Agreement With DNLA Will Bring Peace In State”

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the agreement between the Assam administration, the federal government, and the insurgent group Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA)/Dimasa People’s Supreme Council (DPSC will bring peace to the state.

“This agreement will bring peace to the state. DNLA representatives have agreed to abjure violence, surrender all arms and ammunition, disband their armed organisation, vacate all camps and join the peaceful democratic process as established by the law,” he said.

“We have signed a tripartite pact between the Centre, Assam government and insurgent group Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA)/Dimasa People’s Supreme Council (DPSC) with the blessing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah,” he added.

“Except for the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), all the problems have been solved till now. Slowly-Slowly all the problems in all northeastern states will be solved,” the chief minister further said.
The DNLA and the Assam government earlier yesterday signed a tripartite Memorandum of Settlement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an important step towards ending the Northeast insurgency by 2024.

Speaking at the occasion, Amit Shah said, “With today’s agreement being signed, all tribal militant groups have laid down their arms and have joined mainstream and become a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development journey. This is a step towards progressive Northeast that the prime minister had visualized and promised. With the signing of this treaty, all kinds of violence and terrorism from Dima Hasao district have ended.”

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) states that the DNLA will disarm and uphold the Constitution. A total of 179 DNLA cadres will surrender their arms and ammunition. The two governments would also contribute a Special Development package worth Rs 500 crore each over a five-year period for the all-around development of NCHAC as well as Dimasa people living in other regions of the State.

Furthermore, as part of the agreement, the Government of Assam will establish the Dimasa Welfare Council to safeguard, preserve, and advance a social, cultural, and linguistic identity to meet political, economic, and educational aspirations and will guarantee quick and focused development for the Dimasa people living outside the Autonomous Council’s jurisdiction.

The agreement also calls for the creation of a commission to look into the demand for the inclusion of additional villages near the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) with the Council, in accordance with paragraph 14 of the sixth schedule to the constitution.

The DNLA unilaterally declared a six-month ceasefire in September 2021 following a request from the chief minister. Since then, the cease-fire has been prolonged. Two weeks had passed after the insurgent group allegedly opened fire on a convoy of seven trucks in the Dima Hasao district, killing five and injuring one before the DNLA declaration in 2021. The DNLA was founded in April 2019 and has since waged an armed insurrection to secure an independent region for the tribal people of Dimasa.