The district administration enacted Section 144 in Assam’s Dima Hasao district following the signing of a historic tripartite agreement between the Centre, the Assam government, and rebel group Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA)/Dimasa People’s Supreme Council (DPSC). An important step has been taken towards eliminating insurgency in the Northeast by 2024 with the signing of the pact.
According to the agreement, more than 168 DNLA cadres have put down their weapons and joined society, promising to put an end to the insurgency in the Assamese Dima Hasao district. In addition, the Government of Assam will establish the Dimasa Welfare Council to guarantee the quick and concentrated development of individuals living beyond the Autonomous Council’s jurisdiction as well as to protect, preserve, and promote the social, cultural, and linguistic identity of the Dimasa people.
The agreement calls for the creation of a Commission in accordance with Paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution to evaluate the demand for the incorporation of more villages adjacent to the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) with the Council. The armed DNLA cadres who have surrendered will be given the required rehabilitation by the Centre and the Assam administration. The governments would give the NCHAC and Dimasa people living in different regions of the state a Special Development package worth Rs 500 crore each over five years for their overall development.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Assam administration, and the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, were present at the signing. The deal, according to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a vital step towards eliminating the Northeast insurgency by 2024 and realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal for a peaceful and prosperous Northeast. Because there would be no more armed groups in Assam, he claimed that the agreement would completely put an end to insurgency in the Northeast state.
The DNLA representatives have promised to renounce violence, hand over all weapons and ammunition, disband their armed organisation, leave all camps controlled by DNLA cadres, and participate in the law’s established peaceful democratic process. The Northeast is being developed in accordance with Prime Minister Modi’s vision, which the Ministry of Home Affairs is advancing.