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Polity & Governance
Pradeep Kumar

07/09/21 12:05 PM IST

The Karbi-Anglong Peace Accord

In news

The Centre, the Assam government and insurgency groups from the state have signed an agreement to bring peace to the Northeastern state’s Karbi-Anglong district

Details
  • Hailed as an “historic" move, the accord aims to “end the decades old crisis" and ensure Assam’s territorial integrity and comes months after more than 1,000 members of armed outfits came forward to surrender and give up the path of violence.
  • But the signing of the accord has also seen protests break out in Karbi Anglong. Here’s what the accord means for Assam and why it’s attracting bouquets and brickbats.
  • Karbi-Anglong is Assam’s largest district in terms of area and is home predominantly to a tribal and ethnic population comprising members of Karbi, Bodo, Kuki, Dimasa, Hmar, Garo, Rengma Naga, Tiwa, and Man communities.
  • Karbis make up more than 46 per cent of the district’s population of close to 10 lakh people per the 2011 Census.
Insurgency in Assam
  • The first insurgency in Assam was the one started by the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in 1979, seeking a breakaway “sovereign, socialist Assam".
  • Then, in the 1980s, came the Bodoland movement led by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which sought the creation of an independent home for the Bodos, the largest ethnic group among the plains tribes of Assam.
  • As these outfits pursued their own objectives other groups, too, sprung up to protect and pursue their specific goals.
  • “Apart from ULFA and the Bodo insurgency, Assam has been affected by insurgent movements initiated by Karbi and Dimasa tribes and the Adivasis. Karbi and Dimasas have demanded autonomy for their homelands whereas the Adivasis have demanded greater recognition of their rights.
  • In 1995, the Karbi-Anglong Autonomous Council was set up under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which contains provisions for the administration of tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
The Peace Accord
  • It will ensure greater devolution of autonomy to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, protection of identity, language, culture, etc. of Karbi people and focussed development of the Council area, without affecting the territorial and administrative integrity of Assam.
  • Under the agreement, the armed groups will shun violence and join the democratic process while the government will facilitate the rehabilitation of their cadres.
  • The accord also talks about giving “more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers to KAAC" and setting up “a Karbi Welfare Council for focussed development of Karbi people living outside KAAC area".
  • One of the highlights of the accord is the creation of a Special Development Package of Rs 1,000 crore for the state to run over a period of five years that will fund “specific projects for the development of Karbi areas".
Source: Indian Express

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