Jaipur Dialogues A Historic Milestone: UNLF Signs Peace Pact

[Apoorva Devanshi]

The United National Liberation Front is the oldest militant organization in Manipur, having been founded by Arambam Samarendra in 1964. With this agreement, an armed group based in the Valley has agreed for the first time to stop using violence and reintegrate into the society. But why is it being hailed as a historic milestone?

To begin with, the northeast in the past, has largely been ignored, as if it wasn’t even a part of the country. From the diplomatic and military failure in 1962 which led China attack the North east frontier agency (Arunachal Pradesh then) to violating laws and settling illegal migrants from Myanmar and China in protected areas. Time and again, north east was left to suffer its own fate in the hands of terrorism, civil wars and rebellions which lead to mass killings of innocent lives and even ethnic cleansing.

However, in the last nine years, the present government under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi has not only taken a series of developmental measures under its “Double – engine growth model” but has also evolved the “Look East Policy” into “Act East Policy”

Some of the steps taken in this direction are-​

1. • Introduced the NCORD mechanism in 2016 to have effective coordination of actions among various Ministries, Departments, Central and States law enforcement agencies dealing with narcotics. The mechanism was restructured in 2019 into a 4 tier structure
   • Dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) headed by ADG/IG level Police Officer has been established in each State/UT.
   • A Special Task Force on dark net and Crypto Currency has been constituted to monitor suspicious transactions related to drugs on dark net.
   • The Govt. of India has expanded the footprint of NCB throughout the country with creation of New Regional and Zonal Offices at different place.
   • With the help of NCB which shares satellite imagery, Opium/ Poppy destruction has been done in the state of Manipur from 2018 to May, 2023- from 5740 acres in 2021 to 2449 acres, as of May, 2023 (according to NCB provisional data)
   • Since illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs is a transnational problem, Govt. of India has entered into Bilateral Agreements with 27 countries, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 16 countries and 02 Agreements on Security Cooperation for preventing illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.
     

     Combating drug Terrorism​

     
     It has been alleged that there is a nexus between narcotics business and terrorist activities in the State of Manipur and that it was one of the factors fuelling the state of affairs. Some of the steps taken by the government are-

   • Improving connectivity​

     
     The number of airports in the north east have increased from 9 to 17 and the number of flights have increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 7973 flights in 2022. Some north-eastern states have made their way into India’s railways’ map for the first time and efforts are being made to expand roadways and waterways as well. Airports in five north-eastern states, namely, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have seen flights take off for the first time in 75 years. Building connectivity is crucial not just for economic development but also for military and strategic purposes.

   • Decline in Insurgency​

     
     In the past 9 years, Northeast India has seen a major dip in incidents of insurgency. According to the reports, there has been a dip of 80 percent in such incidences.
     
     

     Security Situation in North East​

     Years	Incidents	Extremists killed	Extremists arrested	SF’s killed	Civilians killed	Extremists surrendered	Arms surrendered	Arms recovered	Persons kidnapped
     2014	824	181	1934	20	212	291	151	1104	369
     2015	574	149	1900	46	46	143	69	828	267
     2016	484	87	1202	17	48	267	93	605	168
     2017	308	57	995	12	37	130	27	405	102
     2018	252	34	804	14	23	161	58	420	117
     2019	223	12	936	04	21	158	67	312	108
     2020	163	21	646	05	03	2696	445	466	69
     2021	209	40	686	08	23	1473	471	367	94
     2022	201	06	563	02	07	2023	394	279	103

     
     Source: Pib, Government of India
     
     Compared to the year 2014, there is a reduction of 76% in extremist incidents in the year 2022. Similarly, the casualties of security personnel and civilians have come down by 90% and 97% respectively in 2022 as compared to 2014.

   • Raising the Stature of Northeast​

     
     With two cabinet ministers and three ministers of state, Northeast India now has the largest representation in the Union Council of Ministers in the history. A Tripura member of parliament has made it into the Council of Ministers for the first time. Earlier, remote border villages were treated as the last village, now they are considered the first village. Emphasising that the be it trade, telecom or textile the development of northeast is top priority.

   • Infrastructural development​

     
     The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region announced on August 21, 2023 a budget of Rs. 8139.50 crore for – the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), which will run from FY22–23 to FY25–2026. The objective of this initiative is to support the development of infrastructure in the North Eastern States, with a focus on the social and connectivity sectors.

   • Boosting education and employment opportunities​

     
     Government has been working relentlessly on improving digital connectivity in the northeast by increasing the optical fibre network and by introducing schemes like “PM-DevINE” (enable livelihood activities for youth and women), “Vidyajyoti”, developing tourism circuits and by developing hydropower projects. The start-up as well as employment opportunities will increase.

   • AFSPA:​

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been removed by the central government from sixty percent of Assam. Fifteen police stations in Manipur’s six districts are the only ones where AFSPA operates. There is only one district in Arunachal Pradesh that is still protected by AFSPA. The AFSPA has been entirely repealed in Meghalaya and Tripura, and it has been lifted in seven districts of Nagaland.

All in all, from inaugurating hornbill festival in 2014, within months of becoming PM to envisioning the disturbed areas as aspirational areas to acting on northeast and north east as top priority with sabka prayas. It is the culmination of all such focused and dedicated policies of the Modi government which has resulted in peace pacts being signed paving way towards a new era of peace in the north east. Thus, making it truly a historic milestone!!

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