The tripartite agreement is set to be signed (File)
The BJP-led government in Assam and the centre are set to sign a Karbi Peace Accord today with at least six insurgent groups active within the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) region in New Delhi.
The accord is significant as the insurgency by Karbi - a major ethnic community of Assam - groups, dotted by several factions and splinters, has had a long history in Assam, marked by killings, ethnic violence and abductions since the late 1980s.
Representatives from all the six outfits - Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), People's Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK), three factions of Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT) and United People's Liberation Army (UPLA) - arrived in New Delhi on Friday and had elaborate meetings with Union Home Ministry officials to finalise the accord.
According to government sources, some of the demands of the insurgent groups are direct transfer to KAAC, reservation of seats for ST, more powers to the council, inclusion of Karbi language in the Eighth Schedule and more MP/MLA seats and financial package of 1,500 crore.
A total of 1,040 terrorists of these insurgent groups ceremonially laid down arms at an event in Guwahati on February 25 in the presence of then Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
The terrorists of these organisations had come to surrender their weapons after a year when the BJP signed the Bodo Peace Accord to end the long-run violence in Bodoland. The Bodoland region is an autonomous territorial region that is administered by the elected body - Bodoland Territorial Council.