New Delhi [India], September 15: In a major development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday lauded the tripartite peace accord signed between the Centre and Assam governments with eight tribal outfits of state and said more than 1100 persons of the Adivasi outfits are surrendering arms and joining the mainstream today.

Speaking after the accord was signed, the Home Minister said the Centre is working towards ending all border disputes in the northeast by 2024.

Ending decades of insurgency demanding a separate state of Bodoland, the Centre and Assam government on Monday signed a tripartite agreement with the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

The All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU), which has been spearheading a movement for a Bodoland state since 1972, and another group called United Bodo People's Organisation were also signatories to the accord.

He said that the Narendra Modi government has taken several initiatives for peace and prosperity of the North East Region (NER). "The biggest program was to establish peace. In this, we are today crossing a big milestone and moving ahead. Around 1100 persons of Adivasi outfits of Assam are surrendering arms and joining the mainstream today," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Kokrajhar on February 7 where he may address Bodo and non-Bodos communities. As many as 1,550 militants of NDFB will surrender with arms on January 30 and they will be given lump sum payment of ex-gratia.

Amit Shah said Assam’s territorial integrity is assured with this agreement as every single Bodo group has come on board. He noted that while earlier the northeastern states used to feel neglected, the central government has ensured that a Union minister visits the region every week in order to ensure effective implementation of government schemes and timely completion of infrastructure projects.

The minister said that the government is working for the conservation and development of the culture of Assam and the northeast, ending disputes, signing agreements with armed groups and rehabilitating them, and boosting development in the northeast as in other parts of the country. "We have signed several agreements in the past three years. We have decided that before 2024, be it the inter-state border disputes, be it, rebel groups, we want to end all the disputes," he said.

"We want Assam and the North East region should be drug-free, terrorism-free, dispute-free, and fully developed. Modi government is working towards this," he added.

The eight rebel groups which are part of the tripartite peace accord include Birsa Commando Force (BCF), Adivasi People's Army (APA), All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam (ACMA), and Santhali Tiger Force (STF) and the remaining three outfits are splinter groups of BCF, AANLA, and ACMA.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present during the signing of the agreement. He had earlier held a meeting with rebel Adivasi groups regarding the final settlement which is currently under a ceasefire.

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The state government will earmark a sum of Rs 250 crore per annum for a period of three years for the development of the area under Bodoland Territorial Council. GOI may contribute an additional amount of Rs 250 crore per annum for the same period.” A commission will be appointed for the inclusion of villages contiguous to Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD)and having a majority tribal population. The commission will also examine ways to increase Bodoland T.

“The process of BTC to have more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers with respect to additional subjects such as welfare and development of minority communities, indigenous faith. Medium industry to be added to a small cottage, rural industry subject to the provision of entries 7 and 52 of List I of the seventh schedule,” the agreement states. For the protection of identity, language, and education, the agreement says the Centre will implement the commitment made earlier.

The accord was signed 10 years after the peace process started. Birsa Commando Force (BCF), Adivasi People's Army (APA), All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam (ACMA), and Santhali Tiger Force (STF) have been in a ceasefire with the government since 2012 and since then the cadres of the militant outfits are staying in designated camps.

On January 27 this year, a total of 246 insurgents of two militant groups of the state laid down their arms and returned to the mainstream.

In an arms-laying ceremonial function held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, 169 insurgents of the United Gorkha People's Organisation (UGPO) and 77 insurgents of the Tiwa Liberation Army (TLA) laid down their arms before Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, Chief Executive Member of BTR Pramod Boro, CEM TAC Jibon Chandra Konwar.

Amit Shah in January 2020 also presided over the signing of a historic agreement between the Government of India, the Government of Assam, and Bodo representatives in New Delhi to end the over 50-year-old Bodo crisis that has cost the region over 4,000 lives.

ANI