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- A tripartite agreement among five insurgent groups of Assam, the Centre and the State government was signed to end years of violence in the Karbi Anglong region.
- Under the peace accord, more than 1,000 armed cadres have abjured violence and joined the mainstream. The agreement provides for their rehabilitation.
Salient Features of the Agreement
- A Special Development Package of Rs. 1000 crores over five years will be given by the Union Government and Assam Government to undertake specific projects for the development of Karbi areas.
- The Karbi armed groups have agreed to abjure violence and join the peaceful democratic process as established by law of the land.
- The Agreement also provides for the rehabilitation of cadres of the armed groups.
- The Government of Assam shall set up a Karbi Welfare Council for the focussed development of Karbi people living outside the KAAC area.
- The Consolidated Fund of the State will be augmented to supplement the resources of KAAC.
- Overall, the present settlement proposes to give more legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers to KAAC.
Implications of Agreement
- This Memorandum of Settlement 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.
- It would promote peace and prosperity in Assam and ensure the development of the Northeastern region.
- It will ensure a life of dignity and respect for those who have surrendered arms by facilitating opportunities for livelihood and employment.
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Who are Karbis?
- The Karbis mentioned as the Mikirs in the Constitution Order, Govt. of India, constitute an important ethnic group in the hill areas of Assam.
- However, they never call themselves Mikir but call themselves Karbi and sometimes Arleng which literally means a man.
- Although at present, they are found to inhabit the Karbi Anglong District, nevertheless, some Karbi inhabited pockets are found in the North Cachar Hills, Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts also.
Karbi insurgency
- The Karbi insurgency is one of the several insurgencies that Assam has faced over the years.
- The insurgency was started by several factions and splinters which have been marked by killings, ethnic violence, abductions and taxation since the late 1980s.
- These outfits originated from the core demand of forming a separate state
- Several clashes have broken out between various tribes in Karbi over the years.
- Reasons:
- The entire political discourse in this constituency revolves around the demand for granting of “Autonomous State” status to the region and more autonomy and power to the KAAC and the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (which administers Dima Hasao district).
Karbi Anglong District
- The Karbi Anglong District is situated in the central part of Assam, bounded by the state of Nagaland and Golaghat district in the east, Hojai district in the west, Golaghat and Nagaon district in the north and N.C. Hills district and Nagaland in the south.
- The district has dense tropical forest-covered hills and flat plains.
- Karbi Anglong is geographically divided into two parts: East Karbi Anglong (EKA) and West Karbi Anglong (WKA), with its administrative headquarters located at Diphu town in EKA.
- The Karbi Anglong District Council (KADC), which looks after safeguarding the rights of the tribal people, was upgraded to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) in April 1995.
- The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) is an autonomous district council, protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
- The Sixth Schedule allows the constitution of autonomous district councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to safeguard the rights of the tribal population.
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Source: PIB
