38 militants vow to join the mainstream before the GOC 4 Corps Lt Gen B. S. Jamwal at Tamulpur Army base.

Outlawed ULFA suffered a major blow as 38 of its cadres including a woman surrendered to the Army. The militants vowed before the GOC 4 Corps Lt Gen BS Jamwal at Tamulpur base of the Army near India-Bhutan border in Baksa district of Assam to join the mainstream. They deposited as many as 26 nine mm pistols, ammunition and grenades. Over 150 ULFA militants surrendered in the State during the last six months.

Welcoming the militants to the mainstream, Gen Jamwal said the Army had been entrusted with the responsibility to fight insurgency, not the insurgents who are just misguided youths of the society.

The GOC said the Army had been maintaining constant pressure on the ULFA and that led to recent surrenders of large number of militants in the state. He said frustration and disillusionment had gripped a large number of cadres of the outfit.

Meanwhile, senior journalists and writers of Assam had called upon the people of the State and the North-East to defy the diktat of militant outfits and celebrate the 58th Republic Day. Four militant outfits including ULFA have slapped a ban on Republic Day celebrations and called for a general strike on that day.

Assamese litterateur Nirupama Bargohain and veteran journalist Dhirendra Nath Chakravorty are among the noted personalities who have urged the people to defy the militants’ ban. They have requested the people to hoist the national flag atop their houses and in their own localities on Republic Day.

In a statement, they said that Republic Day should be celebrated by Indian citizens in recognition of the sacrifices made by the martyrs.

Stipend doubled for surrendered militants in Manipur

The monthly stipends paid to surrendered militants under the Manipur Government‘s surrender policy is to be doubled from now on, in addition to which the lump-sum grant also being paid to them is to be similarly enhanced. A decision in this connection was taken by the state Cabinet in a recent meeting with chief minister O Ibobi Singh in the chair.

The Cabinet meet also reviewed the law and order situation of the state in the context of increasing insurgency-related violence. After deliberate discussion on the modifications of the existing provisions of the surrender policy of the state, the Cabinet meeting approved to increase the monthly stipend being paid to the surrendered militants from existing Rs. 2000 per month per person to Rs.4000, according to a reliable source.

The Cabinet has also approved the extension of the period of payment of the stipend upto 60 months. Earlier, a surrenderee is entitled to get the stipend only for two years. The grant given to a surrendered militant has also increased to Rs. 5 lakhs from Rs. 1.5 lakhs under the existing surrender policy. This lump-sum amount is meant to be kept in a bank in the name of the surrenderee as fixed deposit. The amount will be kept as fixed deposit for five years, and can be withdrawn by the surrenderees after completion of the period, the cabinet decided, said the source adding that in case the surrenderee wants to leave the government run rehabilitation camp, the money can be withdrawn at the end of three years with interest.

The modified policy, as approved by the Cabinet also mentions that the surrenderees will also be provided accommodation including family accommodation in a safe and secured complex. All facilities including shopping, entertainment, education, health care and vocational training are proposed to be provided within the complex. In addition, it will also have a production centre and marketing facilities for the State govt comes out with more sops for surrenderees products produced thereat, the sources further informed.

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