Showing utter disrespect to the worldwide cry against terrorism, militants belonging to National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) killed 22 innocent people, shooting them from point blank range in a midnight massacre.  

The place of the recent massacre was not far away from where Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, couple of months ago, had issued call to the underground forces   active in the North-East to shun the path  of violence and redress their grievances through discussion.

It was quite a significant statement from the Prime Minister. He made the appeal at a rally in Assam, where the ULFA and the NDFB are constantly refusing to enter in any kind of talks with the Centre. While the NDFB is continuing its subversive activities, even attacking the places of worships, the ULFA is demanding that any talks with the Centre should discuss the issue of sovereignty in presence of a UN observer in a third country. All these conditions came in response to Centre’s offer for a dialogue without any pre-condition.

That was not the first time that the Prime Minister has issued such call to the militants. Ever since taking over the reins of the country, Mr. Vajpayee always stressed more on the need of a negotiated settlement than on a military solution.

Moreover, Mr. Vajpayee was not the first Prime Minister to urge the militants to join the mainstream. All his predecessors also issued similar appeals to the underground forces active in the region. But it’s a pity that the underground forces, more often than not, preferred to rely more on their gun power, than coming for talks.

In their defence, the underground organisations used every possible reason to vindicate their stand. Most prominent among them was the allegation of  insurgent outfits that the Government of India was not sincere in solving the issues through negotiations.

But after the success of the ongoing peace process in Nagaland, where both the factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) have at present entered in a ceasefire agreement with the Centre, and the decision to create Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) as per the demand of the Bodos, make all such allegations of Centre’s insincerity baseless. It proves the fact that the Government of India is willing to redress the genuine grievances of the people of the North-East.

Another allegation, which is frequently made against the Centre that it had done nothing for removing the backwardness of the region. There is no denying that the North-East lags behind the mainland states in terms of development and special attention should be given for speedy economic upliftment of the region. But at the same time is it not a fact that to ensure economic development of the region former prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda announced a package of over 6000 crore? Is it not a fact that a special non-lapsable fund has been created to ensure that development process in the region does not suffer due to lack of funds? Is it also not a fact that a separate ministry for the development of the North-East has recently been created to expedite the development process?

While making such allegations, the underground outfits willfully forget the fact that to meet the tribal aspirations Tripura Accord was signed. They do not talk about Mizo Accord too. But the fact remains that the accord has been successfully implemented and today Mizoram is the most peaceful State in the entire region.

It is time to take a look what the underground forces did to keep their promises or to help bring back peace in the region. In presence of the then prime minister Narasimha Rao, five ULFA leaders gave a written assurance in 1992, that the organisation would leave the path of violence and seek the redressal of their grievances through negotiations. But with passing of time, they changed their mind
and did not show enough willingness to talk.

On the other hand the NDFB is constantly trying to derail the peace talks between the Centre and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) by indulging in subversive activities against the wishes of majority Bodo people. The recent killing was just another attempt to thwart the ongoing peace process.

While talks are on to find an amicable solution to the vexed Naga problem, both the factions of NSCN are engaged in fratricidal killings, which vitiates the conducive atmosphere in Nagaland which was possible after decades of unrest.

Similar is the situation in Tripura. Fratricidal killings are on the rise in the State. In Imphal valley, the insurgents are always in favour of a puppet goverment instead of a democratically elected government thus bringing instability in the State.

The list does not end here. Poor Sunita Ghosh, wife of the abducted social worker Sanjay Ghosh, was misled about her husband’s safety by none other than Paresh Barua, ULFA commander-in-chief. In Tripura, even for handing over the skeletons of the dead, the insurgents demand money from the relatives.

Moreover, the ULFA militants are mearcilessly killing those who defied the diktats of their leaders to join the mainstream. As a matter of fact, the outlawed organisation even launched a rocket attack on an apartment in Guwahati, where some of the surrendered militants lived. The NSCN (IM) had also been severe on those who surrendered before the authorities.

Examine the track record of the Issac-Muivah faction of the NSCN, the organisation which is never tired of accusing the Centre for its so-called lack of sincerity towards the region. The organisation entered in a ceasefire agreement with the Centre in 1997. Since then, the banned organisation on number of occasions threatened to walk out of the ceasefire agreement on one pretext or another. But on all such occasions, the grounds were such flimsy that in the end the NSCN (IM) had to eat its words. Take the recent Chandel Deputy Commissioner (DC) abduction case. Showing no regards to the law of the land, the NSCN (IM) cadres were carrying arms to attend a function to celebrate the foundation day of the organisation. When the security forces prevented them from carrying arms openly against the law, its cadres opened fire on the security forces. In exchange of fire, couple of NSCN (IM) activists died. It was a very unfortunate incident. The ongoing peace process was about to be derailed because of this incident. But instead of defusing the tensions and saving the ongoing peace process at any cost, the NSCN (IM) abducted the Chandel district DC and categorically stated that the DC was abducted to teach the security forces a lesson. It was heartening that the local Nagas prevailed upon the NSCN (IM) leadership and managed to secure the release of the abducted DC.

Earlier, the NSCN (IM) raised a hue and cry when because of important domestic engagements Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee could not meet the NSCN (IM) leaders. While trying to score a point over Government of India, the NSCN (IM) deliberately forgot that as the External Affairs Minister in Morarji Desai cabinet, Mr. Vajpayee met A. Z. Phizo in London and tried to initiate a peace process.

It is time now for the underground outfits active in the region to do some introspection. It is time now for them to decide whether they persist with violent activities or sit for talks with the Centre. It is also time for them to see what they have achieved through years of violence.