Thursday, November 20, 2008

‘Assam, Manipur, Nagaland account for 90 pc NE violence’

New Delhi: The security situation in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland -- which together accounted for over 90 per cent of violent incidents in the Northeastern region this year -- has become a cause of concern for the Union Home Ministry.

The three states accounted for 1,179 incidents out of 1,276 till October 15 against 1,330 incidents out of 1,489 in 2007, according to a latest report on the security situation in the northeastern states.

The report, prepared by the Home Ministry, said Manipur continued to be affected by militant activities of a large number of groups divided on ethnic lines. The region has over 200 ethnic groups and much of the violence and volatility in the area stems from its ethnic complexity and perceived feelings of neglect among them.

In Assam, which has witnessed 282 incidents till August, the outlawed ULFA and a variety of ethnic groups working as surrogates of major groups account for majority of the incidents, it said.

About Nagaland, it said there was an "overall improvement" with 244 incidents till August compared to 272 in 2007 and 309 in 2006. However, there was a "relative increase" in inter- factional clashes between the two factions of NSCN.

The report said terrorist violence has come down significantly in Tripura and Meghalaya due to counter insurgency operations, while Arunachal Pradesh continued to suffer from low intensity violence. Mizoram and Sikkim are by and large peaceful.

The report said 512 terrorists were killed in the entire northeast this year compared to 403 last year.

However, there was a fall in the number of security personnel and civilians killed this year from the 60 to 32 and 410 to 313 respectively during the period under review.

In order to tackle the situation in a better way, the Centre has earmarked Rs 220 crore in 2007-08 for modernisation of state police forces in the region and till October 15, Rs 137 crore has already been released. A senior Home Ministry official said that Rs 50 crore will be allocated to the northeast shortly.

In Assam, after a lull following a brief ceasefire with the ULFA in 2006, there was a spurt in violence in 2007 after the leadership of the banned organisation failed to come forward for talks.The report said intensive operations resulted in large number of arrests, surrenders and killings of militants in action.

PTI

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