Northeast militancy on decline, Tripura and Mizoram most peaceful

GUWAHATI: Militant activity in the northeast is on the decline, with Tripura and Mizoram emerging as the most peaceful states in the region, a recent Union home ministry report says.
According to the report, the seven states in the northeast registered 308 militancy-related cases last year, down from 484 in 2016. The trend has been a downward one. In 2015, there were 574 insurgency-related cases reported while the year before that registered a staggering 824 such incidents.

Last year, Tripura and Mizoram reported no insurgency-related incidents. Manipur, with 167 cases reported last year, was found to be the most disturbed state, primarily owing to the activities of CorCom (Coordination Committee), a conglomeration of six Manipur-based militant outfits.

The resurgence of Assam-based militant outfits like Ulfa (Independent) and NDFB (Songbijit) caused more disruptions in Arunachal Pradesh, which registered the second highest militant activity with 61 incidents, than in Assam, which reported 33.

Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay put it down to the formation of the United National Liberation Front of Western Southeast Asia (UNLFW), an umbrella body of at least four militant groups. "The formation of UNLFW has aided the revival of Ulfa (I), which now receives support from NSCN (K) in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh," he said. The overall situation, however, is better. "There may be some isolated incidents, but the situation has improved," parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said in the state assembly recently.

Two other rebel groups - Kamtapur Liberation Organization and NDFB (S) - are also part of UNLFW. Most militant outfits in Assam - Ulfa, NDFB and several Adivasi rebel groups - have joined peace talks, while others - like the Dima Halam Daogah - have been disbanded.

The poll-bound states of Meghalaya and Nagaland registered 28 and 19 militancy-related incident last year.