Guwahati: The Assam govt on Sunday signed memorandums of settlement (MoS) with three Kuki militant groups and one Hmar outfit, saying the agreements mark the end of ‘ethnic militancy’ in the state, according to an official statement.The four groups — United Kukigam Defence Army (UKDA), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), Kuki Liberation Organisation (KLO)/Kuki Liberation Army (KLA), and Hmar People’s Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) — had laid down arms in 2012 in the presence of the Govt of India and then chief minister Tarun Gogoi and signed the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact.UKDA was formed in 2010 and KRA in 2000 in Karbi Anglong district. KLO and KLA were formed in 1992 and 1993, respectively, in Dima Hasao. The Hmar outfit was formed in 2003-04.The statement said several rounds of tripartite talks were held over the years, with the process gaining momentum under the present govt before culminating in the agreements.The two pacts — one with the Kuki groups and the other with the Hmar outfit — provide for the creation of welfare and development councils for the Kuki and Hmar communities, with headquarters in Guwahati.According to the statement, both councils will receive budgetary support. The councils will prepare budgets based on their requirements and submit them to the state govt’s transformation and development department for the approval.The govt also told the groups that their cadres would be rehabilitated and that families of militants killed during the insurgency would receive financial compensation.“With these two pacts, the ethnic militancy comes to an end in the state of Assam,” the statement said.It added that in recent years, the Centre and the state govt have signed MoS with Bodo, Karbi, Adivasi groups and the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), and rehabilitated more than 9,000 cadres.According to the statement, these groups deposited 1,012 arms, 25,488 rounds of ammunition and 34 grenades.
