Guwahati, Dec. 7: The Centre’s talks with the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah have fallen apart, with the outfit insisting on holding on to its weapons.
A source in the government today said the DHD (J)’s stand was unacceptable, as it contradicted the Centre’s rule of holding the weapons of ceasefire-bound groups in joint custody.
Any truce with the outfit would now depend on its acceptance of the terms laid down by the government, he said. Several rounds of talks were held with the DHD (J) and some progress had also been made.
“However, everything was undone this morning after they (DHD-J) refused to keep their weapons in joint custody with the government,” the source said.
“The DHD-J’s insistence on keeping its weapons proved to be the last nail in the coffin. We had tried to save the talks and bring peace to the violence-hit North Cachar Hills but they have undone the good work,” a source said.
The government had proposed that the outfit keep its weapons in safe custody but no single party would have independent access to the stockpile. “It is like lockers in banks, which neither the customer nor the bank cannot open without the other’s consent,” he said.
The outfit did not agree to the system and wanted to keep the weapons with them at the designated camps, which would have been set up after a ceasefire.
The source said the Centre has given strict instructions that henceforth no ceasefire-bound group would be allowed to keep its weapons. “We have learnt our lesson the hard way and, therefore, would not like to see a repeat of things that have gone wrong,” he said.
He did not name any group, but hinted that the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) had misused the weapons in its custody and created a “terrible” law and order situation in the Bodoland Territorial Council area.
To a lesser extent, the Dima Halam Daogah also has been accused of misusing weapons at times.
“We cannot in anyway be held responsible for the impasse with the DHD (J), as we had agreed to several of its terms, but such exercises are a two-way traffic and neither party can expect to get all it wants,” he said.
He said talks were also held with Jewel Gorlosa himself to effect a ceasefire.
Besides sticking to its guns on the arms clause, the Dimasa outfit had also been “vacillating” over the talks.
“The group has never really been consistent with what it wants although it had unilaterally declared a ceasefire earlier and had expressed its desire to lay down arms,” the source said, adding that the outfit had time and again broken its word and gone back to its violent ways.
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The DHD (J) had imposed a ban on the movement of goods trains since November 13, gunned down a rival DHD leader on October 29, killed eight persons in an ambush on October 30 and two Nepalis in November.
It has also been holding two national projects — the East-West corridor and the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion project to ransom.
According to a PTI report, the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) today said it was willing to hold peace talks with the government if operations against it were stopped.
The KLNLF’s peace overtures came after eight of its major camps were destroyed today in Karbi Anglong district. The large number of rebels hiding there fled with arms and ammunition before the security forces arrived.
The outfit had allegedly triggered a powerful blast at a fish market on the border of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts yesterday, injuring nine. “We are willing to sit for peace talks if the government is interested and security operations are stopped,” the general secretary of the KLNLF, Thong Teron, said today.
Teron also said the economic blockade in the district in force since December 2 would be lifted if Dispur immediately took the initiative.
Government sources, however, said security operations could not be halted in the district as several other militant outfits are operating there.
