NEW DELHI, Aug 23 � The Centre may have opened dialogue with some underground outfits, but according to an estimate of the Home Ministry, there are 79 insurgent groups including splinter factions, which are active across six North Eastern States.
A detailed list of the militant outfits furnished by Minister of State for Home Affairs M Ramachandran in the Lok Sabha reveals that Manipur has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of 50 active militant outfits in the region including 22 valley-based and 27 hill-based outfits. One militant outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has 12 factions, while Kuki National Front has four factions.
While Assam has five active militant outfits including ULFA, NDFB, DHD,UPDS and KLO, neighbouring Meghalaya has overtaken the State and now boasts of nine insurgent outfits. In neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, apart from the two factions of NSCN, another militant outfit, National Liberation Front of Arunachal has reared its head in the State.
Another interesting revelation is that barring Sikkim, rest of all the North Eastern States are now affected by militancy. Mizoram, which was given a peace bonus by the Planning Commission last year, now has three militant groups including Hmar Peoples Convention (HPC D), Hmar National
Liberation Front and Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).
Nagaland and Tripura have six and three militant outfits respectively.
Meanwhile, the Minister said that there have been inputs suggesting liaison of top leaders of some of the insurgent groups in the North-east with the neighbouring countries like China and Myanmar.
The Government of India has raised concern with China from time to time on the issue through the diplomatic channel, Ramachandran added.
