NEW DELHI, Nov 30 � The demand of the UPDS for dissolution of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) has been left to the Assam Government for resolution, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said here today.
Replying to a question over the demand for dissolution of the Karbi autonomous council, the Union Home Minister said that it was a matter which has to be resolved by the Government of Assam.
�The term of the existing council will come to an end sometime in February, 2012. Then the laws will be applied and fresh election will be held. The election will be held and in the meantime constituencies have to be delimited, but the UPDS has no problem there and it is willing to participate in the elections as and when they are held,� claimed the Home Minister.
The UPDS leadership have been grumbling over non-fulfilment of their demand for dissolution of the existing council and appointment of a neutral body until the elections. They had claimed that the Union Home Minister had on November 23 assured to talk to the Governor regarding the matter.
Meanwhile, Chidambaram, who completed three years in office as the country�s Home Minister, hailed the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) with the UPDS. �We have been able to sign an agreement with the UPDS. I hope that this agreement would be an example for other militant groups and they will also come forward to hold talks in order to find political solutions to their problems,� he said.
�It should be an example to other militant groups, violence does not pay and violence will not pay and the State will not bend before anyone who uses violence as an instrument of policy to fulfil political demand,� Chidambaram.
�We wish to tell them: abjure violence and come for talks and if you come for talks you will be treated with dignity and honour and we will resolve your political demands in talks. The UPDS accord has shown the way,� the Home Minister said.
Meanwhile, at a time when the debate over the validity of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 has been reignited, the Centre has extended the implementation of the legislation by another year.
The Home Minister, who was presenting his monthly report, said on November 4, the entire State of Assam and a 20 km wide belt in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya bordering Assam were declared as �disturbed area� for a period of one year under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.
When asked about it, Chidambaram maintained that the areas where the Disturbed Areas Act and AFSPA have been extended are indeed disturbed. �Therefore, the notification has been extended and we are also holding talks. As and when more groups talk to us, we will enter into settlements and then we can certainly lift these restrictions,� he said.
The Inner Line Permit, which was lifted from January 1 this year, is an example. Relaxations can take place as and when more and more groups come and sign settlement. But as long as there are militant groups operating in the areas, these areas have to be notified as such, the Home Minister argued.
In these areas, Army continues to be deployed. And as long as the Army is deployed, these areas have to be notified as �disturbed�. Jammu and Kashmir Government�s case is that in many of the areas sought to be denotified, the Army is not deployed or has not been deployed for many years, elaborated the Home Minister.
About the bomb blast in Manipur, Chidambaram said that the Centre was expecting trouble ahead of the Prime Minister�s ensuing visit. �We anticipated there would be trouble in Manipur and very stringent measures have been taken. Manipur is on high alert and in the run-up to the visit of the Prime Minister, it remains on high alert.�
The Government of India has not yet been able to talk to any militant outfit in the valley in Manipur . �Not yet, but it does not mean never. Seven of the militant outfits have formed a united front and the leader is not in India. We are confident that eventually they would come around for talks,� said Chidambaram.