GUWAHATI, Oct 27 - Though the level of violence has come down, police and security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations have decided not to lower their guard, particularly in view of the apprehension that the militant groups of India may get direct or indirect help from China following disturbance along the international border.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that a meeting of the operation group of the Unified Command was held in the headquarter of the 4 Corps of the Army at Tezpur this afternoon where the overall security scenario in the State was reviewed. All the forces operating on the ground have decided that there should not be any let up in the counter-insurgency operations.
Sources said that there are apprehensions about possibility of China providing direct or indirect help to the militant outfits of North East in view of the tension along the international border, while, a recent article in Chinese media also advocated the need for providing help to the militant groups of India. Sources pointed out that for years, Chinese agencies have been directly or indirectly helping the militant groups of North East and under the present circumstances, the Chinese agencies would definitely like to provide help to revive insurgency in the region.
Sources said that there have been reports of movement of militants in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Mon district of Nagaland and there is every possibility of militants sneaking into Assam to create disturbance. The operation group of the Unified Command decided that all the forces on the ground should keep alert to prevent any such attempt by the militants.
The operation group of the Unified Command noted that as the elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) due in December and State Assembly elections due next year, the militant groups may try to revive themselves by taking advantage of political activities. The recovery of large number of sophisticated weapons including more than 50 AK series rifles in the BTC area is also a cause of concern and it was decided that operations to recover weapons hidden by militants and former militants should continue.
The operation group observed that the Government should expedite the process of rehabilitation of the militants who have surrendered. As it is not possible to provide Government jobs to all such former militants, the Government should try to provide self employment avenues to those people. The operation group is of the view that proper rehabilitation of the surrendered militants would encourage other militants to come over ground and join the mainstream.
