NEW DELHI, April 25 � Close on the heels of Assam Government seeking deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to track movement of insurgents and Naxals, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has warned that forays of Maoists into the sensitive north-eastern States are fraught with serious strategic implications.
The MHA has told a Parliamentary Panel that the Assam-Arunachal border has witnessed Left wing extremism (LWE) as Maoists are trying to establish organisational bases in the North East with a view to forge relations with other insurgent groups to meet its military requirements. Certain groups are operating in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and have been involved in incidents of looting of weapons and extortions from local villagers, a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs said.
But the Centre has claimed that because of the pressures from security forces, the links between the insurgent groups and the Maoists have also been snapped after the arrest of some functionaries of Manipur-based insurgent groups and elimination of the remnants of Maoists in Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
The presence of Left wing activists in the north-eastern parts of the country can derail the socio-economic development projects of the Central and State governments, the Standing Committee said.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry said that the report of insurgents having trans-border linkages and strategic alliances among themselves and even with the Maoists and insurgents of Jammu and Kashmir has turned the region into a troubled hot spot.
The neighbouring countries of the North East should be diplomatically approached and negotiated at highest level for not allowing their territories for carrying out anti-India activities by insurgent groups of the region.
Briefing the Parliamentary Panel, the Home Secretary said the region has witnessed a large number of surrenders by the underground elements in the past few months. Also, the Centre has taken measures to ensure that the armed cadres do not come out of the designated camps and that if they do, they are checked. Now, this has had some degree of impact on armed cadres, particularly those who are in talks with the Centre.
�We have made progress even in our talks with the NSCN (I-M) and we are hopeful that we would reach some solution soon,� the Home Secretary said.