Assam has been the hotbed of militancy for a number of years due to its porous borders with Bangladesh and Bhutan. The main causes of the friction include the anti-foreigner agitation in the 1980s and the simmering Assam-Bodo tensions. The insurgency status in Assam is classified as Very Active.
Assam belongs to the Seven Sisters Region of Southeast Asia, which consists of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. A part of the rich north eastern legacy of India, the bountiful land of Assam consists of magnificent hills and valleys and mighty rivers like the Brahmaputra and Barak. It is well known for its picturesque beauty, its rich blend of crops and variety of minerals.
The State of Assam and Insurgent Groups
The state of Assam has been badly affected by armed insurgency over the last one and a half decades with various insurgent groups like the ULFA, NDFB, DHD, UPDS, NSCN waging a war against the Government. Ever since they were formed, the major insurgent groups ULFA and NDFB have committed scores of incidents of violence like murders, bomb explosions, kidnapping for ransom etc. which have had a serious bearing on the law and order situation of the state.
The unrestricted trans-border movement of the cadres of such insurgent groups facilitated by the extensive porous border with Bangladesh and Bhutan, safe hideouts in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar and the hilly terrain of neighboring states have all contributed to the deterioration of the law and crder situation in the State.
Despite efforts made by successive State Governments to hammer out an amicable solution of this insurgency, it continues, causing law and order problems frequently. The S.S. C-in-C of ULFA, Paresh Baruah and S.S. C-in-C of NDFB, Ranjan Doimari and some of the top brass of these two outfits have been masterminding extremist operations from foreign countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal all these years, rejecting the offers for a negotiated settlement of the problem made by the Governments in the past.The government, therefore, has taken a hardline approach to the problem of insurgency in order to bring about an improvement on the law and order front by coming down heavily on the extremist outfits. Counter insurgency operations launched under the ‘Unified Command Structure’ consisting of the Civil Administration, Army, Central Paramilitary Forces and the State Police with effect from 21-01-97 have produced spectacular results. There were numerous voices of human rights violations directed against security forces.