PMO, home ministry fight over NE truce

NEW DELHI, March 2: The Prime Minister's Office and the ministry for home affairs are locked in a fight over whether or not to extend the ceasefire in the Northeastern states on the lines of the Kashmir truce. The home ministry has ruled out any such possibility, but officials admit that the PMO has a different stand on the issue. "If the PMO decides on extension of ceasefire in all the Northeastern states on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir, it will create a major problem for the Centre, especially the MHA, to control militancy and maintain internal security in the region," sources said. "The MHA officials, responsible for dealing with the situation, have nothing to do with policy decisions as the majority of them are taken by a senior official in the PMO or at the political level," a government official said when asked whether the problem was discussed in the Cabinet Committee on Security and the National Security Council. Without naming anyone in the PMO, he said: "Most of the decisions, in which the MHA is directly involved and responsible to brief the Prime Minister, are being hijacked by the official". "Under these circumstances, we don't think that the problem, whether it is in Jammu and Kashmir or in the Northeastern states, would be solved in the near future," he said. He further said: "Crores of rupees have been spent to restore peace in the area, but most of the plans were formulated on paper or in closed door meetings of various political leaders." Last year, the former Union home secretary, Padmanabhaiah, after meeting the NSCN(IM) chairman, reportedly suggested extension of ceasefire in the Northeast to curb militancy and encourage people to join the mainstream of development. The government later started examining the recommendations. Sources said though the seven Northeastern states are affected by militancy with the demand for a greater Nagaland for the past several years, the decision of the government (if any) would be suicidal. Interestingly, the PMO, in a bid to restore peace, has agreed upon the logic as suggested by its official, sources said. "We just can't compare the militancy of Northeast with that of Jammu and Kashmir It is possible to solve the problem in Jammu and Kashmir, but it will take several years to solve the crisis in the Northeastern region," they added. These militants are getting support from the ISI, sources said. Nagaland was facing militancy since Independence, while in Manipur it acquired alarming proportions in the late 60s. Assam, on the other hand, which was free from militancy till 1979, became a militant state only after the agitation on the foreigners' issue and subsequent formation of the ULFA. In Tripura, it was the largescale influx of Bengalis in the 60s that led to the rise of militancy as the indigenous ethnic population was reduced to a minority. Sources said 12 militant organisations are working in the Northeastern states, including the ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, the People's Liberation Army, the United National Liberation Front, the People's revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, the Kangleipak Communist Party, the Kanglei Yaol Kanna Lup, the Manipur People's Liberation Front, the NSCN(IM) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), All Tripura Tiger Force and the National Liberation Front of Twipra.