Centre, Tripura govt to sign pact with two armed groups in Delhi today

New Delhi/Agartala, Sep 4 : In a significant development, a Memorandum of Settlement will be signed on Wednesday in Delhi between the Centre, Tripura government and the two insurgent groups -- National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).

An official statement read, "In presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, a Memorandum of Settlement is to be signed among Government of India, Government of Tripura and representatives of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), in New Delhi on Wednesday, 04 September 2024. Officials said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, and the senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Tripura government would remain present in the agreement signing ceremony, to be held in the North Block on Wednesday afternoon."

A Tripura government official said that earlier on August 10, 2019, a tripartite agreement was signed in New Delhi between the Centre, the Tripura government and a faction of the NLFT.

After the pact, 88 NLFT cadres surrendered to the Tripura government and deposited arms and ammunition.

The official said that the surrendered cadres were given benefits as per the Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation Scheme, 2018 of the MHA.

The Tripura government helped the surrendered cadres in housing, recruitment in government jobs, education and skill development training.

Both the NLFT and ATTF have been banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act since 1997 as the outfits have been involved in violence, operating from their camps across the International Border.

The two outfits have been responsible for violent activities, including a large number of insurgency incidents in which many security force personnel and civilians lost their lives during the period 2005-2015.

Peace talks with NLFT were initiated in 2015 and there has been no major violence by NLFT since 2016.

An official statement said that the MHA has been working tirelessly to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed northeast, free from extremism, violence and conflict.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the government has signed 12 important agreements to bring peace and prosperity to the northeast, of which three relate to the state of Tripura.

Due to the signing of several agreements by the Modi government, around 10,000 cadres have given up arms and joined the mainstream in different northeastern states, including Assam and Tripura.