9 Hmar militants surrender in Assam; more than 1000 to join the main soon: Police | Popgen Tech

Nine cadres of the militant group Hmar People’s Convention Democracy (HPC-D) surrendered armed with explosives in Assam’s Cachar district on Wednesday evening.

Cachar District Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta said the militants surrendered in Lakhipur area in the presence of senior police officers on Wednesday evening.

“A dispute is going on under the watch of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and yesterday’s surrender is just the beginning of a big surrender,” he said.

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According to the SP, apart from Mizoram, HPC-D militants are active in Cachar district and surrounding areas including parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya. They are in talks with the government and the administration is trying to bring them back to the mainstream by meeting their demands.

“Surrender is a long process and the militants need to be properly identified. After surrendering, they get special identity cards in which they will get facilities to ensure them,” Mahatta added.

According to senior Assam police officers, the HPC-D is an offshoot of the Hmar People’s Convention (HPC), which came into being in 1986 as a political party that led a movement for self-government in Mizoram.

“They are active in the border areas of Cachar district and activity was noticed in Lakhipur. On Wednesday, they handed over arms and explosives to show that they are ready to join the mainstream,” an official said.

According to sources, more than a thousand Hmar militants will surrender in Cachar district in January next year.

Mahatta said that the next surrender will be bigger than that of Hailakandi.

“High-level talks are going on and we can’t reveal much at the moment but this will be one of the biggest surrenders in history,” he said.

More than 1,100 Bru militants surrendered with weapons and explosives in Assam’s Hailakandi district on December 12 in the presence of Assam assembly speaker Biswajit Daimary and minister Pijush Hazarika.

Daimari claimed that most of the tribal people in Assam took up arms because they were deprived of basic rights for generations after India’s independence.

“They were angry because the government and society deprived them for generations. Now they are back in the mainstream and it is our responsibility to fulfill their promises,” Daimari said.