According to data tabled in the assembly, more than 1,500 youth have joined at least five organizations since 2016
According to data tabled in the assembly, more than 1,500 youth have joined at least five organizations since 2016
Guwahati
Enticed through social media platforms, youth in Assam have been joining extremist groups since 2014 despite peace agreements with such organisations.
A fortnight ago, the Union home ministry had listed the Bodo accord of January 2020, the Karbi accord of April 2021 and operations with the pro-negotiating faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) as a key factor. Decline in militancy and violence in the state.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds the home portfolio in the state, told the 126-member Assam Assembly that 1,561 youths and women have joined at least five extremist groups since 2016. These groups are the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB). , People’s Democratic Council of Karbi Longri (PDCK), ULFA and United People’s Revolutionary Front.
Said to have been dissolved, the NDFB and its factions were signatories to the Bodo Accord. The PDCK was the same after the Karbi agreement.
Responding to a question by Congress leader Devvrat Saikia, Mr Sarma said that extremist groups, especially the ULFA (Independent) led by fugitive Paresh Barua, are brainwashing youth through Facebook, Messenger and Twitter.
The chief minister said social media sites monitored by the Assam Police under the Cyberdrome project helped identify 990 “objectionable posts” by like-minded youth during the 2021-22 financial year.
“A hundred cases were registered across the state on such posts and 85 people were arrested, while 581 others were counseled in the presence of their parents. In addition, 400 posts were removed from the social media platform.
Mr Sarma said that since 2016 the state police have arrested 84 others for their involvement in ‘jihadi’ activities and 10 of them are engaged as teachers of different madrasas.
He said that out of these 84 people, forty were members of Ansarullah Bangla team, 35 were members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and nine were members of Hizbul Mujahideen.
Responding to another question by suspended Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed, the Chief Minister said that from January 2021 to September 4, 2022, 19 extremists were killed in 12 encounters with the police.
Responding to an unrelated question, the chief minister said there was no separate or special budget for running six transit camps – detention centers for foreigners declared in Assam. “They are spent from the prison budget,” he said.
Each transit camp is within the Central Jail.