Security situation in the North Eastern states in 2011 had witnessed “noticeable” improvement, said the annual report of the Union home ministry. The home ministry found that the number of incidents of violence and casualties of civilian and security forces had declined in 2011.
However, though things were improving in other states of the region, Meghalaya, otherwise a relatively peaceful state, witnessed an upswing in violence last year.
As per the report, Assam and Manipur continued to account for the bulk of incidents of violence in the region in 2011, whereas Sikkim and Mizoram remained peaceful.From 1,489 incidents of violence in 2007, it declined to 627 in 2011. Similarly, 70 civilians were killed last year in the region by extremists, as compared to 498 in 2007.
The report said: “The security situation in some of the North Eastern states which has remained complex for quite some time because of diverse demands advocated by various militant outfits, has shown improvement in 2011 as compared to the previous year in terms of number of incidents of violence and causalities of civilians and security forces.”
According to the report, Mizoram and Sikkim “continued to remain peaceful”.
The security situation in Tripura, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur had improved with “noticeable” decline in incidents of violence and casualties of civilians and personnel of security forces in 2011 as compared to the previous year.
Arunachal Pradesh had largely remained peaceful although there was an increase in incidents of violence in some parts of the state in 2011.
The security situation in Assam had improved since early 2010 coinciding with falling level of violence orchestrated by insurgent groups, said the report. A total of 31 persons, including 14 security personnel, were killed in 145 incidents of violence perpetrated by United Liberatsion Front of Assam (Ulfa), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Karbi People’s Liberation Tiger (KPLT) and other underground outfits the year 2011, as compared to the killing of 65 persons, including 12 security personnel, in 251 incidents in the previous year.