Assam inks settlement with Hmar, Kuki extremist groups

The Assam government on Sunday (March 15, 2026) signed a memorandum of settlement with three Kuki extremist groups as well as a Hmar group.

The organisations involved are the Hmar People’s Convention-Democratic (HPC-D), United Kukigam Defence Army (UKDA), Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA), and the Kuki Liberation Organisation (KLO), which is also known as the Kuki Liberation Army. The members of all these groups had laid down their arms in 2012.

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, in whose presence the memorandum of settlement was inked, said the deal envisages the formation of a Hmar Welfare Development Council and a Kuki Welfare Development Council in the Hmar and Kuki-dominated areas of Assam, respectively.

Tripartite talks

“A Suspension of Operations was signed between the State government and these groups after they gave up arms. Thereafter, several rounds of tripartite talks involving the Centre led to the memorandum of settlement,” a senior officer of Assam’s Home and Political Department said.

He said that the settlement process was accelerated in the past few months as an initiative of peace and tranquillity in the State and to fulfil the aspirations of both communities.

“Each development council will comprise a chairman, deputy chairman, chief executive member, executive members, and members nominated by the Assam government. Both councils will be headquartered in Guwahati, and their budgets will be prepared according to their requirements submitted to the Transformation and Development Department,” the officer said.

Rehabilitation measures

Mr. Pegu said that the State government would take appropriate measures to rehabilitate the cadres of the armed groups in accordance with the existing procedure. “The government will also compensate family members of the cadres who lost their lives during their armed struggle,” he said.

The KLO, KRA, HPC-D, and UKDA were established in 1992, 2000, 2003, and 2010, respectively.

The government claimed that the memorandum of settlement with the Hmar and Kuki groups has brought the ethnic militancy issue in Assam to an end. It added that more than 9,000 cadres of several extremist groups, including those of the Bodo, Karbi, and Adivasi communities, have been rehabilitated during the last few years.

Together, these groups have deposited 1,012 firearms, 25,488 rounds of ammunition, and 34 grenades, the government said.