SILCHAR: The rehabilitation process of surrendered militants in Assam's once-troubled Dima Hasao district took off on Friday as 97 surrendered Dima Halam Daoga-Jewel cadres left Haflong for Guwahati to join the Assam police service.
"The Assam government in accordance with their eligibility appointed 108 cadres of the DHD-Jewel in police service. 97 of them left Haflong in the noon train amid much fanfare while the rest will join them soon," an official said.
Sources said DHD-Jewel leaders on Friday organized a farewell ceremony at the outfit's liaison office in Haflong on this occasion. Addressing the cadres, the outfit's chairman Jewel Garlossa expressed his hope that government will fulfill all the other promises made during the surrender ceremony two years ago.
382 cadres of DHD-Jewel laid down arms before senior officials of the state and Central government including Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on the day of Gandhi Jayanti in 2009 at a function in Haflong. Later, the number of surrendered cadres rose to 416. They have been living in four designated camps including two situated at Haflong, one in Maibang and another in Harangajao of the district.
Chief Minister Gogoi had announced a rehabilitation package of Rs 50 crore for the district and said a police battalion would be raised to accommodate eligible DHD-Jewel cadres.
With its surrender, the outfit had placed a charter of demands, which include a change of name for the district, an autonomous state within the state under article 244 (A) of the Constitution and induction of the cadres in government forces and amnesty for all.
The government meanwhile changed the nomenclature of the erstwhile North Cachar Hill district to Dima Hasao.
The outfit has been on a killing spree for the last few years and had killed 51 policemen in 2008 alone besides stalling work for two national projects including Lumding-Silchar broad gauge conversion and Silchar-Saurastra East-West Corridor.
Sources said none of the surrendered cadres is a graduate. Only four per cent have completed matriculation, 78 per cent have not even studied up to Class X and 18 per cent have not been to school altogether.
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