Silchar: Mention Assam’s most favourite tourist spots and Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park will likely emerge on top. Dig a little deeper and you will learn about the monuments built by the Ahom dynasty. But it is not until you are deep into your web search that you will start receiving suggestions about the Dima Hasao district, home to Assam’s only hill station, among many others.
In recent times, this has changed for the better and the Jatinga festival in Dima Hasao attracts thousands of tourists from Assam and the rest of India. Locals now hope the peace agreement between the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) and the Centre recently makes tourism a much more mainstream and year-round activity in the district.
On April 27, the DNLA, which operated in the Dima Hasao district, signed a peace pact with the state government and the Centre in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “The agreement will put a complete end to the insurgency and with this, there are no more armed groups in Assam today,” said Shah at the time of signing the agreement.
The DNLA representatives have agreed to give up violence and surrender, including surrendering arms and ammunition, disbanding their armed organisation, vacating all camps occupied by the DNLA cadres and joining the mainstream.
EastMojo caught up with Dima Hasao residents, including members of political parties and organisations, who talked about how the end of insurgency could develop the district’s tourism industry.
Pramith Sengyung, general secretary of Dimasa Students’ Union’s Dima Hasao unit, said a peaceful environment is a must for a developed tourism sector. Hopefully, the peace agreement signed between the DNLA and the government recently will bring lasting peace to Dima Hasao, which witnessed militancy problems for several years, Sengyung said.
“Tourists always like going to safe places. Hopefully, the peace accord will make the hill district a safer place like never before,” he said.
He also urged the government to pool funds for the overall progress of the tourism industry in Dima Hasao.
Dimasa Mothers’ Association’s secretary Maiphal Kemprai said the peace agreement signed between the DNLA and the government is a “positive sign” for the people of Dima Hasao. “Tourism will definitely develop in a place if it is peaceful. We hope that the peace accord will bring eternal peace in the hill district and tourism gets developed more and more,” Kemprai said.
L. Hlima Keivom, general secretary of the Indigenous People’s Forum, said tourism in Dima Hasao was affected because of militancy problems over the years. Hopefully, the peace agreement signed between the DNLA and the government will put a full stop to the issues and the place will witness a new and developed era of tourism, Keivom said.
Former Chief Executive Member of North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council and former Congress MLA Samarjit Haflongbar stressed the necessity of improving road connectivity in the Dima Hasao district. “Roads across the district have been in poor condition. It is important to improve surface communication for the development of the tourism industry,” he said.
The former MLA also underscored the importance of maintaining peace in the hill district so that tourists feel safe coming to the place.
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Trinamool Congress’ Dima Hasao committee convener Aching Zeme welcomed the peace agreement but said the government must take necessary steps to provide jobs to people in the Dima Hasao district as unemployment has been a big issue. “Unemployment is one of the biggest reasons behind the formation of insurgent groups in Dima Hasao. The government needs to understand this and initiate steps to provide jobs to people, or else, the problem of militancy will never end in the district,” Zeme said.
S. Barman, a resident of Haflong town said Dima Hasao would have witnessed much more development in the tourism sector if there were no insurgency problems over the years. The government could not focus on tourism with militancy-related issues in the region. With the signing of the peace agreement, he hopes the place will become a top tourist hotspot in the coming days, he said.
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