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“A golden day for Assam,” said Amit Shah
In a move that Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed as "a golden day" for Assam and its people, the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) signed a peace accord on Friday with the governments at the Centre and state, agreeing to shun violence, disband the organization and join the democratic process. This will strengthen efforts to end decades of insurgency in the state.
Shah said Assam has suffered for a long time due to the ULFA violence and around 10,000 people have lost their lives since 1979.
Here is the story of the outlawed insurgent outfit established in 1979.
Roots in Assamese anxieties
Assamese people have their own unique culture and language and a strong sense of identity. Starting in the 19th century, however, as the region's tea, coal and oil economy attracted migrants from all over, the indigenous population started to feel insecure. This was further exacerbated by the Partition and the subsequent exodus of refugees into the state from the erstwhile East Pakistan.
The competition for resources skyrocketed, resulting in a six-year-long mass movement. Eventually, the Assam Accord, seeking to "find a satisfactory solution to the problem of foreigners in Assam," was signed in 1985. However, amidst all this, a group of more radical thinkers formed ULFA on April 7, 1979.
Four decades of bloodshed
The founders of ULFA wanted to establish a sovereign Assamese nation through an armed struggle against the Indian state. For over 44 years, this 'struggle' has been chequered with kidnappings and extortion, executions and bomb blasts, leading to tragic loss of life in Assam and beyond.
At the same time, the Indian state's response has also been unsparing:
In 1990, the Centre launched Operation Bajrang, leading to the arrest of 1,221 ULFA insurgents.
Assam was declared a 'disturbed area'
President's rule was imposed
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was invoked.
The government has also allegedly supported certain factions of ULFA, which has almost always been plagued with differences of opinion. In 1992, one faction, later christened as Surrendered ULFA (SULFA), offered to surrender and engage in dialogue with the government. Later, SULFA would allegedly carry out "secret killings" of ULFA insurgents and their family members on behalf of the state government.
Yet, the ULFA has survived, in some part due to help from outside India. It still has camps in Myanmar and previously had camps in both Bangladesh and Bhutan. Lying deep in jungles and hilly areas, these camps act as launchpads for cross-border operations and shelter. Insurgents also use them as training bases for new recruits.
ULFA has links to other insurgent outfits in the Northeast and Myanmar, as well as Islamic terror outfits like Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, and Al-Qaeda. It also has links to Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which has reportedly trained ULFA insurgents in the past. ULFA openly supported Pakistan in its monthly newsletter Swadhinata, during the Kargil War.
Towards peace
In 2005, the ULFA formed an 11-member 'People's Consultative Group' (PCG) comprising noted intellectuals. The committee mediated three rounds of talks before the ULFA walked out of the discussions and unleashed a new wave of terror. Some ULFA commanders like Arabinda Rajkhowa, 2008 onwards, would again strive for peace talks with the government. However, some, like Paresh Baruah, were staunchly opposed to the talks and consequently "expelled" Rajkhowa from the outfit in 2012. The Rajkhowa-led pro-talk ULFA faction also "expelled" Baruah, paving the way for the last major split in ULFA. While Baruah floated his own ULFA (Independent), most of the outfit joined the peace talks under Rajkhowa.
The pro-talks faction, in 2012, submitted a 12-point charter of demands to the central government, which was finally responded to earlier this year. This was followed by a round of discussions between Rajkhowa's faction and the Centre in April and the tri-partite peace agreement on Friday.
An incomplete peace?
"This peace deal is certainly a step in the right direction but how fruitful it will be depends on the government's commitment," an ULFA expert said.
Major question marks remain on how exactly it would work out. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has said he is keen on engaging with the anti-talks faction as well, but Baruah remains steadfast on his demand for Assam's sovereignty.
Yet, after signing the agreement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah was confident that a "complete solution" had been negotiated.
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- References and Excerpts from The Indian Express
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Very Informative...about ULFA.