More than a decade after the talks began between the central government and the pro-talks United Liberation Front of Assam, it is finally going to end in May. The top leadership of ULFA recently received a draft of a proposed settlement from the Center which is awaiting a reply from the group.
On Thursday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The Center is waiting for the response of the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam). If they are ready to sign an agreement on the central government’s draft, it will be signed within May. If not, it will be delayed.
After the chief minister announced the draft of an agreement, ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia said, “We will discuss the central government’s draft within our organisation. We feel, if the Center is ready to sign an accord with ULFA, we are ready to do it at any time.”
“We are confident that the government will meet our demands if a peace accord is signed next month. It will be an important event,” said Chetia.
The group’s demands include measures to weed out illegal migration, reforms to preserve the identity of the people of Assam, and agriculture as well as rural development. The Karma Parishad, the mid-level leadership committee of ULFA, demanded the Central Committee to discuss the draft of the Central Government.
Karma Parishad member Pranjit Saikia said, “We do not know anything about the draft. If any draft comes from the Central Government, then the Central Committee should arrange a meeting with the Karma Parishad. After learning about the draft, we wrote to the Central Committee to arrange a meeting with us. The Central Committee assured us of a meeting regarding the draft Central Government.
He said: “We should discuss the draft with our cadres, who are living in nine different designated camps. We should discuss the draft with other civil society, student organisations. We should share it with the public. If If we don’t, it will be a big mistake.”
ULFA was formed on April 7, 1979 for the “restoration of sovereignty of Assam”, a subject which is now only on the agenda of the Paresh Baruah-led ULFA(I).
The original ULFA split after the top leadership led by Arbind Rajkhowa was arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to India in 2008. Three years later, Rajkhowa and her group decided to engage in peace talks. The group presented a 12-point charter of demands in 2010, excluding “sovereignty” made by the ‘consolidation ethnic assertion’.
Talking about the possibility of signing the agreement with the government in May, Saikia said, “I think it is not possible to sign the agreement within May. It takes time to have discussions within our organization and then with civic and student organisations. Finally, our Central Committee should send a proposal regarding the draft to ULFA(I) chief Paresh Baruah. We need to know their opinion. Because once upon a time we were an organization.
peace and surrender
In the early 1990s, the Indian government attempted to weed out ULFA members. This happened after the death of Hirak Jyoti Mahanta, the deputy commander-in-chief of ULFA, on 31 December 1991. He had opposed the surrender, but it began after his death.
In 1992, a large section of second line leaders and members surrendered to the government. These former members were allowed to keep their weapons to defend against former allies; They were offered bank loans with no collateral to help them reintegrate into society.
The total number of ULFA militants who surrendered has gone up to 8,718. At least 4,993 cadres surrendered between 1991 and 1998, and 3,435 surrendered between 1998 and 2005, when a new policy to deal with ULFA was unveiled.
On 24 January 2012, one of the largest surrender ceremonies in Northeast India took place in Guwahati, Assam, when 676 militants laid down their arms. In 2020, 1,675 cadres of ULFA(I) and affiliated militant groups surrendered.
In 2003, ULFA put forward a set of three pre-conditions for dialogue and negotiations with the government, but they were rejected. The pre-conditions were: the talks should take place in a third country; The talks should take place under the supervision of the United Nations; And the agenda of the talks should include the independence of Assam.
In 2004, ULFA dropped the first two pre-conditions and offered to hold talks with the government. The Government of India was not ready to negotiate on the issue of independence. Nevertheless, some progress was made when ULFA formed a ‘People’s Consultative Group’ (PCG) in September 2005 to lay the groundwork for final talks with the government.
In a sustained operation launched by the Indian Army inside a national park in Dibru Saikhowa, ULFA lost its hides and camps, important leaders and activists. The group came to the negotiating table in 2005. The talks first took place in December 2005 at the residence of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Three rounds of peace talks with an 11-member PCG headed by noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami resulted in a temporary ceasefire in August 2006. However, the peace talks broke down by 23 September the same year, as ULFA continued its agitation. Violent activities against civilians, mainly against tea plantations and oil pipelines. It also violated the ceasefire as it hurled hand grenades at the army columns.
On June 24, 2008, some leaders and cadres of ULFA’s ‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies announced a unilateral ceasefire at a press meeting held at Amarpur in Tinsukia district. He declared a ceasefire to pressurize the top ULFA officials to sit at the negotiating table. But the Central Committee expelled the leaders of 28 Battalion, led by Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta, who managed to escape from the army cordon in the Dibru Saikhowa National Park. The group was later renamed ULFA (Pro-Talk).
On 5 August 2011, ULFA’s 12-point charter of demands was formally handed over to New Delhi. The demands were broad in nature and were culled from the 37-page charter submitted to Pro-Talk by the Rajkhowa faction of ULFA. Group by Sammilita Jati Abhibartan, civil society body which took the initiative to bring an interface between the faction of ULFA and the government.
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