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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

30/12/23 10:45 AM IST

ULFA peace accord

In News
  • The pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) recently signed a historic tripartite peace deal with the Government of India and the state government of Assam.
Historical background
  • 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, led by Bhimakanta Buragohain, Arabinda Rajkhowa, Anup Chetia, Pradip Gogoi, Bhadreshwar Gohain and Paresh Baruah formed ULFA on April 7, 1979.
Struggle of ULFA
  • 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, and the 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.
  • 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. Paresh Baruah, ULFA’s self-styled military chief, reportedly met Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
  • 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.
Peace agreement
  • In 2005, the ULFA formed an 11-member ‘People’s Consultative Group’ (PCG) comprising noted intellectuals and Jnanpith awardee author late Indira Raisom Goswami.
  • 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, Paresh Baruah was staunchly opposed to 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), the majority 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 tripartite peace agreement.
Source- Indian Express

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