ULFA peace pact

The year 2023 — headlined by the wars in Gaza and eastern Europe — concluded with a peace pact signed by the Central and Assam governments with the Arabinda Rajkhowa-led faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on December 29. While the Paresh Baruah-led hardline faction of ULFA is not a party to the agreement, it is a historic breakthrough in more ways than one.

Most importantly, it envisages the culmination of the 44-year-old armed struggle launched by ULFA in 1979, seeking a ‘sovereign’ Assam. The negotiations between the Centre and the pro-talks ULFA faction began in 2011 and have finally borne fruit, holding out hope for the insurgency-ridden state to expedite development projects with financial aid from the Centre. Simultaneously, a resolution of the socio-cultural strife in Assam is on the horizon as the pact promises to address the issues of illegal immigration and land rights for indigenous communities.

However, the Centre will have to tread warily as it still needs to deal with the hardline group of ULFA, whose leader Baruah is hiding somewhere along the China-Myanmar border. A series of kidnappings, extortion cases, killings and bomb blasts led to ULFA being outlawed in 1990, even as the draconian AFSPA was invoked, giving sweeping powers to the armed forces to crack down on violators of the law in Assam. Though the Act has been revoked in some parts of the state in the past two years, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma must work towards withdrawing it from the remaining areas too. Lasting peace and the end of a long chapter of insurgency are possible by ensuring that every citizen is part of the mainstream.