After two failed attempts since 1992, the Centre and the Assam Government signed the long elusive peace accord on Friday, here, with a major faction of one of the biggest separatist groups in the region, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). This pro-talks faction of the ULFA has agreed to renounce violence and join the mainstream. The tripartite Memorandum of Settlement was inked in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The agreement comes after 12 years of unconditional negotiations between the ULFA faction led by Arabinda Rajkhowa and the government, according to officials.
Shah told reporters that the Centre will ensure all the reasonable demands by ULFA are met in a time-bound manner, and ULFA as an organisation will be disbanded. “We want to assure the ULFA leadership that their trust in the Centre to ensure the success of the peace process will be honored,” Shah said, and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing peace and stability to the northeast.
Shah said the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from many areas of Assam and other Northeast States is proof that insurgency is nearly extinct in the region. Sarma, who sat beside Shah, said the peace deal with ULFA will solve the problem of insurgency in the region to a large extent.
The Modi Government has signed many peace deals with insurgent groups in the Northeast after they agreed to lay down arms. In November, Manipur’s oldest valley-based armed group, UNLF, also signed a tripartite peace agreement with the Centre and the state government.”
The peace pact is expected to put an end to decades-old insurgency in Assam. However, the hardline faction of the ULFA, headed by Paresh Baruah, is not part of the agreement. Baruah is believed to be residing in a location along the China-Myanmar border. The ULFA was formed in 1979 with the demand for a sovereign Assam.
Since then, it has been involved in subversive activities that led to the central government declaring it a banned outfit in 1990. The Rajkhowa faction joined peace talks with the government on September 3, 2011, after an agreement for the Suspension of Operations (SoO) was signed between it and the central and state governments. The accord addresses a host of long-standing political, economic, and social issues concerning Assam, besides providing cultural safeguards and land rights to the indigenous people, according to officials.
Two top leaders of the Rajkhowa group, Anup Chetia and Sashdhar Choudhary, have been in the national capital since last week, giving the final touches to the peace agreement alongside government interlocutors, sources said. Here is a chronology of events associated with ULFA since its inception: April 7, 1979: The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed at Rang Ghar, an Ahom era amphitheatre, in Assam’s Sivasagar.
June 1979: Members meet at Moran to discuss the outfit’s name, symbol, flag, and constitution.
1980: The group starts flexing its muscles by targeting Congress politicians, business houses from outside the state, tea gardens, and public sector companies, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
1985-1990: Assam slips into turmoil during the first term of the Asom Gana Parishad government led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, with the ULFA unleashing a spate of kidnappings, extortions, and killings, including Russian engineer Sergei.
November 1990: Unilever’s seven tea executives airlifted from Doomdooma with the help of the Union Home Ministry and without the knowledge of the Assam government.
November 28, 1990: Operation Bajrang is launched by the Army against the ULFA. The operations are led by GOC 4 Corps Commander Lt Gen Ajay Singh, who later becomes Assam’s Governor.
November 29, 1990: President’s Rule is imposed with the dismissal of the Mahanta-led AGP government.
November 1990: Assam is declared a Disturbed Area, and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is invoked. ULFA is declared a separatist and unlawful organisation.
January 31, 1991: Operation Bajrang is called off.
January 1991: Then-Prime Minister Chandrasekhar informs the Rajya Sabha that the Central Government would take necessary steps if ULFA expressed willingness for political talks. ULFA responded that no talks were possible as long as the army operation and President’s Rule continued, and that there would be no compromise on their demand for Assam’s ‘sovereignty.’
June 1991: The Congress government led by Hiteswar Saikia assumes office.
September 1991: Operation Rhino is launched against ULFA.
March 1992: ULFA splits into two factions, with a section coming overground and surrendering, organiSing themselves as Surrendered ULFA (SULFA).
1996: AGP returns to power, and Prafulla Kumar Mahanta becomes chief minister for the second time.
January 1997: A Unified Command, comprising the army, state police, and paramilitary forces and headed by the chief secretary, is constituted for coordinated strategy and operations against ULFA.
1997-2000: A series of killings of family members of ULFA militants, allegedly by SULFA, which was termed as ‘Secret Killings.’
2001: The Congress government, with Tarun Gogoi as the chief minister, assumes office.
December 2003: ‘Operation All Clear’ is launched by the Royal Bhutan Army to close down ULFA and other NE militants’ camps in the neighboring country.
2004: ULFA agrees to hold talks with the government.
September 2005: ULFA constitutes an 11-member People’s Consultative Group (PCG). Three rounds of talks, led by the eminent Jnanpith award-winning author Indira (Mamoni) Raisom Goswami, were held with the Centre but failed to make any headway.
June 2008: Leaders of ULFA’s 28th Battalion declare a unilateral ceasefire.
December 2009: ULFA top leaders, including chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, are arrested in Bangladesh, deported to India, and jailed in Guwahati.
December 2010: Jailed ULFA leader forms ‘Citizen Forum’, comprising intellectuals, writers, journalists, and professionals to urge the government for talks.
2011: Rajkhowa and other jailed leaders are released. ULFA splits into two factions: ULFA (Pro-talks) led by Rajkhowa, and ULFA (Independent), headed by Paresh Barua.
2012: ULFA submits a 12-point charter of demands to the government.
2015: ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia is released from a Bangladesh jail after serving a term of 18 years since 1997.
May 2021: BJP’s Himanta Biswa Sarma becomes chief minister and extends an olive branch to Paresh Barua-led ULFA(I).
April 2023: The Centre sends a draft of the proposed agreement to the ULFA (pro-talks) faction.
October 2023: Anup Chetia informs that suggestions regarding the draft proposals are sent to the Centre.
December 29, 2023: The tripartite signing of the Memorandum of Settlement between the Centre, state government, and ULFA (pro-talks) faction.
