United Liberation Front of Asom facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids United Liberation Front of Assam
Participant in Insurgency in Northeast India

Active	7 April 1979 – 29 December 2023(44 years)[Ulfa-pro truce faction] 7 April 1979 – present (46 years) [Ulfa-I]
Ideology	Assamese nationalism Socialism
Motives	Establishment of an independent Assam
Allegiance	United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia
Groups	Political Wing Sanjukta Mukti Fouj (Armed Wing)
Leaders	Paresh Baruah, Arabinda Rajkhowa, Pradip Gogoi, Anup Chetia, Raju Baruah, Sashadhar Choudhury, Chitraban Hazarika, Mithinga Daimary, Bolin Das, Pranati Deka
Headquarters	Myanmar and China
Area of operations	Assam, India
Split to	United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) United Liberation Front of Asom (Pro-truce faction)
Opponents	Government of India, Government of Assam
Battles and wars	Insurgency in Northeast India
Designated as a terrorist organisation by
India

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed militant organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people through an armed struggle in the Assam conflict. The Government of India banned the organisation in 1990 citing it as a terrorist organisation, while the United States Department of State lists it under "other groups of concern".

According to ULFA (Assamese militant) sources, it was founded on 7 April 1979 at Rang Ghar and began operations in 1990. Sunil Nath, former Central Publicity Secretary and spokesman of ULFA has stated that the organisation established ties with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland in 1983 and with the Burma based Kachin Independent Army in 1987. Military operations against the ULFA by the Indian Army began in 1990 and continue into the present. On 5 December 2009, the chairman and the deputy commander-in-chief of ULFA was taken into Indian custody. In 2011, there was a major crackdown on the ULFA in Bangladesh, which greatly assisted the government of India in bringing ULFA leaders to talks. In January 2010, ULFA softened its stance and dropped demands for independence as a condition for talks with the Government of India.

On 3 September 2011, a tripartite agreement for "Suspension of Operations" agreement was signed by the Indian government, the Assam government and the ULFA.

History
Activities
Peace Negotiations and Surrenders
Links to China
See also

History

The ULFA was founded on 7 April 1979 in Sivasagar, Assam by a group of young men that included Paresh Baruah, Arabinda Rajkhowa, Anup Chetia, Bhupen Borgohain, Pradip Gogoi, Bhadreshwar Gohain and Budheswar Gogoi. The organisation's purpose was to engage in an armed struggle to form a separate independent state of Assam.

During its heyday in the late 80s and 90s, it enjoyed popularity among many of the indigenous Assamese people of the Brahmaputra valley. The majority of the supporters felt that a powerful organization was necessary to get the voice of a peripheral region heard in the corridors of power in Lutyen's Delhi. But gradually, the organisation's emphasis on extortion and smuggling of weapons in the name of furthering the 'revolution' led to mindless violence throughout the state. It witnessed a period marked by growing disillusionment and anger amid supporters. In their bloody conflict with the security forces, many innocent civilians were killed. It is estimated that more than 10 thousand local youths perished during that turbulent period. In the process, owing to the twin factors of increasing operations by the security forces and dwindling support among its core sympathisers, ULFA's importance in Assam has been declined drastically.

Recruiting for the front did not begin until 1983. Soon after it finished recruitment in 1984, it began to seek out training and arms procurement from other groups such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). In 1986 it launched a fundraising "campaign" across India by way of extortion. It then began to set up camps in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh but was soon declared a terrorist organization by the government on 7 November, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

In less than a decade of its formation, the ULFA emerged as one of the most powerful and violent insurgent outfit in Southeast Asia, largely because of the immense popularity it enjoyed during the first decade of its struggle as well as its economic power which in turn helped it in bolstering its military capabilities. In the early 1990s, ULFA launched an aggressive campaign with victims such as security forces, political opponents, and blasting rail links. In July 1991 the front captured and held 14 people for ransom, included in the abductees was an engineer and a national of the Soviet Union. From the 1990s on the ULFA have continued to carry out attacks.

Till the late 2000s, it maintained a number of camps in Bangladesh, where members are trained and sheltered away from Indian security forces. In April 2004, Bangladesh police and Coast Guard intercepted massive amounts of illegal arms and ammunition, at Chittagong, being loaded into 10 trucks and intended for ULFA. A total of 50 were charged with arms smuggling and arms offenses, including former high-level Bangladesh political appointees including Bangladesh National Party ministers and National Security Intelligence military officers, as well as prominent businessmen, and Paresh Baruah, military wing chief of ULFA who was then living in Dhaka. He fled the country. Trials were still underway in Chittagong in 2012 under tight security.

They had also maintained camps in Bhutan, which were destroyed by the Royal Bhutan Army aided by the Special Frontier Force in December 2003. These camps housed combatants and non-combatant families of ULFA members.

ULFA maintained close relationships with other separatist organisations like NDFB, KLO and NSCN (Khaplang).

In 2008, News Services reported citing Indian police and intelligence officials reported ULFA's commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah had taken refuge in Yunnan Province of China, along China-Myanmar border, due to continuous defeat of his Organization. The report also stated that a small batch of militants had also taken refuge along with him. Paresh Baruah had previously visited China in the 1980s. In December 2003, China spurned ULFA's chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa appeal to provide safe passage to the rebels from Bhutan.

Activities

Economic subversion

The ULFA has claimed responsibility for bombings of economic targets like crude oil pipelines, freight trains and government buildings, including 7 August 2005 attack on oil pipelines in Assam. ULFA carried out a bombing and destruction of a five million-liter petrol reservoir at Digboi refinery in Tinsukia, with an estimated property loss of Rs 200million. On the same day they also damaged a gas pipeline in the oil district of Tinsukia.

Political activities

After 1985 and before it was banned in 1990, ULFA was credited in the media with many public activities. It has continued a public discourse of sorts through the local media (newspapers), occasionally publishing its position on political issues centred around the nationality question. It has participated in public debates with public figures from Assam. During the last two local elections, the ULFA had called for boycotts. Media reports suggest that it used its forces to intimidate activists and supporters of the then-ruling parties (Congress and AGP respectively).

Extortion

The ULFA is credited with some bank robberies during its initial stages. Now it is widely reported to extort businessmen, bureaucrats and politicians for collecting funds. In 1997, the Chief Minister of Assam accused Tata Tea of paying the medical bills of the ULFA cultural secretary Pranati Deka at a Mumbai hospital.

Peace Negotiations and Surrenders

The Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram meeting with the ULFA Leaders, in New Delhi.

Beginning in 1990, the Government of India has attempted to wean away members of the ULFA. This occurred due to the death of the ULFA's deputy Commander in chief Heerak Jyoti Mahanta on 31 December 1991. He had opposed surrenders, but they began after his death. The group has been meeting more local opposition as residents are tired of the violence and disruption, and some energy has gone out of the movement.

In 1992 a large section of second-rung leaders and members surrendered to government authorities. These former members were allowed to retain their weapons to defend against their former colleagues; they were offered bank loans without any liabilities to help them re-integrate into society. This loose group, now called SULFA, has become an important element in the armed politics and business of Assam.

The total number of ULFA militants to have laid down arms has gone up to 8,718. 4,993 cadres surrendered between 1991 and 1998. 3,435 surrendered between 1998 and 2005, when a new policy to deal with the ULFA was unveiled. On 24 January 2012, one of northeast India's biggest surrender ceremonies took place in Assam's main city of Guwahati, when a total of 676 militants laid down their weapons. In 2020, 1,675 militants of ULFA(I) and allied militant groups surrendered.

In 2003, ULFA had put forward a set of three preconditions for talks and negotiations with the Indian government. Thought government had rejected these preconditions. The preconditions were:

The talks should be held in a third country.
The talks should be held under United Nations supervision.
The agenda of the talks should include the independence of Assam.

Despite dropping the first two key preconditions in 2004 and expressing readiness for talks, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) faced an Indian government unwilling to negotiate on sovereignty. However, progress emerged when ULFA formed the "People's Consultative Group" (PCG) in September 2005, aiming to pave the way for negotiations. The government welcomed this initiative. Following sustained army operations in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, ULFA suffered significant losses in leadership, personnel, and infrastructure, prompting their return to the negotiating table in 2005. According to The Times of India, initial talks occurred at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in December 2005. Three rounds of peace talks with the 11-member PCG, led by Assamese writer Indira Goswami, resulted in a temporary truce in August 2006. However, the truce collapsed by September 23rd due to ULFA's resumption of violent activities against civilians, primarily targeting tea estates and oil pipelines. They also violated the ceasefire by attacking army columns.

On 24 June 2008, some leaders and cadres of the A and C companies of ULFA declared unilateral ceasefire at a press meet held at Amarpur in Tinsukia district. They declared the ceasefire to pressure the top brass of ULFA to sit on negotiation table with the Government of India. But the top brass of ULFA expelled the leaders of 28 Battalion led by Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta (who had managed to escape from the cordon of Indian Army in Dibru Saikhowa National Park). The group later renamed as ULFA (Pro-talk).

Lt Bijoy Chinese alias Bijoy Das, Commander of 28th Battalion also surrendered to state authorities in 2013.

Between 2009 and 2018, entire leadership of ULFA was either Captured or surrendered to the government thus leading to disbanding of the all ULFA battalions, besides only part of 27th battalion renamed as Kapili Gut remained. Currently, there are no commanders other than Paresh Baruah. All the others have been downgraded to staff and workers. As per the leaders of the insurgent group, the crackdown against Indian insurgent groups by the Awami league government in Bangladesh pushed them towards joining peace talks with the Indian government in 2011.

In December 2023, a peace accord was signed by the Indian Central government, the Assam government and the pro-talks faction of ULFA, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa. This resulted in the disbandment of ULFA, the vacating of all designated camps, and the surrender of 8,200 cadres. The accord carried a Rs 1.5 lakh crore financial package, which includes setting up of an IIM and an IISER, new railway and national highways in the state. Paresh Barua, leader of the anti-talks faction of the ULFA, termed the tripartite peace agreement signed with the pro-talks faction of the outfit as 'shameful' and was unwilling to come to the negotiating table unless the issue of 'Assam's sovereignty' is discussed.

The ULFA(I) faction who is not part of the peace deal, which has around 200 members are still active in their camps in Myanmar

Links to China

The leftover faction of ULFA has allegedly been using China for shelter following expulsion from both Burma and Bangladesh.