“We had a dream, we envisioned an independent Assam, and aimed to take it forward,” said Bipul Kalita who served in the ULFA’s military wing, Sanjukta Mukti Bahini, for 14 years, before giving up arms in 2000, after getting “disillusioned” with the very dream. Recalling his experience with the now-banned insurgent outfit, he said, “The Assam agitation of the 1980s created an atmosphere which inspired the youth to join militancy and many, including myself, got carried away.” Kalita joined the group in 1984 and “underwent his training in the Kachin region (Myanmar)”. He was one of the two surrendered militants – along with Binal Warry of National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) – who participated in a panel discussion on ‘Peace-building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War’ as part of the Y20 Inception Meet in Guwahati. The three-day meet, which concluded on Wednesday, was organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, as part of India’s G20 Presidency. “We tried to sell our dream to the people that Assam should not be a part of India. Later, we realised that the path we were on had no future,” said Kalita, sharing his experiences with the audience that comprised youth from the region, besides 21 foreign delegates. “We came back to the mainstream in 2000. We realised that 98 per cent of Assamese didn’t support our idea of independent Assam,” he added. Kalita said “the notion of independent Assam has no relevance now.” Warry, who laid down the arms in 2005, said, “We were lagging behind in everything.that was the main reason (for joining militancy).” He, however, accepted that their decision to join the insurgent movement was “wrong”. Other panelists comprised MoS Gen VK Singh (Retd); BJP MP Tejasvi Surya; Lt Gen Satish Dua (Retd); Assam DGP Gyanendra Pratap Singh; and ADGP (STF/SB), Assam, Hiren Chandra Nath. Gen V K Singh in his opening remarks said that the idea of war and peace affects the youth of any nation the most. He said, “In India, we talk to militants. We use force only as a last resort. This is how we are able to resolve various conflicts that happen again and again.” Dua emphasised on the role of armies in keeping peace and not waging wars. He said that India has consistently had the highest presence in UN peacekeeping forces. Assam DGP, GP Singh, while sharing his experience in fighting insurgency, said, “Understanding that insurgency at its root is a parallel aspiration of a section of people was a watershed moment in defining the strategies for dealing with the insurgency.” Nath highlighted various Central and state schemes, including financial assistance, to rehabilitate the surrendered militants. “The youth is attracted towards militancy due to a sense of deprivation, alienation and neglect,” he said. Kalita also spoke about his present life. Since 2016, he has been engaged with an NGO in alignment with the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, which works on the process of disposing garbage and waste from households and biomedical facilities. “It is giving me livelihood, and also the satisfaction of serving my community,” he said.
