Just what146;s going on?

Electoral compulsions seem to have encouraged the Centre to hasten its pace in seeking peace with the United Liberation Front of Assam ULFA...

Electoral compulsions seem to have encouraged the Centre to hasten its pace in seeking peace with the United Liberation Front of Assam ULFA. Assam goes to the polls next year and the Congress party seems to have arrived at the view that its peace initiative with the ULFA militants is a politically clever intervention. While this may or may not be the case, we need to remind the Congress governments at the Centre and state that what may be in the party8217;s interests does not necessarily serve the country8217;s interests. It is alarming, to say the least, when expressions like 8220;core issue8221; and 8220;state sovereignty8221; are suddenly bandied around. The words bring with them a disturbing whiff of Musharraf-speak into the ULFA 8220;dialogue8221;. We cannot afford to have Assam turn into another Kashmir.

We need to understand exactly what the ULFA is all about. Ever since it was constituted in 1979, it has became synonymous with the insurgency in Assam. Styling itself as the sole protector of the state8217;s interests, its activities soon deteriorated into a dirty little war against the Indian state, kept alive by terrorist strikes and gun- and drug-running. The Centre must seriously worry over whether the outfit is agreeing to a peace dialogue only as a diversionary ploy in order to regroup. Such tactics are not unknown when it comes to the ULFA. This is the group that thought nothing of targeting school children during the Independence Day flag-hoisting at Dhemaji last year. It was public revulsion over these incidents that supposedly provoked the Jatiya Mahasabha resolution favouring peace talks with the Centre. However, this attempt at reconciliation did not dissuade the ULFA from planning a series of 8216;revenge8217; strikes in mid-December to mark the first anniversary of the attacks on its camps in Bhutan.

The Centre appears over-eager to engage at a time when the ULFA is itself not in the greatest of shape. Its commander-in-chief, Paresh Baruah, is reported to be in indifferent health and the outfit no longer commands the popular support it once did in Assam. Meanwhile, there has been a useful ceasefire agreement struck with the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. The gravitational pull of a settled and peaceful existence has already made itself felt. It is the ULFA that stands isolated in this scenario and the UPA government must not make the mistake of nursing it back to health through its misguided and motivated generosity.