THE HOMEGROWN TERROR

Origins

ULFA was launched in April 1979 as a mainly political outfit at the height of anti-foreigner agitation in Assam. Its stated aim was to establish a separate Assamese nation after liberating it from the 8216;colonial8217; clutches of India. For the first few years after its formation, the organisation remained dormant and concentrated at recruiting its cadres. Its activities were first noticed around the mid-80s when it started raising funds, mainly through extortion and threats. Rich businessmen and tea estate owners were its targets.

Simultaneously, it established close links with the All Assam Students Union AASU, which had been spearheading the anti-foreigner agitation in the state. Not surprisingly, therefore, it came to hold a strong influence on the Asom Gana Parishad government, led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, a former president of AASU, that came into being in 1985 following the historic Assam Accord between the Centre and AASU.

Militant streak

Though ULFA has always described itself as a revolutionary political organisation, its first major headline-grabbing act came in May 1990 during the last year of the tenure of the AGP government. ULFA cadres killed Surendra Paul, one of the leading tea planters in the state and brother of famous UK-based businessman Lord Swaraj Paul. The incident created panic among the trading and business community in Assam and many of them were reported to have wound up their operations and left the state.

As it continued with extortion activities with tacit support from the state government, the Centre had to act tough by sacking the Prafulla Mahanta government and declaring Assam as a 8216;disturbed area8217;. ULFA was labelled as a terrorist organisation and banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967. Simultaneously, the Army launched Operation Bajrang, a military offensive against ULFA operatives that is technically still in force.

But instead of bringing an end to the terrorist attacks, the military operation against ULFA only helped in intensifying their activities against security forces as well as general public.

Between 1991 and 2000, ULFA, which had gone underground, carried out a spate of high-profile killings, including that of prominent social activist Sanjoy Ghosh and the state PWD minister, Nagen Sharma.

Strength 038; areas of Influence

Security forces and government agencies have estimated the strength of ULFA cadres to lie between 3,000 and 6,000. But independent analysts put the number far greater than that. Its main areas of influence are the districts lying in Upper Assam like Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Golaghat, Lakhimpur and Sonitpur. Many of ULFA leaders come from these areas, which also serve as the most important recruitment ground for the organisation.

Domestic 038; foreign linkages

Nagaland to Bangladesh to Pakistan to Bangkok 8212; right from its inception, ULFA has remained in close touch with a number of like-minded militant organisations both within India and in neighbouring countries like Myanmar. Prominent among these were the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland and Kachin Independence Army of Myanmar, both of which helped the

organisation to procure arms and arrange for training of cadres during its formative years. After ULFA cadres were forced on the run following Operation Bajrang, they started building camps and shelters in the forests near the Indo-Bhutan border. Around this time, the group is also reported to have established contacts with militant and jehadi organisations in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Hundreds of ULFA cadres are reported to have received training in specially created camps in Pakistan. ULFA camps in Bangladesh are very well documented. The country is known to be a safe haven for top ULFA leaders, including Paresh Baruah who is reported to be staying in Bangladesh for a number of years now.

Bangladesh has been the home for another top ULFA leader Anup Chetia since 1997, though in the prison after being held on a number of charges, including illegal entry into the country and for possessing fake passports.

Under pressure from New Delhi, the Bhutanese government carried out a major military offensive against ULFA cadres taking shelter on its soil, forcing them to look for alternative hideouts. Baruah is reported to have travelled to Bangkok quite a few times.

Myanmar is reported to be a new possible hideout with a number of camps said to be operating from there.

Funding

The funding for ULFA comes from two major sources 8212; extortion and drug-trafficking. Some ULFA leaders have been apprehended while carrying heroin grown in Myanmar. The organisation is also reported to own a number of business establishments in Bangladesh, including a few hotels.

Major attacks

Though it has carried out innumerable terrorist attacks on the security forces and general public, resulting in hundreds of casualties, the most infamous ones are listed here:

8226; The killing of Surendra Paul, brother of Swaraj Paul, in May 1990

8226; Murder of Tinsukia SP Ravi Kant Singh in May 1996

8226; Murder of prominent social worker Sanjoy Ghosh in July 1997

8226; Bomb blast at Guwahati railway station in August 1998, the first instance when it attacked a public place.

8226; Assassination of Assam PWD minister Nagen Sharma in 2000

8226; Number of attacks on migrant labourers from Bihar in 2006-07

Could ULFA be involved in the latest attacks

ULFA is one of the prime suspects for the Thursday8217;s serial bomb attacks in Guwahati and three other towns in which more than 60 people were killed even though it has denied any role. It is being said that ULFA might have carried out the attacks in association with HuJI, a Bangladesh-based jehadi organisation with which it is known to have extensive links. The Bangladeshi organisation is reported to provide logistical support and training for ULFA cadres. The latest evidence of a close liaison between the two groups came in the first week of October when about 10 members of HuJI were spotted in the Silchar district along with a few ULFA members. A couple of days later, there were reports of 25 HuJI activists mingling with ULFA counterparts in Kurigram in Bangladesh.

Experts say ULFA is caught in a catch-22 situation. While it desperately needs support from Bangladesh-based Islamic fundamental organisations, and also possibly from those in Pakistan, for procuring arms and ammunition and finding shelter in foreign territories, its entire politics in Assam is based on driving out outsiders, mainly Muslims from Bangladesh. Investigators say ULFA has been forced to lie low for quite some time now by the security agencies and this might be its way of asserting its authority. Because of the dilemma it is facing on the question of securing support from jehadi organisations, it might not be interested in owning up responsibility for the attack.