Two decades of terror

At that time Shekatkar was a Major. Today, after a gap of 21 years, he is aLt General. And the GOC of the Four Corps, based at Tezpur. And, also theoperational head of the Unified Command, constituted to carry outcounter-insurgency operations in the state. And the ULFA too is exactly 21.As they say in a game of tombola or housie, “Coming of age: 21.”The ULFA has come a long way since that meeting held in the precincts of theRang-ghar. Even the founder chairman, Buddheswar Gogoi is no longeralive.

He died of protracted illness a couple of years ago.The outfit, which is not an offshoot of the All-Assam Students’ Union’s(AASU) mass movement over influx of Bangladeshis, has come through a seriesof ups and downs. And, though chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa andcommander-in-chief Paresh Barua would not agree, the outfit is currentlysuffering a downward slide. The surrender of 500-odd members, though mostlyfrom the lower ranks last fortnight, and that too in the very Rang-gharpremises where the rebel group was born, is only yet another proof ofthis.

There was no doubt tremendous support to the ULFA in rural Assam in theearly years. “This was because they tried to project a Robinhood image ofthemselves by taking up social issues like steps against bootlegging, andeven settling petty disputes in the villages,” said Assam Chief MinisterPrafulla Kumar Mahanta.

Punishing drunkards, bootleggers, eve-teasers and other petty offenders bymaking them kneel down by the roadside used to be common sight in the lateeighties. And then began the killings, one by one, here and there. Officialrecords say it was on Bishnu Barik of Chabua in Dibrugarh, the easternmostdistrict of the state, who became ULFA’s first victim. That was in 1984.

Chabua incidentally is one area from where come several top ULFA leaders,including commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and general secretary Anup Chetia.The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), then ruling the state, did turn a blind eye.After all, they were from the same generation of young men who weredisgusted with the system, and were crying hoarse of Centre’s neglect of theregion. Until things began to rapidly go out of control.

Several important people, especially in the tea and oil industry were shotdown. They included Swarj Paul’s younger brother Surendra Paul (whoseApeejay Group has major stakes in the tea industry), Oil India PR ManagerPVK Ramamurthi, Hindustan Fertilizer Corpn Manager Dilip Chaliha, IPSofficer Daulat Singh Negi and others.

While the ULFA identified the tea industry as its most favourite target forextortion, smaller companies began paying up, until the Unilever Group,having major stakes in Doom Dooma India, (now part of BrookeBond-Lipton),refused to pay, and instead evacuate its executives, apparently keeping thestate government in the dark. That was in November 1990, and within weeks,the then Mahanta government was dismissed, the state placed underPresident’s Rule, and the ULFA declared banned.

The majority of top leaders fled to their bases in Bangladesh, while thelower-level cadres bore the brunt of the Army operation, code-namedOperation Bajrang. The election that followed brought back the Congress,with the ULFA keeping away from disturbing the process. But it soon hitback, abducting as many as 15 officers of the ONGC, Telecom and the stategovernment. This led to the then chief minister Hiteswar Saikia swap theabducted officers with several hundred ULFA boys lodged in the jails,simultaneously also managing to split the outfit. “That exactly was themost important mistake,” said present chief minister Mahanta later, adding“Instead of splitting the group, Saikia should have sought some solution.”But, once back in power in 1996, Mahanta too has failed to find asolution.

Instead the Unified Command was formed, involving the Army, Assam Police andthe para-military forces, while the government continued to issue appeals tothe ULFA to come for talks.

The ULFA on its part has been sticking to its three conditions: (a) holdtalks in a foreign country, (b) put the issue of sovereignty on the top ofthe agenda, and (c) involve the UN. The ULFA had a point; the talks leadingto solving the Mizo problem was initiated in London.

Meanwhile, more and more boys have begun quitting the group, though itremains a fact that the ULFA too continues to recuit fresh blood. Right now,about 1,000 boys are holed up in their new haven, Bhutan. And, while generalsecretary Anup Chetia and vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi are lodged in prisonsin Dhaka and Guwahati respectively, the government claims that the ULFA isfrustrated and has resorted to desperate acts like targeting VVIPs. It wasonly in February that Assam PWD minister Nagen Sharma was killed in anambush.

“Though the militants are on the run, the operations have beensubstantially affected as they are still getting shelter and support fromneighbouring countries of Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh,” said Assamgovernor S.K. Sinha, urging New Delhi to ensure that foreign support to therebels was neutralised.

Mahanta on his part has also begun complaining that a section of the mediatoo was responsible for ULFA’s continued activities. He even told the StateAssembly last week that the government was examining whether legal actioncould be taken against such newspapers.

The support of the masses has on the other hand eroded significantly. Therewas indeed a time when one major section of the local media glorified therebels. But today there are more anti-ULFA reports than ten years ago.

There have been reports of resentment among the cadres in the Bhutan campstoo, and it was the other day that self-styled Lieutenant Amrit Phukandescribed armed wing chief Paresh Barua as a dictator and the ULFA hispersonal enterprise. “The top leaders are leading luxurious lives abroad,while the lower cadres are getting killed like stray dogs,” Phukan, who wasleading 500-odd rebels to surrender, added.

The Kargil war too caused much damage to the outfit. While its leaders urgedthe people of Assam to support the Mujahideens, the masses retorted back byexhibiting overwhelming support to the Indian Army. The martyrdom of severalAssamese boys caused further landslide in the ULFA support base.

But a solution continues to elude the authorities. No effort has so far beenmade to initiate any discussions even at the informal level as has been donein the case of the NSCN(IM). This however has not discouraged thegovernment. “The NSCN(IM), the most dreaded rebel group of the region, andconsidered the mother of insurgencies in the Northeast, has begun talking.The NSCN(K) too has expressed willingness to talk. The Bodo LiberationTigers too has agreed to a ceasefire. I think it is only a matter of timethat the ULFA will also fall in line. After all they are all our boys. Howlong will they stay away from home?” said Chief Minister Mahanta.