ULFA (Pro Talks) Disbands, Forms New Socio-Cultural Platform in Assam

Following the historic December 29, 2023 agreement signed under the leadership of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the leadership of ULFA (Pro Talks) disbanded their erstwhile insurgent organisation and constituted a new socio-cultural platform, the Asom Jatiya Bikash Mancha, to serve the people of Assam through democratic means.

Informing about the development, the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to ‘X’ handle saying, “The ULFA (pro-talk) leadership met me to communicate this decision in person. As they turn over a new leaf, I can’t help but imagine the momentousness of this occasion. An entire generation in our State grew up thinking such a transition was impossible. Our immense gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision of a Viksit Bharat has inspired many groups to join the path of peace and progress.”

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during the meeting with the 13-member delegation of the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which has been disbanded also discussed about the rehabilitation of its ex-cadres on Thursday.

In the meeting, the chief minister discussed about the delegation's demands, which the members believe will help them pursue a dignified life.

Following the hearing of the demands, Chief Minister Sarma stated that a rehabilitation framework would be developed to address their demands as quickly as possible. According to a press release from the Assam Chief Minister's Public Relations Cell, the government will handle all concerns proactively to guarantee that ex-caderes and their families can live respectable lives.

Chief Minister Sarma also said that he will work with all earnest for the expeditious implementation of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) that was signed in a tripartite agreement between the Central government, Assam government, and the pro-talks faction of the ULFA on December 29, 2023, the release stated.

The delegation of the now disbanded pro-talks faction of the ULFA was led by its President Rajib Rajkowar and General Secretary (GS) Golap Barua. Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Home and Political, Avinash Puroshattam Das Joshi, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Hiren Nath, and other senior officers of the state Home Department were present at the meeting, the release added.

The ULFA was founded on April 7, 1979, at the historic Rang Ghar in Assam’s Sivasagar district with the aim of seeking to establish an independent sovereign nation-state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people through an armed struggle. The Union government banned the ULFA in 1990 citing it as a terrorist organisation.

In February 2011, the outfit split into two groups, one led by its Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who decided to shun violence and and sit for talks with the government, while the other group led by its Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah, was against any talks and rebranded itself as the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I).

Forty-four years after being formed, the ULFA, with around 700 members, disbanded itself on Tuesday, January 23 this year at the organisation’s final general meeting held at Sipajhar in the state’s Darrang district. The meeting was held 25 days after the organisation signed a tripartite MoS in New Delhi on December 29, 2023.

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