Police, army in Assam reach out to family members of Ulfa militants to resolve conflict

The joint initiative by the state police along with the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and the Indian Army aims at fostering peace and reconciliation in the entire region, he said.

Guwahati: With Ulfa-Independent (United Liberation Front of Asom) remaining the only insurgent group out of the peace process, security forces have started an initiative to reach out to family members of the insurgents to convince them to join the mainstream.

Under the initiative, family members of the Ulfa (I) cadres are invited to Army camps or police stations for "trust building" and help them bring their children to join the peace process and the mainstream.

The initiative has been named as Conflict to Collaboration: A Trust Building Initiative for a Peaceful Future. 

In a social media post, Assam Director General of Police, GP Singh said the initiative of inviting families of ULFA cadres for trust-building activities holds immense potential to promote peace and reconciliation in the region.

"The initiative aims to bridge the gap between the security forces and the families of ULFA cadres, creating a foundation of mutual respect and understanding," Singh said in his post.

It said another broad objective of the initiative is to encourage "rehabilitation and re-integration" of the Ulfa cadres into mainstream society. 

Sources said at least four districts, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sibasagar, which is still believed to be a stronghold of the Ulfa-I, the banned organisation leading an "armed movement" in Assam since 1979.

A group of Ulfa led by former chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and General Secretary Anup Chetia has been engaged in talks since 2011 and is likely to sign an accord with the government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was extended in the four districts recently as the Ulfa-I is still active there.

 More than 8,000 cadres belonging to several insurgent groups in Assam had laid down their weapons and signed peace accord with the government in the last two years. But Ulfa-I have rejected the government's repeated calls for talks by insisting on its core demand for a discussion on the subject of "sovereignty of Assam."

The government too has rejected such demands by the outfit. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that Ulfa-I has remained the only stumbling block in the path to complete peace in the state, which has witnessed insurgency for more than four decades.