The sub conventional warfare that came to characterize the
Assam insurgency from its genesis in 1979 is nothing but modern warfare.
Insurgency is a form of warfare that relies on stealth and deception practiced
by the sub conventional fighters. We know them by the more generic term
“guerrillas”.
The guerrilla are tricky opponents and when the insurgents
came under the banner of ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) another non
state actor was born in the South East Asian region.
Students of Assam were agitating for deportment of foreign
nationals from Assam’s soil from 1979. AASU (All Assam Students Union) which
spearheaded the agitation believed that all the ills which came to symbolize
Assam is the result of illegal migration, from Bangladesh.
For Ulfa, the situation is thus ripe to start an armed
struggle in this backdrop. They could start anywhere in the conflict spectrum
as culture and identity, two crucial factors are involved to complete the
cyclic process of assertion and exposition in the identity-culture vector. The
armed movement and the AASU agitation’s “pivot” was ‘foreigners’.
In 1972, there was a significant influx of refugees from
Bangladesh into Assam and other parts of India. There was also a language
movement in Assam during the 1960s followed by, the refinery movement of 1967
and restoration of medium of instruction in 1972. The students were
agitated as unemployment in soaring. Another movement that is foreigners
Agitation of 1979 quickly spread out across the Brahmaputra valley among the
Assamese speaking majority. The influx of Bengali speaking Muslim population
was the context of the agitation.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh,
was assassinated on August 15, 1975, along with many members of his family,
including his wife and children. The assassination occurred during a coup
d’état led by elements within the Bangladesh Army. Whatever pro-India sentient
were there in Bangladesh were brushed aside after the new powers in Bangladesh
took power after Mujibur’s death. The foreigners’ movement in Assam got more
virulent against Bangladeshi nationals entering Assam.
ULFA links with NSCN:
The seeds of ULFA were sown in the 1970s amidst growing
discontent among the Assamese people, primarily due to perceived exploitation
and neglect by the central government. Assam, rich in natural resources like
oil and tea, felt marginalized as its resources were exploited for the benefit
of other regions, while the local populace often faced socio-economic deprivation.
North East India in 1962 comprised of the state of Assam, Manipur, Tripura,
while NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) was centrally administered. In 1963 the
state of Nagaland was carved out of Assam and in 1971 Meghalaya state was
created by truncating Assam. In 1987 Mizoram state was similarly created out of
Assam. All these state building along ethnic lines gave rise to
ethno-nationalist tendencies in North East India.
In 1980 National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was
formed when the Th Muivah repudiated the 1975 Shillong Accord. He along with
Khaplang, a Heimi Naga of Sagaing state of Myanmar formed the core of NSCN. The
group set up bases in Sagaing province, not far from Indo-Myanmar
international border across Mon district of Nagaland.
ULFA forged links with NSCN, and in the dying days of 1983
cadres of ULFA slipped across the Sonari town of Sibsagar in upper Assam, to
Mon district and cross the International Border at Loagwa in Nagaland. The NSCN
link helped the outfit to get arms training as well as source weapons. A year
later it started training ULFA. A Heimi Naga from Sagaing, SS Khaplang had good
relations with ULFA and through Khaplang of NSCN, the ULFA leaders established
the tried and tested KIA (Kachin Independence Army) and began sending cadres,
once it ended recruitment in 1984.
North East India based revolutionary groups fighting for
independence of the region have been extended support by SS Khaplang of NSCN in
their camps in Burma. Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Khaplang
said, “1The North East is now a part of India, and we have similarities and a
relationship since historical times. We can be independent only if we stick and
fight together. After independence, we will declare ourselves as one country.”
(Rajeev Bhattacharya, Eastern Nagaland Sister’s Post-dated- 06/02/2012)
In 1988 NSCN split into NSCN-IM and NSCN-K, but both the
groups supported ULFA.
During his unlawful travel from China to Arunachal Pradesh
via Kachin state of Myanmar, Vijaynagar (Changlang district of Arunachal
Pradesh) etc. Shelby Tucker2 (Among Insurgents, Walking Through Burma),
the author has reported the presence of senior Ulfa leaders and a strong body
of cadres camping in KIO headquarters located in Paju Bam during the year 1989.
Top leader referred to as Castro gave a long interview to Mr Tucker (an
American). The Ulfa cadre came to Kachinland to procure military aid and training.
This bonhomie among PLA3, Ulfa, Prepak4 with NSCN-K in the pivot also
threw possibilities of Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front in 1990.
Guerrila Country:
There are as many as nineteen Reserve Forests in Tinsukia. Out
of which Lakhipathar Reserve Forest, Nalani RF and Buri Dihing RF are the most
important extending towards its east into Myanmar.
Situated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river, which
is joined by Buri Dihing river rising in the Patkai and moving in a south
eastern direction,on whose banks are lush green evergreen tropical rain forest
of Jaipur lies, called locally as Saraipung (“Birds nest”). As one traverses
north of Saraipung it connects with Lakhipathar and both these forests are
dense and afforded good depth for men and animals. Together Lakhipathar and
saraipung are part of Buri Dihing Reserve Forest. The Muttuck country of Upper
Assam comprised a geographical area of 7171 sq km.
The town of Tinsukia, which became a district in early
1990s, from its parent district of Dibrugarh, was known as Bengmara, which was
the seat of Muttuck power. The kingdom was founded by king Sarbananda Singh in
1791, witnessed epochal changes in the Moanaria rebellion that becane the
achilles heel of the Ahom kings. Ahom monarch Lakshmi Nath Singh faced the
first rebellion in 1769.
The early days of the ULFA were marked by a confluence of
historical grievances, ethnic tensions, and aspirations for autonomy. Formed on
April 7, 1979, ULFA emerged as a radical response to the perceived exploitation
and neglect faced by the Assamese people within the Indian Union. To understand
ULFA’s origins, we must delve into the socio-political context of Assam and the
broader region of North East India.
Assam, a state rich in natural resources like oil, tea, and
timber, has a complex demographic landscape characterized by diverse ethnic
groups and linguistic communities. However, the region’s history has been
marred by colonial exploitation, partition, and migration, leading to simmering
tensions and identity-based conflicts Led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, Paresh
Baruah, and Anup Chetia, ULFA articulated a vision of a sovereign, socialist
Assam free from perceived exploitation by the Indian state.
ULFA’s early ideology was influenced by leftist and
revolutionary principles, drawing inspiration from global liberation movements.
The organization condemned the Indian government’s policies as oppressive and
discriminatory, particularly towards the indigenous Assamese people.
In its formative years, ULFA focused on mobilizing support
among the Assamese youth, intellectuals, and disgruntled elements who felt
marginalized by the central government’s policies. The group’s radical stance
and calls for armed resistance resonated with those disillusioned with the
ineffectiveness of peaceful protests and negotiations.
In an inquiry conducted by NF Railway HQ Maligaon Assam revealed that a youth who had
been registered as an employee of Tinsukia Division, had never reported for
work in the last three decades nor had he drawn any salary. The year was 2009
when the inquiry was done, and the youth who often doubles up as a good soccer
player, from Jerai village of the town, next to the 2nd Mt Division of
Indian Army, is heading the dreaded organization, that goes by the acronym ULFA
(United Liberation Front of Assam).
The group began its journeyon the road to anarchy from a
bank dacoity on 10th May 1985, which is the group’s second heist. The broad
daylight bank robbery by a armed gang in UBI branch located at Silpukhuri, the
nerve centre of the state capital Guwahati, created a sensation among the
public. The manager of the bank who was killed in the shoot-out was the
brother-in-law of the AGP Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta. The Police outpost
at Lankashi in Dibrugarh district a stone throw distance away from Ulfa GHQ at
Lakhipathar could even see Paresh Barua Ulfa Commander in Chief moving with
cadres in front of the outpost. Lankashi Out Post is a non-sensitive
outpost with two Oil Collecting Stations (OCS) of Oil India Limited, Duliajan
at a distance of twenty kilometers from the Duliajan Police Station. The beat
constables wondered what is the going on as the cadres skirt the nearby Moran
village, Dimoruhulla and disappears in the jungles of Lakhipathar.
It is in between the two forest ranges of Upper Dihing Reserve
(West Division) at Lakhipathar and Saraipung Ulfa Commander in Chief Paresh
Barua and Chairman Arbinda Rajkhowa were to work in their home turf to turn a
rag tag outfit by putting in a bit of everything. The “political’ pedagogy the
Marxism oppressor and the oppressed stereo-type, the bourgeoisie and
proletariat with their own spin. Little did the teachers at GHQ realized that
Assam is an egalitarian society and the village Zamindar is a respectable
person with little vices. With their self-serving and hollow ideas the trainers
went about the junkyard of Marxism.
The ideological support base of Ulfa came from the middle
class youths, who were influenced by the Nazalite movement of North Bengal led
by Kanu Sanyal in 1967.To them Ulfa was champion of class struggle to end the
oppression of the downtrodden. Among these youths Ulfa had an enduring appeal. With
no large land holdings by Zamindars or propertied class, the village structure
presents a different picture, unlike what these youths expect in leftist literature.
The recruitment process in ULFA has traditionally relied on
a combination of ideological persuasion, coercion, and socioeconomic factors.
At its inception, ULFA attracted members primarily from the disillusioned youth
of Assam who felt marginalized and ignored by the system. The organization’s
ideology of Assamese nationalism, coupled with its promise of a separate
homeland, resonated with many who felt alienated from the mainstream political
system.
In the early years, ULFA capitalized on grievances related
to issues such as immigration, economic exploitation, and cultural
marginalization to recruit supporters and cadres. The organization portrayed
itself as a champion of Assamese identity and a defender of the rights of
indigenous communities against perceived threats from outsiders. This narrative
appealed to a segment of the population that felt disenfranchised and
marginalized within the Indian political framework.
Furthermore, ULFA’s recruitment efforts were not limited to
Assam alone but extended to other regions with similar grievances and
aspirations for self-determination. The organization sought to forge alliances
with other separatist groups in the Northeast, such as the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), to
strengthen its position and expand its influence.
The first to join the Ulfa were the school drop outs as with
these elements Ulfa organizers could trace out the village vagabonds, law
breakers or convicts on the run who are the prospective recruits. They are
without jobs and any future. They joined the outfit for finding a voice in the
community and to wear a badge of honour to serve the cause. They thought that
joining Ulfa would be the best thing that could happen to them
The second category who joined were the educated jobless,
who serendipitously believed in judgement day. This gave them a chance to make
their life. They further became trapped in the ‘Robinhood’ image of Ulfa. The
fertile nature of Assam’s soil brings to mind an old Hero Honda bike punch
lined in an advertisement. “Fill it, Shut it, Forget it”. The fertile soil
helps to spring out whatever is thrown in the April alluvium. And till November
end to December the golden hues of ripe paddy gets due mention in Bihu songs
and by 13-14th January it ushers in the Bhogali Bihu “Feasting Night” and
merrymaking.
The third category were the middle class youths who are
forever in “upward mobility’ mode with its strange cocktail
of Marxism and guerrilla warfare tucked in jungles appealed to them.
He is torn between Che Guevara and a monotony of small town life and quickly
packs his bags slips into the darkness and excitement of a better tomorrow. These
three categories of cadres headed to Ulfa CHQ and GHQ at Saraipung (Birds nest)
and Lakhipathar (Golden fields) of Dibrugarh-Tinsukia district of Upper Assam.
Except the top brass in SB(Special Branch) who knew the existence of camps in
1985, a veil hides the uneasy calm.
In the post 1986 recruitment jamboree of Ulfa is joined by
the inane intellectuals who predicted like a doomsday prophet that the old
order of Assam has changed yielding place for the new. Suddenly Assam is full
of youth power and sitting on a powder keg that is about to explode in an
insurgency that will cast a pall of gloom with its long shadows still getting
longer. They wrote pro-Ulfa pieces in vernacular press and stayed away from
prying eyes under the smoke screen.
There is no dearth of boys joining the Ulfa, middle class,
urban, suave to whom Ulfa seemed to be the panacea of their disillusionment
with society. Most importantly lure of the lucre was compelling enough and easy
money is to become their way of life. And with the five categories is finally
joined by the chauvinist who made their own kangaroo courts, gave capital
punishments.
The insurgent group Ulfa started to train at Lakhipathar
where they established their GHQ. As one makes a foray into the GHQ the thin
squiggly gravelled road was unchanged since 1990. The people residing near the
ULFA GHQ, in the villages of Rangchangi and Mamoroni are no strangers to
insurgency. They saw the political training, military training of the
insurgents and activity supported Paresh Barua the CnC of Ulfa, who hails from
Dibrugarh - Tinsukia belt. They saw Barua play football with the village boys,
show them their new AK-47 rifles and promising a ‘Swadhin Asom’ or “Independent
Assam”.
The NSCN link exposed the ULFA leaders to yet another powerful
non-state actor of Myanmar, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) that is fighting
for independence from Myanmar since 1960s. In 1987 the first batch of ULFA
cadres slipped across the Chindwin to get the gruelling training in
unconventional warfare. Kachin Independence Army(KIA)received weapons from
India and as a quid pro quo stopped aiding NEI(North East Insurgent)Groups. This
loss of KIA arms training which had hit Ulfa hard.
From 1979 to 1986 through a string of bank dactoities, small
time thuggery and loans from well-wishers Ulfa became a functional outfit. On
November 12, 1982 Ulfa began its first plunge into the world of militancy. The
target was State Bank of India branch at Namrup, a town with a thermal and fertilizer
plant, on the edge of the Jeypore Rain Forest, in Dibrugarh district.
Such criminal activities, along with the group’s armed
insurgency, contributed to ULFA’s reputation as a militant organization willing
to use violence and intimidation to achieve its goals of Assamese independence
or autonomy. However, over time, ULFA’s activities evolved, and the group faced
internal divisions, external pressure, and a decline in popular support,
leading to a weakening of its capabilities and a shift in its strategies. As
trouble started to brew in Assam during1986-90, by a rough estimate hudred
people lay dead in a pool of blood. Three significant assassinations in the
first seven months of 1990, Surendra Paul, Rohiteswar Saikia and Dibrugarh SP
Daulat Singh Negi, had put the AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) Government in a
quandary. The time is fast running out for ULFA, who had by then opened up its
GHQ and CHQ at Lakhipathar and Saraipung, some twenty five kms from Digboi.
Digboi is where the first oil wells of Assam are struck in 1889 by the
Britishers. When a Esst India Company elephant came back from a jungle trip, it
was all soaked up in oil, the British official screamed-”Dig Boy Dig”. The name
struck.
In the year 1990, on 23rd July Rohiteswar Saikia, the
brother of former chief minister Hiteswar Saikia was killed in Nazira town of
Sibsagar District. The killing of Surendra Paul, whose brother Lord Swaraj Paul
is an international famous London businessman. Most of the tea giants of Assam,
which produces 55% of total tea produced in India, were British multu-national
like Williamson Magor, UniLever and Goodricke. When garden manager Surendra
Paul was killed by ULFA, panic started mounting across the tea industry.
Chandra Sekhar, the Janata Party Prime minister from Balia, UP and MOS Home
Subodh Kant Sahay, had to take the call as on 29th July Dibrugarh SP D. S.
Negi was brutally gunned down in Lahoal of Dibugarh District. That was the last
straw on the camel’s back. On 7th November, 1990 UA (P) Act 1967 was
imposed on Assam and ULFA was declared a banned organization. These killings as
well as the killing of Soviet Coal Engineer Sergei Geitchenko and ONGC engineer
T. Raju killed in 1991, July after Hiteswar Saikia came to power, were more of
random killings than following a method.
Road to Dibrugarh:
Any counter attack could only start with more boots on the
ground and intensification of Ops in all the thana area. The back door of
Dibrugarh town is very vulnerable as 10 kms off city limits Jakai R.F. starts.
A gravelled road runs over a shaky bridge over Sessa River Jakai, which is the
insurgent getaway point. The area commander of the insurgent group of Jakai is
Rakta Plaban Chetia @ Sunanda Sonowal a powerfully built, six foot plus, broad
shoulder, long haired youth who will pass off as a football player in city
nakas. But when he wears combat fatigues, and carries the AK 56 with strapped
ammunition belts, he choose the gun instead to bring the ‘system’ down and
usher in an utopian society Jokai R.F. (Reserve Forest) falls under Barbarua
Police Station and the thick foliage of the R.F. starts where the eastern
boundary wall of AIR (All India Radio) station Dibrugarh ends.
There are numerous characters like Rakta Plaban who could
riddle Police Maruti Gypsy with bullets if they walk unbeknownst into his
carefully laid ambush in Jokai R.F. He was probably surprised that Police did
not make any such mistakes. Probably the mind game that is developing gave
police a little edge, this time around.
When the year 1999 came to a close the moral of police is on
a high. The ULFA insurgency in the Dibrugarh -Tinsukia belt is different from
the rest of Assam simply because the subversion and insurgency has travelled
the whole spectrum here. The insurgent leadership hail from these two
districts, their base is here, and the sandbars of the Brahmaputra and rain
forest redoubts leading to the Myanmar international boundary is within 100 kms
from the base areas of Ulfa makes the task of Counter Insurgency operation
quite formidable.
On the night of 27th November 1990 Indian Army launched
Operation Bajrang directed against the GHQ and CHQ of ULFA at Lakhipathar and
Saraipung area of than Dibrugarh District. A day prior to Operation Bajrang as
large convoy of Indian Army trucks left the 2nd Mt Div HQ at Dinjan, the
AGP Government was dismissed and President’s Rule was imposed in Assam. As Army
smashed through the jungles of Upper Dihing Reserve Forest, soldiers were
finding bobby traps and mines and a desultory ULFA resistance. Most of the
leaders fled at the massing of troops began, but the base was destroyed.
In 1999 the guerrilla country of Dibrugarh still presented a
formidable challenge to the police. A good nine years after the Indian Army
conducted Operation Bajrang, the Ulfa guerrillas still move freely in these
jungle redoubts, from where they were scattered by the Army operations. The is
ample local support as the local refer to the insurgents as ‘our boys’, that
shows that the Army operation did not uproot the outfit lock, stock and barrel
from its base area.
Lakhipathar is long considered to be a guerrilla country. A
twenty five kilometers road connects oil townships of Digboi and Duliajan.
Either side of the road is dark even on day time. One side is Lakhipathar and
the other is Saraipung. Both these places of deep tropical forests are rugged
and dangerous terrain. Leeches, mosquitoes, elephant grasses, steep gradients
and then a sparkling mountainous river- Dihing. When Operation Bajrang was
launched against ULFA militants the Indian army destroyed ULFA camps in
Lakhipathar and the militants fled to the deep forested tract Saraipung. As one
slog up the steep high terrain meeting the Dihing River is like finding an
oasis in the desert. Beyond the Dihing as one goes upstream the guerrilla
country unfolds. The Dihing downstream reaches Dibrugarh town in its south, to
meet the mighty Brahmaputra. Dihing in its upstream meanders into the Lohit
district of Arunachal Pradesh, flowing swiftly in Miao and still uphill ends up
near the Chaukan Pass into Myanmar. This is south of the Tinsukia Dibrugarh
districts. Running parallel to the Digboi - Duliajan road is a water pipeline
and gas pipeline.
On the run-up to Independence Day i.e. 14th August
1999 the intervening night, Digboi Police Station in Tinsukia district,
received an information that a gas pipeline was blown up by militants. On
receiving the information OC Digboi Mr. Pathok rushed to the spot. It is well
into the early hours of 15th August morning that he arrived at the
place of occurrence. Indeed there was a blast, but not on the gas, but water
pipeline. After he inspected the PO (place of occurrence) and looking around he
saw a road running down to the jungle village. A few bullets were also seen
lying on the ground. Then as he followed the trail there were more bullets down
the road. Mr. Pathok became absolutely convinced that the militants must have
gone and taking shelter in the village a few km down the road through the
jungle.
It was almost 8 O’clock in the morning when two jeeps
full of security men were returning from the village after searching
it for the culprits for about 2-3 hours. The jeeps were on its way out of the
village and sped through the jungle tract on its way to the Police Station. On
a curve from where Digboi - Duliajan road lay half kilometer away, as the first
jeep turned left to hit the main road, the second jeep was blown up to
smithereens by a mine. The trap laid carefully by the militants brought
complacency to the security men who succumbed on their return journey.
The Police have gone to the base areas of Ulfa i.e. the
terrain of reserve forests of Lakhipathar and Saraipung twenty four hours
before the incident happened and came out of the Digboi - Duliajan road where
OC Pathok made the fatal mistake of going inside the trap door which the
guerrillas closed after his entry.
Ulfa chooses to target oil pipelines before the Republic Day
and Independence Day and carefully lays ambush whenever security forces move
along that deadly twenty five kilometers corridor.
In areas where there is development deficit there is bound
to be social discontent and that will find expression in some form of
anti-establishment activities. The response of the government to the violent
activities is Counter Insurgency operations known as Counter Insurgency
operation. Insurgents aim at destroying the economic, social, political and
psychological sphere of a nation. As eventual aim of the Insurgents is
overthrow of the elected Governments or capture of political power, Counter
Insurgency operation by Security Forces naturally look to crush the Insurgent
militarily.
Lt Gen E.A. Vas, PVSM said in his book “Violence in
Society-The Formative Years’, “Those who study history are conscious of the
continual role which violence plays in human life. If we desire peace then it
is important that we understand violence.’’
To understand the Ulfa violence and counter attack a strategy
must be conjured and scrupulously made to bear on the campaign. E.A. Vas says-
“there are two approaches to the study of strategy: to treat it as a process
and to appreciate it as an essence-”.
In the spring of 1999, Gorkhas replaced Jat Regiment and it
coincided with launching of renewed operations against the Insurgents. The
nimble footed Gorkhas are hardy fighters and they could stay in hot trail of
Ulfa as they never shirk in the thick of battle being totally devoid of the
natural instinct of self-preservation. Our domination is shaping up well.
Violence of ULFA
after Operation Bajrang:
Even as the new CM of Assam Hiteswar Saikia was sworn in
June 1991, on July Ulfa abducted 14 peoples for ransom that enchanted a Soviet
National. The reports of Paresh Baruah procuring arms from Eastern European
countries were also in circulation. The 709 Bn with Deputy Commander in Chief
Dristi Rajkhowa, an explosive expert brought the next level of terror tactics,
the group employed from the mid-2000s. Between OctDec 2000, over 200 people
were killed in by Ulfa. To offset the loss of cadres, it resorted to IED blasts
that took lives of 13 children on 15thAugust 2004 at Dhemaji. In 2008 reports
started circulating that Paresh Baruah had relocated to Yunnan Province of
China, a country he had visited in the 1985 and in 2008 year in June dreaded 28th Bn
of the outfit operating from upper Assam laid down arms.
In 2009, Bangladesh began cracking on ULFA and the chairman
Arabinda Rajkhowa, an important leader Raju Baruah were handed over to the
Indian Authorities. The foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, hiding in Bangladesh
since 1991 was also handed over. In an extradition treaty signed between India
and Bangladesh in 2013, the General Secretary of the outfit Anup Chetia who was
arrested in Bangladesh in 1997 was extradited to India in 2015.
Post Operation
Bajrang scenario:
Ulfa militants made the fatal mistake to gun down the
brother of the man who became Chief Minister of Assam post Operation Bajrang.
Hiteswsr Saikia who came to power on July 1991 became a Ulfa baiter. Not only
the new Government was completely on board with the next phase of Army
operations, that was soon to be launched. He went beyond that in his capacity
as the Home Minister of the state. He took steps to reward police officers who
lead from the front, as well train the police in commando training centres
across India.
On 14th September 1991, Indian Army launched Operation
Rhino which achieved significant success of apprehending three hundred cadres
and the prized catch of General Secretary Anup Chetia from a Calcutta Hotel.
The ULFA Vice chairman Pradip Gogoi was arrested during operation Bajrang.
Ulfa braced for a breather and declared ceasefire in March
1992 as Hiteswar Saikia unveiled in surrender ceremonies of Ulfa militants by
Army and Police were released in a general amnesty. Those released never joined
mainstream but join the outfit camps in Bangladesh.
Even before Ops Bajrang the ULFA foreign secretary and the
prime target of 1985 “Ops Golden Bird” of 57th Div of Indian Army was
arrested and huge cache of weapons were recovered, allegedly meant for ULFA and
Manipuri Groups. On 27th Dec 2003 RBA (Royal BhutanArmy) assisted Indian
Army dismantled over thirty camps within Bhutan Eastern, Samdrup Jonkhar
district. Many senior ULFA leaders were either killed or gone missing. In 2011
Arabinda Rajkhowa was expelled from ULFA and his group came to be known as
Pro-Talk and the ULFA headed by Paresh Baruah as ULFA (Independence).
Ulfa camps came up in Bangladesh during the dying
days of 1990 and majority of the leaders took, shelter in
Bangladesh, first Rangpur, and later in Narsingpur, Maymensingha and Seylhet.
The camps were also set across the Tripura border at Sreemangal and at the
Chitagong till Tract.
From 1991-1996 Begum Khaleda Zia became the P.M. of Bangladesh.
She got another letter from 2001-2006. Although the Ulfa leaders Paresh Baruah
and Arobinda Rajkhowa the Commander in-chief and Chairman respectively lived
with near impunity in Dhaka. In July 2000, Bangladesh Army carried out a major
operation agenda ULFA dismantling its camps in Chittagong until tract.
After the Royal Bhutan Army aided by Indian Army dismantled
Ulfa Camps in Ops All Clear in 2003, ULFA and NDFB (National Democratic Front of
Bodoland) a strong base after Bangladesh was gone.
In April 2004, Coast Gaurds of Bangladesh stumbled upon the
biggest arms seizure in South East Asia, a consignment meant for ULFA. The
consignment was found at the jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Limited,
loaded on ten trucks with the BNP Khaleda Zia government in power. The seizure
includes over four thousand automatic weapons and over eight rocket launchers
and over eleven lakh bullets.
Cracks in the
Guerrilla Might
Among the many achievements of the army operations in Assam,
in 1990-91 (Ops Bajrang; OPS Rhino) the will of the guerrillas to stand and
fight. Seems to have been smashed. And like most insurgencies Ulfa’s political
battle was also lost with the smashing of its GHQ and CHQ. No insurgency could
survive without a strong political organization backed by armed force. This was
clearly missing and the population are free from brain washing by the cadres.
Moderates among the Ulfa were also thinking of demobilization.
Insurgency has always been a tricky issue. In the case
of Assam in hindsight after a futile attempt to fight the
armed might of the Indian state a large chunk Ulfa leaders have bade farewell
to arms. This is done under their own sweet will as they could see stifling
pressure building up around their trumped up persona. Their disillusionment was
fed by an un-democratic, and autocratic Ulfa leadership.
This brings into sharp focus the initial pepped up feeling
or rush of blood when Ulfa leaders talked about “exploitation’ of Assam. In Assam’s
insurgency unlike that of Nagaland which demanded outright sovereignty the main
plank of Ulfa’s argument against the fight against the state is about
‘exploitation of Assam’s natural resources. As Ulfa’s war grew protracted they
could not engage the public discourse with further accretions of their initial
punch i.e. ‘exploitation’. And scores of surrendered militants abjured violent
path they could see through the ruse of Ulfa. As the Assam agitation which saw
the foreigners as the main protagonist who is running away with the fortunes of
the state or exploiting it in perpetuity, Ulfa ratchet up the same foreigners
issue but they targeted the moneyed class to fill up their war chest.
Burma Trail:
In the far end of December 1985, when the first batch of
ULFA cadres sneaked through the sleepy Lekhapani Police Station in Tinsukia
District through which a day long trek will skirt Vijaynagar, the last Assam
Rifles formation, in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh into Burma. The
insurgents crossed in between milestone170 to 180 and melted into the misty
hills of Sagaing, in Burma, a stone throw away from the Pangchau Pass, crossing
into the other side of Patkai Mountains. The KIA had trained Naga and Manipuri
PLA insurgents before on payment basis. So the ULFA militants could get access
to vintage World War II weapons from KIA as well as modern AK 47s training.
During WW-II Tinsukia was the site from where US General Stil well
launched his innumerable flights over the ‘hump’ i.e. high ridges of Arunachal
Pradesh to keep Chinese Supremo Chiang Kai Shek’s KMT supplied to fight the
advancing Japanese Armies in China as well as Burma. Dinjan air strip, the site
of present second Mt Division of Indian Army, Ledo air strip were developed as
Army bases. From Ledo Gen. Stilwell had an even ambitious plan to build a road
connecting Assam with China through Burma’s Myitkyina, the capital city of
Kachin state. Later this road was extended beyond Myitkyina to Bhamo on the
outskirts of Yunnan province of China. This road moves over the Pangchau pass
in Indo-Burma border at Nampong and moves through “Lake of No Return”, Hukwang
valley and then enters the Kachin state.
It is no coincidence in the history of Assam that Burma
fails to register herself. First it was the 1st Anglo-Burma war which
concluded with the treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 that put the seal of British
annexation of Assam. ULFA’s claim to sovereignty rests on this treaty of
Yandaboo. It claims that since Assam is independent before 1826, she should be
independent now as its accession to Indian Union should be based on referendum
and not merger. Burma again figured in the scheme of ULFA as it sent its
guerrillas to train in Northern Myanmar.
From 1986 onwards successive batches of ULFA began training
is Kachin state. It is an area traversed before by Th Muivah in 1965 and Isaac
Chisi Swu in 1968. The Kachins have been fighting their own war against the
Burma Government intermittently since the Burmese independence from Burma in
1948.
The 1,736 Kms of Ledo-Kunming road passes through Kachin
state and Sagaing is immortalized as Stillwell road. The British from early
1942 were seriously mulling a passage to Burma. From the administrative point
of view a political officer was found to be the most essential for tribal area
bing on the Indo- Burma border. This expediency got manifested in appointing Mr
Lambert, IP as Political officer for Rangpang area, known in that time, of
the areas now covering Changlang and Tirap Transferred Areas with HQ
at Margherita. In February 1942 Mr. Lambert was actually involved in planning
and constructional of the Stillwell road. He was on special duty for six
months.
Then Mr. G.E.D Walker of Sadiya Frontier Tract and Md. Imdad
Ali. IP assisted Mr Lambert. The route was surveyed from air and ground.
According to the plan the road was to be taken along with the Diyun river to
Chaukan Pass and then to Mogaung. The Diyun river is the upper course of
Buri-Dihing and Nao-Dihing rivers. The road work was accordingly started from
Ledo side and Miao side in two parts. But the Political officer while
submitting the plan suggested an alternative via the then existing bridle path
from Ledo to Hukwang valley from Pangsau Pass and then to Mogaung. The labour
force was then diverted from Miao to Ledo which consisted of tribals from
Siang, Lohit, Garos, Semas and Pnars. They were under the command of 9th Platoon
Assam Rifles commanded by Jamadar Ratan Bahadur Limbu under the control of
Political officer. Ten thousand Chinese were working on the other side starting
from Yunnan-Burma Railway. To span the bridges pre-fabricated Hamilton iron
bridges were used. The road work starting from April 1942 with a length of
1,079 miles (1,736Kms) was completed in Oct 1944 within a period of two and
half years. The road connects all the important places between Ledo and Kunming
in China numbering ten beyond the border from Hukwang valley onwards. Out of
the entire stretch 57 Kms falls in India, 1040 Km falls in Myanmar and 639 Kms
falls in China. The project was initially named Ledo roads. From Kunming there
was a railway route to the new nationalist capital of Chungking. There was also
a railway connection between Myitkyina and Lashio in Shan State of Burma. By
the time Ops Rhino is launched in 15th September 1991 at Tengapani jungles
in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh not far from Lakhipathar GHQ, the track
to Burma from training in Upper Burma and shelters at Indo-Burma “No
man’s land” area is well recced and streamlined. As Indian Army paratroopers
land in Tengapani jungles the GHQ was smashed for the second time and ULFA
leadership were forced to take refuge in NSCN(K) campus and KIA camps well
inside Burma. The ULFA council CHQ was then sited near the NSCN(K) CHQ and
cadres got trained by them on payment basis. Same financial payments were made
to KIA till 1991. From this time 1991-1997 ULFA cadres came from rural areas of
Assam and took part in innovative campaigns and mindless violence. This group
is of those rural youths who die either way in lack of opportunity or in
drudgery and joining ULFA give them a rank to ferret out a living and bring a
semblance of prestige for their poor family and bolster the image of their
village.
These were ULFA fighters who fought like there is no
tomorrow. As they were pushed against the wall by fate, death did not deter
them or they did not detest mowing down enemies more for hatred of the ‘fear
factor’, than that for insurgency or for “swadhin” Assam. It is the 6th category
of ULFA Recruits that left the population dumbfounded by their cold bloodedness
and brutality. These cadres were just out there exorcising their own past,
which was dabbled in alcohol, and struck with impunity. This phase continued
till early 2001. Majority of them were back from Burma and they were simply senseless
and heavy into extortion and return to safety in embosoming jungles. It was
difficult to catch up with such a band of ULFA who are well informed of terrain
and information by their non-combatant over ground workers.