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regular-article-logo Thursday, 02 May 2024

Ulfa peace accord: Outfit's pro-talks faction to hold 'thanksgiving' for its supporters

A section of Ulfa members has reportedly expressed resentment at the pact, which they consider an 'economic treaty' between the central leadership and the government

Umanand Jaiswal Guwahati Published 31.12.23, 07:52 AM
Union home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla with a member of Ulfa during the signing of the peace accord in New Delhi on Friday.

Union home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla with a member of Ulfa during the signing of the peace accord in New Delhi on Friday. PTI

Ulfa's pro-talks faction will hold a thanksgiving for its supporters here on Sunday afternoon amid reports of "discontent" within the outfit over the terms of the peace accord signed with the central and Assam governments in Delhi on Friday.

Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia told The Telegraph that the 16 members of the central and executive committees would arrive in Guwahati around 10-11am and head to the Sankardeva Kalakshetra for the thanksgiving meeting. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will participate in the event in the evening.

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"There will be a welcome ceremony at the airport from where we will proceed to Kalakshetra for the thanksgiving function for those who have supported us in our decades-old journey. Our members will also attend. We are expecting between 700 and 800 people," Chetia said.

Ulfa cadres have been staying in nine designated camps, of which three are in the Upper Assam areas of Kakopathar, Lakwa and Moran. The other camps are in Darrang, Morigaon, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Kamrup and Nalbari districts.

A section of Ulfa members has reportedly expressed resentment at the pact, which they consider an "economic treaty" between the central leadership and the government.

It does not, they believe, reflect the outfit's goal or the path to achieving political and administrative safeguards for the indigenous people of the state through the grant of rights over land and natural resources and the checking of illegal immigration.

An unsigned letter with the Ulfa letterhead that expressed the purported discontent was circulating in local media circles on Saturday. But Chetia told a news portal that the letter was fake and had been circulated to create controversy.

The pro-talks Ulfa faction had been negotiating "constitutional, political and economic safeguards" for the identity of the indigenous population as well as rights over land and other natural resources.

The "discontented" Ulfa members reportedly held a meeting in Kaliabor soon after the pact was signed on Friday. Reports said the terms of the treaty had not been discussed with the ordinary members of the outfit.

Political parties such as the Congress and the Assam Jatiya Parishad have, while welcoming the peace efforts, said the pact does not reflect the struggle to protect the indigenous people in which thousands lost their lives. Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said that most of the development and administrative steps could have been achieved by the government even without the pact.

Chief minister Sarma on Saturday evening described the accord as a "pivotal moment in Assam’s history".

"To even think of such a day was unimaginable many years ago — it has been possible solely due to Hon PM’s resolute leadership of building bridges between rest of Bharat and the North East," he posted on X.

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