Arms handover to details of cadre: Decoding ULFA pact

The ULFA will submit a list of its cadres and vacate its designated camps within a week, will hand over all arms and disband the organisation within a month, and Assam will get a special ₹5,000 crore special development package for a five year period, the memorandum of settlement signed between the Union and Assam governments and the pro-talks faction of the ULFA signed in New Delhi on Friday said.

- Utpal Parashar

The deal which came 43 years after the ULFA was formed was hailed by Union home minister Amit Shah as a “historic” step that would bring lasting peace to the north east. To be sure, a faction of the ULFA, that splintered off in 2011, is led by Paresh Baruah, calls itself ULFA-Independent, and continues to function in the north east, including camps in Myanmar with an estimated 200 strong cadre.

But the document signed by the ULFA faction led by Arbind Rajkhowa, that is much larger and has an estimated 700 strong cadre, and first gave up arms in 2011, says that while the “government of India and Government of Assam remain committed to protect the interests of the indigenous communities, ULFA agreed to shun the path of violence, join the peaceful democratic process established by law of the land and uphold the integrity of the country.” HT has seen a copy of the agreement.

The 21-page settlement document includes several sections like political demands, the issue of illegal immigration, protection of land, forest, culture and heritage of the state. It lists 87 projects, valued at around ₹1.5 lakh crores, which will be implemented by the Centre and Assam government. “A special development package of ₹5000 crores will be provided over a period of five years out of which ₹3,000 crore will be provided by the Government of India and ₹2000 crores by the Government of Assam for various developmental initiatives in the state,” the document says.

Giving up arms