India’s Northeast, a region that bled profusely due to insurgency for decades, is undergoing a massive change with the Army cutting down its once-sprawling counter-insurgency deployment to a single brigade due to improved security situation.Among the various initiatives by the Army to win hearts and minds of the people of the North East, those that have caught attention are an effort to impart training in football and another to impart training to students to crack national-level entrance examinations for engineering and medicine.
In the past one year Security Forces have intensified their efforts towards restoring normalcy in Assam, notably Upper Assam wherein in certain pockets ULFA(I) is still conducting its nefarious activities, albeit with little support as is evident from large scale desertion.
A ‘whole of government approach’ towards restoring complete normalcy in the last few remaining pockets of Upper Assam is in place and being executed. Incidentally, ideological construct of ULFA has long been marginalised by exponential development in the state backed by stable government which even led to large number of cadres being apprehended, weapons recovered, cadres surrendering & recruitment being prevented. In Upper Assam alone, with effect from 2022, Security Forces have apprehended 107 cadres/ Over Ground Workers, recovered 60 weapons and with a good soft approach ensured surrender of 22 cadres and prevented recruitment of another 64.
Top ULFA(I) and self-styled “Corporal”, Gyan Asom, was killed in an encounter with a joint team of Assam Police and the troops of 14 Assam Rifles at Kakopathar in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district, on the afternoon of July 1,2022.
In a big blow to the proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), the group’s rebel and field commander, Uttam Lahon (alias Uday Asom), was killed in an encounter with police around 1:30 am Thursday, in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district.
Last operation was on 02 April when a cadre and link man of ULFA(I) was apprehended.
Today, ULFA (I) is weakened, and no longer commands the same hold over the region as it did in the 1990s, but sometimes it is recruiting teenagers and young men who blame government inaction, corruption and lack of opportunities for choosing the other side.
ULFA(I) has now been marginalsed to a large extent and is now reduced to extortion and forcible recruitment type activities to stay relevant. Top leadership is ineffective as it is not in the country.Incidentally, ideological construct of ULFA has long been marginalised by relentless operations over the years & exponential development in the state which even led to large number of cadres being apprehended, weapons recovered, cadres surrendering and recruitment being prevented.On our part, conduct of Security Forces in specific intel based, people friendly operations has had a very positive impact in shaping the mind space of local population positively towards national mainstream. This approach along with people oriented development projects has restored normalcy to a large extent in Upper Assam. An Army Official stated this.
Army, in its endeavour to bring the misguided youth into the national mainstream, has continuously focused towards the objective of inducing maximum misguided youth to give up arms and surrender. To this effect, the Army has successfully persuaded the Central Government to formulate and promulgate a lucrative ‘Surrender cum Rehabilitation Policy’ for the North Eastern States. As a result, more than one thousand three hundred militants have laid down their arms and surrendered to the Security Forces since 01 Jan 2006.
Report- Pratyusha Mukherjee
(Author is a senior journalist who covers military affairs over a decade. In her illustrated career she has covered many major events and achieved National and International Awards for Journalism.)
