August 10, 1998

It's a life full of carrom and comfort for 51 ULFA militants who surrendered recently. But is that incentive enough for others to lay down arms too?

By Avirook Sen

The self-styled sergeant-major of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Prabin Kalita missed three world cups in a row. He didn't miss France '98 though: in the safety of the army's 77 Mountain Brigade headquarters, Kalita was able to watch some of the best moments of football. "I was always interested in football, but the nearest radio or TV set would usually be four or five hours away," kalita says now of his 12 years as an ultra in Assam. All that has changed for Kalita and 50 other ULFA militants. Now there's a TV in the barracks. There's also a badminton court, a carrom board and card games. And after spending two months in relative comfort, the insurgents laid down arms before the governor at a "rehabilitation ceremony", organised by the army on July 24.

Considering the ULFA's strength of around 3,000 cadres, 51 is a small number. But the message it has sent out to the militants, say army officials, is that doors are open to them. The army's strategy was voiced by Assam governor Lt-General (retd) S.K. Sinha: "The ULFA is not our enemy. They are our own misguided youth ... I appeal to them to join us in building a peaceful and prosperous Assam." Sinha also promised a rehabilitation package for the surrendered militants.

The feelers from militants began two and a half months ago. A former assistant general secretary of the ULFA, Rishiraj Sinha, contacted a senior army officer in Narangi cantonment on the outskirts of Guwahati. His message: a number of the organisation's cadres wanted to come overground. A member of the ULFA since 1984, Rishiraj had fallen out with its top leadership about a year back. Since then, he had been negotiating with the state government though his attempts came to naught. The Prafulla Kumar Mahanta government in the state has maintained that it does not want a recurrence of the menace the state faced after the creation of the sULFA (surrendered ULFA) by the late chief minister Hiteswar Saikia in 1992-93. Surrendered militants used the generous rehabilitation packages and the weapons they were allowed to carry for "self defence" to reorganise themselves into criminal gangs.

However, one concession was made. The disgruntled insurgents were promised protection -- in return for information. So they established contact with the army through a militant who had surrendered during Saikia's time.

One evening in May, Brigadier (tactical) Gaganjeet Singh of the 4 Corps, got a message saying that some "boys" wanted to meet him. For the army, desperate for results after a two-year stalemate, it was a chance to begin afresh. The brigadier set off in civvies towards Baihata Chariali for a late-night rendezvous. Sitting on a culvert at 10:30 p.m., he had a 40-minute meeting with five militants. "They were concerned about two things: that their security is taken care of and that some sort of rehabilitation package is worked out for them. I was able to assure them on both counts," Brigadier Gaganjeet told India Today.

The meeting over, the modalities of how the militants would come to the army barracks were worked out. A chain was established. And slowly, the beds in the abandoned barracks at Thakurbari near the corps headquarters in Tezpur began to fill up. The last batch arrived on July 13 -- more than 10 days before the surrender ceremony. The first few had already stayed more than two months in almost total secrecy. Rishiraj stayed away to get more people for the draft.

Away in Upper Assam, the army had been getting feelers from a few district-level ULFA leaders like Ripu Kalita and Jaan Deka, bosses of the Sibsagar-Tinsukia area. A little coordination found them laying down arms too.

One of the notable absentees at the ceremony on July 24 was Chief Minister Mahanta. The army, apparently, had not officially informed the government about what was happening -- not even at the Unified Command meeting between the state administration and the security forces held on July 20. It was only on July 22 that Mahanta received a request from the governor to attend the ceremony. At a cabinet meeting the next day, it was decided that the chief minister would not attend the ceremony but send an emissary instead. "Our objections were mainly on two grounds: that no package has yet been worked out for the militants so it seems a bit hasty, and that we are not in favour of piecemeal surrenders," says Zoiinath Sarma, a minister who attended the ceremony. But the army had received encouragement from the Centre for the operation. "George Foxtrot" (the army's way of referring to defence minister George Fernandes) gave the full-steam go ahead. Apparently, only governor Sinha was aware of what was happening.

The state government, however, has to come into the picture. The army may be able to provide jobs for the former militants, but the question of amnesty has to be addressed jointly by the Centre and the state Government. But there are differences between the two on vital issues concerning a surrender. The state feels that the burden of cost should be borne by the Centre, but the Central Government says that it will only consider a package for those militants who surrender with arms. In the ULFA's case, the ratio of arms to men is something like 1:10, which explains in part why only 20 arms were laid down by 51 militants.

That was enough for the army. And the promise of jobs enough for this batch of militants. That, and the comfort of the barracks. "It's their time to relax," says Brigadier Gaganjeet. "we try and give them whatever they want, and I can cater to a thousand more if they wish to come." The militants (aged between 19 and 35) have made their own routine. And even their own menu: the army used to serve them puris for breakfast, but they wanted rice. The wish was granted. The army's confidence-building measures are obviously in full swing.

They need to be. The army is expecting another round of surrenders before August 15. But a lot will depend on how those who are already in are treated. If all goes well for the army, a fifth dormitory may just be added to the four already in use.

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