On Tuesday, 33 active militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Karbi Longri N.C. Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) laid down their arms before officials of the Indian Army and the Assam Police. They were given pens and roses to mark the new beginning of their life when they surrendered before the state officials.
Earlier on October 17, Pranjal Sakia, a self-styled commander of ULFA’s 28 Battalion, had surrendered formally before the Army in Assam on Wednesday. He was responsible for violence in the upper districts in Assam in recent past.
The 28 Battalion is said to be a dreaded unit of ULFA with its four sub-units active in Upper Assam districts. Pranjal Saikia was the commander of its ‘A’ Unit that is active in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and North Bank of the Brahmaputra.
According to the report, the surrendered militants will be sent to get vocational training in computers, tailoring, carpentry, driving, fishery, poultry, bee-keeping, mushroom farming, painting and photography at a Rehabilitation Training Centre. The General Officer Commanding, 4 Corps, Lieutenant-General B.S. Jaswal inaugurated the Rehabilitation center in Guwahati.
Further, the surrendered militants will be given a stipend of Rs. 2,000 a month till when they will stay at center. The state government will deposit Rs 1.45 lakh in a bank for each of them as the financial assistance from state. They will be able to take the money only after showing three years of continued ‘good behaviour.’
This is said to be the clear victory of Army’s strategy of ‘fighting insurgency and not the insurgents’ in Assam and adjoining areas. According to this strategy, the army has decided to initiate exhaustive military operations to create psychological pressure on the ULFA members.
Army has appealed to other ULFA cadres to leave the way of violence and join the mainstream way of life and fight for the rights in democratic ways.
The state government has also started working on self-employment schemes and rehabilitation packages in order to encourage the ULFA cadres active in state to surrender. The army has also planned to establish more vocational training for the militants wanted to surrender and join the mainstream life.
Read
