Exodus to ULFA

If media reports about a section of young people freshly joining the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in the past few days is true, then it is a serious matter. The Director-General of Police has also suspected that some young people have been joining the rebel group. He has however stated that there is no confirmation about such reports so far. The question being asked by people across the state in the past few days on seeing the media reports is: what could be the motivation behind these young people reportedly joining the rebel group? The answer could be multi-pronged. One, there could be a lack of economic opportunities for young people in the districts, especially in the rural areas. Two, of the several lakh young people of Assam who had found employment opportunities outside the region in the past one decade or so, many lost their jobs during the pandemic and have been compelled to stay back after the situation improved. There could be other reasons too. Paresh Barua, the ULFA(I) leader, is known for his unpredictable nature. Though he has been talking peace, one cannot rule out the possibility of Barua also simultaneously working clandestinely, as he always does, to strengthen his cadre. It is a fact that the ULFA strength had drastically dwindled since the surrender of its Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa after he was arrested in Bangladesh in December 2009. Now that there has been a renewed outflow of young people of some districts to the rebel group, it is time the intelligence agencies engage in working overtime to ascertain the possible reasons behind this development. It should not be a very difficult task, especially because the intelligence agencies can nowadays easily track down any person based on his or her mobile handset, and then work with their respective families and friends to ascertain the reasons. Simultaneously, the intelligence agencies can also keep a tab on Paresh Barua's phone calls. There is one thing on which there will be an overwhelming unanimity across Assam –the state and the society cannot afford to go back, at any cost, to those dark days of insurgency and violence.