ULFA faction inks tripartite Memorandum of Settlement pact with Centre, Assam govt

NEW DELHI: The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)'s pro-talks faction on Friday signed a tripartite Memorandum of Settlement pact with the Centre and the Assam government on Friday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

A 29-member delegation of the ULFA's pro-talks delegation, including 16 ULFA members and 13 from civil society, signed the agreement.

This a significant pact as the banned ULFA-Independent has been the only major insurgent outfit in the state after the ULFA pro-talks faction signed the agreement with the Centre and Assam government.

The separatist ULFA was formed in April 1979 in the aftermath of an agitation against undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan).

It split into two groups in February 2011 with the Arabinda Rajkhowa-led faction giving up violence and agreeing to unconditional talks with the government.

Paresh Baruah, who leads the other rebranded ULFA-Independent faction, is against the talks. The pro-talks faction has sought constitutional and political reforms for the protection of the identity and resources of Assam's indigenous people including their right to land. The Union government in April sent it a draft agreement. An earlier round of talks between the two sides was held in Delhi in August.

A series of talks with officials concerned in the Central government has taken place since the delegation arrived in Delhi on December 26 before the signing of the pact.

The Union government has signed peace deals with rebel Bodo, Dimasa, Karbi, and Adivasi outfits in Assam over the last three years.