From militancy to mainstream: Ex-ULFA cadres share struggles of rebuilding lives in northeast

Guwahati: Tarani Baishya grips the steering wheel of his ambulance today as firmly as he once held guns in his youth. A former cadre of the now-disbanded United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), an insurgent group, Baishya now drives an ambulance near Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

"Life after surrender has been very tough. It is still difficult today, as managing the expenses for the education of my two sons with the income from an ambulance is hard," he says.

Many of the benefits promised before his surrender did not materialise. "I made rounds of government offices for more than a year. I did not get any help. So, I finally opened a bicycle-repair shop at Tamulpur. But that did not progress," says Baishya, now 56.

Baishya joined the ULFA in 1992 and remained in the group’s ‘general headquarters’ in Bhutan until he surrendered in 2003. Months later, India and Bhutan launched Operation All Clear, flushing out camps of the ULFA and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), another dreaded rebel group.

After spending 11 years in the jungles, Baishya returned to his home in Laopara village in Tamulpur, now a district under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), only to find himself helpless.

In 2008, he shifted to Guwahati, about 60 km away, in search of work, where he started a pan (betel leaf) shop. Later, he bought an ambulance.

"We had joined ULFA with a mission and a lot of zeal. We spent our youth inside jungles and did not even try for government jobs," he says.

As militancy peaked and wreaked havoc across Assam, the Centre introduced a special scheme in 1998 that provided financial assistance to surrendered militants. "I did not get any benefit," he says.

Pranjit Saikia, who joined the ULFA in 1984, five years after its formation, was arrested in 2010 and released a few months later.

Saikia did not wait for government support to restart his life. "Many of our colleagues got engaged in contracts. I decided to do something on my own, not only for myself but for many others," says Saikia, a resident of Mangaldoi in Darrang district.

Along with a few senior members and leaders of the ULFA, he started a cooperative and took up agriculture and horticulture activities on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in Mangaldoi. "Some Assam police officers helped us to take our mission forward into mainstream life," says Saikia, who later shifted to Guwahati.

More than 400 local residents in Mangaldoi, including 28 former ULFA members, have been employed under such cooperative societies.

"What I have seen is that the amount of support being given to former members of ULFA or any other similar groups is not sufficient. If we do not provide proper support to the former militants, those who are still in the jungles will not be encouraged to join the mainstream," says Saikia.

Pallab Bhattacharyya, an IPS officer who served in the Assam Police between 1986 and 2019, explains that a scheme meant for the rehabilitation of former militants through skill-based training played a crucial role when violent activities by ULFA, BLT, NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland), ethnic, and left-wing extremist groups made life difficult across Assam.

"Some former militants progressed, but some are still struggling with the realities of mainstream society," he says. "The scheme successfully integrated many former militants into the mainstream. Even officials from some other states visited us to adopt the Assam model for the rehabilitation of former militants," he adds.

However, some surrendered militants, particularly from the lower ranks, still face challenges in finding sustainable livelihoods. "Their potential must be channelled productively to ensure that every surrendered militant can secure a meaningful vocation. I personally feel that the Skill India initiative should be actively leveraged to bridge this gap," says Bhattacharyya, who retired as Special Director General of Assam Police (Special Branch), which looks after the rehabilitation of former militants.

Militancy-free Northeast

With the Narendra Modi government promising a militancy-free Northeast, the Centre in 2018 revised the scheme for surrendered militants by enhancing financial incentives. This included an increase in one-time support from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh and the monthly assistance from Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000 for three years, besides providing livelihood support.

Hiren Chandra Nath, the Additional Director General of Assam Police (Special Branch), tells DH that the schemes and counter-insurgency measures taken by the government led to the surrender of over 9,000 cadres under agreements signed since 2020.

"Apart from this, 2,080 cadres of smaller groups who surrendered unconditionally got Rs 1.50 lakh each as a rehabilitation grant under the Swabalamban Scheme," he adds. Over the past five years, 11,102 cadres have been provided with rehabilitation support.

"Most of them have received the one-time grant. They are now engaged in agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, entrepreneurship, and tourism activities. Some have taken up activities on their own with the help of the Special Branch," he says.

Most militant groups that have signed agreements since 2020 are from Assam and Tripura. A former leader of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) said some former militants were engaged in rubber cultivation and tourism, but did not progress due to a lack of sufficient support.

Peace mission in Bodoland

In the Bodoland region, which comprises five districts in western Assam—Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, and Tamulpur—a large number of former members of the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the NDFB have found work in tourism, transport, and even in central paramilitary forces. The BLT laid down arms in 2003, leading to the formation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). More than 4,000 cadres of the NDFB, another militant group that continued violence for years, surrendered in 2020 and signed a new Bodoland Accord.

"More than 4,000 NDFB cadres have received financial support under the scheme. They are now being provided employment opportunities through a programme called Mission Bloom Again," Binuel Wary, a former NDFB leader, told DH. Wary now serves on a governing body implementing these schemes. "Under the mission, 21 cooperative societies have been set up and more than 3,500 former NDFB members engaged so far. They are receiving support to run dairy cooperatives, piggery units, poultry farms, rice mills, transport businesses, beekeeping ventures, and tourism projects, among others," he said. However, Wary noted, the projects are still in their early stages.

Political plunge

Many former militants entered politics after signing accords with the government. Hira Sarania, alias Naba Sarania, a former ULFA commander, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kokrajhar twice, in 2014 and 2019. Others became MLAs and members of autonomous councils formed under the agreements. 

Many joined the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) and the United Peoples’ Party Liberal (UPPL), political parties formed after the signing of the Bodo Accords. The UPPL is now an ally of the BJP-led government in Assam. Some former militants have also been elected as MLAs in Tripura and Mizoram.

Mainstream challenges

Nath said many former militants still struggle, lacking soft skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and the patience to build livelihoods gradually. "Most of them spent years in the jungles and used arms to get things done. It may take time to change their mindsets and reorient them to cope with the challenges of mainstream society." Nath added that a recent study by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) found that the 81% of former militants engaged in self-employment activities were doing well, though he did not share the report.

"Our aim is to involve family members in the rehabilitation of an individual cadre so that he or she builds stronger connections with both family and society. In this way, the entire family can contribute to the process," Nath said.