Rehabilitation scheme brings change in ex-ULFA cadres' life
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

BHANBHAG SALBARI (NALBARI, ASSAM), NOV 26: The 32-year-old Abhinash Bordoloi, a former self-styled lieutenant with United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), is a changed man.

Having given up his gun, Bordoloi alias Sailen Haloi now works in the field cherishing Assamese age old spirit of dignity of labour, thanks to a revised rehabilitation scheme chalked out by the Mahanta Government.

Under the scheme, 73 surrendered militants, who refuse to be called Surrendered ULFA (SULFA) -- a term which gained currency during erstwhile Hiteswar Saikia regime -- are now harvesting paddy and mustard over 150 Bighas plot of land under the aegis of the `Udyan Multi-purpose Cooperative Society'.

Once a barren land, the site with yellow mustard flowers and a large variety of vegetables is a delight to watch.

``I joined ULFA for Assam but now it looks independence is an impossible mission,'' says Bordoloi answering why he chose to lay down arms.

``I am happy, my parents and family-members are happy that I am back with the mainstream. Earlier they always had fears''.

Thanks to the toiling efforts of Bordolois, the area now resembles an agricultural haven with as much as 85 Bighas under paddy cultivation, 25 Bighas under mustard, five Bighas under brinjal and 10 Bighas with potato and cabbage.

The success of the new rehabilitation package, according to State Governor Lt Gen S K Sinha, lies in the fact that unlike the SULFA package of the former Saikia government, there is no distribution of ``easy cash'' nor the militants are allowed to retain arms.

SULFA had come all of a sudden at one go. ``Everybody was given Rs 2.5 lakh cash and Rs 1.5 lakh soft loan which was never returned. They were allowed to retain their weapons as well,'' says the Governor, who played a crucial role in recasting the rehabilitation package during on-going AGP regime in 1997.

``On the contrary, our rehabilitation scheme is totally different. We never allowed them to retain weapons nor gave them the easy fund,'' he adds.

Although initially some ex-ULFA cadres were given jobs in Central organisations like BSF, CRPF and Railways, soon the State Government realised that it could be self-defeating as joining militancy could be treated as a launch pad for government service.

Then, the agri-farm and cooperative scheme was worked out keeping in spirit the cherished agrarian tradition.

Therefore, it is not without good reason that over 2,800 militants have surrendered since last year.

The veteran North East watcher and Editor The Sentinel

D N Bezboruah agrees with Governor and describes Saikia's surrender package as ``perverted''.

``That is why it failed. There were easy cash and softloans but none of the projects really got off. Result was a frankenstine monster,'' he said during interaction with a group of visiting journalists last week.

``In fact, SULFA was sometime worse than the ULFA," noted Bezboruah, who was once on the hit list of ULFA.

As a result of these perceptible changes, the new habilitation package is showing results.

While Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Sinha calls Bordoloi and his comrades-in-axes -- the `Reformed ULFA', they proudly gesture to the green fields with eyes full of dreams.

But to many ex-insurgents the real `reform' is yet to come though they are no longer happy with ULFA.

``If all these fields were green as they are now, may bemost of us would not have gone to jungles,'' says Mintu Dutta, a science graduate from Nalbari College and former Chief Political Commissar of ULFA.

Dutta, who joined ULFA in 1987, says that ``ideological difference'' over the role of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) and several other issues were responsible for his surrender but adds that unemployment and sense of neglect still haunts Assam and other North eastern states. They are thus vulnerable to exploitation by certain ``adversary elements''.

Dutta's fears are endorsed by freedom fighter and former Congress MP Pushpalata Das.

``Assamese people are accommodating, but if they feel their large-heartedness was hurt they will not forgive,'' 86-year old Das says adding, ``feeling of neglect has been taken advantage of by foreign powers and we must be sensitive to this''.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.