Seize the opportunity

IT MAY BE dismissed as a major publicity stunt for the Assam Government, but it was also the largest-ever surrender by militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). With a few cadres from the KNV and the NDFB also joining in, 532 militants surrendered before the Governor, Lt. Gen. (retd.), S. K. Sinha. Even as the ULFA prepares for its 21st anniversary celebrations, this large scale surrender is sure to deflate the militant outfit which has been holding Assam to ransom for over two decades. There may not be big names in the list of cadres who surrendered on Tuesday, but the numbers may send out a clear message to others holed out in the jungles. An active Governor and a Chief Minister, Mr. P. K. Mahanta, who was himself part of a student revolutionary movement that took up arms, may provide the best setting for the troubled State of Assam to resolve this separatist menace once and for all. Lt. Gen. Sinha has apparently spent some time with the Army working on this event. The special offer during the new year and dawn of the millennium for militants to visit their families must have also induced some of the less motivated youth to lay down arms and seek reintegration with civil society.

It is important that both the Assam Government and the Centre must follow up on this surrender. Instead of adding numbers to the S(urrendered)ULFA, they must seriously implement an attractive rehabilitation package for these misguided youth. Though the Army and the police are bound to pick on them to update the intelligence inputs and strengthen counter insurgency measures, it may not be right to deploy the surrendered cadres in these operations. Unless they are fully rehabilitated and reintegrated with their families and society, it cannot spark a full-fledged desertion from these militant groups. So their rehabilitation must get top priority. Just as the Centre is trying to engage the NSCN outfits in Nagaland, the signal must go out to the ULFA and all other groups active in the Northeast that it is high time they gave serious thought to dialogue and a negotiated solution to all outstanding problems. The Assam Governor may be ideally suited to make the preliminary moves and send out serious feelers to all of them to see if they are interested in a constructive dialogue. With one or two senior functionaries of the ULFA in what is called ``effective custody'', further developments may be on the anvil.

Be it in Assam or its neighbouring States, the main problem seems to be the lack of development in the region. Successive Governments at the Centre and in the States have announced huge packages for the sister-States in the Northeast. They need to go further. While inviting the militants and insurgents for talks, the States and the Northeast Council must simultaneously work on a set of priorities in development. Improving transport and communications, generating employment and providing a market for the produce are some urgent steps the administration in these States must take to send out a strong signal. There is bound to be resistance from the dictatorial leadership of these groups, when they realise that the cadres are deserting them. But care must be taken to provide security to the returning youth and demonstrate that they can be rehabilitated effectively. The cadres have reasons to flee and reject the authoritarian leadership of commanders like Paresh Barua. But they must be shown a viable and attractive alternative in civil society. Mr. Mahanta may not be an inspiring model as a political leader, but he and his colleagues who joined the political mainstream have certainly come a long way. Unfortunately, they have forgotten what they fought for and failed to live up to the expectations of the people. That is the tragedy.

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