TRUCE TEST

An end to the decades-old armed insurgency is the best thing that Assam can hope for. A ceasefire by the United Liberation Front of Asom will be the first big step towards that promise of peace. A ceasefire by the Ulfa need not be seen as a victory for the Indian State in its battle against one of the longest insurgencies in the Northeast. The Ulfa may have realized long ago that its fight for a “sovereign” Assam had been doomed from the beginning. The outfit never had any hope of achieving its impossible mission by waging a war against the Indian State. Most of the Ulfa’s senior leaders, including its chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, have come to accept that a democracy can be flexible enough to accommodate ethnic and other aspirations of the people. Talks, however flawed, can settle issues which guns cannot force. Thirty-odd years of the Ulfa’s insurgency not only led to unnecessary killings and destruction of property but also spoiled Assam’s chances of emerging into a modern economy. Several generations of Assamese youths were drawn into the insurgency without quite knowing what exactly they were fighting for. Mr Rajkhowa and his comrades owe it to future generations of the Assamese to lay down their arms once and for all.

However, a ceasefire is not necessarily a guarantee for peace. Both the Ulfa and the governments in New Delhi and Dispur have to be careful to make the ceasefire work. Both sides can draw from the experiences of the truce between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah. Despite occasional hitches, the ceasefire has worked in Nagaland primarily because both sides avoided confrontationist positions. Nagaland’s example can also be a guide to action for the peace talks in Assam. After all, the ceasefire is meant to prepare the ground for the talks. Mr Rajkhowa would like his followers in the Ulfa and the ordinary Assamese to believe that the ceasefire is not an abject surrender to New Delhi. There never was any question of New Delhi or Dispur accepting any secessionist demand. In fact, the Ulfa leaders can benefit from the Naga peace talks and move faster on issues that are less controversial. Once the Ulfa declares the ceasefire and lays down arms, no time should be lost in starting the countdown for permanent peace in Assam.