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GUWAHATI: One of India's oldest militant groups announced a unilateral ceasefire Tuesday to push forward formal peace talks aimed at ending three decades of insurgency in the northeast state of Assam.
The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the largest separatist outfit in the region, has been fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic Assamese since 1979.
The insurgency has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives.
“The ULFA, with a view to exploring a lasting peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict, resolves to cease all forms of armed campaign for an indefinite period,” ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said in an e-mailed statement received by AFP.
Rajkhowa and several other top ULFA leaders had been released from prison on bail in December 2010, after which they held several rounds of informal peace talks with New Delhi's chief negotiator P.C. Haldar.
They also held a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P.C. Chidambaram earlier this year.
The only hold-out to the peace talks is the ULFA's commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be hiding with around 100 armed cadres somewhere along the Myanmar-China border.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi welcomed the ceasefire declaration, and appealed to Baruah to join the peace process.
“But we cannot wait indefinitely for him to come in, and if his faction tries to create some problems then action will be taken against them,” Gogoi said.
The ULFA leadership used to operate out of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, but the movement was severely weakened by a 2009 crackdown by the Bangladeshi authorities, under pressure from India.
Rajkhowa and other leaders were arrested and handed over to the Indian authorities.
After their release on bail, ULFA softened its stand and dropped the demand for independence as a condition for talks with the Indian government.
