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ULFA-I disbands councils, forms central committee with Paresh Baruah as president
ULFA-I has disbanded its three councils and formed a new central committee, with co-founder Paresh Baruah as president, amid ongoing sovereignty discussions.
Banned militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) on Friday announced a major organisational revamp: disbanding its three councils formed in September 2021 and constituting a new central committee with co-founder Paresh Baruah as its president.
In a statement issued to media organisations, which HT has seen, the outfit said, “In view of present circumstances and after deliberations on all aspects, it was found extremely essential and relevant to disband the three councils and form a central committee unanimously.”
Baruah, 68, a co-founder of the outfit and its self-styled general, was named president of the 24-member central committee. Two senior members — identified by their aliases, Michael Asom and Maitri Asom — were appointed vice-president and general secretary, respectively, according to the statement.
The group did not cite specific reasons for dissolving the three councils — supreme, high, and lower — or for forming the new central body, which includes four women members.
In September 2021, ULFA-I had announced a “structural change”, suspending its constitutional framework to set up three separate councils, with Baruah heading the supreme one. The reorganisation then did not affect the outfit’s military wing, and ULFA-I continued to operate with both political and military divisions.
Speculation over possible peace talks between ULFA-I and the Centre has persisted since May 2021, when the second BJP-led government assumed office in Assam. However, the outfit has repeatedly maintained that the issue of Assam’s sovereignty must be part of any discussions — a precondition consistently ruled out by both the state and central governments.
ULFA was originally formed in April 1979 to establish a sovereign Assam through armed struggle. The group split in August 2012, when several senior leaders laid down arms and entered negotiations, culminating in a peace accord with the Centre in December 2023. The anti-talks faction subsequently renamed itself ULFA-Independent and continues to pursue its stated goal.
