Centre-ULFA talks | GoI, Assam Govt, ULFA sign Memorandum of Settlement in Home Minister’s presence

New Delhi, Dec 29: In the presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah, a Memorandum of Settlement signed between the Government of India (GoI), the Government of Assam, and representatives of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in New Delhi on Friday.

An official spokesman in a statement issued to Press Information Bureau (PIB) issued here said that the agreement was a significant milestone to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful, prosperous, and insurgency-free Northeast and bringing everlasting peace, prosperity, and all-round development of Assam.

Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Government of Assam were also present during the signing of the Memorandum of Settlement.

On this occasion, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that today was a golden day for Assam when peace was going to be established in Northeast and Assam, which had been bearing the brunt of violence for a long time.

He said that after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, efforts were made to bridge the gap between Delhi and Northeast and talks with everyone started with an open mind.

Shah said that under the guidance of PM Modi, the Ministry of Home Affairs worked with the vision of a Northeast, free from extremism, violence and conflict.

He said that in the last 5 years, nine peace and border-related agreements had been signed with different states in the Northeast, establishing peace in a large part of the Northeast.

The Union Home Minister said that on record over 9000 cadres had surrendered and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) had been lifted from 85 percent area of Assam.

He said that due to the tripartite agreement signed on Friday between the Centre, the Assam government and ULFA, PM Modi’s government had achieved success in eliminating all the violent groups in Assam.

Shah said that today's agreement was very important for peace in Assam and the entire Northeast.

He said that under today's agreement, ULFA representatives had agreed to abjure the path of violence, lay down all their arms and ammunition, and disband their armed organisation.

The Union Home Minister said that apart from this, ULFA had also agreed to vacate all camps occupied by its armed cadres, engage in the peaceful democratic process established by law, and maintain the integrity of the country.

He said that in the ULFA conflict, about 10,000 people from both sides were killed, who were citizens of India, but today this problem is being completely resolved.

Shah said that the Centre had agreed to provide a huge package and several big projects for the all-round development of Assam.

He said that PM Modi’s government would comply with all provisions of the agreement.

The Union Home Minister said that after the formation of the Modi government in 2014, violent incidents in Assam decreased by 87 percent, deaths by 90 percent, and kidnappings by 84 percent.

He said that so far 7500 cadres had surrendered in Assam alone, which would have an addition of 750 more today, thus the surrender of 8250 cadres in Assam alone was the beginning of a new era of peace.

Shah said that PM Modi’s government had signed the NLFT agreement in 2019, Bru and Bodo in 2020, Karbi in 2021, the Adivasi agreement in 2022, the Assam-Meghalaya border agreement, the Assam-Arunachal border agreement and agreement with UNLF in 2023 and today, with ULFA.

He said that with this agreement today, a new era of peace was going to begin for the entire Northeast, especially Assam.

The Union Home Minister said that a time-bound programme would be made by the MHA to fulfill the demands of ULFA and a committee would also be formed for its monitoring.

He said that in all the agreements signed after 2019, the Modi government was ahead of time and efforts had been made to fulfill all the conditions.

Shah said that this would not have been possible without PM Modi's broader vision of an insurgency-free Northeast.