ULFA-I drone strike fallout: Ex-cadre, student body push for dialogue

Former rebel & student group say bombings risk derailing fragile trust built over years of relative peace;

Update: 2025-07-14 12:21 GMT
ULFA-I drone strike fallout: Ex-cadre, student body push for dialogue

Over 100 drones were launched targeting two key bases of the outfit in Myanmar, on Sunday. (AT Photo)

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Guwahati, July 14: A day after reported drone strikes allegedly carried out by Indian forces targeted United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) camps in Myanmar, voices advocating negotiations with the banned outfit have grown louder in Assam.

Former ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia, on Monday, urged both the Centre and state governments to initiate peace talks instead of branding the proscribed outfit as a terrorist group.

“I appeal to the government to open channels for negotiation with ULFA rather than focus on bringing them to justice. The issue is political and requires a political solution,” said Chetia, now an advocate for peace talks.

Chetia also said he had received a phone call from ULFA-I commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, who informed him about the casualties suffered during the attack.

“According to Paresh Barua, Nayan Asom had asked his comrades to take shelter in a trench during the drone strike but stayed back to care for two ill cadres. He died in the process. Later, while conducting the last rites, another drone strike killed Pradeep Asom,” said Chetia.

He warned that the state’s hard-earned peace could unravel if retaliatory violence followed.

“Assam has seen stability under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Investors are finally showing interest. But if ULFA-I retaliates, it will shatter the environment of peace. I urge the Government of India or whoever is responsible to seek resolution through dialogue,” Chetia added.

Echoing similar concerns, the Asom Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) said the airstrikes might derail the fragile environment that was slowly being built towards negotiations.

“For the past nine years, ULFA-I has refrained from militant activities. There was hope that talks would begin. But Sunday’s strike, which killed Nayan Asom, Pradeep Asom, and Ganesh Asom, could seriously jeopardise that process,” said AJYCP president Palash Changmai.

He described the scale of the attack as comparable to the Pulwama strike of 2019. “Over the years, about 18,000 to 20,000 youth have sacrificed their lives for this cause. The only way forward is through negotiation,” Changmai stressed.

Earlier on Sunday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, speaking to the press after the news of the attack flashed, clarified that the state police had no role in the strikes.

“There is no involvement of Assam Police. No attack was launched from Assam soil. Let’s wait for verified facts. Generally, such operations are followed by official statements from the armed forces. So far, there has been none,” Sarma said on Sunday.

While the Indian Army has officially denied involvement, multiple sources confirmed to The Assam Tribune that the strikes were carried out in the early hours of Sunday by the armed forces, targeting two key ULFA-I bases in Myanmar—the Diamond Camp near Hoyat village and a central mobile headquarters in Waktham, both in Myanmar.

Sources said more than 100 drones were deployed from forward bases of the 3 Corps headquartered in Rangapahar, with reconnaissance and target coordination conducted over several days.

Defence spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, however, maintained, “There is no input from the Indian Army on such an operation.”

With the situation on edge, voices from across civil society are calling for restraint—and for a renewed push toward dialogue.

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