Paper no. 1307	28. 03. 2005
UNITED LIBERATION FRONT OF ASSAM (ULFA) – A Deviated Movement?  by  R. Upadhyay Background of the Movement: Violent political movement as we see today in Assam, is deeply rooted to the question of the socio-cultural matrix of its indigenous people.  Until the advent of the British present day Assam was under the continuous rule of Ahom king and isolated.  The British annexed this heartland of Northeast India in 1826 and brought it under the provincial administration of Bengal. They also brought English knowing educated Bengalese for assisting in administration and thereby opened a floodgate for the Bengali-speaking people particularly Muslim peasantry to migrate from the densely populated Bengal to the fertile lands of Bramhaputra valley. Bengali officials, who held important positions in administration managed to introduce Bengali as the language of the courts and Government schools of Assam in 1837. The British also ignored the demand for replacement of Assamese as language of courts and of educational institutions. However, as a result of protracted protests by Assamese intellectuals, Assamese became language of schools and the courts. The linguistic clash of the migrant Bengalese and the native population therefore, generated a socio-cultural conflict between the two groups..  After partition of Bengal in 1905 Bengali speaking areas of both East and West Bengal like Cachar, Sylhet (Now in Bangladesh), and Goalpara came under the administrative control of Assam province. With the reconstitution of its colonial geography followed by increased flow of Bengali speaking population, the British created a permanent ground for the cultural conflict in the region. “Treating Assam as a land frontier of Bengal” was the approach of British officials. This created a general assumption that Assam was an extension of Bengal, which left a deep anti-Bengali imprint in the psyche of ethnic people of Assam. Since then Assamese started regarding the Bengalese as alien like the British. Gradually, a hate-Bengali syndrome became a part of Assamese psyche.  Though, large scale influx of Bengali speaking peasantry in Assam converted its waste lands into cultivable fields and helped in development of its economy, exposure of this otherwise closed society to new socio-political environment adversely affected its socio-cultural scenario and created mistrust between the two major linguistic groups namely Assamese and Bengalese. "Assamese people consider the Bengalese as a hostile ethnic group guilty of committing cultural genocide in Assam" (Encyclopaedia od North-East India - H.M.Bareh, Volume II, Mittal Publication, Delhi, 2001,Page 194).    Despite their hatred of Bengalis, Assam remained closely linked to the cultural current of India and ethnic Assamese fought shoulder to shoulder with the freedom fighters against the British power. But in 1946 they differed with Congress High Command on Cabinet mission proposal for regrouping of Assam with Bengal. It was all due to their stiff opposition that Assam could be saved from going into the bag of Pakistan. In fact the central leadership in Congress had virtually accepted the regrouping of Assam with East Bengal, which meant its inclusion in Pakistan. The event however, gave a first emotional blow to ethnic Assamese and created their emotional distance from the centre.  After Independence the flow of large-scale Hindu refugees from East Pakistan to Assam aggressively increased and disturbed its demographic balance. The   Assamese middle class took it as a threat to their marginalisation in their own land. In 1950 with a view to countering linguistic chauvinism of Bengalese, Assam Sahitya Sabha, a literary organisation adopted a resolution and demanded that Assamese should be accorded the status of Assam’s official language. Asom Jatiya Mahasabha (Assam National Assembly - formed in 1936), a socio-cultural organisation submitted a memorandum to Sri Prakash, President of Refugee Rehabilitation Committee, which reflected the Assamese apprehension of Bengali imperialism and creation of Greater Bengal in their State. The memorandum said:  "The problem of Bengal refugees in Assam definitely means a vision of the creation of Brihattar Bang Samrajya (Greater Bengal Empire), based on Bengalism of Bengali language in which combined efforts of a powerful section of Bengali speaking old settlers of Assam, West Bengal, East Pakistan and also of Bengali settlers in other parts of India, who think themselves more in terms of Bengali than Indian can easily be seen from the trend of their mentality and movements. Behind the Bengali refugee relief movement as carried on by the Bengalis and their persistent effort to rehabilitate them in Assam beyond her capacity, lies this motive aimed at disruption of the strength of the Indian Union for a sovereign Bengal" (Language Politics in Assam by Sandhya Goswami, Ajanta Publications Delhi, 1997, page 28).   Divisive language conflict particularly after reorganisation of States on the principle of linguistic majority followed by demand for giving official language status to Assamese met with strong opposition from the over 16 percent Bengali speaking population of Assam. This linguistic conflict gradually turned into a major political controversy in the state. This was the beginning of language agitation in. Assam, when All Assam Students Union (AASU) came on the streets. The language riot in 1960-61 caused a number of deaths on both sides. Even though Lal Bahadur Shastri could resolve the crisis with his three-language formula, the decision of Gauhati University in 1972 to introduce Asssamese as language in college education regenerated the language conflict in the state. However the controversy was defused after intervention of D.K.Barua, a powerful  Assamese Minister in Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet, who suggested restoration of English as medium of instruction in college.   The immediate fallout of the language agitation was the division of Assam, which reduced its geographical boundary after creation of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizorum and Arunachal Pradesh as new States.  Several tribal groups like Bodo, Rabha, Cachari, Koch, Hajong, Mikir and others with their majority in different pockets of this State also raised their voice against Assamese hegemony and are still demanding separation from Assam.   The Sino-Indian War in 1962 and a sense of helplessness in the expression of the then Prime Minister Nehru's address to the nation created a general impression that Assam was lost to China. It had practically shaken the confidence of the Assamese in the Central Government. This second emotional blow further widened the emotional distance of the people of Assam from centre and sowed the seeds of separatism in their psyche. Besides, economic exploitation, neglect in development projects, corruption, unemployment also added fuel to the fire.   Taking advantage of widening emotional distance of ethnic Assamese from centre, AASU came to the centre stage of Assam politics. It raised the question of large-scale foreigners' migration to Assam and demanded their detection, deletion of their names from voters' list and also their deportation to Bangladesh. The agitation with full support of Assamese middle class created a political controversy as lakhs of Bengali speaking Hindu refugees and Muslim infiltrators from erstwhile East Pakistan and subsequently from Bangladesh also became a political force in the state. The main dispute between the agitating students and the Government was over the cut-off date to determine the arrival of illegal migrants in Assam. The AASU maintained that all the migrants after independence should be declared as foreigners.   It was a most difficult task to distinguish the pre-Independence Bengalese settlers in Assam from those, who came to Assam after Independence. Since the Government failed to tackle the crisis, a violent section in AASU  established an armed militant organisation namely United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) on April 7, 1979 "with a purpose of liberating Assam from the illegal occupation of India". Its leaders like Arbind Rajkhowa;  chairman, Paresh Barua; chief of staff, Pradeep Gogoi; vice-chairman and Anup Chetia; general secretary gave a militant manifestation to the movement. The Naga insurgency in the region prompted the ULFA leaders to adopt the path of ethnic insurgency in the state. .   Path of Separatism: Adopting extra constitutional means to protect the socio-economic ecology of Assam, ULFA leaders raised the issue of Assamese nationalism and gave it a militant and radical turn. They maintained that India's national mainstream had no meaning  when the country's leadership failed to meet the aspiration of their people. They argued that independent political power was the only option for the organised ethnic group of this State that remained in seclusion for centuries. For them ethical solution to socio-economic and socio-political malady could be possible only through revolutionary changes it could be evolved only by independent political power.   On June 8,1979, AASU gave a twelve-hour call for general strike in support of their demand for “detection, disenfranchisement and deportation” of foreigners. ULFA leaders actively participated in this Assam Bandh call and its complete success with full support of ethnic Assamese worked as a catalyst for acceleration of its secessionist movement.    The Assamese people, who had gradually developed an emotional distance from the centre under Congress Government for overlooking the illegal migration for its short term political game found ULFA as their saviour. On August 26, 1979 some of the political, cultural and literary organizations including Assam Sahitya Sabha also joined the movement and formed a common platform known as Asom Gana Sangram Parishad(AGSP - Committee for the Assam People’s Struggle) with a view to coordinate a statewide campaign on this issue. The people of Bengali descent particularly the Muslims formed All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) to counter the agitation, which was basically against them. They demanded that all immigrants, who came to Assam before 1971 be formally granted citizenship. They also held protest demonstrations on the days of further strike calls given by AASU, which led to violent conflict between the two.   Assam Accord: After six long years of agitation, the Assam Accord was signed between Government of India and the movement leaders in the early hours of August 15, 1985. Both the parties agreed for March 25, 1971, the day Bangladesh came into existence as cut-off date to determine the foreigners! . It was decided to deport the immigrants from Bangladesh who crossed over to Assam after the cut off date. It was also decided that those immigrants who crossed over to Assam after 1966 would be debarred from franchise for ten years.   Jubilation all over Assam following the accord was celebrated as a political victory of AASU. The AASU leaders then formed a political organisation namely Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which contested Assembly elections in December, 1985. The AGP with a landslide victory formed its Government led by Prafullo Kumar Mohanty..   The Parliament had already passed the Illegal Migrants Determination of Tribunal (IMDT) Act in 1983, which proved Government's acceptance to the presence of foreign nationals in Assam. But, indifference of the Government to implement the   provisions of the accord particularly the identification of undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh gradually caused frustration among the common Assamese. Pressure from the Muslim leaders in Congress, who had formed United Minorities Front (UMF) with a view to countering the implementation of the accord, was the main reason behind the indifference of the Government towards its implementation.   Path to Terrorism: Taking advantage of the AGP in power the ULFA gradually grew up as a violent terrorist group and emerged as a parallel Government in Assam. Its leaders also started conducting trials of people involved in various crimes and also blackmailed them for money. Since leaders of AASU, ULFA and AGP were from the same set of people, who started the language agitation with a common goal to establish the socio-political domination of Assamese people in the State, it became difficult on the part of AGP Government to check the menace of ULFA. "The cynical characterisation of the same set of people as ASSU in the morning, Government (AGP) at midday and ULFA at night cannot be just laughed away" (Muslims in Assam Politics - 1946-1991 by M.Kar, 1997, Vikas Publishing House Private Limited, New Delhi, 1997, page 421).   Failure of the AGP Government in putting pressure significantly on the centre for implementation of Assam Accord disillusioned its supporters and its popularity began to decline. "The AGP Government not only failed to maintain law and order, but had in fact it encouraged ULFA and the ASSU to take law in their own hands”. "The reasoning behind the unwillingness on the part of the AGP regime to confront the ULFA lies in its eagerness to keep the terrorists actively alive to retain its anti-centre leverage" (Ibid. page 425). "The dual membership that existed between the AGP and the ULFA naturally made the administration helpless in tackling the issue.  Establishing contact with ISI of Pakistan and other insurgent groups in North East like National Socialist Council of Nagalin (NSCN) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Myanmar, ULFA emerged as one of a dreaded terrorist groups. It indulged in violent crimes including kidnapping of prominent businessmen for extortion and killing civilians and Government officials to create terror in the State. The largest and wealthiest tea-growing and oil producing areas of Dibrugarh-Tinsukia sector of Assam was their major operational area from where the ULFA drew its financial sustenance. It indulged in kidnapping tea garden officials for huge ransoms, drug trafficking and extortion. The ISI of Pakistan, Karen National Union (KNU), an anti-government guerrilla group in Myanmmar, Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), National Socialist Council of Nagaim (NSCN) etc were major arms suppliers to them..  Army Operation: When AGP Government failed to control the unlawful activities of ULFA, the centre imposed President's rule in the State in November1990 and declared ULFA an unlawful organisation under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.  ‘Operation Bajrang’ conducted by Army could control the menace of ULFA to some extent. The operation was suspended in April 1991 and Assembly elections were held the same year in June. The Congress defeated the AGP and formed its Government led by Hiteshwar Saikia.    The ULFA took the defeat of the AGP as a challenge and resumed its violent activities.  The Army had to launch another operation, known as ‘Operation Rhino’ in September 1991. Initiative of Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia and pressure from army made about 4000 ULFA cadres to surrender to the Government. ‘Operation Rhino’ was withdrawn and the Government used surrendered members of the ULFA (known as SULFA) for assisting in counter insurgency measures.   The Government took up peace initiative and ULFA sent a five-member delegation to Delhi in January 1992. S.B.Chavan, the then Union Home Minister and the Prime Minister Narsimha Rao held talks with the ULFA leaders but on their return from Delhi the latter went under ground and managed to bring back most of the SULFA cadres to their camps.   The AGP returned to power in 1996 Assembly election, which came as a boon for ULFA to accelerate its militancy. However, strong counter insurgency measure taken up under unified command of army and para-military forces not only weakened the ULFA considerably but also forced its leaders to take shelter in neighbouring foreign countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. The AGP Governments peace initiative for a political resolution  failed because of the precondition of ULFA leaders on their core demand of sovereignty.   Ideological Deviation: Illegal migrants from Bangladesh was an issue of prime concern for ULFA in the year of its birth. But latter it had no inhibition to shake hands with the same country for its secessionist move. Contrary to its initial ideological stand, it revised its concept of Assamese identity to accommodate the illegal migrants from Bangladesh that constitute the largest number of foreigners in Assam. Now it replaced the word illegal migrants from Bangladesh by illegal migrants from India in its writings and calls its movement as Indo-Assam Conflict.   The ULFA, which came to its existence to stop migration from Bangladesh gradually, abdicated this ideology and is now helping Islamic militancy as collaborator to Bangladesh and Pakistan. "A militant movement that came into existence to protect the rights of an indigenous people has done a complete about-face in order to endanger its original parish - and ULFA members are allying themselves with the same people they want to oust from Assam" (Terror Sans Frontier:Islamic Militancy in North India by Jaideep Saikia, Ford Fellow, July 2003, page 17).   The Statement of AGP leader and Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mohanti in the floor of Assembly on April 6, 2000 indicated that the ULFA turned into a fallen movement "According to the Chief Minister's report, confessional statements of many ULFA leaders including the organisation's Vice-Chairman, Pradip Gogoi, have stated that the Pakistani officials in their High Commission in Dhaka arrange passports for the ULFA in various Muslim names. The Chief Of Staff of ULFA, Paresh Barua, for instance travels to Pakistan under the name Kamarudin Zaman Khan, an alias, he has been provided with by the ISI" ( Jaideep Saikia, Ford Fellow in his paper 'Terror Sans Frontiers:Islamic Militancy in North East India - July 2003).   Paresh Barua denied any links with ISI and stated in ULFA's fortnightly newsletter: "The alleged link of the ULFA with ISI and other foreign agencies is only a heinous conspiracy of New Delhi, aimed at nullifying the legitimate liberation struggle of the people of Assam" (Ibid).  The paper of Saikia however, asserted, "The ISI has clearly won the 'Upper Assam restraint' round, and analysts are of the opinion that the ULFA is completely in the control of the Pakistani Intelligence Agency' (Ibid.).   In May 2001 Assembly elections Congress defeated the AGP and formed its Government led by Tarun Gogoi. Gogoi also took the peace initiative but a new stand of ULFA Chairman Arabindo Rajkhoa for a referendum in the state over sovereignty issue created deadlock. Killing of innocent people mostly of Hindi speaking belt in different parts of Assam compelled a large number of business men to leave the state. It also caused heavy economic loss, which also affected the common Assamese.   ULFA in stead of restoring the socio-cultural and sovereign political identity of Assam, which was endangered due to large-scale influx of migrants from East Pakistan/Bangladesh submitted to the latter for creating disorder and expansion of Islamic militancy in Assam. Bangladesh launched a proxy war on behalf of Pakistan against India. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan are now using ULFA leaders as their agents to expand Islamic hegemony in North-East. Commanding operations from the soil of Bangladesh ULFA leaders are involved in creating violent disturbances in the state. Deviating from its core agenda to fight against unabated migration from Bangladesh they are now captive in the hands of Bangladesh and Pakistan and cannot take their own decision.  Today most of the top leaders of ULFA are leading a luxurious life style even with their family members in Bangladesh. Excerpt from the interrogation report of an arrested ULFA cadre, John Barua .. is reproduced below: " … Paresh Barua, Chief of Staff of ULFA has a four-room apartment in a three-storied building in Dhaka's Green Road. ……… Paresh Barua stays in this apartment with his wife Bobby Hazarika alias Anwara Begum aged 37-38 years and their two sons Arindam aged 8 and Baby aged 5. Paresh Barua uses a 1000 cc car, which is of Japanese make. The color of the vehicle is coffee brown and Shahidul alias Kalita of Mirza, an ULFA cadre drives the car….the children of Paresh Barua address their parents as Ammi and Abbu and speak Bengali and are accustomed to Muslim culture and tradition… Paresh Barua, Pranjit Saikia, Dristi Rajkhowa and Shahidul go and play football in Dhaka's Sansad Bhawan every morning from 5am to 8.30AM"( ACDIS Occasional Paper by Jadeep Saikia, Ford Fellow, Program in Arms Control Disarmament and International Society, July 2003, page 24). The paper also revealed some violent operations carried out by ULFA in Assam as revealed by another interrogate.   According to news paper report "ULFA runs a school in Bangladesh that reportedly teaches Assamese to people from Bangladesh who are desirous of illegally migrating into Assam"(Insurgency in North-East India: The Role of Bangladesh - Dipankar Sengupta -Sudhir Kumar Singh, Authorspress, Delhi 2004.). The report therefore suggests that ISI with its full control on ULFA is determined to execute its conspiratorial design to destablise Assam and balcanise it on the basis of religion with a view to take revenge of humiliation after bifurcation of Pakistan. Unfortunately, the successive governments at centre never took up the infiltration issue with Bangladesh seriously due to power politics of the respective political parties, which does not want to displease the Muslim voters of the country.   Initially ULFA drew its recruits mostly from those cadres of AASU, who regarded non-Assamese as alien exploiters and believed in extreme socio-cultural ethos of Assam. But in due course of time it had no inhibition to support other insurgent groups in the region for tactical reasons.   The ULFA movement, which was rooted to ethnic chauvinism, also set a pattern for a number of ethnic groups in Assam to demand secession from Assam or from India. Prominent among such insurgent groups include, Bodo Security Force (BSF), National Democratic Front of B! odoland (NDFB), Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT), United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), Dimasa National Security Force (DNSF), Dima Halim Daoga (DHD), Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA), Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), United Tribal Nationalist's Liberation Front (UTNLF), Hhar People's Council (HPC) Rabha National Security Force (RNSF), Tiwa National Revolutionary Force (TNRF), Bengali Tiger Force (BLT),  Adivasi Security Force (ASF), People's United Liberation Front (PULF), , Gorkha Tiger Force etc.   Infiltration from Bangladesh: The ULFA was supposed to protect Assamese identity from the threat of demographic invasion from Bangladesh, which still continues. The joint operation of both Bangladesh and Pakistan for Islamic expansionism in Assam through infiltration has caused an alarming rate of growth in Muslim population of Assam.    According to 1991 Census figures while four districts of Assam had Muslim majority whereas other five districts had Muslim population varying from 32.74 percent to 49.17 percent. "Although the 2001Religion census is yet to be declared, an independent analysis that was conducted seems to show that there has been a sizeable growth in population among Muslims in Assam. It records that as a community the Muslims had registered an increase of 16.17 percent growth in 2001 figures”. The district wise figures as per 1991 Census are:   District -Muslim population Dhubari - 70.45 % Goalpara - 50.80 % Barpeta   - 50.07 % Hailakandi - 54.79 % Bongaigaon - 32.74 % Morigaon - 45.31 % Nagaon    - 47.19 % Karimganj 49.17 % Cachar     - 34.49 %   The 1991 Census figures in Assam showed the increase of Muslim population from 24.56 percent in 1971 to 28.53 percent in 1991. If the decadal growth of Muslim population in Assam is taken into consideration it might have increased to over 31 percent by now. Contrary to the growth rate of Muslim population in this state, its Hindu population decreased from 72.51 percent in 1971 to 67.13 percent in 1991. Decrease rate of about 5 percent in 20 years against 4 percent growth of Muslims might have reduced the Hindu population to about 62 percent by now. Since the indigenous people of State are mostly Hindus such trend in the growth of Muslim populations if allowed to continue a day is not very far when Assamese identity will turn into Muslim identity. Assam under Islamic subjugation would then become another Kashmir.   Report on 'Illegal Migration into Assam as submitted to the President of India by he Governor, Lt. Gen.(Retd.) S. K. Sinha in 1998 "warned that if the present trends are not arrested, the indigenous people of Assam would be reduced to a minority and there may, in course of time, be a demand for the merger of Muslim dominated bordering districts with Bangladesh" (Insurgency in North-East India: The Role of Bangladesh - Dipankar Sengupta -Sudhi! r Kumar Singh, Authorspress, Delhi 2004). A report “worked out by the Group of Ministers headed by the Union Home Minister in 2001 noted that more than 15 million illegal immigrants have entered India over the last five decades …” (Ibid. Page 72-73).   The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India in a booklet entitled ‘ULFA Alienated’ with a sub-titled ‘Bleeding Assam (1999)’- condemned ULFA as a "most treasonous unit in the North-East". Highlighting the statements of its top leaders as an attempt to stab its own people on their back, it remarked: "Jaichand was a patriot compared to ULFA". It also quoted Chandra Prasad Saikia, President, Assam Sahitya Sabha saying, "No Assamese, even in the remotest part of the State will help Pakistan and support ULFA's support to it. The ULFA does not represent Assamese, they represent only themselves". Arbinda Rajkhowa, chairman of ULFA was quoted saying, "India has been occupying Assam illegally like Kashmir, which was never an integral part of India".   Present status of ULFA:  ULFA is reportedly commanding three active armed battalions and is in possession of sophisticated weapons. It is running training camps in neighbouring countries with the help of ISI and other insurgent groups. In the last quarter of 2004 Government of Bhutan took a tough stand against ULFA. The King of Bhutan personally commanded his army and demolished all the ULFA camps  from his territory. Even though ULFA lost its credibility to a great extent due to 'lumpenisation' of its cadres and killing of innocent civilians, it continues its militancy in the state in association of other terrorist groups and is still a force to reckon with.   The separatist violence of ULFA has shed the blood of thousands of people including innocent civilians during last twenty-five years but in stead of reducing the danger against which it has been fighting, it has only aggravated it. It has now joined hands with the same forces, which are responsible for  adding to the plight of Assamese. Its compromise with Bangladesh and Pakistan in encouraging Islamic militancy and abatement to Illegal migration therefore, eroded its popularity to a great extent but ethnic Assamese are still not ready to fully disown it.  Underlying sympathy for ULFA among the ethnic Assamese are still the unresolved key issues and its main strength.   Conclusion: ULFA was born like a cub to protect its territory from the poachers of Bangladesh. Ironically, it jumped into the circus ring of Islamic expansionists jointly managed by Pakistan and Bangladesh, which occasionally release and command it only for creating devastating disorder in Assam. It wants secession from India without realising the ground reality that how the various ethnic groups who hardly have anything in common with ethnic Assamese would react if the State is separated from India. Will it again seek help from ISI or other agencies inimical to India for maintaining its hegemony over them? Or will it prefer to become their colony?   In view of the changing historical reality of the country, ULFA’s dream for political destiny of Assam being separate from India, which disappeared following the reconstitution of its colonial geography on the eve of partition – may not come true. Perhaps  only the people of Assam could convince the ULFA leaders to join the national political current and save the aggravated crisis of their identity from the threat of Islamisation and socio-economic degeneration of their motherland.  The flip side is that the Government of India should pay greater attention to the North East. Instead of looking at problems from the vote bank politics, there is need to understand the genuine grievances of the Assamese and redress  the past wrongs. Assam may be geographically too far away but they are a great people with a sense of history and belonging to proud cultural milieu. They need understanding and respect.  Bibliography: ·  Executive Intelligence Review ·  Insurgency or Ethnic Conflict by S.C.Sharma, Magnum, 2000. · India’s North-East – The Process Challenge and Development by R.K.Samanta, B.R.Publishing Corporation, 1994. · India’s Nporth-East, by P.S.Dutta, Har Anand Publication, 1992. · Ethnic identity, Ethnicity and Social Stratification in North-East India by N.K.Das, Inter-India Publications, New Delhi, 1989. ·  Encyclopaedia of North-East by S.K.Khanna, Indian Publishers, 1999. ·  Encyclopaedia of North-East India, by H.M.Bareh,  Mittal Publications, 2001. · Challenge to India’s Unity by D.P.Kumar, B.R.Publishing Corporation, Delhi 1990. · Assam: A Burning Question by Hirendra Nath Gohain, Spectrum Publications, Gauhati, 1985. ·  Muslims in Assam Politics - 1946-1991 by M.Kar, 1997, Vikas Publishing House Private Limited, New Delhi. · Language Politics in Assam by Sandhya Goswami, Ajanta Publications Delhi, 1997 ·  Insurgency in North-East India: The Role of Bangladesh - Dipankar Sengupta -Sudhir Kumar Singh, Authorspress, Delhi 2004. · India – Against Itself by Sanjib Baruah, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 19! 99. · ACDIS Occasional Paper 'Terror Sans Frontiers: Islamic Militancy in North East India - July 2003 by Jadeep Saikia, Ford Fellow, Program in Arms Control Disarmament and International Society.   (Email :ramashray60@rediffmail.com)
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