| 28th Battalion, ULFA | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1979-2008 |
| Country | Assam, India |
| Branch | ULFA |
| Type | Guerrilla |
| Role | Shock troops |
| Size | 3 Companies |
| Garrison/HQ | Myanmar |
| Nickname | Kashmir Camp |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Bijoy Das |
| 1st Commander | Tapan Baruah alias Madan Das |
| Announced ceasefire | Mrinal Hazarika |
The 28th Battalion is the most potent strike group of ULFA, the banned terrorist outfit of Assam.[1][2][3] It is also called as the Kashmir Camp.[1] It has its Head Quarter in Myanmar. It consists of three companies – Alpha (A) led by Moon Bora alias Jiten Dutta, Bravo (B) led by Sujit Moran and Charlie (C) led by Joon Sonowal. Mrinal Hazarika was the commander of the battalion.[1][4][5] The battalion was the outfit's main source of funding.[2]
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On Tuesday, June 24, 2008, the A and C company of the battalion announced a unilateral ceasefire to facilitate peace talks with the government.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] More than 200 cadres led by at least five of their top commanders came over-ground[7] and christened themselves as "Pro-talk ULFA faction".[3][7] They give up the demand for independence for Assam and instead seek maximum autonomy for the state. The 'A' company has been active in the eastern Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts as well as in adjoining Arunachal Pradesh. The 'C' company was active in Sibsagar and Golaghat districts. The B company seems to be outside the purview of the truce as its commander Sujit Moran distanced himself from the pro-ceasefire group.[1][6] Meanwhile Mrinal Hazarika made it clear that they will not surrender before the government and will be residing with arms in designated camps set up at Chapakhowa, Tinsukia.[9]
Although it looks like a split in the outfit, senior ULFA commander (pro-talk) Jiten Dutta said that the ULFA is not split and they would disclose everything as to why they had decided to declare the unilateral ceasefire. "Since most of the top leaders and cadres of the 'B' company are at bases abroad, they are not in a position to declare the truce," Dutta said.[1]
After their announcement of ceasefire, the leaders started interacting with various organisations and individuals to mobilise support to their declaration of unilateral ceasefire and the peace process they had initiated. On Sunday, July 7, 2008, Mrinal Hazarika led a delegation of the ‘A’ and ‘C’ company to interact with leaders of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU). An executive of AASU was said to have discussed the appeal of the pro-talk faction for support to their efforts to mobilise public opinion to put pressure on the outfit’s central leadership. On Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Nirjatan Birodhi Aikya Mancha organized a meeting at Sadiya to back the unilateral truce declaration of the battalion.[8]
"Self-styled Captain Mrinal Hazarika, Second Lieutenant Moon Bora and Joon Sonowal have been expelled from the primary membership of the organisation and all activities of these three leaders that they had been doing in the name of ULFA have been declared as “illegal and unconstitutional".
The ULFA C-in-C Paresh Baruah is learnt to have disbanded the 'A' and 'C' companies of the battalion and reportedly issued threats to those compromising commanders,[6] Mrinal Hazarika (Commander of the battalion), Moon Bora alias Jiten Dutta ('A' company commander) and Joon Sonowal ('C' company commander). The outfit had expelled those leaders on Monday July 7, 2008, for “unauthorised declaration of unilateral truce and initiating the dialogue process with the Government of India in violation of the ULFA constitution.” Arabinda Rajkhowa, the outfit’s chairman, appealed to all cadres of the outfit and people of Assam not to extend any cooperation to the expelled persons’ activities.[8]
The 'B' company is merged with the remaining cadres of the 'C' company who have not joined the pro-ceasefire group and Bijoy Chinese have been appointed as the new commander of the battalion.[6]
The pro-talk ULFA leaders Mrinal Hazarika, Prabal Neog and Jiten Dutta in a press meet in Guwahati revealed that they had submitted the charter of demands containing 18 demands to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through Assam's chief minister Tarun Gogoi. The demands include[10]
After we announced the ceasefire, there is complete peace in the entire upper Assam area (eastern Assam) with not a single incident of violence taking place in the past one year. But despite our best efforts and our decision to climb down from our earlier demand of sovereignty or independence to seeking greater autonomy, both the state and the central government simply sat tight and refused to hold talks with us….
Being disheartened at the delay in the talk-process, this pro-talk fraction on Monday, June 22, 2009, threatened to go back to the jungles blaming lack of any government initiative to begin peace talks. The pro-talk ULFA faction leader Jiten Dutta told IANS that after their announcement of ceasefire the entire upper Assam is in complete peace and not a single incident of violence took place in the past one year. He blamed the government and various pressure groups, individuals, organisations and intellectuals of Assam of paying no heed to their peace overtures.[7]
On Thursday, October 29, 2009, the Central government initiated the first round of formal talks with the pro-talk faction of ULFA. Three top leaders of the pro-talk faction -- Mrinal Hazarika, Prabal Neog ang Jiten Dutta participated in an hour-long meeting with Assistant Director of Intelligence Bureau R. N. Ravi, held in a secret location somewhere in Guwahati. They once again reiterated their demands and urged the official to take steps for furthering the peace process. They claimed the meeting to be ended on a very positive note.[3]