A leader of the influential All Assam Students’ Union, who went missing a month ago, has joined an outlawed extremist group that “provides the only platform for the State to defeat India’s colonial design”.
Pankaj Pratim Dutta, vice-president of a central Assam unit of the AASU, uploaded a video on social media on Wednesday claiming to have joined the Paresh Baruah-faction of the United Liberation Front, or ULFA-Independent. He had gone missing from Golaghat district’s Dergaon in September.
“I apologise to AASU members for taking the decision to join ULFA-I without informing them. I firmly believe there is no alternative to ULFA-I in protecting the existence of Assam through the fight for sovereignty. Once warriors, we the Assamese are forced to bow before the Indian government on every issue,” Dutta said in the video, holding an AK-47 automatic rifle.
AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said the union had been worried after Dutta went missing. “He is the first student leader to join the ULFA in more than 15 years,” he said.
Officials of the Assam police’s intelligence wing said there have been reports of ULFA-I carrying out recruitment drive, particularly in eastern Assam. “There is no reason yet to think this has become a trend,” a senior officer said.
Dutta’s claim of joining the extremist group has coincided with protests against the NDA government’s bid to pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.