Rajkhowa - from student leader to India's most wanted

By Syed Zarir Hussain, Guwahati/Dhaka, Dec 2 : For 30 long years till his arrest, Arabinda Rajkhowa remained a fugitive much sought after by Indian security forces, staying the better part of that period abroad, mainly in Bangladesh under various aliases.

His real is name is Rajib Rajkonwar, son of late Uma Rajkonwar and Damayanti Rajkonwar, of Lakwa village in eastern Assam's Sivasagar district. His both parents were ardent followers of Mahatma Gandhi and believed in his philosophy of non-violence.

On April 7, 1979, Rajkhowa and four others, including the outfit's self-styled commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, met at the historic Rang Ghar, an amphitheatre of the 16th century Ahom royalty, in eastern Assam's Sivasagar town and founded the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

It is said the ULFA was an offshoot of the anti-foreigners movement launched same year by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) - a violent agitation against illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

Ironically, Rajkhowa found refuge in Bangladesh in his later years when on the run from Indian authorities.

Friends and close confidants of Rajkhowa said he always talked about the threat to the indigenous Assamese population from the Bangladeshi migrants, besides frequently accusing New Delhi of plundering the region's natural resources. And he alleged 'step-motherly' treatment meted out to Assam by successive central governments.

Before he founded the ULFA, Rajkhowa was a leader of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), a radical students' group in Assam, that also espoused similar views - oust from the state illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and accused New Delhi of discriminating against the interests of Assam.

Rajkhowa, 53, a college dropout (he studied till class 12), decided to form the ULFA with a view to creating an independent homeland in Assam.

Since then, Rajkhowa was popularly known in the outfit as 'Sir' or 'Chairman Sir' with all the rank and file addressing him by these titles.

Married in the late '80s to Kaveri Kachari, then a budding poet and a student at the Gauhati University, Rajkhowa spent the initial years of his married life in the jungles of Assam and Bhutan.

The couple has two children. Kaveri and the two children are believed to be living in Bangladesh still.

A sharpshooter who was able to handle both small and heavy weapons, Rajkhowa and other top ULFA leaders in the initial few years operated out of bases in the eastern Tinsukia district.

In the beginning, the ULFA managed to inspire the common Assamese with an ideal of an independent state.

But then the ULFA's image got a beating in the late '80s when the outfit resorted to ransom killings of businessmen and individuals.

On Nov 27, 1990, the first full-fledged military operation, codenamed 'Operation Bajrang', was launched against ULFA with the army uprooting its main base in the Lakhipathar forests in Tinsukia district.

Since then the ULFA is on the run, but managed to strike at its targets - vital installations, security forces and selected individuals.

It was after the 1990 operations that Rajkhowa and other top ULFA leaders fled Assam and initially took shelter in Bhutan.

Then came 'Operation All Clear' by Bhutan and ULFA leaders were forced to take shelter this time in Bangladesh and continued staying there until three days ago when Rajkhowa was arrested by Bangladesh police and handed over to India.

Rajkhowa was always seen as the moderate face of the ULFA and very often talked of a political settlement to the insurgency problem - a sharp contrast to the stand taken by Paresh Baruah.

The generally taciturn Rajkhowa during his underground days traveled under fake passports of countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Bhutan.

Since 1997, Rajkhowa is sought by Interpol on various charges of murder, kidnappings, and extortions carrying the maximum penalty of death, according to Assam police.

It is an irony that ULFA leaders decided to operate out of Bangladesh for long as the outfit was formed against the backdrop of the 'oust Bangladeshi' agitation in Assam.

--IANS