Chetia revealed that ULFA-I chief Paresh Barua confirmed the deaths of Nayan Asom and Pradeep Asom in two successive drone attacks, allegedly conducted by Indian forces.
BY PC Bureau
Guwahati, July 15 — A day after drone strikes reportedly targeted United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) camps across the India-Myanmar border, voices within Assam are intensifying their push for renewed peace talks—warning that retaliatory violence could threaten the state’s hard-earned peace.
Former ULFA general secretary and peace interlocutor Anup Chetia on Monday urged the Centre and Assam government to engage the banned outfit politically rather than pursue punitive action. “I appeal to the government not to brand ULFA as terrorists, but to open channels for dialogue. This is a political issue and demands a political solution,” Chetia said in a statement to Guwahati media.
Chetia revealed that ULFA-I chief Paresh Barua contacted him after the drone strike and informed him of multiple casualties. “According to Barua, commander Nayan Asom died after refusing to abandon two ailing comrades during the strike. He was hit while trying to help them. Another militant, Pradeep Asom, was killed in a second drone attack during the funeral rites,” Chetia said.
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The strikes—carried out in the early hours of Sunday, reportedly by over 100 drones deployed by the Indian Army’s 3 Corps—targeted two key ULFA-I locations: the Diamond Camp near Hoyat village and a mobile headquarters at Waktham, both situated in Myanmar territory. While Army has denied the operation ULFA and Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) as well Cheitya have confirmed the incident..
A defence spokesperson, Lt Col Mahendra Rawat, maintained that “there is no input from the Indian Army regarding such an operation.” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also stated that “no attack was launched from Assam soil” and distanced state police from the incident. “Let us wait for official confirmation from the armed forces,” Sarma said on Sunday.
Despite denials, the impact is reverberating across Assam’s civil society and political corridors.
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The Asom Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) also expressed serious concern over the fallout of the attack. “ULFA-I has refrained from armed activities for nearly nine years. There was hope that peace talks would begin. But this strike, which killed Nayan Asom, Pradeep Asom, and Ganesh Asom, risks derailing the fragile climate for negotiation,” said AJYCP president Palash Changmai. He described the scale of the operation as “Assam’s Pulwama moment,” adding that “over 20,000 youths have died for this cause. Negotiation is the only way forward.”
