The dreaded militant group United Liberation Front of Assam is back in the news in Assam – this time following the emergence of a viral social media video. Posted by an account known for disseminating the outfit’s propaganda on October 24, the video begins with a young man wearing camouflage fatigues and sporting an AK-47 gun introducing himself as Pankaj Pratim Dutta. “I was till recently the vice-president of the Dergaon unit of AASU [All Assam Students’ Union],” he starts. “But without their knowledge, I have joined the ULFA.”
This video is noteworthy on two accounts, say analysts. First, the social media announcement of recruitment – ostensibly borrowed from the Kashmir militancy, where it is a common phenomenon – is new to Assam. More significant, though, is this alleged crossover of a mainstream student leader to armed insurgency – par for the course during the peak of militancy in the state, but increasingly unheard of in the last decade.