Paresh Baruah, commander-in-chief of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), still loves a good game of soccer. But a guerrilla's gruelling routine doesn't allow him that luxury. At 14, Baruah played for the Dibrugarh district team as goalkeeper. Two years later the boy from Jeraigon made it to the Assam junior team. By the time he was 18, Indian Railways had offered him a job.

Baruah let go the offer. He took to militancy instead, and formed the ULFA with Arabinda Rajkhowa to fight for a separate Assam in 1979. Ever since, life has been a non-stop marathon for Baruah, who believes he would have represented India had he continued playing soccer.

With Assam's independence as his goal, Baruah has fought and dodged the security agencies several times. Once they missed him narrowly in a Bangkok hospital where he was recovering from an operation. He escaped when he realised they were closing in. The Interpol issued a red-corner notice against him following the killing of social worker Sanjoy Ghose in 1997.

Talking over phone from an undisclosed location, Baruah said the ULFA had suffered substantial losses but would continue the fight.



Excerpts from an interview:

From goalkeeper to rebel chief, how would you describe the transition?
Why do you want to remind me of those days? I loved soccer, I still fancy a good, hard game. But every man has a destiny. The Assam agitation came, and our lives changed forever. Like many Assamese of my generation, I realised Assam was a colony of India, exploited for its rich resources but given a raw deal. The leaders of the agitation thought their voice would be heard in Delhi. I had no such illusion.
The AGP leaders may be against us now but once they were very much with us. They talked revolution. They send us off to the jungles and stayed on the streets to become ministers when the chance came. They will pay for betraying Assam.

Have you achieved your goal?
We went into the agitation with the burning anger of being exploited by Delhi. But the movement slowly turned against the minorities. The ULFA believes in Assam's independence and it believes that as a multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious society, independent Assam will be a truly federal state.
Unless Assam is federal and its various regions enjoy enough autonomy, it will go the same way as India. We respect the distinct identity of every single ethnic group in Assam but we expect them to stand by us in our fight against India.

If India had been a genuine federal state, would it have faced separatist movements such as yours?
India can never be a centralised nation-state. Many different races, believing in different religions and speaking different languages live here. They have their own distinct history, tradition. Many of these regions, like Assam, were never a part of India. So, India could have only survived as a confederation. If the leaders of India's nationalist movement had accepted a confederation, maybe there would have been no partition. Every region would have lived its own way and the whole of South Asia would have prospered.

But given the ground reality, do you think Assam's independence will ever be possible?
The ground reality is that India is losing its control over the regions. So it is concentrating on increasing its armed might. Look at India's recent defence budget.
Ten years ago, no one thought East Timor will be free. Twenty years ago, no one thought the Soviet Union will crumble. A nation-state will survive only if it is inherently cohesive. That's not the case with India. Many regions are forced to stay in India. Like Assam, they are exploited. Our tea, our oil is taken away and we get nothing out of it.

But can you achieve independence?
I think we can. India will be forced to give up its position, bow to international pressure and negotiate on Kashmir. Once they agree to do it, it will open a Pandora's box.

Is your struggle linked to Kashmir?
We have nothing to do with Pakistan. But we do support the Kashmir struggle. Kashmir has a distinct identity like Assam.

Do you support an independent Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan?
We support Kashmir's independence. We said that during the Kargil war.

India says your movement has Pakistan's backing.
That's absolute rubbish. We are nobody's pawns. We buy our own weapons, we have build up a big war fund over the years. Our first batch was trained by the Kachin Independence Army of Myanmar. It trained the subsequent batches as well.

Do you buy your weapons from south-east Asia? From the blackmarkets on Thai-Cambodian border?
How can I tell you that? I can only say that every single weapon my boys have used has been bought with our own funds. With the money raised in Assam.

Is it true that business houses in Assam have contributed to the war chest?
I can tell you, everyone who does business in Assam has paid up. Everyone, small or big. The Tatas made so much fuss, they blamed smaller officials for maintaining links with us, whereas the truth was their bosses met me in Bangkok and said that since they cannot pay us money, they would like to pay in kind. So we asked them to give us war material. If not weapons, things like communications equipment. They liked the idea.
Why only business houses? Even ministers in the present Asom Gana Parishad government have paid us. Agriculture Minister Chandramohan Patowary gave us Rs 7 lakh in 1987 when he was on the verge of being dropped from the AGP cabinet. Former home minister Bhrigu Phukan donated Rs 30 lakh in 1988. We send a new batch of recruits to Kachin for training with that money. Transport Minister Pradip Hazarika gave us several M-20 pistols. The AGP leaders may be against us now but once they were very much with us. They talked revolution. They send us off to the jungles and stayed on the streets to become ministers when the chance came. They will pay for betraying Assam. [All the ministers denied the charges.]

How many batches of ULFA recruits did the Kachins train?
Our first batch was trained in 1986. It was led by our chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and myself. The second batch was trained in 1988. Two more batches went there for training, but slowly we built up our own infrastructure. The Kachins were very demanding when it came to money. So we had to make our own arrangements. During my stay in Kachin, I fought the Burmese army when it attacked the training base.

What about the recent offensive by the Burmese army on your camps?
It was a joint offensive by the Indian and the Burmese armies. Two bases we shared with the NSCN-Khaplang group were attacked. We lost six fighters and the NSCN seven before we retreated. This was near Tohu in Sagaing division of western Burma. India and Burma lost about 30 soldiers. The Indian army has denied it but I am sure it sent two columns in a pincer movement. The Burmese also sent two columns. But we fought our way out.
It gives me no pleasure to fight the Burmese. We have no historical or territorial problems with them. It is unfortunate that they are getting involved against us. They are falling into the Indian trap.

Was it after this attack that Khaplang offered to start talks with India without preconditions?
We have been on the best of terms with Khaplang but this is something we do not support. They should know that the Issac-Muivah faction of the NSCN got nowhere after negotiating with India for more than three years. Talks on India's terms will not get the Nagas anywhere.

But Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta says that ULFA is a member of the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front (IBRF), of which Khaplang is the chairman. And that if Khaplang starts talks you will follow suit.
When Mahanta offered safe passage we started bombing his ministers. If you want to fight us, come out and fight. Don't talk of safe passage. None of us wants it.
How can Mahanta fight us with such poor intelligence? He should know that we left the IBRF in 1995 because we had no claims on Burmese territory unlike the Nagas. But we maintained relations with Khaplang. We wish them good luck but Delhi has not even bothered to respond to their offer for talks.

Are you suggesting that rebel groups such as yours will always lose out if you negotiate with Delhi?
No, no, I am not saying that. We are not against negotiations. But we want it on our terms. If India agrees to discuss Assam's independence and the talks are held under UN mediation in some foreign country, we will surely talk. If any group negotiates without pre-conditions, it will lose.

How do you react to the government's safe passage offer during the Bihu festival?
That's rubbish. We expect the Assam government to stop these childish acts. Safe passage can be no substitute for substantive political negotiations. This government provides my boys safe passage after killing a lot of their relatives. Mahanta says his heart bleeds for my boys because they have not met their parents for long. This is the same man who mobilises the Sulfa [surrendered ULFA cadres] to kill our relatives.
My own brother, Rajkhowa's brother and four family members of our publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary have been killed. That's why when Mahanta offered safe passage we started bombing his ministers. I cannot stand this hypocrisy. If you want to fight us, come out and fight. Don't talk of safe passage. None of us wants it.

What have you got to say about US President Bill Clinton's south Asia visit?
Clinton's visit makes it clear that that the region is getting more and more importance in American policy. We hope that he can extend his healing touch to the region. We want the US to actively intervene to resolve the Kashmir and the northeast disputes. We want an East Timor-like solution in Assam. That will be possible only if there is active UN mediation under the US leadership.