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WOMEN CADRES IN ULFA INSURGENCY: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE
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Author(s):
ANGKITA DUTTA , DR. RENA LAISRAM
Vol - 9, Issue- 3 ,
Page(s) : 264 - 270
(2018 )
DOI : https://doi.org/10.32804/IRJMSH
Abstract
Narratives of women insurgents in India have not received the attention it deserves, since they have most often than not been marginalized by the society at large for transgressing gender norms as guerilla fighters in outlawed organizations. In the context of Assam in Northeast India, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA hereafter) was founded in 1979 CE with the objective of establishing a sovereign, independent Assam through an armed struggle. They recruited women cadres who were attracted to the idea of a Swadhin Axom or ‘independent Assam’. These mobilised groups were mainly young teenage school - going females and formed only about 10-12 percent of the total cadres of ULFA. In general, the recruits join the insurgent outfit organization with the aim of breaking stereotype female gender roles; ready for active combat engagements. However, they are mainly employed as over-ground workers, to supply ration and as couriers.
- Gender refers to a structural relationship of inequality between women and men based on perceived sex difference, which is manifested in society, politics, economy, ideology and in culture. Norms of gender prescribe how men and women are supposed to be, act, behave, look like etc. Gender has traditionally been used to designate the ‘amount of masculinity or feminity in a person. Gender assignment is a special case of gender attribution which occurs only once –at birth; and gender identity refers to an individual’s own feeling of whether she or he is a woman or a man, girl or boy. For details see Suzanne J. Kessler and Wendy Mckenna, Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach, New York, 1978, pp. 7-8.
- ULFA was formed by Paresh Baruah and his associates in Sivasagar, Assam. From 1990s the outfit became increasingly engaged in terrorist activities such as bomb blasts, kidnappings, extortions etc. The strength of the insurgent group is not exactly known although it is believed to have been at least about a few thousands around the early 21st century. In the past decade many cadres have surrendered which include about two hundred women. See https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/ulfa.htm. Accessed on 28 January 2018
- Kalita, Rakhee M. The Women Rebel and the State: Making War Making Peace in Assam, Review of Women’s Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLIX Nos. 43 and 44, p. 66-73, Novenber 2014; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326722817_The_Woman_Rebel_and_the_State_httpswwwepwinauthorrakhee-kalita-moral, Accessed on 30 April 2016
- A case in point is that of Babu Basumatary, a class 10 student and a trained kickboxer who joined ULFA in 2018.
- Tejesh Kumar, ‘Arrest Spills Use of Women Cadres’, The Telegraph, dated 18.06.2015, Guwahati; https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/arrest-spills-use-of-women-cadres/cid/1389260; Accessed on 23 January 2017
- The personal interviews and case studies were conducted in Sivasagar district, Assam during March–September 2017.
- In Myanmar, the number of militants being trained there in 2017, is given as five hundred which includes both men and women. www.asianage.com. (Baruah, Sanjib Kr., “Surging ULFA (I) cadres in Myanmar camps belie Govt claim”, The Asian Age, dated 30 August 2017; http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/300817/surging-ulfa-i-cadres-in-myanmar-camps-belie-govt-claim.html, Accessed on 15 November 2017)
- The All Assam Students’ Union or AASU is a students’ organization best known for spearheading the Assam Movement against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Founded in 1967, the foreigners movement lasted for six years and ended with the signing of the Assam Accord and subsequent formation of a political party called the Asom Gana Parishad which won the elections in the state and formed a government in Assam.
- Das, Samir (1994), ULFA: A Political Analysis, New Delhi: Ajanta Publication.
- Phanjoubam, Tarapot (1993), Insurgency Movement in North-Eastern India, New Delhi:Vikas Publishing House, Pvt Ltd..
- There are two types of armed conflicts, viz; international armed conflict-between two or more Staes; and the other non-international armed conflict between governmental forces and non-governmental armed groups. See ICRC. How is the term “Armed Conflict” defined in International Humanitarian Law? Opinion Paper, March 2008. https://www.icrc.org. Accessed on 2 June 2017.
- Hussain, W., (2006), Home-Makers without the Men: Women-Headed Households in Violence-Wracked Assam, New Delhi: WISCOMP.
- The AFSPA-58 gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in the declared ‘disturbed areas’.
- Das, P. (2015), “AFSPA and the operation of Unified Command Structure in Assam” in Alaka Sarmah and Shubhrajeet Konwar (eds.), Frontier States: Essays on Democracy, Society and Security in Northeast India, Guwahati: DVS Publishers.
- Goswami, R., Shreekala MG, et. al, “Women in Armed Conflict Situations”, A Study by NEN, Accessed 13 March 2018, URL: http://www.northeastnetwork.org/women-in-armed-conflict-situations-a-study-by-north-east-network/
- Drahoňovská, S., ‘Women Rights in Conflict Zones: A focus on India’, Human Rights Law Network, (2010); https://hrln.org/; Accessed on 12.02.2018
- Mahanta, N.G., Confronting the State: ULFA’s quest for sovereignty, SAGE Publications, New Delhi, 2013.
- See N.G. Mahanta, N.G. (2013), Confronting the State: ULFA’s Quest for Sovereignty. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Milko, J., (1992), “Beyond the Persian Gulf: Expanding the Role of Servicewomen in the United States Military”, in American University Law Review 41, no. 4: 1301-1337.
Half-widow is a term given to women whose husbands have disappeared or are missing in armed conflict zones. The women have no idea whether their husbands are still alive or dead.
Rashmi Saksena, She Goes to War: Women Militants of India, Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2018
Operation Bajrang was launched in November 1990; one of the biggest operations ever against the ULFAs in which a number of camps and hideouts were busted but the top leaders could not be arrested. Operation Rhino was launched in September 1991 after Assam was declared ‘disturbed’. The escape routes to neighbouring states were sealed and many ULFA cadres were arrested or killed.
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