Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday mounted a strong defence of the peace accord with the pro-talks United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), asserting that the pact provided the “highest level of protection” to the indigenous people of the state.

Dwelling on the memorandum of settlement (MoU) signed by the Ulfa, and the central and Assam governments in Delhi on December 29, Sarma said he wanted to draw the attention of the people of Assam to “two aspects” of the accord dealing with the rights of the indigenous people.

“One of our biggest achievements in 2023 was the delimitation exercise carried out by the Election Commission. The outcome has ensured only Assamese people, those living in the state for centuries, will win in 96 to 98 of the 126 Assembly seats in Brahmaputra Valley and eight of the 12 seats in Barak Valley. Together, the delimitation has ensured that only indigenous people will win 106 of the 126 seats,” Sarma said.

According to Sarma, the Ulfa peace accord has gone further in ensuring the political rights of the indigenous Assamese people. The accord has “ensured” that the same delimitation principle/criteria followed in 2023 by the Election Commission will be followed in the next delimitation to ensure the rights of the indigenous remain protected.

In a bid to dispel claims by a section, including Opposition political parties, that the pact does not reflect the Ulfa’s struggle to protect the indigenous people in which thousands lost their lives, the chief minister has said those who “question” what the Ulfa has achieved should know that the EC’s delimitation protected the rights of the indigenous people in the first stage.

“The Ulfa accord now has ensured that the same 2023 delimitation principle will be followed in the future, irrespective of the principle followed elsewhere in the country,” Sarma asserted.

The pro-talks Ulfa faction had been negotiating “constitutional, political and economic safeguards” for the identity of the indigenous population as well as rights to land and other natural resources.

The Ulfa movement was launched in 1979 to establish a “sovereign and socialist Assam”, triggered mainly by the threat posed by the influx to the identity, culture and language of the Assamese people.