For over four decades, one man has remained at the centre of Assam's insurgency. He was always present but rarely seen. Paresh Baruah built his life underground and led a movement that outlived crackdowns, splits, and peace deals.
Baruah was born on February 15, 1957, in Chabua, in Assam's Dibrugarh district. By the late 1970s, the state was in turmoil. It saw unemployment, migration, and a growing belief that its resources were being controlled from outside.
In 1979, a group of young men formed the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Sivasagar. Among them were Arabinda Rajkhowa and Anup Chetia. Baruah was part of this early circle.
The goal was a sovereign Assam. What set the group apart was its method. While the Assam Movement (1979-1985) remained political, ULFA chose armed struggle.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, ULFA grew into an insurgent organisation with Baruah as its key military figure.
The group carried out ambushes, assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings. Funding came through extortion and cross-border networks. In 1990, ULFA attacks, including high-profile killings, triggered a massive state response.
The Centre launched Operation Bajrang and Operation Rhino. Many leaders were arrested, or they surrendered. Baruah slipped out of the country and went to Bangladesh.
After the Centre banned the outfit in 1990, Baruah formed and headed the ULFA's armed wing, the Sanjukta Mukti Fouj, in 1996.
Over time, ULFA's camps spread across the India-Myanmar border. Smaller bases appeared in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Meghalaya. At the organisation's peak, a few hundred cadres operated from these shifting locations.
The network relied on alliances. ULFA maintained ties with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and insurgent groups in Myanmar's Kachin region. Weapons moved through informal routes across borders.
By the 2000s, sustained pressure from the central armed forces weakened ULFA. Internal differences grew. The outfit was now split into two. The faction led by Rajkhowa moved towards talks. The other, led by Baruah, refused.
In 2004, a major blow exposed the scale of ULFA's links. The Chittagong arms haul saw a large shipment meant for ULFA being intercepted in Bangladesh. The fallout forced Baruah to leave the country.
In 2013, Baruah formalised his faction as ULFA-Independent. The split became final when the pro-talks group signed a peace agreement with the central government in 2023.
Baruah has since spoken in favour of China, even commenting on regional issues like visits by the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh. There have also been allegations of past links with Pakistan's ISI.
Baruah once held a low-level job with Indian Railways as a porter. He went underground in the late 1970s but was officially fired in 2010. His last recorded salary was Rs 370.
Since then, he has lived entirely outside the system. In 2018, false reports of his death also spread across the state.
