United Liberation Front of Asom chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa arrives at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati on December 31, 2023 after the signing of a peace accord between ULFA and the central and Assam governments in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: PTI Can a peace pact with a faction of an extremist organisation do what six years of agitation to drive out ‘Bangladeshis’ and a follow-up exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) could not? Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma believes it can while conveying a narrowing gap between the Assamese and Bengali communities through a formula to determine who qualifies to be labelled indigenous. On December 29, 2023, the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) signed a tripartite peace deal with the Centre and the Assam government. Unlike similar pacts with other Assam-based outfits, the formal agreement with the ULFA faction did not signal the end of extremism in Assam. This is because the hardline ULFA (Independent) faction headed by Paresh Baruah continues to wage war …