>বিকাশ দিহিঙ্গীয়া at 14:28, 8 January 2022

2022-01-08T14:28:28Z

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{{Infobox criminal
| name = Arabinda Rajkhowa
| image_name =
| image_size =200px
| image_alt =
| image_caption = ULFA Chairman
| birth_name = Rajib Rajkonwar
| birth_date = 1953
| birth_place = Ujoni Konwargaon,<br>[[Sibsagar]], [[Assam]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| alias = Mijanur Rahman Choudhury
| motive =
| charge = Waging war against India, Abduction, murder, commission of terrorist acts and disruptive acts.<ref name="ef">{{cite web|url=http://assampolice.com/departments/cid/lookout/wanted_rajib.htm|title=Most Wanted|publisher=Assam Police|accessdate=4 December 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091212094910/http://assampolice.com/departments/cid/lookout/wanted_rajib.htm| archivedate= 12 December 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>
| conviction =
| conviction_penalty =
| conviction_status = Arrested
| occupation =
| spouse = [[Kaveri Kachari]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sentinelassam.com/mainnews/story.php?sec=1&subsec=0&id=26201&dtP=2009-11-08&ppr=1|title=Top ULFA leaders produced in court, in police remand|date=November 7, 2009|publisher=The Sentinel|accessdate=2 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719035650/http://www.sentinelassam.com/mainnews/story.php?sec=1&subsec=0&id=26201&dtP=2009-11-08&ppr=1|archive-date=19 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="gh">{{cite web|url=http://news4u.co.in/?p=45702|title=ULFA Chief Rajkhowa, Raju Baruah to be produced before Court|date=December 5, 2009|publisher=News4u|accessdate=6 December 2009|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716221423/http://news4u.co.in/?p=45702|archive-date=16 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| parents = Umakanta Rajkonwar (Father)<ref name="ab">{{cite web|url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/ULFA-chairman-Arabinda-Rajkhowa-arrested-in-Bangladesh/548924/|title=ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa arrested in Bangladesh|last=Kashyap|first=Samudra Gupta|date=December 2, 2009|publisher=Expressindia.com|accessdate=2 December 2009}}</ref><ref name="cd">{{cite web|url=http://www.zeenews.com/news583903.html|title=ULFA chief held in Bangladesh; deportation likely |date=December 2, 2009|publisher=Zeenews.com|accessdate=2 December 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091203174432/http://www.zeenews.com/news583903.html| archivedate= 3 December 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><br> Damayanti Rajkonwar (Mother)<ref name="ef" /><ref name="mn">{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_arabinda-rajkhowa-s-brother-wants-to-take-custody-of-wife-and-children_1320808|title=Arabinda Rajkhowa's brother wants to take custody of wife and children|last=PTI|date=December 6, 2009|publisher=DNA India|accessdate=10 December 2009}}</ref>
| children = Khamsheng Bohagi Rajkumari (Daughter)<br> Aicheng Rajkonwar (Son)<ref name="gh" />
}}

'''Arabinda Rajkhowa''' ([[Assamese language|Assamese]]: (real name '''Rajiv Rajkonwar'''), alias '''Mijanur Rahman Choudhury''', is the Chairman of the banned group [[ULFA]]. He is one of the founder members of the group.<ref name="gh" /><ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="mn" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.indian/2008-02/msg00141.html|title=Ang ang Bharat ka toot raha hain|last=Kaleem|first=Javed Iqbal |date=2008-02-11|accessdate=2009-10-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/Ulfa.htm|title=United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) - Terrorist Group of Assam|accessdate=2009-10-05| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091117092038/http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/terrorist_outfits/ulfa.htm| archivedate= 17 November 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="kl">{{cite web|url=http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Reports+of+my+arrest+a+ploy,+says+ULFA+chief&artid=bTpsAPdGK48=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SEO=Rajhkowa,+ulfa,+assam,+india,+bangladesh&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120511225012/http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Reports+of+my+arrest+a+ploy,+says+ULFA+chief&artid=bTpsAPdGK48=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SEO=Rajhkowa,+ulfa,+assam,+india,+bangladesh&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 May 2012|title=Rajkhowa: One of India's most wanted|last=Hussain|first=Syed Zarir|date=3 December 2009|publisher=Express buzz|accessdate=9 December 2009}}</ref> He was also the Vice-President of the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front.<ref name="Who’s afraid of the ULFA">{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyId=20829 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103120831/http://www.indianexpress.com/story_print.php?storyId=20829 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-03 |title=Who’s afraid of the ULFA? |date=2007-01-13 |publisher=Indianexpress.com |accessdate=2009-10-12 }}</ref> He was a leader of the ''Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad'' (AJYCP), a radical students' group in Assam, before he founded ULFA.<ref name="gh" />

==Personal life==
He was born to freedom fighter Umakanta Rajkonwar and Damayanti Rajkonwar, ardent followers of [[Mahatma Gandhi]],<ref name="ef" /><ref name="gh" /><ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="kl" /> in 1956 in Ujani Konwargaon under Simaluguri in [[Sibsagar]]. By profession, he was a schoolteacher. He is said to be a soft-spoken and is fluent in nearly half a dozen languages.<ref name="Who’s afraid of the ULFA"/>

In the late 1990s, Rajkhowa married [[Kaveri Kachari]], a budding poet of that time. They had to spend the initial days of their marriage in jungles of Assam and Bhutan. They have two children<ref name="kl" /> Khamsheng Bohagi Rajkumari (Daughter) and Aicheng Rajkonwar (Son).<ref name="gh" />

==Arrest==
On late Monday night, 30 November 2009, Bangladesh Police arrested Rajkhowa somewhere near [[Dhaka]]. He has been handed over to the Indian authorities.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/guwahati/ULFA-s-Rajkhowa-arrested-in-Bangladesh-say-sources/Article1-482197.aspx|title=ULFA's Rajkhowa arrested in Bangladesh, say sources|date=December 2, 2009|publisher=Hindustantimes.com|accessdate=2 December 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20091205081506/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/guwahati/ULFA-s-Rajkhowa-arrested-in-Bangladesh-say-sources/Article1-482197.aspx| archivedate= 5 December 2009 | url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="ij">{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091206/jsp/frontpage/story_11828699.jsp|title=Support makes duo defiant- Crowd turns Ulfa rebels into heroes|last=Staff Reporter|date=December 6, 2009|publisher=The Telegraph|accessdate=7 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630021243/https://www.telegraphindia.com/1091206/jsp/frontpage/story_11828699.jsp|archive-date=2016-06-30}}</ref> Meanwhile, according to North East TV channel, [[ULFA]] chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa claimed that reports of his arrest were aimed at creating confusion and derailing the peace process in Assam. "I am speaking to you from the same location in Bangladesh where I normally speak from. Those who say that I have been arrested are deliberately trying to create confusion. They want to derail the peace process in Assam even before it can begin," he reportedly told North East TV channel. But intelligence sources claim Rajkhowa had surrendered to Indian security forces in [[Agartala]] and was taken to New Delhi by a flight on late Wednesday.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/Rajkhowa-says-reports-of-his-arrest-aimed-at-derailing-peace/482510/H1-Article1-482494.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125014/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/Rajkhowa-says-reports-of-his-arrest-aimed-at-derailing-peace/482510/H1-Article1-482494.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 6, 2011|title=Rajkhowa says reports of his arrest aimed at derailing peace|date=December 3, 2009|publisher=Press Trust Of India|accessdate=4 December 2009|location=New Delhi}}</ref> On December 5, 2009, Rajkhowa along with his bodyguard Raja Baruah and the group's deputy C-in-C{{clarify|date=September 2013}} [[Raju Baruah]] were produced before Robin Phukan, the chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup.<ref name="ij" />

==Public reactions and surrender==
Rajkhowa rubbished police's claim that they had surrendered. “We have not surrendered, we will never surrender", he cleared his stand as they were produced in court before Robin Phukan, the chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup. They emerged as heroes among the crowd for having denied their surrender. They got the biggest boost when public encouraged them not to surrender shouting - "Surrender ''nokoribo''" (Do not surrender). The leader obliged the crowd saying "surrender ''nokoru moi'' (I will never surrender)”. “If I would have surrendered then I would not have been brought to the court handcuffed,” he said. The crowd filled up the air with slogans like "ULFA ''Zindabad''" and "Rajkhowa ''Zindabad''" (Long live ULFA & Long live Rajkhowa) the moment they appeared in the court premise.<ref name="ij" />

==Release==
Rajkhowa was released on bail from the Guwahati Central Jail on 1 January 2011. He was granted bail by a special TADA court Thursday after the government prosecutor gave no objection to Rajkhowa's bail petition. After his release he said that they were ready for unconditional peace talks with the government, but a formal decision to this effect could be taken at their executive meeting once all jailed leaders are released.

Although wife Kaveri and their two children were captured along with him, police had let off his family with no charges slapped against them. Rajkhowa's family has since been settled in his ancestral home in Lakwa in eastern Assam's Sivasagar district.<ref>http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ULFA-chairman-Rajkhowa-released-from-jail-/articleshow/7199918.cms#ixzz19mBFflUF ULFA chairman Rajkhowa released from jail - The Times of India</ref>

==Family==
Rajkhowa's family consists of his wife Kaberi Kachari, 13-year-old daughter Khamsheng Bohagi Rajkumari and 5-year-old son Gadadhar. His family members had also been caught although they were set free since no pending cases were there against them.<ref name="gh" />

Rajkhowa's elder brother Ajay Rajkonwar reportedly told that he wants to take custody of his brother's family so that their 97-year-old mother could meet them. "We are ready to take custody of Kaveri and the two children -- 13-year-old daughter and five-year-old son -- and take them to our mother at Lakwa in Sibsagar. If Kaveri wants to stay back for the group's organisational work, we have nothing to say," he said to reporters.<ref name="mn" />

==See also==
*[[ULFA]]
*[[Sanjukta Mukti Fouj]]
*[[People's Consultative Group]]
*[[List of top leaders of ULFA]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajkhowa, Arabinda}}
[[Category:People from Sivasagar district]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:ULFA members]]

Arabinda Rajkhowa - Revision history

>বিকাশ দিহিঙ্গীয়া at 14:28, 8 January 2022