The Assam Accord of 1985 didn't bring permanent peace to the state and seemed to have delivered only discord and divisions, says a new book.
Signed between the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the leaders of the Assam Movement, the Accord polluted the politics of the state and spawned insurgency, claims Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty in her book "Assam: The Accord, The Discord".
"The common people were caught in a bind; they didn't know who was the enemy, who a friend - the state or non-state actors," she says.
According to her, Assam's is an old story, where each player, in the course of time, has become both a victim and a perpetrator in each other's eyes.
"Each player is wounded, exhausted, bitter."