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Assam : Peace talks with ULFA New Delhi bends, but not much

	July 31, 2006

New Delhi on July 27 said it would remove the “minor” hurdles in the way of a direct dialogue with the ULFA leadership, but stopped short of acceding to its main conditions for talks.



“I want to reiterate that the Government of India is totally committed to holding direct peace talks with the ULFA leadership.



Even if some minor constraints appear in the process, every effort will be made to remove those so that direct talks start at the earliest,” said Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal.



New Delhi’s fresh overtures to bring the banned outfit on board for direct peace talks is apparently in response to the “negative feedback” from ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa in his recent communique to writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami, convener of the People’s Consultative Group (PCG).



Rajkhowa’s letter to Goswami reiterated ULFA’s three major demands. These include the topic of sovereignty on the agenda for talks, the release of five jailed leaders to facilitate in-house consultations before coming for direct talks and the announcement of information about the “status” of some senior ULFA functionaries who went missing during Bhutan’s military offensive in December 2003.



The leaders who seem to have disappeared without a trace are Bening Rabha, Robin Neog and Asanta Bagh Phukan.



Although New Delhi is understood to be reluctant to take the risk of releasing five jailed ULFA leaders before receiving a “direct and clear communication” from the outfit about its commitment to peace, it is being suggested that the Government could facilitate “prior consultation” between ULFA’s underground leadership and their jailed comrades.



“Arrangements can be made to facilitate a quorum in the ULFAcentral committee to decide on direct talks. We will honour our commitment in such a case,” a senior official said.



Sources said the Union Home Ministry expected the outfit to commit in writing that all its units would maintain peace, specify dates for talks according to its convenience and announce the composition of the delegation that would participate in the proposed dialogue. The Government also expects the delegation to include one of the top ULFA leaders.



Official sources privy to the three rounds of preparatory talks between the PCG and New Delhi said Rajkhowa’s insistence on the fulfilment of all ULFA conditions before a dialogue was akin to going back on what had been agreed to before.



“In the joint statement on June 22 (when the third round of talks was held), the PCG expressed satisfaction over the Home Minister’s approach to negotiations. Things were moving in the right direction until this new communique from Rajkhowa (to Goswami). Otherwise, the Assamese are aware of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s deep concern. He has said it more than once that our efforts should be to restore Assam’s old glory, when it had the highest per capita income among all states,” a senior official said.



Intelligence agencies blame “external factors” for Rajkhowa’s “brinkmanship”. In a statement on July 27, the ULFA chairman urged the people of Assam to be vigilant against the “nefarious designs” of the army, which, he alleged, was trying to derail the peace process.





Dispur keeps the faith



Notwithstanding the apparent deadlock in the peace process between the Centre and ULFA, Dispur is “hopeful” of the efforts initiated, among others, by noted writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami paying off eventually.



State Chief Secretary S. Kabilan categorically told the media that there was no reason to fear that the peace process was going to fail because of the seemingly rigid stands adopted by the two sides - New Delhi and ULFA.



“As far as I see there is no deadlock, this is just a hiccup. This does not mean that the Centre has rejected the ongoing initiative. It is only that it has not yet taken a view on the position of ULFA. It also received a letter on July 26,” Kabilan said, alluding to the appeal submitted by Goswami to the Home Ministry on July 27. The senior bureaucrat, however, did not set any timeframe for the impasse to end. “Such exercises take time to fructify given the nature of the issues involved,” Kabilan said, trying to put things in perspective.



Appreciating Kabilan’s views, the celebrated writer said from New Delhi that she has in her letter to Home Secretary V.K. Duggal on July 26 conveyed the difficulties being faced by ULFA in naming its team of negotiators with the Centre if its five jailed central committee members were not released.



An official source said in New Delhi that the Union Home Ministry could “disengage” the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) from the peace process and initiate “secret mediation” with ULFA if a direct dialogue between both sides does not materialise soon.



An official source in New Delhi said the Home Ministry was tired of the deadlock and could try out a different strategy if the ongoing process fails to yield a result. “The decision, however, will be taken only if the Centre becomes sure that no forward progress can be made from the current status (of the peace process). Unfortunately, we are approaching that position fast,” he said.



As the ULFA-New Delhi battle of attrition intensified, protests against army operations in Tinsukia district gathered momentum, too. Residents of Makum staged a demonstration in front of the deputy commissioner’s office.





The trigger for the campaign was the death of a youth, Prabhat Gogoi, during an operation by armed forces in his village on Wednesday. He fell into a river and drowned while reportedly fleeing from the army team.



An army statement said it “unilaterally” called off the operation after arresting the ULFA activists responsible for a recent incident of firing at Philobari. Two women members of the outfit were arrested during the operation.



Denying that soldiers had chased any civilian, the army described the frenzied pro-tests as part of a conspiracy by “vested parties” to force the armed forces to step aside and give ULFA militants a free run.





Rebels in hotel clash with Army



An exchange of fire between suspected ULFAmilitants and army personnel inside a hotel in Margherita town of Tinsukia district on July 28 left five persons injured.



Sub-divisional police officer Sujit Thakur said a seven-member team from the army’s 19 Kumaon Regiment raided a hotel in Margherita town around 8 pm on receiving information about the presence of ULFA militants there.



A “scuffle” between the suspected militants and the army personnel, all in civvies, led to firing by both sides. Three of those wounded were identified as Sanju Bora of Simaluguri, Jayanta Kalita of Duliajan and Dipen Gogoi of Sapekhati.