|
Assam : ULFA for political level talks |
 |
Citing the NSCN (IM) experience to bolster its claim that negotiations with bureaucrats lead nowhere, the ULFA-constituted People’s Consultative Group has insisted on “political-level talks with Delhi from the very beginning”.
The statement comes barely a month before the consultative group’s second round of talks with Delhi.
The nine-member panel, whose brief is to do the spadework for an ULFA-Delhi dialogue, said National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan must be present at every discussion to “ensure continuity”. Narayanan has been in the picture since writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami initiated the peace process.
Human rights activist Lachit Bordoloi, who is a member of the consultative group, said the Naga peace process got “bogged down at times” because Delhi left everything to bureaucrats. “To avoid a similar fate, we will insist on the presence of a minister and Narayanan in all rounds of talks to ensure that the process progresses smoothly and effectively.”
The ULFA’s team of mediators, which met in Guwahati last week, decided not to allow the same to happen to the peace process in Assam. The group reviewed the peace process exactly a month after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in New Delhi.
Bordoloi said the group would raise the topic of “fake encounters” during the second meeting. Two more issues on the agenda are the release of a few jailed militant leaders and the demand for information on ULFA members missing since the military offensive by Bhutan in December 2003.
On whether the consultative group discussed the emergence of an anti-talks faction of ULFA, he said: “After discussing the issue, and based on the feedback received so far, we came to the conclusion that some manipulative forces are at work to derail the peace process.”
A statement issued by ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa accused the Centre and Dispur of propping up the so-called anti-talks group.
No-confidence motion against Govt. defeated
The Congress party heaved a sigh of relief when on December 1, the Tarun Gogoi government survived the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition. Speaking against the Motion, Ripun Bora, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, gave the government a powerful start, backed by facts and figures. Subsequent speakers Himanta Biswa Sarma, Idris Ali and Tarun Gogoi rubbed it in by exposing the Opposition’s lack of strategy and exploiting the split in the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). Later, the motion was rejected by voice vote.
|
