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Assam : ULFA in talks gambit

	June 20, 2005

The Government’s initiative to rope in the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in the dialogue process has suffered a setback as the outfit threw a spanner in the peace process by ruling out a political dialogue until the government arranged for the release of three of its leaders from Bhutanese military custody.

Jailed ULFA veteran Bhimkanta Buragohain, who is believed to be in touch with the outfit’s top leadership through those who visit him in prison, said the trio - Bening Rabha, Ashanta Bagphukan and Robin Neog - must be present at ULFA’s central committee conclave for the outfit to take a decision on starting negotiations.

Buragohain, who was produced at a designated TADA court, said all three were captured by the Royal Bhutan Army during Operation All Clear in the Himalayan kingdom in December 2003. ‘We were together till December 24, 2003. After that there has been no news of them. They have to be produced and released along with seven of us because the ULFA constitution stipulates that the central committee cannot take any decision without a quorum.’

The militant leader claimed the trio was kept in a Royal Bhutan Army camp after their arrest.

Using anonymity to circumvent the ban on officials speaking to the media without authorisation, a state Home Department functionary said ULFA had cleverly included Rabha, Bagphukan and Neog in the list.

‘The outfit’s leadership knows that the government cannot produce those on whom there has been no news since Operation All Clear.’

On whether the government had cleared the hurdles in the way of releasing those jailed in Assam, the official said: ‘Even the Chief Minister has made it clear that there will be no problem in releasing the jailed leaders. But the other three are actually missing and it is almost impossible to produce them.’



AGP on the verge of a split, Mahanta may float a new party

On the political front, the opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is on the verge of a split with former party president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and current president Brindaban Goswami locking horns.

Reports from Guwahati speak of Mahanta floating a new party as Goswami is in no mood of showing any leniency towards the former party president who has been served with a show cause notice accusing him of indulging in anti-party activities.

Legislator Gunin Hazarika, one of the influential persons in the Mahanta camp, unsuccessfully tried to convince senior AGP leaders to review the show cause notice served on the former chief minister.

A seven-member delegation from the party’s Nagaon unit, including Hazarika, district president Atul Sarma and Girindra Kumar Borua, met Goswami twice to plead with him to be ‘lenient’ towards Mahanta and avoid a split before the Assembly elections. The AGP chief, however, said he had no option but to abide by the steering committee’s decision.

The steering committee, which last met on Saturday last, gave Mahanta 10 days to reply to allegations.

Atul Bora, a member of the AGP’s Nagaon unit, said a new party with Mahanta at the helm was now almost a certainty. ‘We pleaded with Goswami to withdraw all old and new charges against Mahanta and also made it clear to him that if he were to be expelled or suspended from the party, we will have to look for an alternative course.’

Mahanta loyalists will meet at the Nagaon District Library on June 22 to chalk out their strategy. ‘Party workers from outside the district might attend the meeting, too, but we do not want to disclose the agenda,’ the source said.

The steering committee relieved the former chief minister and AGP founder of all responsibilities in August last year, citing damage to the party’s image because of his ‘controversial personal life’. Mahanta loyalists immediately floated an ‘open forum’ to press for his reinstatement. In February, the party acquitted Mahanta but did not reinstate him in the central committee. The second salvo at Mahanta followed his alleged attempts to cobble up a ‘third front’ and certain remarks against the AGP leadership.



Goswami to be party’s candidate for Chief Ministership

Reports say that in a bid to strengthen Goswami’s grip on the AGP, the steering committee has formally decided to project him as the party’s candidate for the chief minister’s post in the run-up to the Assembly elections early next year.

“The party will contest the elections under Goswami’s leadership and is prepared to form a non-Congress government in the state under him”, the steering committee resolution said.

Former Defence Minister and NDA convener George Fernandes, who was in Assam last week, rubbed salt into the AGP’s wounds by referring to Mahanta as the party’s president. On being asked whether he met the AGP chief to discuss his plan for a ‘united anti-Congress front’ in the state, he told the media: ‘I am talking about AGP president Mahanta only. My scheduled meeting with him has been cancelled.’



Bodo accord celebrations fizzle out

The hype surrounding the ‘celebration’ of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland’s truce with Delhi fizzled out on the eve of the big event with several major Bodo organisations declining to participate in it on one pretext or another.

Convened by the All Bodo Peace Forum, the rally in Udalguri had been billed as a show of Bodo unity. A disappointed Bhramon Baglary, secretary of the peace forum, said there was little he or anybody else could do if major organisations withdrew their support at the last minute.

The organisations that have decided not to be a part of the event include the influential All Bodo Students Union, the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), the All Bodo Women’s Welfare Federation and the All Bodo Employees Federation.

In another development, the Adivasi Cobra Militants of Assam (ACMA), which is under ceasefire since 2001, has urged Dispur and Delhi to hold a round of tripartite talks with it before June 30.

Zabrius Kakra, who leads the Adivasi outfit, said that if the government did not hold a round of tripartite talks before June 30 to discuss its demands, the group would be forced to do a rethink on the ceasefire agreement.