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North East : Assam : Peace talks with ULFA on June 22

	June 12, 2006

Serial blasts vitiate the atmosphere The much awaited third round of peace talks between the Centre and ULFA-nominated PCG is all set to begin on June 22, with Government and militant representatives keeping their fingers crossed as the atmosphere for the negotiations has been vitiated by militants who again indulged in subversive activities by causing serial blasts in Assam on June 9 and 10, killing at least six persons and wounding over 70 others.



The blasts took place at different places, including the capital city of Guwahati, but their reverberations have been felt as far away as in New Delhi, since they are likely to dent confidence in the peace process with the ULFA.

Though no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the blasts and ULFA has denied its involvement, it is widely believed that these were caused by ULFA. In fact, the state administration almost saw it coming with arrested

ULFA leader Mrinal Hazarika telling interrogators that the outfit had planned subversive operations across the state on June 10 and 11.

A rattled Dispur has convened a meeting of

the Unified Command, which plans and executes

counter-insurgency operations in Assam, on

Monday, June 12. Officer on special duty to the

Chief Minister, Debojit Das, said Tarun Gogoi

would hold a high-level meeting, involving senior

officials and Ministers, soon after reaching

Guwahati on Monday. Gogoi, who is abroad, has

been in constant touch with his office and several

Ministers, he added.

ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua has

denied the outfit’s hand in the series of blasts that

rocked the state last weekend. In a statement, Barua

accused vested interests of masterminding the

blasts to derail the peace process and defame the

outfit. He pointed to the fact that the blasts had

started occurring just before the parleys between

the Centre and the People’s Consultative Group

(PCG) on June 22.

In a statement issued on June 6, ULFA

representatives urged the government to

immediately stop military operations in Assam

and begin direct peace talks with the rebels.

The ULFA-constituted PCG, too, issued a

communique condemning the blasts. “In the

interest of restoration of permanent peace and the

success of the ongoing peace process, the PCG

appeals to all concerned to restrain themselves

from such acts,” said PCG spokesman Arup

Borbora.

In Calcutta, Defence Minister Pranab

Mukherjee said he was unaware that the ULFA

had laid any preconditions for holding talks with

the Centre.

Asked whether the ULFA had sought the

release of five jailed leaders before opening a

dialogue with Delhi, Mukherjee said: “I am not

aware of any such precondition. As far as I know,

talks are scheduled for June 22.”

Assamese writer Indira Goswami, who has

been facilitating discussions between the ULFAformed

People’s Consultative Group (PCG) and

the Centre, told reporters in New Delhi that the

Centre was willing to release the leaders to hold

direct talks. The ULFA chief had demanded the

release of the outfit’s central committee members.

PMO withdraws itself from peace talks

In another development which is likely to be

resented by the militant outfit, the Prime Minister’s

Office announced last week that it has decided to

“completely” pull itself out of the negotiations.

The decision, described as a policy matter, is

ostensibly taken to avoid any “overlapping.”

New Delhi has cited two reasons for the

policy shift. “If the process is handled by the Home

Ministry alone, it will put peace parleys on the

fast track as it is difficult for Narayanan to be

frequently present at the meetings,” an official

said. The Centre has also pointed out that there is

the possibility of overlapping if both Narayanan

and the Home Ministry simultaneously handle the

negotiations.

Confirming this development, the chief

facilitator of the peace process, New Delhi-based

writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami, said the Centre

conveyed its decision to her recently. She, however,

appealed to Narayanan to stay involved in the

process.

“Narayanan and Home Secretary V.K. Duggal

told me about the decision to shift the peace

process from the PMO to the home ministry. But I

requested Narayanan to stay back because he

knows the problem better. He has been handling

it from the very beginning,” Goswami told The

Telegraph over phone from the capital.

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pointsman, had

been leading the negotiations with the People’s

Consultative Group (PCG) constituted by the

banned outfit to prepare the ground for a direct

dialogue between its leadership and Delhi. The

first round of talks was held on October 26 last

year. Narayanan led the discussions in the second

round with the PCG on February 7 as well, though

the Home Ministry was involved this time.

The award-winning writer said, Union Home

Minister Shivraj Patil was likely to attend the next

round of talks.

Jailed ULFA families to be freed

The Centre on June 8 agreed to release up to

25 children and their mothers who have been

languishing in prison since operations were carried

out in Bhutan against militants of the Northeast in

December 2003. Mamoni Raisom Goswami, the

prime negotiator in the peace process between the

ULFA and the Centre, made the request for their

release to National Security Adviser M.K.

Narayanan when she called on him.

“He agreed. Though no date was discussed,

we expect the children to be released soon, along





with their mothers,” she said. “There are at least

20 such children in various jails.” The mothers are

mostly wives of militants but some are activists

themselves.

Narayanan also responded positively to the

request that jailed ULFA leaders be released before

the outfit sends its representative for direct

negotiations with Delhi. This is likely to occur

after the third round of talks between the People’s

Consultative Group (PCG), constituted by the

outfit, and the Centre on June 22.

Rebati Phukan, a senior member of the PCG,

accompanied Goswami. They later called on Union

Home Secretary V.K. Duggal, who handed them a

letter inviting the PCG for a third round of talks.

Meanwhile, Mrinal Hazarika, self-styled

commander of ULFA’s crack 28 battalion, said on

June 7 his arrest would not be an impediment in

the peace process if the Centre was sincere about

taking the talks to its logical conclusion.

The rebel leader’s comments came a day after

the People’s Consultative Group, constituted by

the militant outfit to do the spade work for the

peace parleys, demanded that jailed executive

members of the ULFA be released before the next

round of talks.

Hazarika told reporters who had gathered at

the court premises that ULFA was very sincere

about the ongoing peace process. “A breakthrough

is possible if the Centre is sincere in resolving the

Indo-Assam problem,” the ULFA commander said.

PCG seeks bigger role of state government

Meanwhile, the ULFA-constituted PCG on

June 6 sought a bigger role for the Tarun Gogoi

government in the peace talks, arguing that a

“proactive” state government would be able to

take the process forward at a faster pace.

The PCG members met in Guwahati on June

6 to review some recent developments and set the

agenda for its next round of discussions - probably

the last before ULFA begins a “direct dialogue” -

with Delhi. The team of mediators decided to meet

the Chief Minister to convey to him the need for

Dispur to play a “more effective role”.

The PCG is insisting on a better-defined role

for Dispur in the peace process, ostensibly because

Delhi has not implemented suggestions by the

group during its last two rounds of meetings with

National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan.

The PCG members, who were handpicked

by the ULFA leadership to do the spadework for

a dialogue on all contentious issues, expressed

concern over the lack of “confidence-building

measures” such as suspending Army operations

and releasing five jailed members of the militant

group’s central executive.