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Talks with ULFA : Sovereignty not possible but must be discussed |
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Eminent litterateur Dr Indira (Mamoni) Raisom Goswami has said Assam could not attain sovereignty but the issue must be discussed to bring ULFA to the negotiating table and to know its other demands.
“Sovereignty is not possible but if we do not discuss the issue, the militants will not come forward for talks and we will not know about their other demands”, Ms Goswami told reporters on the sidelines of the Kamal Kumari Foundation Awards.
The government can ask the militants why they want sovereignty and as the discussions proceed their other demands will become transparent and if these can be fulfilled then other issues “might be compromised”, she said.
The Jnanpith Award winner, who has taken the initiative of bringing the ULFA to the negotiating table and had recently submitted an appeal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on this, said this was a golden chance to resolve the issue of insurgency in Assam and the Centre should not let it go.
“I am optimistic about the outcome of my efforts on holding talks with the militants” Ms Goswami said adding the Prime Minister had assured her to wipe out blood from Assam during his tenure when she submitted her appeal.
The Prime Minister’s Chief Security Adviser has shown keen interest in the matter and “I feel that the government will not back down at this stage”.
Asked about the series of blasts triggered by the ULFA on Thursday last, Ms Goswami said it was in reaction to the Prime Minister’s statement that sovereignty could not be discussed.
She had talked to ULFA leaders after the blasts who conveyed that the Prime Minister’s statement indicated that talks could not be held but “I urged them to restrain the cadres and wait till the Prime Minister replies to the issue of sovereignty mentioned in my appeal to him”, Ms Goswami said.
Holding talks was a very delicate issue and all concerned must proceed in a cautious manner. “This will take time but I am hopeful that something positive will come out of my efforts to hold talks”, she added.
Asked what made her take up the initiative of bringing the militants for dialogue, she said “I have visited several villages in Assam and realised the agonies of the family members of the ULFA cadres”.
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