Could we just stop having this false vanity (like discussing about who is crawling to whom, etc.) and just look forward for the talk to happen so that we can have an Assam back where peace prevails?
From: "Bartta Bistar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: assam@assamnet.org
Subject: [Assam] PMO crawls to PCG for a 7 Feb 06 parley,to keep India afloat with Assam's oil !
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:44:51 +0000
Ulfa's extortion note blocks peace moves
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=103657
By Bijay Sankar Bora
The latest development vis-à-vis the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) has not augured well for the much talked about initiative to bring it to the negotiating table with the Government of India. Little has moved after the preliminary round of talks between the Ulfa-constituted Peoples Consultative Group (PCG), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior officials in New Delhi in October.
At that round, PCG members raised hopes about the possibility of breaking the ice between the Ulfa and New Delhi. But the ground reality in the state indicates a different picture. As of now, little has changed for Ulfa: it continues to extort even as it talks of peace. The Army and police still pursue Ulfa cadres and encounters and killings continue to make headlines.
The chance of a ceasefire as advocated by the PCG sounds a remote possibility. Ulfa, too, has done its best to turn the clock back to the pre-"talk" period by slapping a Rs 500-crore extortion notice on the public sector oil giant, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. ONGC produces about 1.6 million tons of crude oil annually from its Upper Assam oil fields.The banned group set a 15 January deadline for the ONGC to pay.
Initially, security agencies were doubtful about the veracity of the extortion demand in view of the huge sum of money sought. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi also cast doubts over the genuineness of the note. But Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua asserted to the Asomiya Protidin, a widely circulated Assamese newspaper which is known for its sympathy for the rebel cause, that his group was determined to get the Rs 500 crore. He said only the people of Assam had rights over the natural resources in the state. The Ulfa has also hinted at targeting other PSUs, including the Oil India Limited (OIL) and Coal India Limited (CIL) which are mining and processing here.
The Assam police and other security agencies involved in counter-insurgency operations have met representatives of all oil companies operating in the state to map out a strategy to deal with the problem.
Oil companies were asked to coordinate closely with police for the security of their executives and to prevent possible kidnap attempts by militant outfits. All these developments are reminiscent of the earlier years of militancy in the 1990s when Ulfa virtually held sway. So who is talking about peace in Assam?
It seems unlikely that Ulfa has targeted the ONGC to pressure the Government of India to respond to its peace initiative. The Centre is unlikely to be cowed down by such tactics. And the consequences may harm Assams development for ONGC may be forced to put off its plan to pump in Rs 3,000 crore to upgrade its assets in Assam. The Prime said in Guwahati this week that illegal activities such as extortion only sent "negative signals". He did not sound too optimistic about the peace initiative, saying that the "government was ready to hold talks with any militant group which has shunned violence and comes for unconditional talks". "A group of sympathisers (read PCG) of the Ulfa met me sometime back and we had a discussion. They want to come for talks again. We hope to engage them in a peace process," Dr Singh said. Obviously, this may not go far enough either for Ulfa or for its proxy group, the PCG.
(The author is The Statesmans Guwahati-based Special Representative)
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