Ulfa's pre-condition queers the pitch for peace talks
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From our
correspondent
11 July 2006
KOLKATA — The United Liberation Front of Assam's insistence on the release of five top jailed leaders ahead of peace talks with the federal government has angered Indian officials trying to end a decades-old insurgency which has killed thousands of people.
Ulfa says its leaders must be released from prison so that they participate in the talks. But senior Home Ministry officials say the precondition flies in the face of an understanding reached between government representatives and People's Consultative Group — an Ulfa-nominated panel of human rights activists, writers, lawyers and journalists — last month.
The PCG and Home Ministry officials, including Home Minister Shivraj Patil, have held several rounds of meeting to clear the decks for direct talks between Ulfa and the government.
A Home Ministry official told Khaleej Times that it has been made amply clear to PCG that jailed Ulfa leaders will not be released under any circumstances. "We are getting worried about Ulfa's sincerity. If Ulfa genuinely want to resolve its dispute with the Indian government, it should nominate senior leaders like Paresh Barua or Arabinda Rajkhowa who are at large instead of harping on freedom for their comrades doing time in jail", he said.
"If Ulfa is serious about doing business with us, it must drop pre-conditions and hold talks latest by August 15."
Ulfa has been fighting a war of secession in oil, tea and timber-rich Assam since 1979. It accuses India of neglecting the state and plundering its natural resources. The official also expressed displeasure over what he described as Ulfa's provocative statements on India's constitution.
Last week Rajkhowa said that India's constitution is the biggest 'stumbling bloc' in the path of a negotiated settlement with New Delhi. The official disclosed that Ulfa had not stopped its 'terrorist' campaign or extortion rackets to create an atmosphere conducive for meaningful peace talks.
Fifteen persons have been killed in a series of bombings and grenade attacks across Assam since last month. Although Ulfa has flatly denied any role in the attacks, the state and federal governments refuse to absolve the outfit.
Another sore point is Ulfa's alleged bid to extort Rs1.5 million from the Guwahati-based Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional director Amarendra Sahu. In the past Ulfa is known to have targeted Oil and Natural Gas Commission but the demand from RBI is being viewed as an affront to the Indian government's authority in the insurgency-wracked region.
But a senior Guwahati police official gave the benefit of doubt to the Ulfa leadership. He said: "It has come to our notice that some lower-rung Ulfa leaders are serving extortion notes probably without the knowledge of the outfit's top brass. We are keeping a close watch on the situation."
Significantly, federal home secretary, V.K. Duggal, was summoned Assam chief secretary, S. Kabilan, to New Delhi yesterday for a closed-door briefing.
New Delhi's efforts to pull Ulfa to the negotiating table have colincided with the government's negotiations with leaders of another northeastern separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) or NSCN (I-M). The NSCN too has been fighting for decades for the freedom of millions of Naga tribespeople living in the region.
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