Governor appeals to ULFA to come for talks http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jan2607/at03 By A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 25 – Governor Ajai Singh today said that the State Government had not discarded the option of talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) despite the intensified counter-insurgency operations against the outfit following its violent activities. But he maintained that the militant outfit should give up violence to facilitate the talks.
"If you push the enemy much, you must provide it with an escape route. The option of talks should be there," he said referring to a military rule. But to pave the way for the talks, the ULFA should abjure violence, he said in reply to a question on the possibility of resumption of the process of negotiation with the ULFA He was addressing media persons at the Raj Bhawan here this morning on the eve of the Republic Day. He also made an appeal to the people of the State to resolve to work for making India a developed nation and spread democratic values at all levels upholding the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of the country. At the same time, he said, the people should also make sincere endeavours unitedly to build a peaceful and prosperous Asom. Conveying his best wishes to the people on the occasion of the Republic Day, the Governor also praised the role of the State's society for its role against violence. "Assamese society has really stood against violence. I am very proud that there is a very strong society existing in Asom," he said. Describing this as a very positive sign, he said that because of the role played by this society against violence the support base of the militants was shrinking. Even their cohorts in issuing calls to boycott the Republic Day celebrations have dwindled in number, he said in reply to a question. But he regretted that despite all such positive developments, the slightest of the negative developments taking place in this society is blown out of proportion. However, he did not blame the media for it. "The media is doing its job," he said. The Governor expressed the hope that the moment the ensuing National Games is held successfully by it, the tainted image of the State would be changed. And, he said, this was sure to happen on February 18 when the national event was scheduled to conclude. He was also optimistic that with the beefing up of security measures, the blasts triggered by the militants would also cease to occur. He also maintained that the security operations and the political mandate in handling the militants were all synchronized and properly handled, while replying to a question on the state of coordination in the Unified Command structure constituted to handle militancy in the State. In reply to a question, he said that intelligence was not available to assess the growth of the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in the NE region. The ISI is operating also in other places of the country, he said. .
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