PM offers olive branch, but ULFA calls for agitation

On a day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told former Assam chief minister P K Mahanta that his Government was ready to hold direct talks with the ULFA

On a day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told former Assam chief minister P K Mahanta that his Government was ready to hold direct talks with the ULFA, the outlawed outfit urged the people of Assam to launch a movement against the “atrocities and repression” allegedly committed by the “colonial Indian Government”.

The appeal, issued by ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on the 16th anniversary of the Government ban on the outfit, also described the alleged army ‘atrocities’ as “genocide”. Unlike previous years, the ULFA, for the second year in succession, has not called for any strike or bandh on the day.

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In New Delhi, after a 12-member delegation of leaders from various parties met the Prime Minister, Mahanta quoted Singh as having told the delegation: “ULFA seems to be in the grip of ISI. As and when they come out of it, the Government is ready (for talks).” Mahanta said the Prime Minister dismissed as “concocted” reports that the Centre had set a pre-condition that ULFA leaders should first give the letter of consent to the Government saying it was ready for direct talks.

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The former CM further said the PM preferred direct talks with the outfit instead of mediation by a third-party, clearly indicating that the Government was not in favour of involving the Peoples’ Consultative Group.

Official sources are of the view that in the last two decades, the ULFA has made massive investments in Bangladesh, including some lucrative business. Its inability, said an official, to accept the government’s offer of a dialogue was due to the threat issued by foreign agencies that its assets would be seized.

Meanwhile, in a statement e-mailed to newspaper offices in Guwahati today, Rajkhowa said: “The colonial Indian Government has resorted to a genocide in Assam, and this must be fought by people from all communities and all walks of life… The people of Assam who have been craving for freedom from the colonial Indian Government, must fight back against the repressive measures.”

“…That India considers Assam a colony is evident from the fact that the army has not been deployed in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, where the strong Maoist movements are on,” he said.