‘PM not against releasing ULFA leaders for peace talks’ (Night Lead)

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday met the Assam-based Citizen’s Forum and said New Delhi has no objection to releasing six top jailed leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) if that helps in opening peace talks.

“The prime minister said in no uncertain terms that he has no objection in releasing the jailed ULFA leaders subject to legal provisions,” Hiren Gohain, convenor of the Citizen’s Forum, told IANS by telephone from New Delhi.

Gohain said this after a 45-minute meeting between Manmohan Singh and a six-member delegation of the Forum in New Delhi Monday night.

“We have asked the prime minister to release all the jailed ULFA leaders to facilitate them to hold their central executive with full freedom so that they could sit for peace talks,” Gohain said.

“The meeting was very encouraging with the prime minister’s attitude found to be positive. It appeared he was very sincere to resolve the problem.”

The Forum leaders told the prime minister that most of the jailed ULFA leaders were not rigid on the outfit’s demands - a clear indication that the jailed leaders were ready to scale down from their core demand for sovereignty or independence.

The ULFA is waging a war for independence since 1979 and has always maintained that talks, if any, should revolve around their main demand for sovereignty.

“He gave us a patient and courteous hearing and said the central government would have to get involved at some stage,” Gohain said.

The Forum, an 11-member committee comprising academics, writers, retired police and army officers, rights leaders, and intellectuals, was formed in April and claims the support of at least 100 civil society and other ethnic groups.

In April, the Forum held a citizen’s conclave and resolved to broker peace between the government and the ULFA to put the curtains down to more than three decades of violent insurgency in Assam.

It had sought the release of all jailed ULFA leaders to enable them to hold the outfit’s general council meeting to take a decision regarding holding peace talks with the government.

Barring ULFA’s elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, the entire top brass of the outfit is in jail. The imprisoned leaders include chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah, self-styled foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, cultural secretary Pranati Deka, and ULFA political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain.

Two other leaders - ULFA vice chairman Pradip Gogoi and publicity chief Mithinga Daimary, are currently out on bail and currently engaged in drumming up public support for opening peace talks.

Almost all the jailed leaders, including the ULFA chairman, expressed their willingness for peace talks, but want them released from prison.

Both the central and state governments had earlier rejected holding talks with the ULFA on the issue of sovereignty, but said they were ready for unconditional talks.

The Forum was formed after Pradip Gogoi and Mithinga Daimary met leading citizens in the state and appealed for their help in furthering the deadlocked peace process.