Talks with ULFA soon, says Tarun Gogoi

GUWAHATI - Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Wednesday said peace talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) would begin within the next two months and hoped the curtains would come down soon on the over three decades old violent insurgency.

I can tell you that formal talks with the ULFA would begin soon, maybe in the next two months, with all indications very positive, the chief minister told journalists.

The announcement comes following several rounds of informal meetings between central government peace interlocutor P.C. Haldar and jailed ULFA leaders at the Guwahati Central Jail in the past few months.

There is no word on whether the elusive ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah would join the peace talks.

We are trying to get Paresh Baruah to the talks table, but even if he refuses to join the peace process we would rather go ahead than indefinitely wait for him, Gogoi said.

Haldar held meetings, including two sittings at the jail in the past two days, with ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and other top jailed leaders.

The other ULFA leaders who attended the meeting include self-styled foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, cultural secretary Pranati Deka, and political ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain.

Almost the entire top brass, baring Paresh Baruah, is in jail.

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

The response from all the ULFA leaders is positive and they are willing to hold talks, the chief minister said.

During the past week, 19 rebel commanders left camps in Bangladesh to opt for peace talks.

The rebel commanders, led by Anu Buragohain, Bhaiti Baruah, Biju Deka, and Pradyut Buragohain, gave themselves up before Bangladeshi authorities last week.

All these are indicators that the ULFA leaders by and large want to sit for peace talks, Gogoi said.