For direct talk, Gogoi ready to release jailed ULFA leaders

Guwahati, Aug 09 (UNI) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today promised in the Assembly that his government would release all the five top jailed ULFA leaders if the latter came forward for direct talk.

He categorically said in the House that he would not wait for even the Centre's opinion if the ULFA came for direct negotiation while taking the decision of release. So far ULFA had been sending emissaries or setting up group of intermediaries because of which the talks had not been fruitful.

As the Opposition mounted pressure on Mr Gogoi, blaming his insincerity for the daily bombings in the state, Mr Gogoi said both Assam and Central governments were always sincere to end the insurgency problem.

'' Where you will find in the history of modern India a unilateral ceasefire? We did in Assam so that ULFA could respond. But they did not move and further set more conditions. We wanted to do everything, '' he said.

'' The Centre was all along sceptical about the motive of the ULFA but I had insisted that they should be given a chance. Hence, we had not one but three rounds of talk with their intermediaries, PCG. The PCG could not convince the ULFA leadership; neither could they ensure direct talk, '' he stated.

Citing ongoing talks with various insurgent groups, he said talks could be fruitful if there were direct talks. '' There could be representatives but not indirect talk. Even with the NSCN(IM) for past ten years the talks had been going on directly and now it was once again extended, '' he said.

The Chief Minister further said ULFA should not come with a pre -condition that sovereignty should be the agenda of the talk. '' No elected member of Indian democracy can accept that. But yet the Prime Minister said anything could be discussed on the negotiation table.

The problem is that ULFA does not want talk. They want to keep terrorising the common people and extorting money, '' he said.

On the sovereignty issue, he said, '' They (ULFA) may think they are not independent but we are independent and people of Assam have elected their own government. They elected sometime AGP and they elected sometime us, '' he said vowing to take on terrorism.

Citing the bombing incidents and drastic reduction of casualty figure of security forces, he said , '' It was simple to everyone that they had changed their tactics. Instead of targeting security forces they are targeting common people. That is their ideology. '' He admitted failure of the state police department but asserted that Assam police was still holding ground and the statistics still favoured the Congress than the previous AGP government.

UNI