Pro-Talks ULFA To Talk Peace With Centre, Assam Govt In New Delhi After Independence Day

GUWAHATI: The ULFA pro-talk faction will engage in peace talks with the Centre and Assam government, scheduled to be held in New Delhi after Independence Day, according to the outfit's leader Anup Chetia.

Anup Chetia informed about the holding of the peace talks on Wednesday, while hoping the peace talks would be concluded before 2024.

"We hope to arrive at a solution with the Government of India before the (general) election ... It realises that if it signs the agreement with us (ULFA pro-talk faction) the Assam imbroglio will be solved," Chetia said.

Talks with the Centre were begun by the pro-talks faction of ULFA faction as way back as in 2011, but a final solution is yet to be reached. It was alleged by the outfit’s pro-talks faction that not much progress has been made since the Narendra Modi government came to power, even though the final stages for the talks had been reached during the regime of the former PM Manmohan Singh.

It is interesting to note that PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had been declaring that the BJP has brought peace to Assam, while the pro-talks ULFA let the cat out of the bag. It remains to be seen if the BJP shares Chetia’s enthusiasm for peace talks to be concluded by next year.

Chetia informed reporters at the North Eastern Hill University in Shillong that discussions will be held in New Delhi with the representatives of the Government of India and Government of Assam after the end of the Independence Day celebrations our. Chetia attended a programme at NEHU on the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples' Forum.

Anup Chetia is currently the convenor of the North East Indigenous Peoples' Forum. The forum is a platform for meaningful dialogues where indigenous People's representatives convey their concerns, requests and recommendations.

Responding to the question on whether the pro-talk faction will appeal to ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah to join the peace process, Chetia reportedly said, "We have contact with him ... It depends on the Government of India - if it is interested to talk with him and group. But there is a lack of communication - the ULFA(I) demands are the same as before and the GOI cannot accept them."

Chetia, however, was quick to say that Baruah is not presently in Bangladesh, as is popularly believed. "He is somewhere, we don't know anything. But our discussions are on," he added.

He added that it will be good for Assam and its people if other groups sit at the negotiating table.

Very recently, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had extended an invitation to Baruah to visit and spend a week in the state to see firsthand the changes that had taken place in Assam since the time he left in the 1980s.

Sarma's invite to Baruah included the assurance of a safe passage during his visit.

The Assam chief minister is also hopeful that the ULFA (I) supremo would take advantage of his invitation to engage with him in peace talks.

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