DIBRUGARH, July 9 � The recent statement made by Raphael Kujur, president of the All Adivasi Students� Association of Assam (AASAA) about the surrender of five armed outfits of the Adivasi community in connection with the ST issue has not gone down well with the All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA).
Condemning the statement of the AASAA leader, AANLA has hit out, stating that they laid down arms before the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in the interest of the Adivasi community. �AANLA cadres laid down arms after the Union Home Ministry and Assam Government agreed to fullfill all our demands. However, this does not tantamount to surrender,� a release faxed to The Assam Tribune by AANLA leader Munna Nayak stated.
Defining �surrender�, ceasefire and �arms lay down�, AANLA has said that their group has its own organisational set-up, having own principles, rules and predetermined objective, which cannot be overlooked by merely laying down arms. �If Kujur cannot differentiate between �surrender�, �ceasefire� and �arms lay down� he should refrain from using unfamiliar terms to avoid confusion in the society,� the release stated.
Moreover, AANLA has said that their talks with the Union Government and the Assam Government were heading in the right direction. Under such circumstances, it is not expected of the AASAA president to sow seeds of misunderstanding and confusion within the Adivasi community. �We are satisfied with the progress of peace talks with both the Assam Government and the Centre, the release stated.
AANLA has further appealed to the Adivasi students� body to care about the welfare and progresss of the student community, besides, other issues. �AASAA should ensure that no Adivasi student is deprived of admission into colleges, universities and other educational institutes,� AANLA release said.
