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Paresh Baruah under Chinese pressure to shun talks: Ravi Shankar

By KALYAN BAROOAH

BENGALURU, Jan 23 - At a time when the ULFA (Independent) has stepped up violence in Assam, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that the outfit�s elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah appears to be under tremendous pressure from China not to come for talks with the Government of India.

The spiritual teacher, who has started a peace initiative with Paresh Baruah and held several rounds of telephonic talks with the militant leader, said he is hopeful of Baruah sitting for negotiations. There are some aspects which, he said, he would like to keep out of the media.

�I have told him that it is true that China can give him arms and ammunition but it cannot assure him an honourable death,� Ravi Shankar claimed having told Paresh Baruah. �I feel China is keeping him under tremendous pressure because of which he is unable to come overground,� he observed.

�I also told him that he is aging and must be around 70 years and there is no point in roaming in the jungles. You may be left with no team in jungles and you are running from pillar to post trying to save yours and your colleagues� lives� he claimed, having told the commander-in-chief.

The spiritual guru, who was interacting with a group of visiting newsmen, said: �My feeling is that something is preventing Paresh Baruah from coming for talks... Paresh Baruah understands everything, but there is fear in his mind.�

�When I talked to him, the last time from Guwahati, where I had gone, he told me that I was the only one who understands him,� he said.

Asked how he contacted Paresh Baruah, the spiritual guru said that a friend of the ULFA leader came to see him at his ashram and through him, the first contact was established. �Everything has changed and time has changed everything, and with the change, it is time for him to look at things differently,� the spiritual guru said.

The Art of Living, founded by Ravi Shankar, has trained 350 surrendered ULFA members in organic farming at the sprawling ashram spread over 70 acres of land on the outskirts of Bengaluru and another 150 members in the Pune ashram of the spiritual organisation. Pro-talk ULFA leader Anup Chetia recently called on Ravi Shankar and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had twice visited his ashram seeking his blessings.

�We have an elected government in place and if you come for talks now, you will get a hero�s welcome, because you have given your life for the Assamese people,� Ravi Shankar told the ULFA(I) chief. �I explained to him that boundaries the world over are fast disappearing and changes are taking place everywhere. Under the circumstances, it is not the time to call for separation or division,� he said.

�This is the time for cooperation and staying together... If we want to develop economically, can it happen, if we stay apart,� said the spiritual guru, who was instrumental in brokering peace between rebel FARC and the Government of Colombia.

The spiritual guru also expressed reservation on various demands for creation of new states. He said several groups from Nagaland, Manipur and other northeastern states have called on him. �The Kuki population is four lakh but they want a separate state. Such demands have no logic,� he opined. �If the government accedes to such demands then India will have 500 states,� he said.

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