GUWAHATI, Jan 19 � Though the leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), who are in favour of talks with the Government are busy preparing the groundwork, the commander-in-chief of the outfit, Paresh Baruah, is yet to change his stand on the issue of talks.
After a long gap, Baruah has started contacting persons close to him over phone and he has recently made it clear that his stand on the issue of talks with the Government remains the same and he would come for talks only if the Government of India agrees to talk on sovereignty of Assam.
A member of the People�s Consultative Group (PCG), Hiranya Saikia, told The Assam Tribune today that Paresh Baruah started talking to him over phone after a long gap and the stand of the militant leader on the issue of talks remains the same. �Paresh Baruah did not talk to me for about a year and he started calling up regularly since the last 15 days or so. He made it very clear that he would come for talks only if sovereignty of Assam remains the core issue of talks. He asserted that he would not give up the ideology and principles of the ULFA,� Saikia added. He said that the ULFA C-in-C also claimed that he was fully prepared to continue the arms struggle till the goal of the ULFA is achieved. He also revealed that he has already conveyed the stand of Paresh Baruah to the Central and State Governments.
Saikia expressed the view that talks with ULFA without Paresh Baruah would be meaningless and majority of the
organizations, which took part in the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan, also expressed the view that talks should be held not with a faction of the ULFA but by involving all leaders. He said that according to information available with him, the ULFA has a four member standing council comprising the chairman, vice chairman, general secretary and the commander-in-chief. The standing council is the most powerful body of the outfit , which can also veto the decisions of the general council. But now only the chairman and the vice chairman are in Assam, while, the C-in-C is abroad and no one knows the views of the general secretary Anup Chetia, who is under protective custody of Bangladesh, he added.
The PCG member also said that the previous peace process, which started in 2004, had the backing of Paresh Baruah, but at that time the move fell through after the Government of India did not fulfill its commitment.
