GUWAHATI, May 3 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today slammed the ULFA for being �insincere� about the proposed talks by adamantly insisting on sovereignty as the issue, saying that no dialogue was possible under the circumstances as sovereignty was �non-negotiable.�
Gogoi who was addressing a press conference made it clear in the same breath that the Government would not wait �indefinitely� for ULFA �c-in-c� Paresh Baruah to come for talks. �While we would prefer to have him (Baruah), talks can be held without him as we cannot wait indefinitely,� he said.
Gogoi was also critical of the intellectuals who had been urging the Government to be flexible on the sovereignty issue. �Do these intellectuals calling for inclusion of sovereignty in the agenda favour sovereignty themselves?...I am a servant of the Constitution of India, and talks can proceed within its ambits � something made clear by the Prime Minister to the PCG earlier,� he said.
Expressing concern over the activities of the Manipur-based ultra outfit UNLF and Maoists in the State of late, Gogoi said that the case of the two recently-arrested UNLF leaders would be handed over to the NIA.
Gogoi said that the ULFA was not a revolutionary group as its leaders maintained a lavish lifestyle in foreign countries at the expense of their cadres. �The leaders have been exploiting the cadres who toil in jungles in harsh conditions,� he said.
Gogoi said that while some camps of the ULFA and other militant groups still existed in Bangladesh, the country was extending full cooperation to India in flushing out the ultras.
Terming the law and order situation as �almost normal�, the Chief Minister admitted that acts like extortion were still on but violence had subsided to a great extent. �Even people are cooperating more by coming out with information about ultras,� he added.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government was preparing an action plan for developing the remote and backward areas because militant outfits found it easier to recruit cadres from such places.
�We are going to identify these backward places including those in border and riverine areas and expedite the development process. There are many areas without even the basic amenities such as water, power, roads, schools, etc.,� he said.
