Abhijit Sharma
President of Asom Public Works, a Guwahati-based NGO
Let us face it, all their claims of sovereignty and a war that is being waged for the benefit of the Assamese people notwithstanding, the bottomline is simply this: that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) comprises a bunch of criminals who the government is now more than willing to hold negotiations with.
And now, let us take a look at the finer points of these so-called talks that the government wishes to have with representatives of the ULFA. I would like to start out with one basic question: Why is the ULFA leadership not responding even as the government keeps harping on the possibility of talks with them? And then again, Pradip Gogoi, the vice-president of the outfit, applied for bail and was let out conditionally last week. This brings up one basic question: Why did this not happen when the ULFA had set up the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) to take forward the process of talks with the government. Doesn’t this say something about the sincerity on the part of both the ULFA and the government in terms of coming to the negotiating table?
The problem and the situation are multi-layered. For example, we have people like Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta, leaders of the dreaded 28th battalion of the ULFA, coming overground in 2008, declaring a ceasefire to facilitate negotiations with the government. Two years have passed and there is no sign yet of any progress in this regard. All we know is how these surrendered ULFA leaders, along with their followers, are setting up crime syndicates and holding elaborate public functions spending crores of rupees. And to top it all, we have occasional statements from them saying that the ULFA is still recruiting youngsters. So what are people like Hazarika and Dutta doing? Weren’t they supposed to at least make people see the futility of joining the militant group? Aren’t they supposed to at least make an effort in this direction? The way I see it, once they make their money, which they definitely already have, they will join a mainstream political party. And who knows, they might even become our rulers some day.
President of Asom Public Works, a Guwahati-based NGO
Let us face it, all their claims of sovereignty and a war that is being waged for the benefit of the Assamese people notwithstanding, the bottomline is simply this: that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) comprises a bunch of criminals who the government is now more than willing to hold negotiations with.
And now, let us take a look at the finer points of these so-called talks that the government wishes to have with representatives of the ULFA. I would like to start out with one basic question: Why is the ULFA leadership not responding even as the government keeps harping on the possibility of talks with them? And then again, Pradip Gogoi, the vice-president of the outfit, applied for bail and was let out conditionally last week. This brings up one basic question: Why did this not happen when the ULFA had set up the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) to take forward the process of talks with the government. Doesn’t this say something about the sincerity on the part of both the ULFA and the government in terms of coming to the negotiating table?
The problem and the situation are multi-layered. For example, we have people like Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta, leaders of the dreaded 28th battalion of the ULFA, coming overground in 2008, declaring a ceasefire to facilitate negotiations with the government. Two years have passed and there is no sign yet of any progress in this regard. All we know is how these surrendered ULFA leaders, along with their followers, are setting up crime syndicates and holding elaborate public functions spending crores of rupees. And to top it all, we have occasional statements from them saying that the ULFA is still recruiting youngsters. So what are people like Hazarika and Dutta doing? Weren’t they supposed to at least make people see the futility of joining the militant group? Aren’t they supposed to at least make an effort in this direction? The way I see it, once they make their money, which they definitely already have, they will join a mainstream political party. And who knows, they might even become our rulers some day.
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