E-Paper
Trying to sign pact with Ulfa faction within a month: Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma
Anup Chetia, general secretary of the pro-talks Ulfa faction, said they were unaware of a timeline and were yet to hear from the intermediaries on their request for some changes
GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday indicated that the talks with the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) are at an advanced stage and an agreement with the outfit could be signed within the next month.
“Our efforts are to sign an agreement with the pro-talks faction within this month. Once that happens, there will be forward movement on the process to hold talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (Ulfa-I), (the banned faction of the terror outfit),” Sarma told reporters in Delhi.
Sarma said the draft agreement was almost ready and once final touches are given, the deal will be signed.
“The deal with the pro-talks faction will primarily focus on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which deals with the protection of rights of indigenous Assamese people. The faction has raised demands for constitutional, administrative protective measures. It remains to be seen how many of those will be included in the agreement by the Centre,” said Sarma.
Anup Chetia, general secretary of the pro-talks Ulfa faction, said they were unaware of any such timeline.
“We earlier received a draft agreement from the Centre and submitted our response seeking changes in some clauses. We are yet to hear from the intermediaries,” Chetia said.
The Centre sent a draft agreement to the pro-talks faction in April this year, the first comprehensive draft prepared after the group gave up violence in 2011 and agreed to sit for talks without any pre-condition. A meeting between leaders of the faction and the central government was held in Delhi in August.
Ulfa was formed in 1979 with the stated objective of forming an independent Assamese homeland. In February 2011, Ulfa split into two groups—one group led by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa that decided to give up its violent past and sit for talks with Centre without any condition and another led by commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, which decided against talks and rebranded as Ulfa-Independent.
The pro-talks faction subsequently submitted a list of demands seeking constitutional and political reforms, and protection of the identity and resources of the indigenous people of Assam including their right to land.
