Maintaining that the ULFA issue could not be solved "militarily" but only through political dialogue, Assam's main opposition Asom Gana Parishad on Thursday urged President APJ Abdul Kalam to take urgent steps to withdraw Army operations in Assam.
"We told the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces, to direct Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to withdraw Army operations in Assam which resulted in the killing of nine innocent people recently," AGP General Secretary and former Union Minister Birendra Prasad Baishya told reporters here after a half-an-hour meeting with Kalam.
"The ULFA problem could not be solved through Army operations but by political dialogue," Baishya, who led a five-member party delegation to the President, said.
Referring to recent violence in upper Assam, where one person was allegedly killed in Army custody and eight others were killed in police firing, AGP alleged the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government was responsible for the incidents.
"We demand the arrest of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who is directly responsible for the killing of nine innocent people," another general secretary and former state minister Dilip Kumar Saikia said.
In its memorandum, the AGP urged Kalam to take steps for solving the ULFA problem through political dialogue, punish guilty officers responsible for the Kakopathar incidents and make an assessment of the area where military operations were on and provide relief and rehabilitation and treatment of the injured persons.
{{/usCountry}}In its memorandum, the AGP urged Kalam to take steps for solving the ULFA problem through political dialogue, punish guilty officers responsible for the Kakopathar incidents and make an assessment of the area where military operations were on and provide relief and rehabilitation and treatment of the injured persons.
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