Guwahati, April 1: In a move that could open a Pandora’s box in the insurgency-ravaged Northeast, the Assam Assembly today began a debate on including the thorny subject of “sovereignty” in a dialogue between the Centre and the Ulfa.
The debate was prompted by a private member’s resolution moved by AGP members Dilip Kumar Saikia and Sarbananda Sonowal. The duo urged Delhi and Dispur to accept the Ulfa’s main condition for talks — inclusion of the issue of Assam’s “sovereignty” in the agenda — because the deadlock would never be broken if both sides remained adamant.
Initiating the discussion, Saikia appealed to the Centre to start “meaningful tripartite talks” involving its representatives and those of the Assam government and the Ulfa. Sonowal pitched in, saying it was in the interests of everybody to begin the process without conditions.
However, the duo said in their resolution that “if the need arises and in the greater interest of bringing about tranquillity in the region, let the government of India and the government of Assam accept to discuss the issue of sovereignty also, as desired by these extremists organisations”.
The AGP legislators said the problem of insurgency was “political” in nature and should be solved through “meaningful dialogue” instead of using force.
On the continuity of counter-insurgency operations, Saikia said the Centre had erred in trying to suppress insurgency through military means.
The legislator criticised deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani for ruling out talks with the Ulfa, saying such statements would send wrong signals to the militant outfit and compound the problem.
Saikia said Advani’s statement could not have been more ill-timed, given the fact that Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga had offered to mediate between the Centre and the Ulfa. He offered to sacrifice his Assembly seat and hoped that other members would do likewise to enable the Ulfa leadership to take over the reins of power after a successful dialogue with the Centre.
Referring to the ongoing peace talks between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M), Saikia said the progress made by both sides was creditable. However, he insisted that the Northeast as a whole would not be permanently peaceful until all militant outfits abjured violence and came to the negotiation table.
The AGP leader warned that further delay in starting a dialogue with the militant outfits active in Assam would give them the opportunity to woo unemployed youth, numbering about 17 lakh, into their ranks.
Saikia’s colleague, a former president of the All-Assam Students’ Union, said the Centre had not been sounding sincere in its appeals to the Ulfa for talks.
With the debate on the AGP-sponsored resolution remaining inconclusive, it was decided to resume the discussion on Friday. Parliamentary affairs minister Bharat Narah had insisted that the AGP members cut short the discussion to facilitate a reply by the state government today. However, Saikia said the Assembly should discuss the resolution threadbare.
A belligerent Tarun Gogoi had vowed to crush the Ulfa after a series of attacks early this month. He said a military offensive seemed to be “the only option left” after the outfit’s repeated rejection of his government’s overtures for peace.
A day before the serial strikes by the Ulfa, including a rocket-propelled grenade attack on an oil tank at the Digboi refinery, the chief minister had offered to travel to Bhutan to negotiate with the outfit.
Gogoi made his boldest statement yet on the Ulfa after the Opposition demanded a special discussion in the Assembly on the serial strikes.