GUWAHATI, Jan 1 — The Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that he would consider a ‘safe passage’ to the militants of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) as a goodwill gesture for the new year, if they responded to the Government’s appeal for negotiations, reports PTI. “I will be happy to respond to their cooperation by giving them safe passage to visit their families during the new year,” Gogoi told PTI when asked if he would offer safe passage to the ultras as a goodwill gesture. Saying that no date for commencement of the offer or its duration had decided yet, he clarified that the militants would have to travel unarmed for visiting their near and dear ones.
Earlier in 1999, the State Government had offered a safe passage to the militants to visit their families initially for 10 days from December 21 and again extended it upto January 17, 2000, due to good response. Altogether 257 militants belonging to the ULFA, NDFB, Bodo Liberation Tigers and others responded to the offer despite negative comments from their top leaders.
Prior to this offer, the State Governor, Lt Gen (retd) SK Sinha, had announced a seven-day safe passage to the ULFA chairman, Arabinda Rajkhowa, C-in-C Paresh Barua and their cadres on humanitarian ground. This was followed by a similar offer to ULFA and other underground outfits by the former Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, on the floor of the Assembly on November 8. However, the ULFA had rejected both the offers.