Centre for talks if ULFA stops operations

NEW DELHI, July 21: The Centre is willing to open a dialogue with the outlawed ULFA only if the outfit suspends all operations in the state. This was conveyed to a delegation of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials here today. But what came as a surprise to the AJYCP members led by its president and general secretary, Dilip Patgiri and Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee was the offer by the MHA, to the students body, to take an initiative in mediating between the Union Government and the ULFA. The delegation had called on the MHA to officials to submit a memorandum to the Union Home Minister, L K Advani. However, the AJYCP leaders said that they are sceptical about the offer and are not interested in taking any initiative to mediate with the ULFA and would not go beyond making an appeal to the outfit to shun violence. This, Bhattacharjee said, was mainly because of the fact that the Centre and state governments have been ignoring them and had never bothered to take them into confidence. For that matter, the response of the Centre has been very lukewarm and have never made any serious attempt to open dialogue with the underground outfits in Assam. All their efforts at consensus building remains confined to political parties and other organisations have never been made part of the process, the leaders lamented, adding that the same was the case with Assam Government also. Meanwhile, they claimed that the Additional Secretary, Northeast in the MHA, PD Shenoy conveyed to them that the Centre would be willing to open negotiations with the ULFA, if they suspended all operations in the state. Although there is nothing new in the offer, what was surprising was the timing, as the Centre off late has been hardening its position vis-a-vis ULFA and appeared more inclined for sustained military operations. In their memorandum to the Home Minister, they demanded preparation of the National Register of Citizenship, opposed the propose Prevention of Terrorism Act, among others.