CM offers safe passage to NDFB leaders

GUWAHATI, Oct 19 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today promised to offer safe passage to the representatives of the proscribed NDFB if and when they come forward for talks with the Government. Welcoming the unilateral ceasefire offer of the outfit, he said that the agenda of future talks with the outfit would be decided once they make up their mind to come to the negotiating table.

Ahead of his departure for New Delhi tomorrow to meet Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil the next day, Gogoi told newspersons during a press conference here that no direct contact with the ultras have been established as yet. He said that before the talks start, the NDFB has to first decide who would represent them.

?We will give them safe passage when they are ready to come for talks,? Gogoi said. He said that there would be no problem even if the NDFB decides to nominate any of their jailed leaders as their representative. The line of discussions would also not be difficult to settle, he stated. The Chief Minister added that though the NDFB has declared a ceasefire, the Government has not yet done the same. ?We have asked the security forces to exercise restraint this time, he said. He said that the modalities of a formal ceasefire would be worked out only after his meeting with Patil. He said that the Government?s response to the NDFB?s ceasefire offer would be positive. ?We will take appropriate steps, to bring them to the negotiating table,? he, said.

Describing the NDFB?s gesture as a ?positive signal? Gogoi expressed the hope that the other major militant outfit of the State, the ULFA, would follow suit. He said that the people of Assam want to live in peace. ?They want the economy to pick up faster.?

The Chief Minister said that his goal, when he assumed power, was to bring peace to the State. ?I am looking forward to the day when the atmosphere would be congenial enough to withdraw the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,? he declared.

Gogoi claimed that the victory of the Congress candidate in the Moran Assembly by-elections is an endorsement of the Congress Government?s success in the State. The victory has nullified the charges of the opposition AGP and BJP that the Government has been a total failure in maintaining law and order in the State, he said. ?On the other hand, it has demonstrated the growing popularity of our party.?

Gogoi also pooh-poohed the charges against two of his ministerial colleagues, Bhumidhar Barman and Bharat Narah, of their links with the ULFA. ?These are charges without substance,? he said, mentioning that Barman has himself been attacked thrice by the outfit while Narah is also under threat. ?How could they have links with the outfit??

He dismissed the Opposition?s demand that the two Ministers be dropped, stating that AGP leader Zoii Nath Sarma had an FIR lodged against him on similar charges but he continued in the Government when the AGP reigned. There were two other Ministers in the then AGP Government who had been charged in connection with a bomb blast. ?They too continued,? he said.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government has decided to launch special development initiatives in Goalpara, which was the worst hit district in the latest flash floods in the State. The floods claimed 177 lives, he said.

?We have decided to provide houses to 1.26 lakh people,? he said. He said 2.5 lakh old-age pensions would also be provided within this year. Rice, at Rs 3 per kg, would be provided to 3.26 lakh people under the Antodaya scheme while financial assistance would be given to 1.23 lakh people under the Kalpataru scheme to start small enterprises, he announced.

 
 
Notice
The Northeast Vigil website ran from 1999 to 2009. It is not operated or maintained anymore. It has been put up here solely for archival sentiments. This site has over 6,000 news items that are of value to academics, researchers and journalists.

Subir Ghosh
Notice
The Northeast Vigil website ran from 1999 to 2009. It is not operated or maintained anymore. It has been put up here solely for archival sentiments. This site has over 6,000 news items that are of value to academics, researchers and journalists.

Subir Ghosh