Formal contact established with ULFA

NEW DELHI, July 24: Formal contact has been established between the top ULFA leadership and the Union government. Highly-placed sources in the ministry of home affairs have confirmed that a series of preliminary rounds of talks have been held during the recent past with the ULFA leadership. The last round of talks was held in London last month, where intermediaries of the Union government met the chairman of the banned outfit, Arabinda Rajkhowa. However, contrary to reports, the commander-in-chief of the outfit, Paresh Baruah, considered a hardliner, had neither established contacts with the home ministry, nor did he turn up at the London meeting. The Union Government's representatives were given to understand that the move had his sanction. The Centre seems to have taken Assam government's advice to hold talks with the outfit that should involve the top leadership of the ULFA only. However, it is not yet clear whether the state government has been involved with the talks process though the it is believed to have been kept informed. Involvement of the state government looks doubtful as the outfit has shown interest in only talking to the Centre. Besides, Assam Government also had to face disappointment when some six months back an arranged meeting between two State Government representatives and the ULFA leadership in London failed to materialise, as the news was prematurely leaked to the Press. Sources here declining to go into details as to how contacts were established, said that initially some intermediaries had been involved but now the two sides were in direct touch. The feeling at the Centre is that if the current trend of preliminary rounds of talks are any indication, then the first round of formal negotiations between the two sides should take place in about six months' time. As for the reason for the outfit's turnaround in posture, the ministry thinks that growing isolation of the outfit from the mainstream and pressure from neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Bangladesh could be the immediate factor. Besides, Army operations have also taken a heavy toll on the ULFA cadres in the state, sources added. Significantly, it is the stand of the ULFA commander-in-chief that is puzzling the Centre. Baruah is believed to be in the clutches of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan. The c-in-c spends much of his time in Karachi, according to communications between him and his cadres intercepted by the intelligence agencies. Sources said that he was last seen in Bangladesh where agencies managed to photograph him along with few cadres at Dhaka. Meanwhile, the sources said ULFA has currently about 80 to 100 cadres undergoing training at Afghanistan, though it is not yet clear whether they participated in the Kargil conflict. The Centre got a firm idea about the ULFA's goings-on in Afghanistan when agencies managed to nab a cadre from a batch that had recently returned from training in the country. Cadres are brought to Dhaka in batches where, before boarding a flight to Kabul, they are issued with a Pakistani passport. In Afghanistan, they are blindfolded and taken in trucks to a remote mountain area where Taliban training camps are located. The militants, therefore, have no idea where they are taken for training. During the return journey, Pakistan collects back all the passports and cadres are then armed to the teeth before being pushed into Assam.