GUWAHATI, Aug 24 ? The war of words between the All Assam Students? Union (AASU) and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) continues today with the students? organisation calling upon the militant outfit to first ?liberate Assam from the grasp of Bangladeshi nationals? before demanding sovereignty of Assam. Talking to newsmen here today, AASU president Prabin Boro and adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya asserted that the students? organisation never compromised on the issue of illegal migration of people from Bangladesh. They pointed out that the ULFA is now demanding that all foreigners who came to Assam after 1947 should be deported and ?if the outfit is serious, it should take a bold stand on the detection and deportation of Bangladeshi nationals from Assam.?
Reacting to the ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah?s allegation that the AASU leaders betrayed the people of Assam to become Ministers, MPs and MLAs, Bhattacharya said that the AASU never betrayed the people. He admitted that some leaders of the AASU, who formed the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) betrayed the people by not implementing the Assam Accord and the AASU cannot be held responsible for the same. He pointed out that the AASU also launched an agitation against the AGP Government headed by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta for its failure to implement the Assam Accord. Boro went a step further and said, ?If the AASU has to take the responsibility for the misdeeds of a few former leaders of the organisation, the ULFA commander-in-chief should also take the responsibility for the involvement of a few surrendered ULFA men in misdeeds like secret killings.?
Referring to the ULFA leader?s allegation that the AASU had started the cult of violence in Assam during the Assam movement, Bhattacharya said that the AASU has always been fighting against all kinds of violence. He said that the State witnessed unfortunate acts of violence in 1983 just because the Central Government imposed elections on the people and at that time, most of the senior leaders of the students? organisation were put behind the bars. He said that the AASU suspended the agitation for some time for restoration of peace at that time. Bhattacharya said that the AASU members faced the wrath of the Government, ULFA and other insurgent outfits over the years for opposing all kinds of violence and killing and asserted that the movement for creating a violence-free atmosphere in the State would continue.
The AASU leaders called upon the ULFA to seek solution of their problems through talks. Boro said that the Government should declare a unilateral cease-fire for 100 hours on experimental basis to create a congenial atmosphere for talks with the militants, while the militant groups should also reciprocate by coming for talks. On the precondition given by the ULFA for talks, he said that both the Government and the ULFA should come forward for talks without any precondition and the modalities for talks can be finalised across the table.