Insurgency / Assam

GUWAHATI, January 17: The underground National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) has declared as "banned" five other Bodo groups including the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) and All Bodo Women's Welfare Federation (ABWWF) for their alleged "nefarious" activities and threatened selective elimination of their leaders. A statement by the NDFB's publicity secretary B. Erakdao last evening said that the ABSU, BSS, ABWWF, Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) and the Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) had joined hands to "crush" the NDFB's "revolution" for a sovereign Bodo...

GUWAHATI, January 17(UNI): The ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) is likely to be extended to all Naga areas of the Northeastern region. A crucial meeting of the Chief Ministers of Northeastern region, besides that of Nagaland was being convened shortly to take the final decision, said the Joint Secretary of the Union Home ministry, GK Pillai. The July 1997 ceasefire with the rebels had been extended till July 31 with revised ground rules debarring the NSCN cadres to carry arms to all populated areas, besides there would be no safe havens. This was decided after...

GUWAHATI, January 17: The Centre is ready to hold talks with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on any issue without any preconditions, according to Gopal Krishna Pillai, Joint Secretary in charge of the Northeast in the Union Home Ministry. Pillai, who is on a tour of the region, said the Centre had sent feelers to the ULFA leadership on several occasions to come forward for talks, but it had not received any positive response so far. ULFAs Commander-in-ChiefParesh Baruas recent offer for holding scientific talkswas only a statement made to a section of the press and the...

NEW DELHI, January 17: No formal contacts has been so far established between the Government of India and the outlawed ULFA, to pave the way for talks, highly placed sources told The Assam Tribune here today. The only contact the Centre has had was when the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was recently contacted by a senior Editor of a vernacular daily, on behalf of the outfit. The Editor who spoke to a top official in the PMO conveyed the ULFA's stand and its willingness to review its two pre-conditions, if talks centred around the issue of sovereignty. It has been since conveyed to the person...

GUWAHATI, January 17: The Government of India is likely to convene a meeting involving Chief Ministers of the Northeastern states to discuss the issue of 'ceasefire without territorial limit' as has been insisted by the NSCN(IM) engaged in peace talks with the government. The joint secretary (NE) of the Union Home Ministry, G K Pillai, informed The Assam Tribune that the centre was likely to consider a ceasefire pact with the NSCN(IM) without territorial limit in view of the 'solid progress' made in the last round of negotiation with the outfit. The last round of talks saw changes in the...

GUWAHATI, January 17: The main separatist guerrilla group in India's strife-torn northeastern Assam accused security forces on Wednesday of responsibility for recent kidnappings and killings of relatives of the militant group. Assam Home Commissioner Mrinal Kuamar Barua denied the allegation and said the government was "concerned about the attacks and killings" and had provided security to relatives of ULFA members. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) said the government was seeking to put psychological pressure on the guerrillas to abandon violence by targeting family members. "Such...

GUWAHATI, January 17: The United Liberation Front of Asom says it is not interested in NSCN-IM-like talks with the Indian government even as Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta indicated in Guwahati on Tuesday that a cease-fire with ULFA on the lines of the one currently in force in Kashmir is feasible if the outlawed outfit comes forward for some kind of informal discussions with the Centre. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah group) has observed a cease-fire with the government since August 1997. ULFA's stand on the issue of talks appears in the latest issue of...

GUWAHATI, January 16: Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta indicated here today that the ULFA should immediately begin some kind of informal discussions with the Centre, in order to at least pave way for declaration of a cease-fire between the two sides. Mahanta, who was talking to journalists at a Bhogali bihu party in his official residence here today morning also pointed out that it was only following informal parleys that cease-fires were declared in Nagaland ans well as Kashmir."Look at the cease-fires in Nagaland and Kashmir. Both were preceded by informal discussions between the...

GUWAHATI, January 16: Spectre of fratricidal clashes looms over Bodo dominated areas of the State with banned National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) resolving to go for 'selective elimination' of leaders of rival Bodo groups including the BLT, ABSU, Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), Bodo People's Action Committee (BPAC) and All Bodo Women's Welfare Federation (ABWWF). The NDFB in a statement issued today stated that the resolution to this effect was taken in a special session of the outfit held in an undisclosed place on January 10 last. It also stated that as soon as the decision would be put...

GUWAHATI, January 16: The Government of India is ready to hold unconditional talks with the ULFA on any issue including the question of sovereignty. Disclosing this, the Joint Secretary (Northeast) of the Union Home Ministry, GK Pillai told The Assam Tribune here this evening that if talks with the ULFA materialised , the Government was confident of convincing the ULFA leaders that they had no case in their demand for sovereignty. The official, however, said although the ULFA had issued statements in the Press expressing its desire for talks, it was yet to send any feeler to the Government...