Politics / Assam

GUWAHATI, June 18 – The State Government is yet to establish any direct contact with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for negotiation. However, the banned outfit has expressed its desire for a negotiated settlement of the issues it has raised, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here today. On the preconditions slapped by the militant outfit for talks, the Chief Minister, who was addressing the mediapersons at the Janata Bhawan auditorium this noon, said, “Let us establish the contacts first. We will then think of the conditions slapped by the ULFA”.

When he was confronted with the...

GUWAHATI, June 17 – The State Government, in its bid to calm frayed tempers, today said that no final decision has yet been taken regarding the granting of 6th Schedule status to the Misings in upper Assam. It has also assured that the interests of the non-Misings in the area would not be compromised in any way. State Welfare of Plains Tribes and Backward Classes (WPT & BC) Minister Bharat Narah said during a press conference at the Janata Bhawan here that fears, being fuelled by the opposition AGP, that the Misings are on the verge of being accorded 6th Schedule status, are totally off the...

NEW DELHI, June 17 – With the deadline for downsizing of ministry fast approaching, Assam ministers are making a beeline to Delhi to lobby with the Party High Command to save their job. At least half dozen ministers of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s cabinet are currently camping in the State Guest House and five star hotels trying to meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi, while more were reported to be on their way.

Some of the Ministers who have already landed in the Capital included State PWD Minister Sarat Borkotoki, State Transport Minister Anjan Dutta, State Industry Minister, Bhubaneswar...

Guwahati, June 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said his government was in favour of according Sixth Schedule status to all the tribes even as Dhemaji district witnessed some recent communal flare-ups between the Mising and non-Mising communities over the move to grant the former recognition under the Sixth Schedule.

The demand for Sixth Schedule status for different tribes gathered momentum after it was granted to the Bodos.

The chief minister, talking to the media at his official residence today, said the cabinet sub-committee, formed under the chairmanship of health and family welfare...

Guwahati, June 16: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today welcomed filmmaker Jahnu Barua’s offer to broker peace talks with the banned Ulfa. He told the media at his official residence that the Congress government would support “any effort by anyone” to solve the problem of militancy. “It is good that somebody has come forward to help. We welcome this. We have no problem with anyone trying to broker peace if the Ulfa agrees to it.”

Barua, whose award-winning film Halodhiya Choraye Baodhan Khai made him a household name, made the offer while releasing a signed appeal yesterday for peace talks...

GUWAHATI, June 16 – The tea industry in the Barak Valley is facing a fresh crisis with the labourers threatening to go on strike demanding a hike in wages. This is the second major crisis faced by the industry within the last couple of months as floods and hailstorm in April created havoc in the gardens in the valley. The stalemate over the wage hike demand is yet to be settled and the meeting between the Consultative Committee of Tea Planters Associations and the leaders of the Assam Chah Sramik Sangha, held recently failed to arrive at a consensus on the issue. The gardens in the Barak...

GUWAHATI, June 16 – The proscribed ULFA has shown the “first signs” of coming to the negotiation table to solve the vexed insurgency problem in the State, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said here today, reports PTI. “Somebody (ULFA leader) has come forward. It is a good sign and we are hopeful of a new beginning,” Gogoi told PTI in an interview.

“We have been always asking them (ULFA) to come for talks and it is a very positive sign that they have responded,” Gogoi said. Without identifying the ULFA leader who he said has “come forward for talks,” the Chief Minister said, “at least let there be...

Kokrajhar, June 15: Elections to the nascent Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) appear unlikely to take place before November, leading to doubts in people’s minds on whether the new set-up will also go the Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) way. Though the BTC election was scheduled to be held within six months of the formation of the Interim Bodo Council on December 6 last year, it was unlikely that the elections will be held before another five months.

“The elections can be held in November at the earliest,” said BTC executive member Derhasat Basumatary.

A BTC official said that with the...

Nagaon/Guwahati, June 13: Jolted by reports suggesting that the abductors of minister G.C. Langthasa’s youngest son could do something drastic under pressure, Dispur has asked security forces to be “restrained” while conducting operations to rescue hostages. A source said the government’s directive was issued in the wake of an intelligence warning that the Ulfa, which abducted Nirmalendu Langthasa, was under “tremendous pressure” because of sustained operations by security forces and could react violently if pushed to the wall.

“It is a very delicate situation for the government. It cannot...

GUWAHATI, June 13 – The State government will soon create a special department to look after the welfare of the tea tribes in Assam. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has agreed to the demand, raised by the Assam Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA), for an exclusive department. “There will be a separate department for tea tribes,” Gogoi told reporters today at Rajiv Bhawan while referring to his meeting with ATTSA leaders yesterday. “We have agreed to it,” he said. The tea students have genuine grievances especially in the engineering and medical sectors, he said while emphasising his government...