Solve ULFA issue through talks: Uma Rajkonwar

SIBSAGAR, August 14: Veteran nonagenarian freedom fighter Uma Rajkonwar has called for a solution to the insurgency issue in the state through amicable negotiations. Both the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) boys and the government should come forward to resolve the issue through negotiations, although the responsibility to create a congenial atmosphere for such negotiations lies mainly with the government, Rajkonwar, now 99, told this correspondent at his Lakwa residence on August 10 last. The observation is significant since the youngest of his three sons , Rajib Rajkonwar, is the ULFA chairman. Rajib is better known as Arabinda Rajkhowa. Rajkonwar, now bed-ridden with kidney ailments and also suffering from hearing and vision impairments, still takes pride in identifying himself as an ardent Gandhian. He said instead of creating a favourable atmosphere for a negotiated settlement of the ULFA issue, the government was killing ULFA boys. This has affected the entire process by damaging the required condition of a mutual trust between the ULFA and the government, he said. His views were also echoed by his second son Ajay Rajkonwar, an Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) employee and general secretary of the Assam State Power Workers' Union. He is also an executive committee member of the All India Federation of Electricity Employees, besides being an active member of the CPI-ML (Liberation). The Rajkonwars were preparing for the annual "shradha" of the eldest son of the family - Dimba Rajkonwar, who was gunned down on August 11 last year at Dibrugarh by unidentified gunmen.