GUWAHATI, Nov 29 ? The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) today made it clear that talks with the Government of India would be possible only when the Government recognises the genuine demand of the outfit.
Talking to The Assam Tribune over telephone from an undisclosed location, the ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah said, ?The ball is in the court of the Government of India. If the Government of India recognises our genuine demand for sovereignty, we shall come forward for discussions.?
The ULFA leader asserted that the sovereignty of Assam is not negotiable. ?We are not interested in coming for negotiations with the Government of India on the issue of sovereignty and we are keen only to come for discussions on the issue. We want to discuss sovereignty of Assam and not to negotiate on the issue,? he asserted.
Baruah said that the ULFA would welcome involvement of the British Government in the process of discussions as the knowledge of the British on the history of Assam is better than that of Government of India. He said that Assam came under the British rule much before it came under the Indian rule. He alleged, ?The Indians forgot the history after staying under the rule of the Mughals for hundreds of years, but Assam stayed under the British rule only in 1826,? he added.
The ULFA commander -in-chief said that the outfit has not suspended its operations nor it declared a ceasefire. He claimed that the outfit would hit back whenever its members come under attack of the attack of the ?Indian forces.?
He pointed out that they were not following the path of Mahatma Gandhi to sit idle when they are attacked. ?Our issue should not be termed as a law-and-order problem. We are fighting for sovereignty of Assam and we shall continue to do so to achieve our goals,? he said.
Baruah also said that the ULFA has declared the CRPF man from Assam, who killed seven of his colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday, as a martyr and said that the person was an active member of the ULFA for a long time. ?The Government of India has been trying to use the same tactics against us for a long time and we are also following the same path to hit back at the Indian security forces,? he added.