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UWAHATI: Drawing the perimeter for holding peace talks even more boldly, Union home minister P Chidambaram has asked the Ulfa leadership to strike off its main demand of sovereignty from its agenda if it at all wants the government to hold a dialogue.
While presenting the 12th monthly report card of his ministry in the Capital on Tuesday, he said, "The government will talk only if they (Ulfa) shed the sovereignty demand and shun violence."
The minister insisted that the speculation about the government "planning to go ahead with talks with Ulfa without its fugitive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah" is unfounded. He said. "I do not know who will come and who will not. So far. there's is no proposal for talks from Ulfa."
The home minister's well-defined pre-conditions for peace talks come days after a conglomerate of 28 organizations from the state met him in New Delhi and pressed for early resumption of negotiations with Ulfa. The People's Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) also urged both the Centre and Ulfa to come together and resolve all issues through dialogue.
In the first round of talks between the People's Consultative Group (PCG), an Ulfa-nominated panel comprising representatives from various sections of the civil society, and the Centre, on October 26, 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the government was willing to listen "to whatever concerns that you may raise". He had, however, reminded the delegation that he was a servant of the Constitution and urged them to recognize "the limitations of a complex polity", indicating that the Ulfa's demand of sovereignty could not be entertained within the framework of the Constitution.
The peace efforts, initiated by writer and the PM's former colleague in Delhi University, Indira Goswami, however, fell through after three rounds of talks with the PCG pulling out in protest against army operations against Ulfa while the talks were on.
Chidambaram's stand on the pre-conditions of talks are seen by security experts as the "final word" and there's no option for the Ulfa leadership but to drop the issue of sovereignty from its demand list and sit for talks.
With two top senior Ulfa leaders, "foreign secretary" Sasha Choudhury and "finance secretary" Chitrabon Hazarika in Assam Police custody, the issue of peace talks has again received a new lease of life. Apart from the PCPIA, the breakaway pro-talk faction of Ulfa s 28th battalion, who have declared unilateral truce, have also urged Chidambaram to hold early talks with Ulfa.
UWAHATI: Drawing the perimeter for holding peace talks even more boldly, Union home minister P Chidambaram has asked the Ulfa leadership to strike off its main demand of sovereignty from its agenda if it at all wants the government to hold a dialogue.
While presenting the 12th monthly report card of his ministry in the Capital on Tuesday, he said, "The government will talk only if they (Ulfa) shed the sovereignty demand and shun violence."
The minister insisted that the speculation about the government "planning to go ahead with talks with Ulfa without its fugitive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah" is unfounded. He said. "I do not know who will come and who will not. So far. there's is no proposal for talks from Ulfa."
The home minister's well-defined pre-conditions for peace talks come days after a conglomerate of 28 organizations from the state met him in New Delhi and pressed for early resumption of negotiations with Ulfa. The People's Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) also urged both the Centre and Ulfa to come together and resolve all issues through dialogue.
In the first round of talks between the People's Consultative Group (PCG), an Ulfa-nominated panel comprising representatives from various sections of the civil society, and the Centre, on October 26, 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the government was willing to listen "to whatever concerns that you may raise". He had, however, reminded the delegation that he was a servant of the Constitution and urged them to recognize "the limitations of a complex polity", indicating that the Ulfa's demand of sovereignty could not be entertained within the framework of the Constitution.
The peace efforts, initiated by writer and the PM's former colleague in Delhi University, Indira Goswami, however, fell through after three rounds of talks with the PCG pulling out in protest against army operations against Ulfa while the talks were on.
Chidambaram's stand on the pre-conditions of talks are seen by security experts as the "final word" and there's no option for the Ulfa leadership but to drop the issue of sovereignty from its demand list and sit for talks.
With two top senior Ulfa leaders, "foreign secretary" Sasha Choudhury and "finance secretary" Chitrabon Hazarika in Assam Police custody, the issue of peace talks has again received a new lease of life. Apart from the PCPIA, the breakaway pro-talk faction of Ulfa s 28th battalion, who have declared unilateral truce, have also urged Chidambaram to hold early talks with Ulfa.
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