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Road to Peace

Indian govt signs deal with Ulfa

Our correspondent, New Delhi
Aiming to end violence in the troubled northeastern state of Assam, the Indian government yesterday signed an agreement with Ulfa to set the ball rolling for peace talks.
The agreement, the Suspension of Operation pact, was signed by the Central and Assam governments and Ulfa - -an outfit of 600 insurgents — to ensure the outfit will not carry out any subversive activities till the finding of a political solution to the vexed insurgency problem, while security forces will also not take any action against Ulfa cadres.
In the first formal peace talks between the banned Ulfa and government in the last 32 years, it discussed various aspects of the ground rules of suspension of operations and how to uphold peace in Assam.
"We had a very good round of talks. The first round spells out the road to political dialogue. It is the harbinger of future
talks," Joint Secretary (Northeast) of the Ministry of Home Affairs Shambhu Singh told reporters.
The pact will continue during the talks between government and Ulfa till a final agreement is signed.
Asked whether Ulfa cadres will surrender all arms and ammunition, the outfit's 'Foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury shot back saying "Why should we? This is not a final agreement".
"This is a gentleman's agreement and we will see how the parleys go forward," Sashadhar said.
Last month, Ulfa submitted a 'charter of demands' to the centre, which sought amendment to the Indian constitution for finding out "meaningful" ways to protect the rights and identity of indigenous people of Assam.
The group also demanded changes in some provisions of the constitution and expressed that solutions to their demands were not possible under the existing constitution.
Other demands of Ulfa include discussions on "Ulfa's struggle and their genuineness", status report on missing Ulfa leaders and cadres -- numbering around 50 — including those missing since 2005 when Bhutan government conducted an offensive against the outfit.
Those who signed today's agreement include Joint Secretary Shambhu Singh, Assam's Home Commissioner Jishnu Baruah, Ulfa 'Foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury, 'Finance Secretary’ Chitrabon Hazarika, and 'Deputy Commander-in-Chief' Raju Baruah.
Ulfa's elusive 'com-mander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah is still opposed to any dialogue with the government until 'sovereignty' of Assam is on the negotiationtable.