[Assam] The Sikh Prime Minister GIVETH, his HINDU underlings taketh. Kautilya policies on the march again with the ‘sacred’ Constitution in hands to the sacrificial alter to kill the ‘Mocking Bird’.

[Bartta Bistar]

*Ulfa's pre-condition queers the pitch for peace talks*

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/July/subcontinent_July374.xml&section=subcontinent&col=
>From our correspondent

11 July 2006



KOLKATA — The United Liberation Front of Assam's insistence on the release
of five top jailed leaders ahead of peace talks with the federal government
has angered Indian officials trying to end a decades-old insurgency which
has killed thousands of people.

Ulfa says its leaders must be released from prison so that they participate
in the talks. But senior Home Ministry officials say the precondition flies
in the face of an understanding reached between government representatives
and People's Consultative Group — an Ulfa-nominated panel of human rights
activists, writers, lawyers and journalists — last month.

The PCG and Home Ministry officials, including Home Minister Shivraj Patil,
have held several rounds of meeting to clear the decks for direct talks
between Ulfa and the government.

A Home Ministry official told Khaleej Times that it has been made amply
clear to PCG that jailed Ulfa leaders will not be released under any
circumstances. "We are getting worried about Ulfa's sincerity. If Ulfa
genuinely want to resolve its dispute with the Indian government, it should
nominate senior leaders like Paresh Barua or Arabinda Rajkhowa who are at
large instead of harping on freedom for their comrades doing time in jail",
he said.

"If Ulfa is serious about doing business with us, it must drop
pre-conditions and hold talks latest by August 15."

Ulfa has been fighting a war of secession in oil, tea and timber-rich
Assamsince 1979. It accuses
India of neglecting the state and plundering its natural resources. The
official also expressed displeasure over what he described as Ulfa's
provocative statements on India's constitution.

Last week Rajkhowa said that India's constitution is the biggest 'stumbling
bloc' in the path of a negotiated settlement with New Delhi. The official
disclosed that Ulfa had not stopped its 'terrorist' campaign or extortion
rackets to create an atmosphere conducive for meaningful peace talks.

Fifteen persons have been killed in a series of bombings and grenade attacks
across Assam since last month. Although Ulfa has flatly denied any role in
the attacks, the state and federal governments refuse to absolve the outfit.


Another sore point is Ulfa's alleged bid to extort Rs1.5 million from the
Guwahati-based Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regional director Amarendra Sahu.
In the past Ulfa is known to have targeted Oil and Natural Gas Commission
but the demand from RBI is being viewed as an affront to the Indian
government's authority in the insurgency-wracked region.

But a senior Guwahati police official gave the benefit of doubt to the Ulfa
leadership. He said: "It has come to our notice that some lower-rung Ulfa
leaders are serving extortion notes probably without the knowledge of the
outfit's top brass. We are keeping a close watch on the situation."

Significantly, federal home secretary, V.K. Duggal, was summoned Assam chief
secretary, S. Kabilan, to New Delhi yesterday for a closed-door briefing.

New Delhi's efforts to pull Ulfa to the negotiating table have colincided
with the government's negotiations with leaders of another northeastern
separatist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah)
or NSCN (I-M). The NSCN too has been fighting for decades for the freedom of
millions of Naga tribespeople living in the region.





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