: Guwahati, March 13, 2011
In a startling press release sent to the media, the hardliner Paresh Baruah fraction of ULFA declared not to be a part of the Lateral Talks, terming it as a conspiracy by the Government of India and put forward a five point agenda if such talks needed to be successful.
Calling the current initiation of peace process as a Rat Trap, the hardliner section of ULFA declared that they would not budge away from the demand of sovereignty as per the Article 1 of Protocol I 1977: Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts which clearly defines Assam’s national liberation struggle within the definition of international armed conflict. Criticizing India Government for its dictatorial policy to its neighbors (Nepal, Bhutan, etc), holding on to earlier engulfed peripheral territories like North-East states or Indian-occupied Kashmir and for committing all-round exploitation of Assam (economic, social, legal and intellectual harassment), the ULFA stated that talks will not be fruitful if the wrong doings on part of both the parties is not probed thoroughly before attempting to formulate an amicable solution.
For the talks with ULFA to be successful, they have put forward the following five point agenda:
- Consider ULFA armed revolution as a democratic-aspiration movement of natives of the land, keeping in mind the inception of their movement in context of time and situation.
- Grant Assam a special status under the Constitution of India by an amendment under Part XXI that deals with Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions. This should enable Assam to draft a publically acceptable Constitution/Legal Document of its own.
- Endow the state government with the right of self-governance and adjudication over any matter relating to socio-political-judicial issues that concern the interests of entire group or community domiciling in Assam.
- There should be be an official national anthem for Assam as the Indian federation will not be in a position to change its own national anthem, which grossly discriminates Assam by excluding from the most-audible federal representation.
- A detailed investigation relating to the crimes committed and attributed to both belligerent parties i.e. Federal authority of India and ULFA be it the Kakopathar massacre of 2006 or 26 January or the 2004 blast in Dhemaji. This is to be done through the good offices of International Humanitarian Fact Finding Commission (or any credible international organization) that are in a position to deal over issues of international and non-international armed conflicts. An ad-hoc committee should be created for the very purpose whereby there are required number of adjudicators from impartial countries and equal number of adjudicators on behalf of the belligerent parties.
Interestingly ULFA declared there was and would never be any rift within the ranks, calling itself a single family. It also declared that ULFA has the capability to rise up from its current status once again under guidance of C-in-C Paresh Baruah.
It is also to be mentioned that after Times of Assam has been revealing the trace route of emails sent by ULFA to media, this email was not sent directly to media but via a chain of Indirect forwards starting from a PCG member who recieved the email from the ULFA hardliner fraction.