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ULFA chief Baruah wants talks to cover independence

Nitin Gogoi in Guwahati

The self-styled commander-in chief of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom, Paresh Baruah, has ruled out "talks for talks' sake" with the Centre.

Baruah told newspapers in Assam on Wednesday that the bloodbath in the state would cease only if the Centre agreed to a "scientific dialogue" with the outfit. Explaining what this meant, Baruah said the agenda would have to be "Assam's independence, and the talks must be logical and reasonable to us".

Baruah said his outfit was watching the outcome of the talks between the NSCN-IM and the Centre. "The talks are a mere eyewash, and are doomed to fail. The entire talks are a farce played out by the Indian government to delay the Naga struggle," he is reported to have said.

Last month, Sana Yaima, chairman of the Manipur-based United Liberation Nationalist Front had told rediff.com in an exclusive interview that the Centre was using the negotiations to buy time and was also dismissive of the talks. Baruah's assertion only confirms the scepticism among various insurgent outfits in the north-east.

Baruah claimed responsibility for the killings of top SULFA leader Abinash Bordoloi and two of his associates in Nalbari Tuesday night. Bordoloi, a former lieutenant in the outfit, had come overground in August 200 along with over 200 others. Baruah hinted that it was a "vendetta strike" against his former comrades, in which two other SULFA men were also injured.

The ULFA 'c-in-c' said the outfit had granted "general amnesty" to all those who had left, provided they did not indulge in "illegal activities" or help security forces.

Though he did not say the ULFA was behind last night's ambush, Baruah accused Bordoloi of leading the "killer squad" which shot dead ULFA's 'foreign Secretary' Sasha Choudhury's brother in Nalbari last month.

Baruah said the government was using the SULFA as "secret killers" to target the families of ULFA men and for other "extra-judicial" killings. The police, on the other hand, are yet to identify those who attacked the families of the ULFA cadre.

Baruah refused to accept the term "peace talks" for the dialogue with the Centre and insisted on the word "negotiation". "We have not violated peace. All our acts have been in self-defence," he said. Asked if the ULFA would agree to a protectorate status vis-a-vis India, he said: "Let the Indian government first come out with an agenda for scientific negotiations. If this (protectorate status) is included in the agenda, we will examine it. At this moment your question is premature."

Baruah also dismissed police claims that ULFA was willing to talk without Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta, saying the police "were always resorting to gimmicks for personal gains." He, however, admitted that Mahanta's successor would be a "better man to talk to" as the former was a "puppet" in the governor's hands.

He also blasted Mahanta for "cheating the Assamese nation" by riding to power on the sacrifice made by 700 "martyrs" during the Assam agitation and then turning his back on the real problems of the state.

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