The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan rules out talks on "Assam's sovereignty"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 23, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

Manmohan rules out talks on "Assam's sovereignty"

By Sushanta Talukdar

GUWAHATI, NOV. 22. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, today ruled out any discussion on "Assam's sovereignty" as demanded by the United Liberation Front of Asom.

"Assam is an integral part of India. And there should be no doubt about it anybody's mind," Dr. Singh said when reporters asked him about the ULFA's insistence that they would sit for talks if the issue of "Assam's sovereignty" was included in the agenda.

Addressing a press conference here this evening, Dr. Singh told the militant groups to shun violence and come forward for a meaningful dialogue.

`Door open for talks'

Earlier addressing the golden jubilee of The Shillong Times, Dr. Singh said: "Our door is always open to all groups who are committed to the economic uplift and the social and political empowerment of the region. There is no issue, no grievance that is so intractable that it cannot be resolved through a patient, constructive dialogue, free from preconditions. This is the only possible way forward. In the final analysis, power in India can only flow from the ballot box, never from the barrel of the gun."

On the Centre's reaction to the appeal submitted by the Assamese litterateur Mamoni Raisom Goswami, he said that some informal contacts had been established with ULFA.

Rs. 240-crore assistance

He announced a special plan assistance of Rs. 240 crores for flood damage repair and infrastructure development during the current financial year. Stating that Rs. 41 crores had been sanctioned for protecting the world's largest river island, Majuli, in the first phase, he said that more funds would follow. .

Dr. Singh announced the conversion to broad gauge of the Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam railway line by 2009-10, the four-laning of National Highway 37 over the Nagon-Jorhat-Dibrugarh stretch and the double-laning of nine National Highways on a priority basis. A package for the tea industry would be announced soon and biweekly flights between Guwahati and Bangkok resumed. .

He promised financial assistance for the National Games 2005 to be held in Guwahati and for covering Assam under a new Central initiative for improving rural healthcare.

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