The Hindu : Front Page : Indira Goswami writes again to Manmohan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 12, 2004

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Front Page

Indira Goswami writes again to Manmohan

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 11 . Indira Goswami, Jnanpith Award winner, is said to have given the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, a letter today, containing another suggestion on how to start a dialogue between the Centre and the Assam secessionist group, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Ms. Goswami has been trying to play the mediator between the Centre and the ULFA, urging the two sides to come to the table.

ULFA earlier rejected an offer of talks from the Centre because the letter was signed by M.K. Narayanan, special adviser on internal security to the Prime Minister, and not by the Prime Minister himself. Its leadership also objected to the stipulation that the Centre was willing to talk to anyone who "abjured" violence.

In her latest letter to Dr. Singh, Ms. Goswami suggested that the Prime Minister himself write a letter of invitation to the ULFA and mentioning that the Centre would be happy to talk about issues raised by the writer in her letter. In this strategy of deliberate ambiguity, the Centre would not commit itself to discussing "sovereignty" with the secessionists while ULFA can feel free to infer that the Manmohan Singh Government was offering them an unconditional dialogue.

However, the Centre's response would be known only after a few days. Ms. Goswami believes that the Centre ought to display some degree of flexibility and sensitivity, as many of the ULFA leaders consider themselves inheritors of a royal lineage.

In her view, it would not cost the Centre anything to humour these leaders on this score.

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