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Seize the moment in Assam

By reciprocating the Central Government's Independence Day-eve offer to hold its fire, the United Liberation Front of Asom has kept alive the possibility of its becoming a dialogue partner. Hopes of progress now hinge on a meeting scheduled for today in New Delhi between Government representatives and Indira Goswami and Rebati Phukan, mediators representing the People's Consultative Group on behalf of ULFA. The suspension of anti-insurgency operations testifies to the Centre's commitment to push for peace. It has even indicated a willingness to consider ULFA's demand for the release of five of its senior leaders who are in jail. Recent weeks saw low-intensity attacks by the extremist group and an effective, sustained operation against it by the security forces. The understanding was that the PCG's talks, held over three rounds, would lead to direct talks but ULFA has failed to meet the Government's request for a written communication confirming its participation in talks and providing a list of those who would represent it. With the PCG outliving its raison d'etre, direct talks between the Government and ULFA should be the way forward. There is a gulf between ULFA's demands, which are based on "sovereignty for Assam," and what the Government can possibly agree to.

Intelligence of fresh ULFA camps in Bhutan has added another dimension to the issue: these camps should be rooted out in the same way earlier ones were eliminated in 2003 in tandem with the Bhutanese authorities. The more serious concern is over the alleged nexus between ULFA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence; Indian intelligence believes this is not unrelated to the presence of ULFA leaders and operatives on Bangladesh territory. New Delhi is reported to have handed over to Dhaka a list, supported by video imagery, of locations where camps exist. Dhaka denies this, but at least two recent raids by the Bangladesh Government in Greater Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts belie its protestations. Cross-border activities must stop and hard work is required at the political and diplomatic levels to ensure this. Meanwhile, New Delhi must persist with its earnest effort to bring all the relevant insurgent groups to the negotiating table in order to craft a comprehensive and enduring political settlement in Assam. Some of them are partners in a ceasefire deal; steps should be taken to induct them into the substantive talks. The time has come for the Government to make a strong, concerted push for a breakthrough. It must politically leverage the popular yearning for peace and stability in Assam. But ULFA must act intelligently and constructively, in the larger interest of the people in whose name it has been waging its struggle.

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