GUWAHATI, Nov 17: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the peace process with militant outfit, United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), must be taken forward by striking a right balance between the core demand of the outfit and the ambit of the Constitution of India.
Speaking to mediapersons after meeting the family members of martyred Assam Rifles jawan, Suman Swargiary, at his native village in Baksa district, Sarma underlined the fact that “at some point of time, the core issues of the militant outfit have to be deliberated upon and that a proper balance be struck between the outfit’s core demand and the ambit of the Constitution.”
It may be mentioned that the core demand for a “sovereign Assam” by ULFA-I has over the decades been a stumbling block for a peace dialogue with the insurgent group.
The chief minister had earlier, referring to the core demand of the outfit, maintained that that “a middle ground, which is respectable for ULFA-I chief Paresh Baruah and the government, needed to be arrived at.”
“The core issues of ULFA-I can be addressed at some point and if there is a meeting point or consensus, the process will be continued. The exercise will take time. But in the past six months, things have moved ahead in the positive direction,” he said.
Welcoming ULFA-I’s unilateral ceasefire extension by three months (second time since it declared truce in view of COVID-19 in May) as a positive step, Sarma said that he believed that the path for a peace dialogue with the militant outfit would be gradually created through such confidence-building measures.
The ULFA-I chief, in a statement to the media last Sunday, said that the decision to extend the period of ceasefire has been taken “in the interest of the people of Assam”.
“Things and environment have changed since the mid-eighties (when ULFA was active). Problems then are not the same as the issues now. A transformation has taken place in various fields. Therefore, I believe that the approach (for peace) has to be new and in sync with the transformed scenario,” the chief minister said.
“Of late, the Centre has been able to bring several militant outfits of Assam to the mainstream through negotiations and dialogue. As it is, several outfits (in Bodoland Territorial Region and Karbi Anglong) have returned to the mainstream and there is an air of positivity. Things are moving in a positive direction with ULFA-I as well,” Sarma said.
Stating that he would urge the Centre and the Manipur government to take strict action against the perpetrators of the horrific ambush, the chief minister further appealed to the insurgent/armed revolutionary groups of the Northeast to return to the mainstream as violence and bloodshed could not solve any issue.
Swargiary was among the seven persons, including the wife and minor son of the commanding officer of the unit, killed in an ambush near the Myanmar border in Manipur’s Churachandpur district last Saturday.
Earlier, Sarma paid homage to the martyred rifleman of 46 Assam Rifles at the cremation site on the residential premises and met the family members.
He also handed over a cheque for Rs 50 lakh as ex gratia to the bereaved family and assured all help from the government.
“The Thekerakuchi-Kanhibari road will be named after the martyred jawan while a stadium will also be built on the premises of the school where he studied,” the chief minister said.