By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati: For the purpose of peace in Assam, the central government is about to compromise peace with many militant organizations including United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).The negotiations for this agreement are in their final stages and it is expected that the agreement will be reached in a few months. Riding on the success of Bodo Accord 2020, the Assam government on Tuesday offered the olive branch to the ULFA’s rival faction. Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today appealed to come to the table and resolve the demands politically after talking to the anti-talk faction of ULFA led by Paresh Barua.Sarma said that if the Center shows interest in resolving their grievances through dialogue with the ULFA faction, then the Center will respond with equal gesture. Has resolved the demands of Bodo. I have been told that if the ULFA faction shows interest in peace talks, it will be responded by the Center.On behalf of the Assam government, Sarma has appealed to Paresh Baruch to consider coming forward for talks. Sarma claimed, this is the first time that the central government has been successful in bringing together all stakeholders of Bodo society including All Bodo Students Union (ABSU), four factions of NDFB and BTC.”The demand for a separate state for Bodo officially ended on Monday,” Sarma said. The minister also appealed to terrorist organizations in Manipur to come forward for talks.Other states of Northeast India like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland have become peaceful. If terrorist organizations in Manipur and Assam come forward for talks, it will help in establishing lasting peace in the region.

The minister also said that the Assam government has invited Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit Kokrajhar on 7 February to sign the historic Bodo Accord 2020.Sarma also informed that the Central Government is following the Clause 6 Committee and exploring possibilities regarding constitutional protections for the indigenous people of Assam.

He said that the constitutional protection of the indigenous people of Assam will be announced during the upcoming Rongali Bihu ceremony. However, it has not been followed in the last 40 years. Says the leader of ULFA, “Initially we thought of waiting for the report of the committee to come but the panel could not do anything concrete.What would we do? So we decided to move forward on the agreement with the negotiators. Let us tell you that in June 2008, two companies of ULFA’s 28th Battalion announced a unilateral ceasefire. Three years later, the top leaders of ULFA were banished from Bangladesh and arrested in India. The ULFA then unconditionally began talks with the Center.Meanwhile ,United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) chief Paresh Barua said on Today that the banned outfit would join talks with the Centre only if sovereignty is the main agenda.Baruah said the outfit would join talks only if there are no formalities, talks are held in an atmosphere of trust and sovereignty is the ‘one-point agenda’ on the table.“We are demanding sovereignty and that is the one point agenda for us. It should be on the negotiating table. There is no need to go to Delhi for discussions, we would want the talks to be held in Assam,” he said.