NEW DELHI, Oct 21 ? The Centre today gave the go ahead to Assam Government to open dialogue with the outlawed NDFB before announcing a formal ceasefire pact with the outfit. The talks are going to be held in the pattern of the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).
The Centre?s clearance came after an hour-long meeting between Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil and Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi at North Block here this afternoon, which was also attended by top officials of the Ministry. Union Home Secretary, Dhirendra Singh, joint Secretary (North-East), Rajeev Agarwalla and IGP (SB), Khagen Sarma were also present at the meeting.
There was some progress on the ULFA front as well, with the Chief Minister endorsing the initiative taken by Mamoni Roisom Goswami asking her to proceed with her proposal. The Chief Minister said he was trying to line up an appointment with the Prime Minister for her. ?She called me this morning and I have asked her to go ahead with her initiative,? he said.
The noted writer and academician had made an offer to take the initiative to break the impasse and try to broker talks between the Government and ULFA. The outfit too was reported to have responded positively.
Meanwhile, the State Government is unlikely to take a hard stand on releasing the arrested NDFB cadres currently under detention. ?The NDFB has not submitted its list of cadres who would represent it in talks and if necessary we will do it,? he said in response to a question.
The modalities for talks agreed to between the Centre and State Government was that they would follow the pattern adopted in case of BLT. According to plans drawn up today the State Government now offer the NDFB to send a delegation to open preliminary talks with the State Government to finalise the ground rules for ceasefire.
Assam has already offered free passage to the NDFB to come out of hiding. Once the ground rules are in place, in the next step, the State Government proposes to formally declare ceasefire with the NDFB. ?So far Assam Government has not declared ceasefire though we have asked the security forces to exercised restrain,? Sri Gogoi told newsmen in North Block.
Sri Gogoi said a peculiar situation has arisen in case of NDFB because in earlier cases of talks with BLT and NSCN (I-M) some groundwork had been done before declaration of ceasefire. ?In case of NDFB, they unilaterally declared ceasefire before any preliminary work could be done,? he said.
The talks with the NDFB are proposed to be tripartite and mostly be held at the official level as was in case of the BLT. The ground rules for ceasefire is likely to be same sets and would include agreement not to open fire on each other, restriction on movement of cadres with arms, security cover to NDFB cadres, setting up of designated camps, ban on extortions and other illegal activities.
Earlier, in his meeting with the Union Home Minister, the Chief Minister briefed him about the present law and order situation stating that NDFB considered a dreaded militant outfit was responsible for all recent major blasts in the State. Talks with the outfit would mean that major headache was over for the State. He also apprised the Union Minister that the support base of the outfit was shrinking and it was under pressure to come for talks.
In response, Sri Patil asked him to go ahead assuring that the Centre?s full backing was with the State Government. Later, Sri Gogoi told newsmen that the problem in the Bodoland areas was also discussed with the Union Home Minister. He discussed about the manner in which the State Government proposes to implement the Bodo Accord.
He asserted that the Government was committed to implement the accord, adding that already 40 departments were transferred to the BTAD. On the apprehension of the non-Bodos and the BLT leaders, he assured that their interest would not be harmed.
Meanwhile, officials have downplayed the apprehension that the NDFB was not serious about the talks and was trying to hoodwink the State Government by offering ceasefire. ?According to information with us they are serious about dialogue,? a senior official said. The Chief Minister also added that State Government refused to take cognisance of the offer first made through e-mail. ?We insisted on an written offer so that it could be examined,? he said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also raised the issue of recent floods in Goalpara district. He briefed the Union Home Minister about devastation caused by the flash floods that left over 100 people dead. He said that such a situation has not occurred earlier and area too was not flood prone.