The Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan, a forum of prominent citizens, intellectuals and organisations from Assam, was instrumental in bringing the leadership of the United Liberation Front of Asom or ULFA forward for talks. In an interview, the forum’s convener Hiren Gohain tells TEHELKA’s Ratnadip Choudhury about the prospects.
Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan Convener Hiren Gohain
With the modalities for the talks being floated, what does the forum now feel about the future of the talks?
See, the process would not be a smooth one, but our perception will not change. Criticism has been resurfacing and many people are trying to say that we are trying to toe the line suggested by the government. But I would like to make it clear that if that was the case, then the people of Assam would not have kept faith in us. We are looking forward to a negotiated settlement under the ambit of the Indian Constitution for which there might be a necessity of change in some fundamental structures. All the parties involved will have to give the wishes and grievances of the people of Assam top priority. …It seems we are moving towards something that will be concrete.
Do you feel the government is sincere?
For decades there is a strong sentiment in Assam that important decisions that (affected) the lives of people here were taken in New Delhi with out even not taking proper public opinion, without any analysis of consequence. So the aspirations of the people were neglected in a democratic society that perhaps led to an armed struggle. Now that the government has also shown keen interest, we feel that they understand the mistakes committed. In this era, a settlement can definitely be worked out where all the parties involved and above all the people of Assam will be satisfied and for this the government of India has to show a strong political will and ULFA need to have patience and maturity that it lacked in earlier attempts.
What are the factors that would govern the ground rules for talks?
The governing principle of the proposed talks will be empowering the people of Assam to take important decisions. At this moment many decisions are taken without any consensus. This needs to change. Now the talks will certainly figure around this core issue of empowering people.
You were very instrumental in actually convincing the government to set the ULFA leadership free so that the talks can be taken forward. What if the talks fail and they go underground once again?
I want to make is very clear that we got them released under the condition that they are not going to get back to the jungle life even if the talks fail. Otherwise, we would not have taken such a risk. Now both the government and the ULFA leaders have to respect our initiative. The ULFA leaders have themselves told us that they have realised that armed struggle is futile. They want a solution through political dialogue.
ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua is dead against the peace process and a large section of people inside Assam are called this process as the government’s political gimmick. How do you react to it?
It is for ULFA and Paresh Barua to decide if he wants to join the process or not. There are two things that need to be said. One, that some people and a section of the media are trying to play politics with this issue. They are trying to brand us as peace brokers for political benefits of the ruling party. My response is that we have gone to several places where people across sections have come forward to tell us that they want a proper peace where people’s wishes are given top priority. The second thing is that in earlier processes, the people of Assam were not that involved. But now people are leading the way, so I do not think people doubt our credibility.
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