GUWAHATI, Nov 25: Reacting to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement in Parliament yesterday that the Government of India is against holding talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on the issue of “sovereignty” of Assam, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa today said the statement of the minister reflects his “imperialist” mentality.
In an e-mail today, Rajkhowa said: “We are closely observing the statements of the Government of India on peace talks with us. Chidambaram’s statement makes its clear that the Government of India lacks courage and sound reasoning for peace talks with the ULFA on the issue of sovereignty of Assam. We want to put an end to our conflict with the Government of India through political dialogue even though the conflict can be settled without such dialogue. However, we don’t want to hold any peace talks by bowing before the Government. Even if the Government of India wants to settle its conflict with us militarily, it should let us know by making a statement in Parliament.”
He said the Government of India is against any political dialogue with the ULFA, and as such it finds one pretext or the other to derail peace initiatives. ULFA leaders Sashadhar Choudhury and Chitrabon Hazarika told newsmen when they were produced in the court in Guwahati recently that ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa would soon spell out the outfit’s stand on peace talks with the Government of India. This is the first statement by Rajkhowa after the utterance by Sashadhar and Chitrabon on peace talks. THE SENTINEL
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