Assam CM Himanta renews appeal for peace, says Ulfa ceasefire a ray of hope
In what has suddenly brought anti-talk faction of outlawed United Liberation Front of AsomIndependent into the limelight, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that his government was taking the unilateral ceasefire announcement by Ulfa-I as a “ray of hope”.
The day Assam police in a major breakthrough caught the perpetrator of a grenade blast killing two civilians, Mr Sarma told reporters, “We are looking into the announcement of a unilateral ceasefire by the Ulfa-I as a ray of hope. But, this doesn’t imply that the Ulfa-I would be allowed to carry on with its subversive activities. We will take action against Ulfa-I when the need arises.”
The CM, while renewing his appeal to Ulfa-I commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah to join the peace process, reiterated that the people of Assam are fed up with bloodshed and violence. “Since 1979 (when Ulfa came into existence) Assam has seen a lot of bloodshed and violence and it has helped none. Paresh Baruah (Ulfa-I chief) must pay heed to the wishes of the people of Assam. People of Assam want peace, not violence,” he said after meeting the family members of Mr Ritul Saikia, an ONGC employee who was abducted along with two others on April 21.
Mr Sarma said that the abducted employee has been taken to Myanmar and was in good health so far. “We are trying our level best to rescue him from the captivity of his abductors at the earliest,” he assured the old parents of the ONGC employee.
The two other abducted employees of the ONGC — Mohini Mohan Gogoi and Alakesh Saikia — were rescued on April 24 after an encounter with security forces and the help of local villagers near the Indo-Myanmar border in Mon district of Nagaland.
Earlier, the Ulfa-I was denying the presence of an ONGC employee in its captivity but on Tuesday Ulfa-I chief Baruah again spoke to a local news channel and admitted that Ritul Saikia was in their captivity. “We have set some terms and conditions before the ONGC and negotiation was going on. As soon as it materialises, we will release their employee,” said the Ulfa-I chief, who also appreciated the Assam chief minister’s call to Ulfa-I for peace talks saying that it was a positive move of the government.
Meanwhile, Assam police in a major breakthrough on Tuesday apprehended the Ulfa-I cadres involved in the Tingri grenade blast in which two civilians were killed.