Writing under the shadow of the three-decade long insurgency in Assam, litterateur Indira Raisom Goswami wielded the pen not only to highlight the issue of violence but also took the initiative of persuading the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to come to the negotiating table.
Assamese litterateur Indira Raisom Goswami, who had taken the initiative to bring the United Liberation Front of Asom to the negotiating table, on Tuesday passed away at a hospital in Guwahati after a prolonged illness. The condition of 69-year-old Goswami, who suffered a cerebral stroke in February, turned critical on Monday night and she was declared dead at 7:45 am, Guwahati Medical College Hospital Superintendent R Talukdar said.
After successfully mobilising public opinion to favour the release of senior leaders of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to facilitate talks with the government, the Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan, a forum of leading citizens and civil society organisations, has now started preparing the charter of demands that the outfit can present ahead of the peace talks.
Handing over of United Liberation Front of Asom leader Anup Chetia to India, cooperation in anti-terror steps and firing along the international border will be high on the agenda during the home secretary-level talks between India and Bangladesh beginning Wednesday.
Illegal crossings by militants through the Indo-Nepal border continued as enough check posts have not been set up, Sashastra Seema Bal's director general Himanshu Kumar said.
United Liberation Front of Asom's 'foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury, who was released from the Guwahati Central Jail on bail, on Tuesday expressed hope that talks with the government would be held soon for a peaceful solution to the ULFA-government conflict. Talking to waiting mediapersons outside the jail, Choudhury said the discussions, which would be held soon in a peaceful environment, would ultimately solve the ULFA problem.
The government is determined to start negotiation with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom sans the participation of its fugitive 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said that dialogue with ULFA will start as soon as the outfit will take a formal decision in its general council meeting.
The ultras will be provided six-month vocational training in trade of their choice at the Army-run rehabilitation and training centre (RTC) at Tamulpur. They will also be provided with Rs 1.5 lakh each and the amount will be paid to three-year fixed deposit accounts to be opened against the name of each of the surrendered militants.
Centre's interlocutor for peace talks with northeast militants P C Haldar on Thursday said he was "optimistic about taking the peace talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom forward as they have expressed their willingness for unconditional talks."
The pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) led by its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Wednesday came down heavily on fugitive Paresh Barua, the leader of the outfit's anti-talks faction for trying to make light the ongoing peace talks between Indian government and the ULFA (Rajkhowa faction).
Hours after the release of United Liberation Front of Asom Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa from Guwhati's Central Jail, the Assam government clarified that the ban the outfit will stay despite the outfit's leadership talking truce.
A Bangladeshi court is set to frame charges against 52 suspects, including United Liberation Front of Asom chief Paresh Barua and top Islamist leader Matiur Rahman Nizami in the country's biggest ever arms smuggling case when 10-truck loads of arms destined for banned Indian separatist group were seized.
The Guwahati central jail, where several top leaders of the proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Asom are currently lodged, has become a venue for its leaders to restart the peace process, albeit with the tacit approval of the government, say their lawyer.According to Bijon Mahajan, lawyer of interned ULFA 'foreign secretary' Sasha Choudhury and 'finance secretary' Chitroban Hazarika, the investigating agency could have asked for further police custody.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday informed the state assembly that the arrested chairman of United Liberation Front of Asom Arabinda Rajkhowa and foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury had been in Bangladesh since 1990, while finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika and deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah shifted to Bangladesh on a later date.
Maoist activities in Assam are likely to receive the support of the so-called anti-talks faction of the ULFA and if not nipped in the bud will spread to other states of the Northeast with support from other insurgent groups and international powers, warns Col Anil Bhat (Retd).
The anti-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam on Monday flayed Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for expressing its inability to bring 'culprits' behind the infamous 'secret killings' in Assam during the last AGP regime (1996-2001) to book for 'lack of evidence'.
The Myanmar army has zeroed in on the base of anti-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom and other insurgent groups from the northeast. The ULFA faction led by 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua claimed that its base in Myanmar was under attack from the Myanmar army since Tuesday.
India has asked Bangladesh to expedite the extradition of top United Liberation Front of Asom insurgent Anup Chetia who has served out his sentence in this country after being arrested on the charge of entering without valid documents in 1997.
In its effort to bring lasting peace in Assam, the government on Saturday signed an agreement with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to end violence in the troubled northeastern state and set the ball rolling for peace talks.
Warming up for his visit to Bangladesh in the company of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on September 6 and 7, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday showered praise on Bangladesh Prime Minister Seikh Hasina and her government for being very helpful in evicting militants leaders of the northeast, including those from the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which has been instrumental in containing insurgency in the state of late
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday called upon Paresh Barua, the fugitive commander-in-chief of the anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom, to join the ongoing peace process with his colleagues in the militant outfit, led by 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa. Addressing the people of Assam on Independence Day in Guwahati, Gogoi said his government was sympathetic towards the misguided youth of the state in the ranks of various insurgent groups.
Though the United Liberation Front of Asom has lost almost all its key shelters in Bangladesh with the incumbent Bangladesh regime extending overwhelming cooperation to the Indian government, the outfit's base in Myanmar has remained a cause for concern and major hurdle in facilitating an all encompassing peace talks with the group.
Top United Liberation Front of Asom leaders on Friday met Home Minister P Chidambaram and presented the outfit's 'charter of demands', setting the ball rolling for peace talks with the government to bring about a lasting solution to Assam's three-decade old insurgency problem.
Paresh Barua, heading the United Liberation Front of Asom's anti-talk faction, on Wednesday rejected the unilateral ceasefire declared by Arabindo Rajkhowa-led group.
The army and police have rushed to the spot and have launched operations in the other parts of the state.
An unidentified ULFA militant died while the bomb he was carrying in his bicycle exploded on the road. No one else was injured in the incident.
Credited with bringing insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom to the negotiating table and hauling Assam back from the brink of bankruptcy, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has combined administrative and political acumen with his simple demeanour to help Congress retain power for a record consecutive third term.
Set to retain power for the third consecutive term, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said bringing all insurgents groups, including the United Liberation Front of Asom, to the negotiating table would be his main priority to ensure lasting peace in the state
The pro-talk United Liberation Front of Asom faction, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, is deliberating on the charter of demands to be taken up during its peace talks with the Centre.
On location to cover the ongoing SAARC summit, Sheela Bhatt strolls through the valleys of this tranquil wonderland called Thimphu; and meets interesting personalities amidst ethereal surroundings.
Paresh Baruah's shadow continues to loom large in Assam's political landscape.
The anti-incumbency factor is virtually a non-issue in the forthcoming assembly elections in Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday stated that the government was not prepared to wait inordinately for the leadership of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to come forward for holding negotiations within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
The chairman of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom Arabinda Rajkhowa on Tuesday said that the outfit was hopeful that the assurance of an 'honourable negotiated solution' to all the burning problems of Assam as given by 'the leadership of the world's largest democracy to the people of a strife-torn Assam ' would be kept in true spirit.
A delegation of United Liberation Front of Asom leaders, led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, days after the group sat for unconditional talks with the government.
An eight-member delegation of the United Liberation Front of Asom, led by leader Arabind Rajkhowa, will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. The ULFA delegation will brief Dr Singh about the on-going talks between the Centre and the militant outfit. ULFA leaders on Thursday met Home Minister P Chidambaram and Home Secretary G K Pillai in Delhi.He made it clear that the ULFA had no plans to contest the state assembly elections.
For the first time in its 31-year-long struggle, the banned United Liberation Front od Asom will hold face-to-face unconditional talks with the Centre tomorrow in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam. An eight-member ULFA delegation led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa will meet Union Home Secretary G K Pillai.
The vertical split in the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom has come to the fore raising questions about the fate of the nascent peace process with the Government of India.
ULFA 'Captain' Antu Chaudang and 'Second Lieutenant' Pradeep Chetia were pushed back through the Dawki border early on Saturday and were taken to Guwahati by a team of the Assam police. Chaudang is considered a close confidant of ULFA hardliner and commander in chief Paresh Baruah
The pro-talk United Liberation Front of Asom leadership, supported by four of the total six armed battalions of the organisation, has formally announced on Saturday its decision to start a meaningful peace talks with the Central government without any preconditions.
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