New Delhi, Feb 10 : For the first time in its 31- year-long struggle, the banned ULFA will hold face-to-face unconditional talks with the Centre on Thursday in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam.
An eight-member ULFA delegation led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa will sit for negotiations with Union Home Secretary G K Pillai.
"It's a preliminary meeting, more so a familiarisation exercise," a senior Home Ministry official said.
Before meeting Pillai, the ULFA leaders will have an introductory meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram.
They are also likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 13th February after his return from Kerala.
The group will begin formal dialogue with Centre's interlocutor P C Haldar after Thursday's meeting.
On 5th February, the ULFA announced that it will sit for unconditional talks with the Centre "respecting the wishes of the people of Assam".
It also apologised for the violent acts it committed. Apart from Rajkhowa, 'vice-chairman' Pradip Gogoi, 'political advisor' Bhimakanta Buragohain, 'foreign secretary' Sasha Choudhury, 'finance secretary' Chitrabon Hazarika, 'cultural secretary' Pranati Deka, 'publicity secretary' Mithinga Daimary and 'deputy commander-in-chief' Raju Barua will participate in the talks.
They arrived in New Delhi in the evening and were whisked away by armed security men.
Before leaving for the national capital, the ULFA leaders met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and sought his cooperation to take forward the peace process with the Centre.
"I hope talks with the Centre is successful and they discussed with me how to take the peace process forward", Gogoi hoped.
Rajkhowa said the modalities for the talks have not been worked out so far and will come later.
The ULFA leaders released from jail recently have decided to hold unconditional talks with the government but the faction led by the group's 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua is opposed to it.
PCG members saying ULFA declaration against PCG self contradictory
The ULFA leadership's recent declaration that the Peoples Consultative Group (PCG) which was constituted by it was against the outfit's constitution was "insulting to the prime minister and self-contradictory," PCG members said in Guwahati.
"The ULFA's declaration of the PCG as being against its constitution was not only insulting to us but the Prime Minister, Home minister and National Security Advisor (NSA) with whom we had three rounds of discussions since 2005 when we were formed for laying the foundation of the peace talks between the Centre and ULFA," PCG member Arup Borbora told reporters on the eve of the ULFA-Centre peace talks in Delhi.
ULFA publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary at a press meet last week had declared that the PCG was against the ULFA constitution as it was not formed with the consent of its central executive committee and ratified by its decision taking General Council as their meetings could not be held for several years due to the prevailing situation then.
Wishing the talks were successful, Borbora said, "the PCG was constituted by the ULFA on September four, 2005 for working out the modalities for the talks. We did not ask to be included in the Group. Whether they had their meetings or not is their internal matter and not our concern."
"After they announced the PCG and formally gave each one of us a letter appointing us as its members, (ULFA chairman) Arabinda Rajkhowa and (commander-in-chief) Paresh Baruah were in constant touch with us on what we should say in the meetings. Even they mentioned the PCG in their mouthpiece 'Freedom'," Borbora pointed out.
"Now they (ULFA leadership) after their recent CEC and GC declare that a resolution was adopted that the PCG was against its constitution. This is insulting to the prime minister who sat across the discussion table with us for two hours. It is also insulting to the then Home minister, NSA and peace interlocutor P C Haldhar who was present in those meetings and will be in tomorrow's meeting," another PCG member Ajit Bhuyan said.
"We were bound by the wishes of the people. Whether constitutional or not is their internal matter. To not acknowledge the foundation we laid for establishing peace in the interest of Assam and its people is to go against the state," said another PCG member Hyder Hussain.
"Prisoner Rajkhowa after his release on bail and Arabinda Rajkhowa before that are two different persons today. The ULFA is responsible for compelling us to call this press conference today," Bhuyan said.
"After the Centre had failed to fulfill some of the declarations we had made in our joint press release, we had decided a few years ago that the PCG had lost its relevance and, had therefore, requested the ULFA that it be dissolved. The ULFA could have done that instead of saying now it was formed unconstitutionally," he said.Bhuyan also asserted that the ULFA was split "as is evident to all."
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