Peace deal to be inked with pro-talks ULFA faction on Friday
Assam government will sign a peace accord with the pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), aiming to end decades-old insurgency in the northeastern state, officials said.
Union home minister Amit Shah, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and more than a dozen top leaders of the pro-talks faction of ULFA, headed by Arabinda Rajkhowa, will be present during the signing of the peace agreement in the national capital.
The accord will take care of a host of long-standing political, economic and social issues concerning Assam, besides providing cultural safeguards and land rights to the indigenous people, the officials said.
The hardline faction of ULFA, led by Paresh Baruah, will not be part of the agreement as he has been consistently rejecting the olive branch offered by the government
Two top leaders of the Rajkhowa group — Anup Chetia and Sashdhar Choudhary — have been in the national capital since last week and gave the final touches to the peace agreement along with government interlocutors, officials said.
Those who have been talking to the ULFA faction from the government side include Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka and the government's advisor on the northeast affairs, AK Mishra.
The Rajkhowa-led ULFA faction had begun unconditional talks with the central government in 2011, despite strong opposition from the hardline faction led by Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be residing at a place along the China-Myanmar border.
The ULFA was formed in 1979 with the demand for a «sovereign Assam».
