Guwahati, April 26 2010: The State level Convention( 'Sanmilita Jatiya Abhivartan') held in Guwahati on Saturday to pave way for talks between the Govt of India and the ULFA was quite successful in terms of participation.

Around 1500 delegates/representatives from more than 90 organizations and bodies drawn from all over the State participated in the Meet.

Dr Hiren Gohain chaired all the sessions of the Convention.

Setting the note in the inaugural session, he said---"The Assamese community is in crisis due to external pressure which we have failed to tackle.

In the last 30 years, over 12,000 ULFA members and 18,000 others were killed.

This apart, many ULFA leaders have been missing" .

There are blasts in various parts of the State and that have made individual liberty very fragile.

If the peace process is stalled, we won't get rid of the problems afflicting the State.

Now both the ULFA and the government have shown positive gesture for peace talks, but a sense of mistrust pulls them back.

The peace overture taken by Mamoni Raisom Goswami with the formation of the People's Consultative Group (PCG) is a chapter of history as the enthusiasm on the part of the government was lacking and the PCG too split later on.

We need to learn a lesson from that incident � that an individual's view can't be above that of the masses.

We have had informal discussions with some ULFA leaders, but it resulted in a false propaganda against us by some.

However, the ULFA leaders who have got the chance to feel the pulse of the people of Assam from a close range haven't misunderstood us.

Today it is imperative for the ULFA has to bury the differences within itself." Mamoni Raisom, sharing the dais with Gohain in the same session regretted the failed PCG initiative despite the fact that Paresh Barua was directly involved and was coordinating with the PCG.

She hoped that this present initiative will succeed and asked Paresh Barua again to come out and join hands for peace.

Later when a few media persons approached Mamoni for her personal view on the present initiative, she declined to comment.

Speaker after speaker repeated the same thing---that talks between the GOI and the ULFA is an utmost necessity now.

The vast majority of those present also felt the GOI must not have reservations about talking on all issues including sovereignty as just taking up sovereignty on the table doesn't mean granting it.

The convention, chaired by a presidium headed by Dr Hiren Gohain, formed a steering committee for facilitating the peace process.

The members of the steering committee are Dr Hiren Gohain, Dr Nirmal Kumar Choudhury, Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami, Hiranya Kumar Bhattacharya, Harekrishna Deka, Rohini Baruah, Indibor Deuri, Khursed Alam and Ratneswar Basumatary.

Dilip Patgiri and Lachit Bordoloi will work as the secretaries of the steering committee.

The convention in its draft resolution, said that the top leaders of both Government and the ULFA should sit together to resolve all the issues.

The convention called upon the Government to give free passage to the ULFA leaders and demanded that the jailed leaders of the militant outfit should be released to facilitate holding of meeting of the central committee of the ULFA to take decisions regarding talks with the ULFA.

The convention also said that no legal procedure should be initiated against leaders of the ULFA till a settlement comes out.

The convention called upon both the Government and the ULFA to expedite the process of negotiated settlement.

If the Government shows its willingness and sincerity for talks, the ULFA should also shun violence to create a congenial atmosphere for talks.

The steering committee will finalize the resolutions by incorporating suggestions from different sections of people and the committee has sought suggestions within seven days.

The steering committee will also aid the ULFA in the process of negotiations with the Government.

It will form expert committees for studying basic issues like right of the indigenous people over the natural resources, economic development, problems like flood and erosion and infiltration etc.

The expert committees will be asked to finalize reports within two to three months so that the same can be placed before the centre during talks.

The steering committee will move the State and the Central Governments to start the process of talks and a delegation will go to New Delhi soon to approach the Centre in this regard.

The convention also called upon the people to mobilize public opinion to mount pressure on the Government to come forward for talks.

The draft resolution further said that the basic flaws in the state system led to the long standing problems., while, Dr Gohain made it clear that the initiative for the convention was taken on behalf of the concerned citizens who do not side with either the Government or the ULFA.

Representatives of 93 organizations of the state including political parties and students' bodies took part in the convention and stressed the need for talks to solve the problem of insurgency.

The main thrust of majority of the participants was that the demand for sovereignty should be included in the agenda for talks.

* The sender of this news can be contacted at nepsonline(at)yahoo(dot)com .

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