GUWAHATI: Efforts to bring commander-in-chief of United Liberation Front of Asom –Independent (ULFA-I) Paresh Baruah to peace talks with the government of India are being initiated. According to a report published in a leading Assamese daily, the Assam state committee of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has come forward to this task.
According to the sources at ministry of home affairs, the peace process with ULFA(I) will soon get momentum once the COVID-19 crisis is over. Reportedly on February 3, the Assam unit of NCP wrote a letter to the prime minister, union home minister and chief minister of Assam.
The letter signed by NCP leaders DD Adhikary, K K Mahanta, Bimal Chandra Saikia, Paresh Baruah, Jenat Mullah and Deeepak Kumar Das urged the government to initiate peace process with Paresh Baruah-led ULFA (I).
The letter also suggested former Asom Sahitya Sabha president and journalist Kanaksen Deka, litterateur and former president of Asom Sahitya Sabha Lakshminandan Borah and former principal of Pragjyoytish College Dr. Dayananda Pathak as the mediators of the proposed peace talks.
After nearly six months, the prime minister office forwarded the letter to home ministry to take necessary steps to initiate the peace process. According to reports, the home ministry has undertaken initial steps to begin the peace talks with Paresh Baruah. However, due to prevailing COVID-19 situation, no formalities have been made in this regard.
It is yet unclear whether the centre will appoint the noted personalities as the mediators of the peace process as suggested by the NCP Assam state committee.
