‘Cong-ULFA talks with eye on elections’

He emphasised that “it (dialogue) should be meaningful and should find a permanent solution to the problem of insurgency.”

“I expect the government to release some ULFA insurgent leaders from the jail,but ,the dialogue should lead to some settlement.” Mahanta said that the ban on ULFA holds little significance as the Centre has already decided on holding a dialogue with the outfit.

“Even in insurgency,the planners in Delhi have different yardstick for militants of North-East as compared to other parts of country. They didn’t hesitate to use Army and even Air Force to combat insurgency in the North-East but when it comes to Maoists the same planners are trying to avoid use of even Army by calling them as our own youth who have different political ideology. One wonders how the militants of North-East are different from those Maoists who have killed thousands of innocent unarmed people and blown up trains and tracks.”

The AGP leader said the Tarun Gogoi government was “not serious in tackling the problem of insurgency from Bangladesh.”

“The issue of illegal migration was never taken as a national issue despite prolonged agitation by people of North-East. Unfortunately even after signing the Assam Accord on August 15,1985,the powers in Delhi were never serious in implementing its clauses,which is evident from that even after 25 years the border fencing along the Bangladesh border is incomplete.”