The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is unlikely to stick to its earlier demand of “outright territorial sovereignty” and may rather ask the “Indian nation” to address the insecurity of the people of Assam.Disclosing this at a seminar here on Saturday, Hiranya Saikia, a member of the ULFA-nominated People’s Consultative Group (PCG) that has been talking to New Delhi since 2006, said ULFA was becoming flexible as far as its demands go, and that discussing sovereignty of Assam did not necessarily mean granting outright territorial sovereignty.“In the world’s largest democracy, discussing Assam’s sovereignty should not be considered a taboo. India will not collapse like a pack of cards if the demand for sovereignty was discussed,” said Saikia, considered a close confidante of ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua.He said the ULFA’s demand for sovereignty was a “political concept”, which needed to be treated politically. “An idea, a concept cannot be fought militarily. The last 18 years of military exercise has proved futile. The only way for a peaceful resolution is by engaging ULFA in a political dialogue,” Saikia said at the seminar organised by NGO Himalaya Parivar. Saikia also went on to say that there was every likelihood of the ULFA agreeing to a settlement of “peaceful co-existence” if the various “genuine grievances” of the people of Assam were redressed. “The ULFA is definitely going to become flexible in the days to come. The Government of India should also reciprocate. And if both sides become flexible, a concept of sharing sovereignty can also emerge,” Saikia said.“It could even be something like Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of a “loose federation of states,” he added.
