[Assam] Gogoi critical of intellectuals.

[kamal deka]

The following is a news piece from AT for your consumption.Those,who
have been pushing both the parties to the palaver table,urging the GOI
to sport a conciliatory halo in the matter of sovereignty vis- a- vis
Assam's independence, must realize that their pious and good
intentions will come to naught,because the proposal is bound to go
over like a lead balloon as soon as it reaches the Center's table.Of
what measure is a dialogue,when the core demand itself is a known
non-starter? IF ULFA HAS PUT A DIFFERENT MEANING TO " SOVEREIGNTY",ARE
THEY UNDER ANY COMPULSION THAT FORBIDS THEM TO SPELL IT OUT PRIOR TO
SITTING DOWN IN THE NEGOTIATING TABLE?
KJD

ULFA not sincere about talks: Gogoi
Staff Reporter
 GUWAHATI, May 3 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today slammed the ULFA
for being ‘insincere’ about the proposed talks by adamantly insisting
on sovereignty as the issue, saying that no dialogue was possible
under the circumstances as sovereignty was ‘non-negotiable.’
Gogoi who was addressing a press conference made it clear in the same
breath that the Government would not wait ‘indefinitely’ for ULFA
‘c-in-c’ Paresh Baruah to come for talks. “While we would prefer to
have him (Baruah), talks can be held without him as we cannot wait
indefinitely,” he said.

Gogoi was also critical of the intellectuals who had been urging the
Government to be flexible on the sovereignty issue. “Do these
intellectuals calling for inclusion of sovereignty in the agenda
favour sovereignty themselves?...I am a servant of the Constitution of
India, and talks can proceed within its ambits – something made clear
by the Prime Minister to the PCG earlier,” he said.

Expressing concern over the activities of the Manipur-based ultra
outfit UNLF and Maoists in the State of late, Gogoi said that the case
of the two recently-arrested UNLF leaders would be handed over to the
NIA.

Gogoi said that the ULFA was not a revolutionary group as its leaders
maintained a lavish lifestyle in foreign countries at the expense of
their cadres. “The leaders have been exploiting the cadres who toil in
jungles in harsh conditions,” he said.