Indian govt offers safe passage to ULFA’s Rajkhowa,Barua

Seeking to reach out to ULFA,the Indian government has offered safe passage to its top leaders Arabinda Rajkhowa and Paresh Barua and expressed willingness for talks if the outfit renounces violence.

India is also hoping that the ULFA cadres would find it difficult to take shelter in Bangladesh as the new government there is determined to crush terrorism.

“We are ready for negotiations with ULFA… We have also offered safe passage for Paresh Barua and Rajkhowa and that remains,” said a senior government source accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington.

The government,however,wants violence by ULFA to cease. Rajkhowa,Chairman of ULFA,and Barua were till recently based in Bangladesh but have lately moved out of that country to some unknown location following a hunt in connection with an arms trafficking case.

Government sources feel that a substantial section of ULFA in India is ready for talks but those based in Bangladesh are being “manipulated by external forces”.

With the Sheikh Hasina government undertaking a crackdown on terrorists,New Delhi is hoping that ULFA cadres would no longer enjoy safe sanctuaries there. The new Bangladesh government recently facilitated hand over of two top ULFA commanders — ‘foreign secretary’ Sashadhar Choudhury and ‘finance secretary’ Chitraban Hazarika.

India is also pressing Bangladesh to hand over another top leader Anup Chetia,who is said to have been freed recently from a Bangladesh prison after serving a sentence in connection with a fake passport case.

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