JOIN USRepresentatives of the central government, Assam government and ULFA signed the Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact.
The tripartite agreement has been signed to ensure that the outfit will not carry out any rebellious activities till a political solution was found.
At the same time, security forces will be asked not to take any action against ULFA cadres. “We have signed the suspension of operations agreement with the central government. Now, it would pave the way for political level talks,” said Sasha Choudhury, ‘foreign secretary’ of the organisation after signing the accord.
ULFA ‘finance secretary’ Chitraban Hazarika and its ‘deputy commander-in-chief’ Raju Baruah were present during the meeting.
The Centre was represented by Union Joint Secretary (Home) Sambhu Singh.
Harbinger of talks
Speaking about the meeting, in which various aspects of the ground rules of the Suspension of Operations were deliberated, Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Ministry of Home Affairs said: “We had a very good round of talks. The SoO agreement was signed.
The first round spells out the road to political dialogue. It is the harbinger of future talks.” The SoO agreement will continue during the political talks and till a final agreement is signed.
Notably, earlier in July, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram held talks with ULFA leaders after the organisation offered unilateral ceasefire.
Charter of demands
In its charter of demands submitted to the Centre last month, the organisation has sought amendment in the Constitution to protect rights and identity of the indigenous people of Assam.
Notably, this was first formal peace talks by the United Liberation Front of Asom with the Central government in its 32-year-old history.