Ulfa ready to announce ceasefire

The Arabinda Rajkhowa-led pro-talks faction of Ulfa is set to declare ceasefire formally to pave the way for peace talks with the Centre. “Our general council has decided to declare ceasefire either by the end of this month or the first week of July,” Ulfa deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah, who is with the Rajkhowa faction, said . A senior police official confirmed the development. “The ceasefire declaration by Ulfa is expected soon after some formalities are completed. This will be followed by signing of the suspension of operation between the government and Ulfa. This may happen either in the third or fourth week of July. The ceasefire ground rules will be finalized at the same time,” he said. The official said once Ulfa signs the suspension of operation, it has to deposit all weapons in its possession. “So far, there has not been any problem in carrying forward the peace process with theRajkhowa faction. Its members have managed to keep their weapons in control,” he added. On Saturday, Ulfa’s protalks faction spokesman, Mrinal Hazarika, said that they would not lay down arms. However, Hazarika had made it clear that Ulfa had no problem in declaring a formal ceasefire and sign the suspension of operation. Last week, Gogoi had said his government and Ulfa would soon announce suspension of operations and the peace talks with the outfit would begin by the month-end. A high-level team of the Union home ministry, led by joint secretary (northeast) Shambhu Singh, met Assam CM Tarun Gogoi here on Sunday to prepare the ground for formal talks with Ulfa. Incidentally, there has been an informal suspension of operation against Ulfa ever since Rajkhowa and his top aides, including Baruah, were held in Bangladesh and brought to India in 2009. In February this year, Rajkhowa and his faction met the PM to start the peace process. While Rajkhowa and several top leaders favour a negotiated settlement, Baruah opposes the peace process.