Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has claimed that more youth from the state are joining the banned ULFA and slammed the BJP government for failing to curb this.
Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Gogoi said that the BJP government lacks political will to sort out this problem.
“If they (BJP government) are not going to talk to the separatists, I think, this is wrong. Otherwise how could you bring them to negotiations? Earlier, our government had initiated talks with everybody, including in Nagaland. But the present government, with their lack of political insight or vision, the situation is deteriorating instead of improving,” Gogoi told reporters in Guwahati on Wednesday.
He also expressed concern at the present scenario. “Today the situation is deteriorating with more youth joining the banned ULFA and jihadi activities are also on the rise…We are concerned about it,” Gogoi added.
Further slamming the BJP government’s claim, Gogoi said situation is fast deteriorating. “Though the government has been claiming that the demonetization has curbed down insurgency, it is on the rise. There is no clear cut policy and they (BJP government) don’t know how to deal with the situation. Otherwise, the situation was much better during the regime of UPA. It’s fast deteriorating,” Gogoi said adding that he is going to write a book soon on how to deal with militancy in Assam.
On the Kashmir issue, Gogoi said it’s not just a law and order problem. “It’s a political problem, not just a law and order problem. This is not a military problem and it has to be resolved politically. What we did in Assam by opening the doors for ULFA, NDFB and others. Though they were indulged in violence, after all they are Indian citizens. Our agenda was to keep the door open and again at the same time one has to deal with firmly,” he asserted.
Pro-talk ULFA leader Anup Chetia had expressed his concern over the indifferent attitude of the central government on the process of peace talks, last month.
