Guwahati: ULFA `publicity secretary`
Mithinga Daimary, who was released from jail on Thursday after
getting bail on February 23, said peace talks cannot take
place with the group`s top leaders in jail.
"All our top leaders, including `chairman` Arabinda
Rajkhowa, are in jail and it is not possible to hold talks
unless they are released," Daimary told reporters outside
Guwahati Central Jail.
He hoped the government realises the hopes and
aspirations of the people of Assam and do not delay the
release of "our leaders so that talks can be held at the
earliest".
Before leaving for his home at Nirjuli in lower
Assam`s Baksa district, an emotional Daimary said, "I am
returning empty-handed to an empty home."
Daimary`s mother, elder brother, sister-in-law and
younger sister were gunned down by unknown killers in 1998.
He was granted bail by the TADA court on Tuesday
against a surety of Rs one lakh.
Daimary also writes poems under the pseudonym Megan
Kachari and a collection of his poems have been translated
into English and published in a book titled "Melodies of Guns
and Roses".
On the other hand, ULFA `vice chairman` Pradip Gogoi
said the group wants a negotiated resolution of the conflict.
"It is not peace talks that we want. We want a
political negotiated resolution of the conflict," Gogoi told
reporters at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he is
undergoing treatment.
"The future of conflict resolution depends on both the
state and the central governments` role on the issue and our
`chairman` Arabinda Rajkhowa will soon talk to you about it,"
he said.
Gogoi was granted bail in six cases by the TADA court
on February 19 and 23. His lawyer had said yesterday it would
take some time to process his bail bonds besides there are
four more cases against him in the chief judicial magistrate`s
court here.
Gogoi was arrested in 1998 at Kolkata.
PTI
