Santanuda, I was trying to point out that GOI has a non-trivial stake in attaining peace and stability - even if the assumption is made that it does not give a damn about the people of Assam. Looking at the situation from certain prisms, it is no longer one remote and unimportant backfill for the country. While Kashmir has only political significance, Assam has both political and economic significance. India's internal axes of importance in the future is to be found in the edges (the south and the east), not the heartland north. And perhaps that could fuel a change in the governance model.
Since the stake is non-trivial, GOI will be willing to pay a price (in cash and certain kinds of kind). Perhaps a high price. And Assam needs to analyze and understand how much of cash it will be, what kinds of kind will it be ready to part with and then be prepared to extract that price. Would be interested in understanding your analysis of what imperatives GOI might have or not, with regard to attaining peace in the region. What are they prepared to give up? Rajib --- "Roy, Santanu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Rajib: > > I am not sure about the broad objectives of the GOI > outlined by you - but I perfectly agree with you > that > > "Neither the ULFA nor the GOI voices the aspirations > of many sections of Assamese people. Which is why > its voice/s and the message/s are necessary. The > public does not need to twiddle their > thumbs and stay behind the rest of India for the > next 50 years just because the ULFA decided on a > pernicious fight for 25 years. And if for that it > needs to sell out ULFA or treat the GOI as a > business opponent which needs the maximum extracted > from, so be it. God forbid, we have a new cabinet > and the change over of cornering the market for > government contracts from SULFA to ULFA alone and > nothing else to show for it. " > > > Santanu > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of > Rajib Das > Sent: Sat 6/4/2005 8:38 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Assam] GOI-ULFA Negotiations II > > > > > The GOI's strategy is to wait and hope that all > > militancy will eventually tire and >get corrupted > to > > a degree that doles and state level ministries can > > buy out. Then >it can just do another Assam accord > > of 1985. > > Left to itself GOI would have waited out the > eventual > death of a militant group that finds its space > continually getting limited by the day. > > The context for GOI, however, is very different. > There > is way more than a strong desire for peace in the > state to the point where the GOI is hearing it loud > and clear. It seeks economic growth in Assam (as it > seeks in Karnataka) and waiting much longer would be > very detrimental. There is a huge sensitity locally > and globally against terrorism. It desires to be in > the Security Council. It needs to connect to the > rich > nations of SE Asia to fuel the humongous economic > growth it is seeking. GOI NEEDS peace in the next > 2/3 > years, not the next 20/30. > > This context has very little to do with ULFA. > > And the public - its context is very different from > either ULFA or GOI. Neither the ULFA nor the GOI > voices the aspirations of many sections of Assamese > people. Which is why its voice/s and the message/s > are > necessary. The public does not need to twiddle their > thumbs and stay behind the rest of India for the > next > 50 years just because the ULFA decided on a > pernicious > fight for 25 years. And if for that it needs to sell > out ULFA or treat the GOI as a business opponent > which > needs the maximum extracted from, so be it. > > God forbid, we have a new cabinet and the change > over > of cornering the market for government contracts > from > SULFA to ULFA alone and nothing else to show for it. > > > > > __________________________________ > Discover Yahoo! > Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM > and more. Check it out! > http://discover.yahoo.com/online.html > _______________________________________________ > Assam mailing list > [email protected] > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam > > Mailing list FAQ: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html > To unsubscribe or change options: > http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam > > __________________________________ Discover Yahoo! Find restaurants, movies, travel and more fun for the weekend. Check it out! http://discover.yahoo.com/weekend.html _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
