ULFA faction seeks quota in 94 Assam assembly seats for indigenous people

The pro-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom has demanded reservation in 94 assembly constituencies for the indigenous people of the state, an office bearer of the organisation said on Thursday.

ULFA (pro-talk) general secretary Anup Chetia said they have sent their suggestions to the Centre on the draft peace agreement and are waiting for a response from the Union government.

"We want reservation in 94 seats of Assam legislative assembly for the indigenous people of the state. This is more important after the delimitation exercise," he said.

In August, the Election Commission published its final delimitation report by retaining the number of assembly seats in Assam at 126 and the Lok Sabha constituencies at 14. The state has seven Rajya Sabha seats. It revised the nomenclature of one parliamentary and 19 assembly constituencies.

Talking about the decades-old issues related to ULFA, Chetia expressed his faith in the present government to solve them amicably.

"We are waiting for a positive response from the central government to our suggestions. We are optimistic and praise the sincerity shown by the Centre," he said.

Chetia also demanded a "correct National Register of Citizens" for Assam and asserted that the cut-off year for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act for the state should be 1951 instead of 2014.

The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chetia hoped that the "peace agreement with the Centre will be signed very soon", marking an end to the problems raised by the organisation.

ULFA (pro-talk) vice president Pradip Gogoi said major problems of the people will be solved right from the grassroots level after the agreement is signed.

"The ULFA will be dissolved then and the organisation will not enter politics to contest polls. If members want to take part in elections, it will be their personal or individual effort," he said.

More than 200 cadres above the rank of sergeant of the organisation participated in a deliberation held at a resort in Kaziranga National Park on Wednesday.

On youths continuing to join the ULFA(Independent), Chetia said they are going to the banned outfit these days out of "only selfish motive".

"Many of them come back as soon as they cannot withstand the hardship of fugitive life," he added.