'All our top leaders, including 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, are in jail and it is not possible to hold talks unless they are released,' said the Ulfa 'publicity secretary'.
United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) 'publicity secretary' Mithinga Daimary, who was released from jail today 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 Rs1 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.
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