Deserted Lumding station

Guwahati, July 11: Dispur is hoping that the recalcitrant DHD (J) will accept its terms and conditions for a bilateral ceasefire despite the attack on a CRPF convoy on Wednesday.

Sources in the chief minister’s office today said though Wednesday’s attack was “deplorable”, Dispur was still amenable to a truce with the DHD (J) if the outfit did not indulge in any more violent attacks and meets its conditions for truce.

The one thing that would guide Dispur to take a call on the unilateral truce, they harped, would be the resumption of passenger trains and work on the two national projects — the East West Corridor and gauge conversion — in full swing. “Resumption of work on the two projects and train services will be a good enough indicator of the ground situation. We need to be doubly sure before we take a call,” the source said.

The sources said the government was also collecting views of all sections of people in the volatile district on the three-month unilateral ceasefire announced by the DHD (J) in March.

Dispur believes that some more time should be given before deciding on the truce offer since the attack appeared to be in retaliation to a DHD-J camp being overhauled by the BSF at Dimadau Yapoo hills between Haflong and Dihangmukh villages on Monday.

Cadres of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the DHD on Wednesday ambushed a CRPF patrol, killing a jawan and injuring four others near Maibong town, 50km north of the district headquarters town of Haflong. The raid sparked fears of more attacks since the government had not responded to the one-sided truce that ended on June 25. It was also the first major ambush by the group after a spate of attacks on railwaymen, truckers and civilians in the second week of May.

The sources said the wait-and-watch policy was the best under the circumstances because it would not only give the government time to weigh the views of the cross-section of people but also observe the conduct of the outfit vis-à-vis the government’s terms.

“They will have to accept the terms, including depositing arms, living in designated camps, not indulging in extortion or intimidation and holding talks within the framework of the Constitution,” the source said.