Arabinda Rajkhowa, the seniormost Ulfa leader involved in the peace talks

New Delhi, Sept. 3: The Centre and the Assam government today signed a “suspension of operations” agreement with Ulfa leaders to bring peace to the state and set the stage for a political solution to the two-decade-long secessionist insurgency the outfit has waged.

The Centre’s representative said the pact, inked at a hotel here this afternoon, was a stepping stone for a “political dialogue”.

All the three parties agreed to honour the agreement to suspend armed operations while they searched for a mutually acceptable solution.

“We had a very good round of talks. The suspension of operations agreement was signed. The first round spells out the road to political dialogue. It is the harbinger of future talks,” said home ministry joint secretary (Northeast) Shambhu Singh, one of the signatories to the pact, the first step towards finding a possible political solution to the Ulfa-led struggle for a sovereign Assam.

The others who signed the agreement were Assam home commissioner Jishnu Baruah, Ulfa “foreign secretary” Sashadhar Choudhury, “finance secretary” Chitrabon Hazarika and “deputy commander-in-chief” Raju Barua.

This was the first time since its official inception in 1979 that the banned militant outfit had signed a written agreement with either the state government or the Centre.

The group’s “commander-in-chief” Paresh Barua, whose whereabouts are uncertain, continues to be opposed to any dialogue with the Indian government that does not discuss the issue of Assam’s sovereignty.

Under the agreement signed today, the Centre and the state government agreed to christen the special camps where 600 armed Ulfa cadres will be kept as “Nabanirman Kendras”.

Ulfa leader Choudhury said the outfit’s cadres would not surrender their weapons. “Why should we (surrender weapons)? This is not the final agreement. This is a gentleman’s agreement. We will see how the parleys go forward,” he said.

Ulfa vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi told The Telegraph he was not aware of the ground rules of the pact.

Sources in the chief minister’s office in Guwahati said operations would continue against Ulfa cadres who work against the ceasefire. “It is only for those who are in ceasefire. As far as we are concerned, there is only one Ulfa. The ground rules will be reviewed from time to time,” said a source.

Last month, the outfit had submitted to Union home minister P. Chidambaram a charter of demands, including the key one of constitutional protection for Assam’s indigenous people.