Jan. 2: The general secretary of the anti-talks Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front has quit the outfit because of differences with the ?commander-in-chief? over starting a dialogue with the government.

A highly-placed source said the state government had received feelers from the outfit ? a splinter group of the United People?s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) ? about its willingness to sign a ceasefire agreement.

The group has been under pressure to opt for talks ever since the UPDS signed a ceasefire agreement with Delhi. ?The general secretary of the outfit, Horsing Timung, was the one who was against any truce with the government,? the source said.

In his resignation letter (a copy of which is with The Telegraph), the militant leader said he was opposed to the decision of his chief, W. Timung, to lead a Leftist movement. ?At the present juncture and economical stage of our society, a communist movement cannot be waged. Instead, we should maintain strict adherence to the national liberation and self-determination movement,? he said.

He was also against the commander-in-chief?s alleged ?ill treatment to people with hatred, discrimination and contempt on the basis of religion?.

?The party should accept secularism. The religious matters should be separated from party matter and politics.?

Timung was associated with Karbi militancy from the beginning, when the Karbi Volunteers Force took up arms to fight for a separate homeland.

After the Karbi Volunteers Force and the Karbi People?s Front merged in 1999 to form the UPDS, he became the general secretary. In August 2002, the group split and Timung joined the anti-talks faction.

Timung said he did not support his chief?s propaganda against the party?s stand, particularly on the Kuki-Autonomous State Demand Committee pact signed in December 2000.

The agreement promises a hill council for the Kukis residing in the Singhasan Hills of Karbi Anglong district. The Karbi Longri group considers the Kukis to be outsiders.

The outfit was involved in several acts of violence against non-Karbi settlers, mainly those belonging to the Bihari, Bengali and Nepali communities, in neighbouring North Cachar Hills district. It attempted to exploit the resentment of the Karbi people against the ?economic clout? enjoyed by the Bihari community.