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We are still open to talks: Govt
Published on Mon, Jan 08, 2007 at 18:05, Updated on Sat, Jun 16, 2007 at 11:54 in 
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New Delhi: Two days after the spate of slayings by United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) rocked Assam, the Centre pressed the panic button and has decided to dispatch 20 teams of paramilitary forces to the state to keep a check on the law and order situation.
However, Home Secretary V K Duggal has said that the Government is still open to talks with ULFA.
Duggal’s statement comes a day after Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal ruled out any further talks till it shunned violence.
“No organisation should have misconception that they could challenge the sovereignty of the country. There will be no compromise with violence and sovereignty of the country,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, the state government has appealed to politicians, who are visiting Upper Assam by the truckloads, to defer their visit and not “flare up” communal tension.
As the death toll in ULFA's strikes against migrant labours reached 67 since Friday night, the number of politicians making a beeline for the worst hit, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh, districts also increased.
With the district administration in complete disarray, the state government is busy arranging the safe journeys of the VVIPs than actually handling the attacks and protests.
While Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is in the state on Monday, three other ministers from Bihar are concluding their two-day visit. BJP National President Rajnath Singh is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh is also expected soon.
Sriprakash Jaiswal visited the troubled state on Sunday and some senior faces in the Gogoi cabinet, including Pradyut Bordoloi and Prithbi Majhi, had been camping in the affected districts since Saturday.
Even as the security forces worked over time to check any fresh incident, the political leaders were seen criticising the government and blaming the forces for the carnage instead of attempting to pacify the people.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition party in the state, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), on Monday demanded resignation of the Congress-led state government.
A conglomerate of 12 parties, led by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, took out a protest procession joining in the demand for President's Rule in the state.
The Left parties in the state as well as the state unit of the BJP joined in the chorus of demanding Gogoi's ouster.
However, the state government, already under pressure to ensure that no attacks take place in the future, came in the open, alleging that the Opposition parties were politicising the issue.
Government spokesperson and Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma told UNI, “The political parties should think twice before demanding President's Rule”.
Sharma also said that the need of the hour was to come with a strategy to consolidate the situation.
However, despite government assurances, the protestors continued to block National Highway in Tinsukia with bodies of the victims.
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