By IANS,
New Delhi : Home Minister P. Chidambaram Wednesday said the government was in talks with Ranjan Daimary, the jailed chief of the separatist National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
“We are talking with Ranjan Daimary. He is in prison and we are talking with him through the back channel,” Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha.
A faction of the NDFB not led by Daimary is already in direct talks with the government.
The home minister said the government was committed to talk to any group that shuns violence.
“One faction of the NDFB was in favour of talks with the government, but the one led by Daimary was not. The centre (government) is committed to engage in political dialogue with any group, which is ready to shun violence,” Chidambaram said.
The NDFB favours separate Bodoland in Assam and was formed by Daimary in 1994. It split into two factions after the 2008 Assam bombings allegedly masterminded by Daimary.
The anti-talks faction led by Daimary claims to be the real NDFB.