Guwahati, May 9: Can a jailed militant leader succeed where writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami and the Ulfa-constituted People’s Consultative Group (PCG) have failed?

Dispur today set in motion a process to get Ulfa to the negotiating table after a leader of the outfit jailed in Dibrugarh sent feelers that he was interested in taking a shot at mediation.

Ulfa was quick to react with chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa saying later in the day that it was an old ploy of the Centre to intimidate and armtwist its jailed members for its own benefit.

Dispur was never very optimistic about the success of the peace process initiated by the PCG because of the absence of any member of Ulfa.

The peace process remained bogged down after three rounds of discussions between the PCG and the Centre following Ulfa’s insistence that its demand for a sovereign Assam be the basis for any negotiation with the New Delhi .

Several attempts by Goswami to bring the process back on track since have failed to yield any positive result, convincing the government about the futility of pursuing the process through the PCG. “The state government has always insisted that talks should be held directly with the members of the outfit. A third party can only pave the way, but ultimately the involvement of the contending parties is a must in any conflict resolution,” a source said.

He said the jailed leaders would be in a position to influence the Ulfa leadership. Moreover, the outfit’s leaders would also be under an obligation to respond to the initiative by their jailed comrades. “Since the interest is shown by the jailed leaders it will not be easy for the Ulfa leadership to ignore the process. And if they do, the rift in the organisation will become evident,” the source said.

This morning’s decision is an outcome of a series of meetings between senior police officials and jailed leaders in recent days to work out the modalities for the exercise.

“In principle, the government has agreed to utilise the services of the jailed leader. But there are certain technicalities and issues which need to be sorted out before giving a concrete shape to the process,” the source said.

A government spokesperson recently said Dispur was ready with a blueprint to solve major problems confronting the state, including the Ulfa, within three years.

“Setting such a categorical deadline itself indicates that the government has something up its sleeve,” the source said.