Crack in ULFA, Paresh Barua warns peace lobby

Guwahati: ULFA chief Paresh Barua has sent out a stern message to the peace lobbby.
A video footage, showing ULFA's elusive Commander in Chief Paresh Baruah dancing during Bihu along with the militant group's armed cadres in an unknown location, was sent to the media by ULFA cadres who still owe their allegiance to Barua and not Arabindo Rajkhowa.
The video message came days before top ULFA leaders were to sit down for peace talks.
Rajkhowa, ULFA's chariman along with eight members of the group's Central Committee, were recently released from jail to facilitate peace talks with the Central Government.
Intelligence officials in New Delhi claim that Barua, who has always called the shots within ULFA, is hiding in Burma and this camp is located on the banks of the Chinwin river and his loyal cadres were trained in China.
But ULFA is now a divided house. A large chunk of it's leaders and members want peace talks. Jiten Dutta was once Barua's most dreaded commandant but now he called his former boss a dacoit.
"Paresh Barua is now a weak leader. That's why he is sending this video to tell people that he is still in control," said Dutta, a leader of ULFA pro-talks group.
The government in Guwahati is determined to carry the talks forward without Paresh Baruah.
"There is a faction who doesn't want peace to return in Assam and have become foreign agents," said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
For 30 years, the people of Assam have seen a grainy picture of Paresh Baruah.
But is there a hidden agenda in this first ever video of Paresh Barua?
Some analysts believe that behind the apparent show of renewed resistance and threats, there was a message to Assam and its people. Barua wants them to know his face, that he was the ultimate voice in the organisation always and that he is not willing to give up even in a changed scenario.