Guwahati, Jan. 3: Dispur this evening formally invited the anti-dam groups for talks on January 5 while issuing a separate public appeal asking them to withdraw their blockade of supplies to the Lower Subansiri hydel project, in a bid to end the standoff that began on December 16. CMO sources said home secretary G.D. Tripathi this evening issued the formal letters to Lakhimpur-based groups through the district administration and to the Guwahati-based organisations through the special branch of the police. The letters have been issued to five groups in all — the AASU, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), and the Mising Mebang Kebang (MMK). Both the KMSS and AASU welcomed the move but decided to wait for the formal invite before announcing their next move. The decision to invite the anti-dam brigade for talks was taken by power minister Pradyut Bordoloi-headed group of ministers at a meeting held this afternoon. The group of ministers includes Rakibul Hussain, Rajiv Lochan Pegu and Ardhendu Dey as well as Himanta Biswa Sarma who failed to attend the meeting because of pressing official engagements. The home secretary, senior officials from the police and power departments also attended the meeting along with newly appointed chief minister's press secretary Abdul Khaleque. Bordoloi said the ministers discussed the issue threadbare, heeding chief minister Tarun Gogoi's wishes, and decided to begin the talks process with the anti-dam brigade, civil societies and experts with an "open" mind, from January 5. Forest minister Rakibul Hussain told The Telegraph that the talks would start with the Takam Mising organisation at 10am, followed by AASU at 11am, KMSS at noon and AJYCP at 1pm. "The group of ministers has asked the political department to issue the formal letter and has also asked the local administration to provide necessary support to the protesters to reach Guwahati. Each organisation has been asked to send 10 representatives for the talks which will also be attended by the chief secretary, among others, at the secretariat. We will then be sitting with representatives of civil societies and experts on January 14," Hussain said. When asked why the government waited for so long to initiate the peace move, the minister was evasive. "We were always for talks. There is difference of opinion in a democracy but everything in a democracy can be sorted out through negotiations," he said. Though the invite caught everyone by surprise, the protesters and Dispur had been making conciliatory gestures since last week. First, the KMSS suspended the blockade for two days before resuming it on January 2. It was followed by the chief minister's assertion that he would not ban the KMSS over its alleged links with the Maoists and even acknowledged the protest as a democratic one. This was followed by his New Year message to the protestors that he was ready to come up with a legislation ensuring protection to downstream areas and offer of triple compensation amount if anybody was affected by the Lower Subansiri project. On January 1, even the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), which had gone public with the inconveniences caused by the blockade, said it was ready to talk under the aegis of the government. KMSS assistant secretary Bedanta Laskar said they have decided to temporarily withdraw the blockade once they get the formal invite for talks. They will hold a public meeting in Ghagar tomorrow involving the other 13 organisations supporting the movement to seek their views on how to go about the process. KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi said they would appeal to Dispur, Delhi and NHPC to suspend work on the Gerukamuk project as well as those coming up in Arunachal Pradesh for two months as a sign of their sincerity and concern for the local populace. AASU central committee member Tularam Gogoi, too, said they were waiting for a formal invite and that they would hold a meeting with 26 other ethnic and students' organisations in Guwahati tomorrow to discuss the government offer. "We were always ready for talks," he said. | 
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