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Assam blasts : Ulfa claims responsibility ?

	August 23, 2004

The Independence Day explosion in Assam’s Dhemaji district, which killed nearly 20 persons, including nine school girls, bears the unmistakable imprimatur of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Immediately after the blast, the militant outfit claimed responsibility for the blast, but later backtracked, apparently sensing the mood of general public which has openly demanded stern action by Government against the ULFA terrorists.

Clearly, the latter has to a great extent recovered from the severe blow administered to it by the Bhutanese Army’s offensive against its bases in the mountain kingdom in December last year, and the explosion in Dhemaji, along with two others, albeit of a minor nature, at Dhakuakhana and Dhubri, on the same day, was meant as an announcement of the fact.

That it could have staged such a horrific crime despite intelligence warnings that something sinister was afoot, constitutes a severe indictment of the law-and-order situation in Assam and the State Government’s slackness, bordering on criminal negligence, on the counter-terrorism front.

It is no secret that Assam’s Congress Government has been flirting with the ULFA for quite some time. That the Congress has secret channels of communication with the banned terrorist outfit, was evident as late as August 11 when it released a son of a senior cabinet minister of the State Government, Mr GC Langthasa, in Central Assam’s Morigaon district, with the security forces knowing nothing about it or the circumstances leading to it. Indeed, though the son was kidnapped as early as April 27, it was only towards the end of May that the Mr Langthasa’s wife lodged an FIR with the police, and that too after the media had started reporting the incident.

Remarkably, on June 18, even while the minister’s son was in captivity, the Chief Minister, Mr Tarun Gogoi, told a press conference in Guwahati, that the ULFA was keen to hold talks leading to a permanent end to its campaign of terrorism, adding, “Whatever feedback we have received is positive and encouraging.” This hardly surprised anyone because the Congress’s long and not-so-clandestine links with the organisation had been widely known.

It has received in the past critical electoral support from the outfit either in the form of selective violence aimed at its rivals, principally the BJP, or open endorsement of its candidates. In this context, the suspension of Dhemaji district’s Superintendent and Additional Superintendent of Police, and the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner for dereliction of duty, can only be seen as an effort to divert attention from the State Government’s duplicitous policy that has created conditions for the recrudescence of the ULFA’s activities.



Ceasefire with ULFA ruled out

Minister of State For Defence Bijoy Krishna Handique has ruled out a ceasefire with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to pave the way for peace talks with the rebel group.

“There is no question of a ceasefire until and unless there is an atmosphere of peace in Assam,” Handique told in an interview to newspersons.

The minister was reacting to ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah’s statement in Assamese newspapers about the outfit’s desire for talks with the government.

Handique, who belongs to Assam, said there had to be at least one round of talks with ULFA before the government could consider the issue of entering a ceasefire with the rebel group.

Baruah’s comments indicated ULFA had for the first time softened its stand for holding talks with the government by setting aside two earlier preconditions - that the dialogue be held outside India, and under the supervision of the UN.

The ULFA leader reportedly said his outfit was ready to come to Assam’s capital Dispur as long as the agenda for talks revolved round the sovereignty issue.

However, Handique expressed doubts over the sincerity of ULFA’s leadership to engage the government in peace talks.

“The reported statement of Baruah lacks clarity. They should clearly outline an agenda for talks,” he said.

“Earlier, I had appealed to ULFA to join us at the negotiating table. ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa showed his inclination for talks. But Paresh Baruah declined it.

“We know that some differences are there between the two leaders over the issue of talks. But we are hopeful that they will come out with a more positive stand.”

The ongoing talks with the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), according to Handique, were moving in a positive direction.

As in those talks, the government and ULFA needed to frame modalities before starting discussions. “Let us talk about the talks first. What NSCN-IM is doing is what ULFA needs to follow,” Handique said.

“The central government is ready to bury the past. We want to create a new chapter if they (ULFA) come forward for a negotiated settlement of the two decade-long insurgency problem in Assam,” he said.