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Assam : Extradition gun on ULFA

	August 06, 2007

Convinced that insurgent outfit, ULFA, is not inclined to join the negotiations process to find an amicable settlement of its demands, New Delhi has made a strong case for an extradition treaty with Bangladesh to get hold of the militant leaders con¬trolling the terror network from the safety of their hideouts in that country.



An extradition treaty between the two countries was among the security issues that were discussed at the two-day Home Secretary-level talks held in New Delhi on August 2-3.



Talks between the 17-member Bangladeshi delegation and the 26-member Indian side, led by Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, were held “in a positive and constructive atmosphere”. Both sides expressed the hope that the current round of talks would lead to further co-operation.



Bangladesh Home Secretary Mohd Abdul Karim also held a 30-minute discussion with Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.



Sources in the Union Home Ministry said the Bangladesh gov¬ernment had often in the past refused to clamp down on ULFA and other groups like the Harkat-ul Jehadi Islami.



Several militant groups from the Northeast and West Bengal are operating from Bangladesh, causing unrest in this country. ULFA’s Paresh Barua and Arabinda Rajkhowa operate from Bangladesh and are believed to be working at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI. During the past two years, several unsuccessful attempts have been made to bring the leaders to India. The outfit has rejected promises of safe passage to either New Delhi or Guwahati.



In the current round of talks, the two sides agreed to set up three sub-groups to discuss security, border management and “enhanced co-operation”.





Union fatwa on AASU adviser



The state unit president of a madarsa union, peeved with the All Assam Students Union for its oust-migrant campaign, has issued a fatwa against All Assam Students Union adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya’s entry into Hailakandi to attend the organisa¬tion’s annual conference on August 9.



Saleh Ahmed Mazumdar, president of the state unit of the All Asom Madrassa Students Union, said at Hailakandi that the AASU should first spell out its stand on the migrants’ issue. If it is found satisfactory, only then would Bhattacharyya be allowed to visit Hailakandi and Karimganj districts in Barak Valley.



Bhattacharyya is scheduled to visit the two districts for the third annual conference of the Hailakandi district unit of the AASU.



The Madrassa Union is miffed with the AASU and particularly Bhattacharyya after the student body drove out hundreds of people of the minority community from the hill states, branding them illegal migrants from Bangladesh. The union, in turn, branded Bhattacharyya an “undesirable element”.



The union has declared that these religious and linguistic minority people were bonafide Indian citizens, who had settled in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram to earn a living.





Region in for telecom boom



This troubled region is in for a major boom in Information Technology and telecom sector if the promises made at the 7th sectoral summit of North Eastern Council are to be believed.



Union DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said in Kohima on August 2 that major corporate houses have expressed willingness to invest in the region, especially after the recent escalation in tele-density in all the seven states of the Northeast.



Tele-density, in telecom parlance, is the number of landline telephones in use for every 100 individuals living in an area.



Since the tele-density of the Northeast has been projected as 14.26 per cent by the end of this year, the state-owned BSNL has declared the year as the “Year of Telecom for Northeast,”



The Union Minister said the NEC, in consultation with BSNL and other service providers, will consider instituting a Regional Institute for Training of Technical Personnel, preferably at Dimapur, to meet the requirements of the burgeoning telecom sector.