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ISI spinning web of terror with ULFA at centre

	December 04, 2006

Meanwhile, reports indicate that the Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI is trying to “integrate” ULFA and other militant outfits into a terror network that can be remote-controlled from across the border.



Disclosing this in Shillong on Nov. 29, Inspector General Jyotiprakash Sinha of the BSF (Shillong Frontier) claimed to have information about some “key personalities” of the banned ULFA and representatives of other militant groups operating in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur meeting ISI officials and Al Qaeda members three months ago in a border town in neighbouring Bangladesh.



The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, Bangladesh’s main intelligence agency, and jihadi organisations like the Jamaat-e-Islami hosted the meeting, he said. Sinha said ISI operatives assured all the militant groups of Pakistan’s support if they formed a conglomerate to facilitate easy co-ordination.



The revelation came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a delegation from Assam that ULFA Chief Paresh Barua was in the ISI’s grip. He said the ISI’s influence on ULFA was preventing the militant group from committing itself to talks with the government.



The 12-member delegation had met the Prime Minister to urge him to speed up the process of holding a dialogue for peace with ULFA. The government will keep its door open for peace talks, the Prime Minister said.



Singh’s statement about the ISI keeping militant leaders of the Northeast on a leash vindicates the consensus that is building in Assam on the role of India’s neighbours in ULFA’s response to peace overtures by the government.



Earlier this month, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said Delhi knows that ULFA leaders will not be able to come for talks until they are free from the ISI’s influence.





AASU warning



The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has warned the authorities that Pakistan-backed gangs, both “indigenous” and “raised outside the country”, are training batches of infiltrators who have sneaked into India from adjacent Bangladesh for subversive activities in the state.



Addressing the media, AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said last week that Pakistan’s ISI and a section of the political establishment of Bangladesh were in cahoots and trying to create instability in the state. “Assam is hosting an endless stream of infiltrators from across the porous border. This calls for stern action to prevent a Kashmir-like situation,” he said.



Bhattacharyya, also the president of the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), said the ISI was in league with the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), an intelligence unit of the Bangladesh Army.



“They are tapping young infiltrators and training them in commando warfare and subversive activities to create unrest in the state.”



“Both the Centre and the state government are fully aware of the machinations of the ISI-backed fundamentalist gangs active in the state’s minority belts but cannot take any action due to political compulsion.



“Vote-bank politics will harm the state and the country as a whole in the long run,” he warned.



He named the Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam, the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam and the People’s United Liberation Front, a Manipur-based group, among the “indigenous fundamentalist outfits” that were receiving “incentives” from Bangladesh and Pakistan.



Bhattacharyya made the comments at a meet-the-press programme organised by Silchar Press Club.





Army operations against ULFA



The Indian Army resumed operations against the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) after it failed to respond to an invitation to lay down arms, Parliament was informed on Nov. 30.



“Three rounds of talks with People’s Consultative Group (PCG) set up by ULFA have been held,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.



“The government had agreed favourably to consider the request of ULFA for release of five ULFA detenues in consultation with the government of Assam provided ULFA made a formal approach for holding direct talks, nominated the delegation for these talks, indicated the time frame and abjured violence in all forms including extortions and notices.



“Efforts with People’s Consultative Group representatives for holding these talks were continued even after three rounds through mutual initiatives. The government had also declared unilateral suspension of operations by the Army against ULFA from Aug 13 to Sep 20 to create a conducive atmosphere for holding peace talks.



“Since there was no direct response from ULFA and reports were received of regrouping, new raisings, violence and extortion by ULFA cadres, operations against ULFA have been resumed,” Antony added.



“The government is open to talks with any militant group provided they shun violence. However, the government is duty bound to protect the lives and property of its citizens,” the minister added.





Rebel hunt along border



Meanwhile, a day after ULFA militants blew up a jeep in an Army convoy, security forces have launched a massive combing operation along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.



A senior Army official said on Nov. 30 that contingents of the Central Reserve Police Force and the police were also part of the “coordinated” offensive, which has the specific mandate of locating and “neutralising” militants believed to be taking shelter in the border areas.



A sepoy, Yallar Reddy, was killed on the spot while four other Army personnel, including Capt Shakti Singh Ahlawat of the 44 Field Regiment, were wounded in the blast caused by an improvised explosive device at a site between Asomiyagaon and Bahonigaon, near the Joypur reserve forest.







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ULFA puts new tag on Games



After threatening the state government on organising the 33 National Games in Assam last month, the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has now asked the Government to rechristen the Games as “Assam Sports Festival,” if it wanted to go ahead with the Games as planned.



The militant group has tried to explain its opposition to the Games, which has already been postponed twice, and justify the condition it has set through a lengthy editorial in the latest issue of its bulletin Swadhinata.



The outfit dared Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and sports minister Pradyut Bordoloi “to show their love for Assam” by changing the nomenclature of the Games. It offered to co-operate in hosting the event if its name was changed to the Assam Sports Festival.



ULFA’s call for a boycott of the Games, to be held in Assam for the first time, had evoked strong reactions from the sports fraternity and various organisations. Its original statement on boycotting the Games had prompted the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to shift two of its meetings from Guwahati to New Delhi for security reasons.



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Mamoni now turns to Dispur, pleads for release of militants



Putting the onus on Dispur to revive the stalled peace process with ULFA, Mamoni Raisom Goswami on Nov. 29 called upon the state government to facilitate the release of the outfit’s jailed leaders.



She made the appeal a day after meeting three ULFA leaders at the Central Jail in Guwahati to discuss ways to carry forward the peace process.



Goswami, who is the prime negotiator in the peace process, said it was time for the state government to step in to ensure that the initial attempts at peace were not frittered away. On her discussions with the jailed ULFA leaders, Goswami said the complications related to the peace process could be simplified if the jailed leaders were released to hold discussions with their other colleagues.



In the same breath, she added that she had tremendous faith in Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. “He is a seasoned politician and I am sure he will understand the need to release these leaders.”



“In any case, it will be win-win situation for the government. If the ULFA refuses to hold talks after the release of its leaders, then it would lose face. If the talks materialise, then the credit will go to the government for making a sincere effort.”



She said the best policy would be if the Prime Minister’s office directly dealt with the ULFA peace process. “I know the Prime Minister personally. He is a nice man and more importantly, he understands the problem,” she added.