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North East : Assam : Militants’ blueprint for an independent state

	August 22, 2005

Even as the Union Government has initiated the process of negotiations with various militant outfits in the troubled north-east to meet their regional aspirations, two major extremist organisations have unveiled their plan for an independent or a sovereign state.



During the week under review, the two militant outfits - United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) - have come out with their blueprints which, according to observers, are likely to serve as an agenda for any further negotiations with these outfits.

Though details of the blueprint released by the ULFA calling for an “independent Asom” are not available, a senior official claimed that the declaration was a reflection of the outfits preparedness for talks. He also claimed that the blueprint of an independent Asom was actually a set of demands the outfit has prepared for the talks and wants to see how the people react to these.

He said going through the ULFA’s agenda for an independent Asom, it had become quite clear that the points raised in the blueprint would figure during the talks. However, it is not clear if the blueprint makes a mention of “sovereignty”, the most contentious issue which the two sides are facing.

Officials in the state Home Department were understandably guarded in their reaction. Now it is upto the Centre, which has opened a channel of dialogue through Goswami, to ponder over the outfits agenda and proceed accordingly, an official said.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s office, too, were cautious. “Since it is the Centre which is dealing with the talks issue, it will not be prudent on our part to comment on the blueprint. The Chief Minister has already made it clear in the State Assembly that though Dispur is not directly a party in the ongoing efforts to broker talks, it would continue to support each and every effort to usher in lasting peace in the state”, he said.



NDFB’s roadmap to sovereign Bodoland

In a similar development, another militant outfit, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) has unveiled its roadmap for what it called “a multi-racial sovereign Bodoland.”

In a 31-page manifesto, the NDFB leadership said at a public rally that they were trying to evolve a consensus on the demand for sovereignty before starting negotiations with Delhi.

Elaborating on its vision of a sovereign Bodoland, the outfit states in its manifesto that people are wrongly assuming this to be a territory exclusively for the Bodo community. There is no country in the modern world that is not a multi-racial one and Bodoland shall not be an exception to this. The NDFB is not against any caste, creed, community or religion. “We have respect for every caste, creed, community and religion. People of any community or religion shall live in sovereign Bodoland, but their living there should not be at the cost of our land and identity. In other words, their living within Bodoland should not be at the cost of a Bodo nation.

The NDFB, which signed a tripartite ceasefire agreement with Delhi and Dispur on May 24, has been holding a series of public meetings in the Bodo-inhabited districts.



Gogoi allays fears over IMDT Act

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has vowed not to tolerate harassment of any genuine citizen in the name of detection and deportation of illegal migrants from the state.

In his Independence Day speech, Gogoi warned of stern action against any individual or organisation, including the police and government machinery, if they were found to be harassing genuine citizens by branding them as illegal migrants.

The move is an apparent bid to dispel fears from the minds of the minority community in the wake of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act being struck down by the Supreme Court.

“A police official can only probe. It is for a tribunal to decide whether a person is illegal migrant or not”, Gogoi said, adding that the Centre has approved setting up of 32 tribunals in the state under the Foreigners Tribunal Order 1984 and the Foreigners Act of 1948.



Congress dilemma

A Congress minority delegation, comprising ministers and legislators rushed to New Delhi last week seeking an amendment to the Foreigners’ Act to provide judicial safeguard to genuine Indian citizens from harassment even as 12 influential minority bodies were all set to redraw the political scenario in Assam.

The Congress minority delegation was scheduled to meet Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and other members of the Group of Ministers to formally place a demand for an amendment to the Act. “We have verbally communicated our demand to the party high command and the Centre. But now we will place a written appeal urging the Centre to amend the Foreigners’ Act to make it mandatory to refer all the cases pertaining to any dispute over citizenship to tribunals”, said Minister for Minority and Char Area Development”, Wazed Ali Choudhury.

But the Congress latest move to win over the minorities may have come a little too late in the day with the Co-ordination Committee of 12 Minority Organisations of Assam, including the powerful Jamiat, almost deciding to form a pan-minority political organisation to counter the Congress.

The move caused another setback to the Congress which had been trying to win over minority organisations like Jamiat. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, during his recent visit to the state, disclosed that the party high command was trying to patch up with the minority body, which had been traditionally a Congress ally in the state.

Jamiat has been accusing the Congress government of betraying the minority community by not fulfilling the promises it made to the community in its election manifesto.



Secret killings probe

In another development, the Chief Minister rejected the findings of the one-man inquiry commission it had constituted to probe the “secret killings” during the erstwhile AGP regime, stating that it was contradictory and full of glaring discrepancies. He said the state cabinet has decided not to accept the report. Instead, it would set up another commission to probe the allegations.

“Everyone knows there were secret killings... there is no dispute over it. We wanted the commission to find out who were behind the killings and to suggest measures to ensure there is no recurrence of such incidents in the future”, Gogoi said.

The cabinet, according to the Chief Minister, found that the report was full of contradictions and the Commission, headed by Justice (retd) J.N. Sarma, had relied more on the version of the police than the victims families.



Mahanta upbeat

Reacting to the report, former Chief Minister Prafula Kumar Mahanta, said the Congress government sabotaged the inquiry by not providing funds and infrastructure to the commission and also claimed that the AASU misled the commission by making a hue and cry about the secret killings but failing to back up its allegations with credible information.

He said the government and the AASU leaders were not pleased with the Justice J.N. Sarma-led commissions findings because it did not give a favourable report suiting their political agenda.

“If all those who are talking against the commission today had any evidence of the involvement of anyone (in the killings), what prevented them from giving statements before the commission,” Mahanta asked.

The All Assam Students’ Union, (AASU), which was once headed by Mahanta in the eighties, said the report which virtually gave a clean chit to the then AGP government headed by Mahanta, was not satisfactory and has demanded a fresh inquiry.



Demand for a CBI inquiry

The Opposition AGP has demanded a CBI inquiry and a white paper on all the killings in the state since 1991, apparently peeved by the Justice (retd) J.N. Sarma report giving a clean chit to the erstwhile AGP regime led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

The party said Justice Sarmas report on the secret killings was not satisfactory as it contained loopholes and failed to pinpoint the culprit.