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North East : Assam : Peace talks with ULFA : Govt. talks tough

	June 19, 2006

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has asked the Union Government to make it clear to the ULFA-constituted People’s Consultative Group (PCG) during their next meeting that violence and talks could not go hand in hand. The third round of talks between the PCG and a Union Home Ministry team is slated for this week

on June 22. The state government’s views were conveyed to Rajiv Agarwal, Joint Secretary in-charge of North East in the Home Ministry, during a stocktaking

meeting chaired by Chief Secretary S. Kabilan in Guwahati last week.

Reports from Guwahati say that senior police and Army officials are of the view that Dispur should not allow its commitment to the peace process to be

viewed by the ULFA as a weakness. “The ULFA leadership cannot play a double game. This message has to be conveyed in no uncertain terms. The time

has come to choose between ceasefire and fullfledged operations. We (Assam Government) have requested the Home Ministry to make it clear to the

PCG that both cannot continue simultaneously.”

Since June 8, the state has been rocked by a series of blasts causing casualties and damage to vital installations, putting the Gogoi administration

in a very embarrassing position. Though the ULFA has denied its involvement in the blasts, there is a

strong suspicion in the administrative quarters that

it is they, and none else.

“The ULFA says it is not behind the attacks. If

not, then who is ? One cannot run with the hare and

hunt with the hounds,” said a government

spokesman.

The ULFA leadership’s denial of its

involvement in the attacks has found no takers in

either Dispur or New Delhi. The Congress-led

government has said that it will do everything in its

power to take the peace process to the next level,

but not at the cost of lives and public property.

The Chief Secretary said Agarwal’s “exploratory

mission” was a prelude to the third round of talks

with the PCG. “It was an internal meeting. He

wanted to know about the latest incidents of violence,

the background of the peace process and all such

details. We are very much committed to the peace

process.”

The Chief Secretary revealed that the state

government had not been invited to participate in

the June 22 talks.

Police not to relax vigil

Meanwhile, the police has threatened to launch

a crackdown on those trying to defend the ULFA

against public criticism for killing innocents and

said some organisations working for the outfit were

already being watched.

Inspector-general of police (Special Branch)

Khagen Sarma told the media on June 14 that the

ULFA had been spending huge sums of money in

raising “frontal organisations” both in the country

and abroad, including the UK. He said the main

purpose of forming these organisations was to

mobilise opinion in favour of the outfit and justify

its nefarious activities.

The IGP claimed that some of these

organisations were “very active” during the agitation

at Kakopathar, in Tinsukia district over the death of

a daily-wage worker in Army custody. The victim,

Ajit Mahanta, had been arrested for his alleged links

with ULFA.

Four ULFA men rise in revolt

Four persons, claiming to be members of the

banned ULFA, said on June 15 that they were planning

to float a new outfit to continue their “revolution” under

the leadership of one self-styled “Captain” of the outfit.

The rebels declared that they were revolting

against the leadership of the banned organization. The

quartet, quoting a letter purportedly written by ULFA

chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, said the outfit chief was

planning to liquidate them. A copy of the letter was

forwarded to mediapersons.

They further said several ULFA leaders, including

Bening Rava, Abhijit Deka and Nilu Chakravarty, who

the outfit claimed had gone missing after the Army’s

operations in Bhutan, had actually been killed on

Rajkhowa’s orders.

The four persons were identified as Bijoy Kalita

of ULFA’s 28 battalion, Rudra Barua of the 709

battalion, Hemanta Kalita of the 109 battalion and

Kamal Ahmed of the outfit’s central publicity wing.

They claimed that they learnt about the plot after they

got hold of the letter Rajkhowa had written to the

outfit’s commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, informing

him about the capital punishment awarded to Rava

and his comrades and the move to execute them.

The four claimed they had been targeted because

they were from Lower Assam and Rajkhowa allegedly

did not want anybody from that area to rise in the

ULFA hierarchy.

A Government source declined to comment on

the issue, but did say that the police and intelligence

agencies had been asked to “verify their findings”.



Sarma said laying siege to police stations with

300-400 people whenever an ULFA linkman or cadre

is arrested has been the modus operandi of some

organisations working for the militant group.

However, he declined to name any of these

organisations.

On the ULFA’s denial of any involvement in

the mayhem, the IGP said the outfit had always

blamed others for blasts in public places.

Pak, Bangladesh involvement

Sarma pointed out that the incidents of blasts

had increased since 2004, when 16 members of the

outfit were trained in Pakistan to make bombs and

trigger them with precision. He said the recruits

had been sent to Pakistan in four batches with

Bangladeshi passports and imparted training at

Batrossi Hills, in Mansehra district, by ISI officials.

The Assam police’s intelligence chief also released

a list of 12 Bangladesh addresses where ULFA

commander-in-chief Paresh Barua had stayed between

1990 and 2004. He did not divulge the location where

the militant leader was hiding at present.

Sarma said Barua had been using the name

Kamruj Zaman Khan, alias Zaman Bhai, in Bangladesh.

“His wife Bobby has assumed the name Sufia Begum

and the couple’s two children are known as Tahshim

Khan and Akash Khan,” he added.

The police officer said there was no question

of going soft on the militant group despite everyone,

including the Special Branch, wanting the peace

process to continue.

Earlier during the day on June 14, journalists

of the state decided to launch a signature campaign

against the ULFA for trying to muzzle the media. A

meeting at the Press Club condemned the outfit’s

recent statement against some senior journalists.

Some of the speakers raised questions about ULFA’s

demand for sovereignty, ridiculing it as a Utopian

idea that would only trigger disintegration of

Assamese society.