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North East : Assam peace talks collapse : ULFA returns to bloodshed

	November 13, 2006

The Centre’s efforts to solve the insurgency problem in the state of Assam by initiating peace talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), have received a death blow with the militant outfit resorting to unabated terrorist violence in the state.



In a major strike on Nov. 5, the extremist outfit killed at least 15 people in two bomb blasts in the capital city of Guwahati. The first blast ripped through the busy Chai Gali, near Central Jail in Fancy Bazar, around 6.30 p.m. Seven persons died in that explosion and 40 more were injured. The other blast occurred five minutes later at Pathar Quarry in Narengi. Four persons died and six were injured in that incident.





Hindi-speaking community was the target ? PM briefed



According to the area Deputy Commissioner, the perpetrators of the blast at Chai Gali may have targeted the Hindi-speaking community, which dominates the locality. Describing it as a “barbaric act”, he said, no effort would be spared to trace and punish the guilty.



Various trade unions and the Purvottar Hindustani Sammelan observed a bandh (total strike) to protest the incident. Y.L. Karan, the working president of the Purvottar Hindustani Sammelan, said the explosion was a “planned attack on the Hindi-speaking community”.



Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who rushed to New Delhi, said, all possible steps would be taken to help the affected families. He also briefed the Prime Minister’s Office about the incident, after which the Union Home Ministry convened a high-level meeting to discuss the situation in the state.





Cowardice : Manmohan



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the killing of innocent people was cowardice and violence can never achieve any goal. He assured adequate relief to the kin, his Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru said.



Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil called it a cowardly act and said such terrorist incidents would not shake the resolve of the Government to ensure the security of the citizens.





Lalu concerned



Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a statement criticised the state administration for “failing to protect the Hindi-speaking community”. Yadav called up Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi demanding protection for Biharis living in Assam. He said he would also take up this issue with the Union Home Minister to provide additional security forces to Assam to effectively handle the situation.



Over 1 lakh Biharis reportedly live in Guwahati alone.



The People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam, which has been campaigning for talks between ULFA and Delhi, said whoever was behind the blasts had committed a reprehensible act.



Shell-shocked residents of Fancy Bazar said the blast at Chai Gali was the first in the city’s business hub in the past 50 years.



Former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma joined the Nationalist Congress Party leaders in staging a silent sit-in at Guwahati to protest the killings. They demanded that the Government immediately hold a dialogue with the ULFA to find a political solution to the insurgency problem.





“Third force” behind the attacks, says ULFA



Suspected as number one for carrying out the terrorist strike, ULFA has, however, denied its involvement in the crime, and said a “third force” engineered the attacks on civilians in the city’s business district and a suburban locality to defame it.



Jiten Dutta, a self-styled company commander of the outfit, informed a section of the media on phone that “his organisation was in no way involved in the twin explosions.”



The ULFA denial came even as the Tinsukia district administration asked the police and security forces to be alert to possible attacks on the Hindi-speaking community, which bore the brunt of the blast at Chai Gali in Fancy Bazar.





Doors for negotiations still open



While ULFA remains the prime suspect in the Guwahati blasts despite its Upper Assam-based 28 Battalion issuing a disclaimer, Union Home Secretary Duggal said Delhi was keeping its doors open for negotiations with the militant group. “We still regard them as a misguided lot. They have to come to the mainstream.... The policy of the Government is to hold discussions with all (militant) groups that are interested in talks. But the cornerstone is the sincerity of the outfit.”



Chief Secretary S. Kabilan admitted that the brief period of “cessation of hostilities” that was announced in the run-up to Independence Day helped ULFA regroup. He said it was a calculated risk the Government took for the sake of peace. “Yes, they regrouped during that period. But it was the kind of calculated risk that we need to take at times.”





A change of tack likely in Assam



The November 5 blasts in Guwahati, suspected to have been triggered by the ULFA, have prompted the Central and State Governments to redraw their counter-insurgency strategy in Assam. Both New Delhi and Dispur have decided to adopt a two-pronged approach - stepping up counter-insurgency operations against ULFA and simultaneously keeping the door open for negotiations provided the outfit shunned violence and expressed its willingness to talk.



‘The State is likely to witness, in the coming weeks, some “visible action” by the security forces against the outfit. However, the stepped-up operations, security forces caution, may prompt the rebel outfit to resort to retaliatory strikes against soft civilian targets and vital installations.



The Union Home Ministry on Nov. 6 convened a meeting to review the security scenario in Assam in the wake of the twin blasts in Guwahati on Nov. 5. Top officials of the Army and Central forces attended the meeting.



This was the first major attack by the ULFA ever since the banned group nominated Peoples’Consultative Group for peace negotiations with the Centre in October 2005.



Duggal said the situation was under control and adequate security personnel were deployed in the State.



“I have spoken to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary and they are constantly monitoring the situation,” he said.



On the peace process in the State, Duggal said: “One cannot achieve the desired goal by killing innocent people. In such a case we will have to take appropriate action.”



The Government was “100 per cent for peaceful negotiations” and invited the ULFA leadership for talks, he pointed out.



At a meeting in Guwahati, the Strategy Group of the Unified Command decided to launch special counter-insurgency operations in Guwahati, upper Assam and North Cachar hills to curb the growing militant activities.



Sources in the security establishment said the fact that the ULFA was able to pick such “soft targets” showed the loopholes in the standards of “core policing” in the State and lack of multi-agency coordination.



The ULFA was indulging in such actions to make the Government go soft on operations against it, the sources said.



Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi also explained the Government’s strategy. “The operations will have to be intensified. The Government cannot remain a mute spectator to such violence and attacks on innocent civilians. However, we have not closed the doors of negotiation. Doors are still open. They (the ULFA) should come forward, give up violence and talk to us if they want development,” he told reporters at the Fancy bazar blast site.



Both Delhi and Dispur want to talk to the ULFA top brass as they suspect the outfit may try to avoid direct contact and prolong a dialogue between the PCG and the Centre in order to regroup. It could then aim for bigger strikes to show its strength and gain bargaining power.



The State Government, in a bid to mobilise the public in the fight against insurgency, is planning to convene a “Peace Conclave” in December. The aim is to ensure that public pressure is put on the ULFA to end the violence and come to the negotiating table.



The Opposition parties in the State - the Asom Gana Parishad, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Communist Party of India - have, on the other hand, accused the State Government of failing to protect the lives and property of innocent civilians and demanded that the Centre and the ULFA hold unconditional talks. An admission by Gogoi following Sunday’s blasts that his Government had “failed to provide protection to the people” is likely to be picked up by the AGP to press for the dismissal of his Government.





Mamoni Goswami’s concern



In New Delhi, writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami and fellow-mediator Rebati Phukan who have been spearheading the peace process between New Delhi and the ULFA seemed concerned about the developments just a couple of days before their scheduled parleys with the Centre.



Unaware of ULFA’s statement denying any involvement in the twin explosions, Goswami said the outfit had committed a dastardly act and “Assam was crying”. She conceded the possibility that ULFA might not be willing to hold peace talks.



Goswami blamed security forces in the same breath, accusing them of “provocation”. Phukan refrained from criticising the outfit for the blasts. The facilitator said he was not aware of the “ground realities”.



The facilitators’ plans to press for the release of the jailed ULFA leaders now seem to be in disarray.