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North East : Assam polls : Waiting for the outcome

	May 08, 2006

With three days still to go, politicians in the country are keeping their fingers crossed, waiting for the D-day when counting of votes in the Assembly elections will begin on May 11. In the troubled north-east, polling was held in Assam where the ruling Congress is hoping to return to power against stiff contest from the combined opposition led by Asom Gana Parishad.





Congress in-fighting



Meanwhile, reports from Guwahati speak of infighting continuing in the Congress. The Assam PCC has sought explanations from Congress leaders accused of anti-party activities in the recent polls.



The PCC’s disciplinary committee, which met on May 4 at the official residence of Union Minister Sontosh Mohan Dev in New Delhi, decided to seek explanations from those who have been accused by party candidates of sabotaging their prospects in the Assembly polls. Dev is the convener of the panel. There are about 50-odd such Congress functionaries. Prominent among them are Mani Kumar Subba and F.A. Golam Osmani, both Members of Parliament. They have been asked to reply within 15 days.



Mani Kumar Subba has reportedly hit back at the PCC saying it has no authority to take disciplinary action against him. He said he had not received any notice from the party, but added that since he is an MP and an AICC member, the PCC has no right to take such action against him. The MP from Tezpur said he would not reply to any notice even if it reaches him.



“Only Madam (Sonia Gandhi) can take action against me. I am an MP and an AICC member. The PCC has no right to initiate any disciplinary action against me,” he said over phone from New Delhi.



Subba was accused of damaging the prospects of party candidates and also backing his brother S.R. Subba, who had contested as an Independent from Naobaicha after being denied a Congress ticket. He denied the charges saying he did everything possible to ensure victory of Congress candidates in Sonitpur district. He said there was no question of backing his sibling’s candidature and he should not be held accountable simply because his brother rebelled against the party.



“Who can guarantee what one’s brother will do ? Look what Pramod Mahajan’s brother did. I am in no way responsible for the conduct of my brother,” Subba said.





Secret killings : ULFA disclosures forces security appraisal



A day after the banned ULFA named several AGP leaders as co-conspirators in the “secret killings” that rocked the state when the regional party was in power, a worried Home Department contemplated on May 2 offering them security in apprehension of attempts on their lives.



AGP leaders Chandra Mohan Patowary, Pradip Hazarika, Padma Hazarika, Hitendra Nath Goswami, Phani Bhusan Choudhury and Dilip Saikia Sonowal were mentioned in the latest edition of the ULFA mouthpiece, Freedom, as being not only privy to the socalled secret killings but also active participants in the conspiracy to target family members of militant leaders.



Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who was then the chief minister, is the prime offender in the outfit’s eyes. He is already in the list of leaders entitled to Z-category security.



A home department official revealed today that Dispur had taken the development seriously and would offer protection to the AGP leaders in the ULFA’s list. He said bodyguards had been assigned to all prominent political leaders even before the elections.



The Home Department official said Dispur would gauge the seriousness of the threat to the lives of the leaders named by ULFA before deciding what level of security each requires. “We will offer security cover based on the threat perception,” he added.



For the AGP, ULFA’s accusation has been a source of both embarrassment and concern at a time when it is focusing on building an alliance that can form the next government. The party has yet to make a statement on the issue.



Since sidelining Mahanta and ultimately expelling him from the party, the AGP has been taking the moral high ground and trying to distance itself from the secret-killings episode.



An AGP functionary said the party had no comment to offer on ULFA’s allegation, but did admit that it was concerned about the security of its leaders.





Peace talks with NDFB delayed until new govt is sworn in



Restive at not getting an invitation for talks with Delhi, the banned National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) has been asked to bear it a little longer - the dialogue will not begin at least until the installation of a new government in Dispur.



Sources in the Chief Minister’s office said on May 4 that the “fluid political situation” was holding up the talks and that the Centre would like to take Dispur into confidence before starting the process.



“We are hopeful of the talks getting under way once a new government takes charge, irrespective of which party or alliance comes to power. The NDFB has been insisting on bipartite talks, but Dispur will definitely have a role to play, even if it is that of a facilitator,” a senior official said.



Allaying misgivings about the progress of the peace process, the official said the Ceasefire Monitoring Group would be meeting in the state capital latest by May 15 to take stock of the situation. “The sitting, which might be held as early as May 8, could go beyond discussing charges and counter-charges. A roadmap for the peace talks could be drawn up at the same meeting,” he added.



Another official, however, maintained that Dispur would not give in to arm-twisting, evident as it is from its refusal to institute a judicial inquiry into the killing of the NDFB activist in Sapatgram. “Dispur appreciates the concerns of the NDFB. We are for peace and we will maintain it in accordance with the law,” the official said.



Earlier in the day, NDFB spokesperson S. Sanjarang said Delhi had revealed its “escapist mindset” by communicating with his organisation only through the Ceasefire Monitoring Group. He said the fact that Delhi had taken so long to get the peace process off the ground - the ceasefire pact will be a year old on May 31 - indicated its unwillingness to address the “political problems” of the Bodo community.





Foreigners issue : SC reserves verdict



The Supreme on May 5 reserved its verdict on the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to have a separate provision for detection and deportation of foreigners in Assam.



A bench of Justice P.K. Balasubramanyam and Justice S.B. Sinha reserved the order after hearing senior counsel Ashok Desai, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad on behalf of the petitioners and solicitor general G.E. Vahanvati for the Centre and senior counsel K.K. Venugopal for Assam.



The two petitions, filed by Asom Gana Parishad MP Sarbananda Sonowal and local BJP leader Charan Chandra Deka, are seeking quashing of the notification under the Foreigners Act on the ground that it puts the onus on the complainant to prove that a particular person was a foreigner. Such a procedure under the IMDT Act was declared illegal by the apex court last year.



They alleged that the Foreigners (Tribunal) Amendment Order and the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order notified by the Centre on February 10 created a parallel and cumbersome adjudication system, making it difficult to deport a foreigner from the state.







The Centre, on the other hand, defended itself saying there was no provision in the Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order which directly puts the burden of proving whether a person was a foreigner on the complainant. It said the special provision for detection and deportation of foreigners in Assam was made on demands from various organisations in the state. The people in the state were apprehending victimisation by authorities in the name of detection and deportation after the abolition of tribunals under the IMDT Act on the orders of the apex court on July 12, 2005, the counsellor said.



Backing the Centre, the Assam government told the court that the special tribunals created for the state were more effective for identifying Bangladeshis and other foreigners than the other tribunals provided for under the Foreigners Act.





The Assam government said the country’s reputation would suffer if a fair and reasonable procedure was not provided even in case of illegal migrants.





Students’ peace march in Karbi Anglong



Several student organisations of trouble-torn Karbi Anglong have joined hands to take out a peaceful procession in Bokajan against violation of ceasefire ground rules by militant outfits.



Barring the influential Karbi Students Association, members of the four student groups also moved the Centre seeking intervention of Union Home Minister to rein in six outfits in all, including the UPDS, the DHD, the NDFB which have signed ceasefire with the government. The other militant groups are the All Adivasi National Liberation Army, Karbi Revolutionary Army and the KLNLF.



Though the leaders were circumspect in what they said, sources said the placards and banners carried by the participants were blunt in the message they were trying to send. Wishing death of extremist elements, they shouted slogans like “UPDS, KLNLF, DHD, KRA Murdabad; We condemn the killing of Ramkaran Chauhan of Bakulia; Ensure compliance of ceasefire ground rules; Stop merciless killing, looting and extortion.”



The five-page memorandum, which contained the list of those allegedly affected by militant outfits, was signed by leaders of the Karbi Anglong units of the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam, Hindi Bhasi Chatra Sanstha, All Assam Students Union and Asomiya Bhasik Yuba Chatra Parishad, Nepali Suraksha Parishad and Subhas Club.



Anil Toppo, a senior functionary of the All Adivasi Students Association, Assam, said the march was taken out to highlight the violation of the ceasefire rules and growing atrocities against the minority communities inhabiting the district and the administration’s failure to allay insecurity among the people.



“We appeal to the authorities to ensure the safety of the minorities and that can be done only if the militant outfits in ceasefire are asked to follow the ground rules,” Toppo said.