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Peace talks with ULFA : Pranab hopes for the best |
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Recent hiccups in the peace process with ULFA notwithstanding, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has sounded optimistic by saying it was on the track.
“In this type of peace process, there will always be ups and downs. But let’s hope for the best,” he told the media after assessing the law and order scenario in the state at a meeting with top Army and state government officials.
The peace process with the ULFA had suffered a setback with the outfit and the mediators appointed by it, the People’s Consultative Group (PCG), taking strong objection to Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal’s recent remarks that the PCG was delaying the process.
The PCG had said the Centre was indulging in a “disinformation campaign” which had undone the progress made in the peace process so far.
Among others, the Defence Minister was briefed on the security scenario in the state by the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 4 Corps, Lt Gen. H.S. Lidder.
Mukherjee, during the security review meeting, endorsed the steps taken by the state government for bringing the outfit to the negotiating table, including the safe passage offered to the ULFA members to facilitate their reunion with family and friends during Bihu festivity.
Troops to bolster security
The BSF has decided to deploy more personnel along the porous Indo-Bangladesh border in south Assam and Mizoram with the aim of curbing infiltration by both migrants and militants.
The paramilitary force has also decided to break up the Tripura, Cachar and Mizoram frontier into two formations in order to gain an “operational and administrative” advantage. The 1,302-km-long frontier is the second largest among the nine BSF frontiers in the country.
A top official in the Cachar sector headquarters at Masimpur near Silchar on Jan. 10 said the proposed bifurcation would come into force in October. The force is currently preparing the groundwork for restructuring the frontier after the Union Home Ministry’s parliamentary committee recommended the changes.
The frontier will now have two demarcated areas - Tripura and Cachar-Mizoram. While the BSF’s Tripura frontier headquarters, with 19 battalions under its command, will be located in Agartala, the headquarters for Cachar-Mizoram will be at Masimpur, 6 km west of Silchar.
The official said as part of the restructuring, the strength of the BSF in Mizoram, which has a 318-km border with Bangladesh, would be increased to five battalions from the current three. The BSF will be assigned duty along some stretches of the 404-km Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoram in view or the recent incidents of cross-border movement of Chin rebels from Myanmar into Mizoram.
BSF sources, however, said the incidence of infiltration by Bangladeshis into both Mizoram and south Assam has registered a significant decline - from 50 people a day in the last decade - to 10 a day now. The BSF officials said joint patrolling of the border with Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) since last June has helped resolve border problems.
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