Bomb blasts in assam

satya
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by satya »

Jihadis seems to be working on an independent operantional wise three regions strategy against India : 1. Jihadi activity in J&K by LeT & other Pakjabi jihadi groups , 2. terror acitivity in NE states specially Assam with substantial BDees presence under HuJI , 3. rest of India under IM all to provide 'plausible deniability' to ISI & DGFI .The news about recruitment of muslim cadres for ULFA is perhaps the next step of strategy to legitimize these bombing attacks under cover of ULFA and expand HuJI operations in other states with BDees presence . I think this experiment of bringing ULFA under its fold might face resistance with other terror outfits in other NE states iirc most of these outfits christian heavy & states bordering PRC ( PRC would like to keep security forces on their toe in Indian states bordering PRC but not Jihadi terrorism ) so in all likelihood HuJI will expand to Tripura but the biggest of all will be West Bengal . Will be interesting to see how commies react , for it will effect Kerala too , all in due time it will happen .
Silverline i see in these bomb attacks will be the decreasing support/appetite for independence in NE states when they face the onslaught of Jiahdis since most of them are disgruntled with PRC ( there was an interview i think when ABV was PM in which NSCN head who clearly expressed his desire for reaching a sort of settlement under the Indian constitution as it was the only system that provided them necessary safeguards & independence and he was completely fed up with PRC having seen it first hand though the talks are still going on for the entry of drug & tender money have slowed them down )
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Message from Calcutta: Attack Guwahati

Post by Amitava »

From today's Telegraph:
Message from Calcutta: Attack Guwahati OUR CORRESPONDENT

The army today told the Prime Minister it had intercepted a message from Calcutta a week before the October 30 Assam blasts that said: “Attack Guwahati.”

At an evening meeting at Guwahati airport, the army also told Manmohan Singh it had known about the impending terror strikes in western Assam towns for six weeks and had tried to prevent them.


Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who heads the state’s unified command that includes the army, corroborated this at the meeting with Singh who made a short trip to Guwahati today.

Lt Gen. B.S. Jaswal, GOC, 4 Corps, told Singh the army had received “non-specific” information on September 17 about possible strikes in Guwahati, Barpeta Road and Kokrajhar, according to state minister Bharat Narah.

Gogoi admitted his government knew all of this but did not anticipate the scale of the blasts that killed 81 people and injured over 300 in these three places and Bongaigaon.

The government today formed a special team, headed by inspector-general of police (special task force) R. Chandranathan, to probe the blasts and report within 30 days.

The police detained three persons, including the suspected owners of a car and a motorbike used in the blasts. The third detainee was a young man whose address tallied with that on the application for a mobile connection that was used to send yesterday’s text message claiming responsibility for the attacks.

However, the suspect’s face did not match the photograph on the application, suggesting someone else may have used his name and address.

IGP (law and order) B.J. Mahanta said the three Guwahati bombs were all planted in Marutis, and the one used in the court blast belonged to Tikendra Saikia of Nagaon and was registered in his wife’s name.

Saikia claimed he had sold his car through Pallavi Motors, a Maruti dealer, for Rs 92,000 but was detained. “He first said he sold it in 2001 and later changed the date to 2006,” Mahanta said.

Biswa Borgohain of Guwahati’s Kahilipara was held because the motorcycle used in the Bongaigaon blast was registered in his name. The suspect told the police the bike had been stolen on October 22 and that he had lodged an FIR at Dispur police station.

The car used in Guwahati’s Ganeshguri was bought in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Mahanta said. “We are in touch with Arunachal police.”

Yesterday, the police had detained three men linked to a motorbike whose registration number matched that of the car used in the Panbazar blast in Guwahati. However, the last digit of the car’s chassis number could not be retrieved. “We are in touch with Maruti Udyog Ltd to help us retrieve the last digit,” Mahanta said.

Sources said the cabinet today pulled up state police chief R.N. Mathur over the frequent blasts in places like Ganeshguri — which has seen 19 bombings in six years — and Paglastan in Bongaigaon.

At the airport meeting, Lt Gen. Jaswal said that after receiving the terror inputs, a galvanised army had killed 25 militants and arrested 89. The defence PRO, Col Rajesh Kalia, confirmed Jaswal’s statements to the Prime Minister.

Jaswal heads the operational group of the unified command, made up by the army, police, paramilitary and state and central intelligence and engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Assam.


http://telegraphindia.com/1081102/jsp/f ... 051917.jsp
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Singha »

frequent blasts in places like Ganeshguri — which has seen 19 bombings in six years

apart from shaking my inlaws house each time, my wife and SIL also had a narrow
escape from a grenade beneath that flyover. they need some means to ensure people
cannot throw grenades from flyover and bike away. perhaps enclose in a U-shaped
mesh screen.
and no more parking lots below flyovers!
Last edited by Singha on 02 Nov 2008 17:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Rahul M »

WB is the perfect candidate for president's rule, just not under this central govt.
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Chinese connection in Assam blasts: M K Narayanan

Post by Amitava »

This shouldn't be a surprise to the panda watchers esp here; this is the top report in the Bengali web page of Anandabazar, haven't seen this in English yet.

Quick summary of the item:

MKN talking about Chinese connection; said Anthony Simre (sp?) of NSCN (Khaplang grp) recently met Chinese agents in Yunan province. The arms and ammo coming in thru Myanmar via places called Kachin and Ruli.
The arms don't have any maker's marks but our experts have concluded they are made in China. The spooks say that "United Westet Army", a rebel group in Myanmar are active in this arms supply.

Link: http://www.anandabazar.com/2desh1.htm
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Singha »

misfortune follows our PM like a shadow:

As Singh left the CJM’s court for GMCH, a police vehicle escorting chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s convoy, which was following Singh’s convoy, overturned at Bhangagarh on G.S. Road, injuring two Assam police personnel.

The injured were identified as Monokanta Sangmai and Brajen Baishya, both havildars of the special branch of Assam police. They were rushed to the GMCH.

“Sangmai was admitted to the hospital. Baishya was released after first aid,” a police source said. The vehicle’s driver, Bhadreswar Gogoi, escaped unhurt. The source said the driver lost control when another vehicle ahead of him in the convoy suddenly slammed on the brakes.
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by sum »

There was another report one/two days earlier stating that a vehicle in the convoy fell off a bridge seriously injuring five personnel...Hope that its the same vehicle as reported by Singha-ji.

Also, the local police guys in safari suits with the PM in all pics of the Assam "tour" really look mean and ready for action. I recall only the TN special branch policemen looking so menacing in all Indian state policemen i have seen so far.
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Manny »

There needs to be martial law in the north east! Communal politicians need to be locked up.
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by sum »

Warned cops day before blasts: Gogoi

Assam CM Tarun Gogoi had told a press conference that threat to Assam from jehadi groups was 'real' and 'serious'. Assam CM Tarun Gogoi had told a press conference that threat to Assam from jehadi groups was 'real' and 'serious'.

Assam CM Tarun Gogoi had told a press conference that threat to Assam from jehadi groups was 'real' and 'serious'.

November 2 : Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has claimed that on October 29 — a day before serial blasts rocked Guwahati and three other towns in Assam — he had asked the police not to be complacent.

“A day before the blasts, I had told the police officers not to be complacent just because the festival season had passed off peacefully,”

Gogoi told a press conference on Sunday — the first after Thursday’s blasts that have claimed 80 lives so far.

Gogoi has now sought a detailed report on what steps were taken after he had warned the police. “Major changes are definitely going to take place in the police,” the Chief Minister said, apparently hinting at action over negligence on the part of the police.

On September 27, Gogoi had told a press conference that threat to Assam from the jehadi groups, including Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), was “real” and “serious”.

A day before, on September 26, the Army had gunned down seven HuJI terrorists in Dhubri after they had sneaked into Assam from Bangladesh.

Several weapons and about 2 kg of explosives, besides Indian as well as Bangladesh currency, were recovered from them.

Meanwhile, Lt Gen BS Jaswal, GOC of the Army’s Four Corps told The Indian Express on Sunday that there were indeed general intelligence inputs that jehadi elements were looking for an opportunity to strike.

“There were, however, no specific information regarding what happened in Guwahati on Thursday,” Lt Gen Jaswal, who is also the operational head of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in Assam, said.

Since August 11, the Army have killed as many as 25 militants, including seven HuJI militants in Assam, apart from apprehending 89 others who belonged to ULFA and other militant groups. It was only the previous Sunday that the Army had gunned down five ULFA militants, including one Putul Ali, in Nalbari district.

“While the Army got the inputs from another intelligence agency, those were also shared with all other security agencies,” Lt Gen Jaswal said.

Meanwhile, Gogoi has said that Thursday’s serial blasts may have links to the recent release of a number of Islamic militants from jail in the state.

“I don’t rule out connections between these blasts and the persons released from jail recently,” the Chief Minister said. A sessions court in Guwahati had on June 11 ordered release of 11 people who are said to be members of different MFOs and Islamic militant groups due to lack of “solid evidence”....
Got to admire the shamelessness of the current crop of netas...First, you admit you had info but didnt act and then say that strict action will be taken against the police for the failure while the supposed "head" of entire security apparatus(the CM) mewrrily clings to his kursi to continue welcoming more BDs the next day!!! :x

If there was any statement showing the utter failure of Indian anti-terror judicial system, it should be the last two paras(bolded). Firstly, terrorists are let off due to lack of adequate laws to hold them back and the next day, the CM of the state, which allowed the jihadis to be let off , says that the released could be part of the blasts!!!!! Only in India...:roll: :roll:

I have truly lost hope in our system despite being a jingo.
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by nkumar »

sum wrote:I have truly lost hope in our system despite being a jingo.
sum, in a way you are right that this is the fault of the system. A good system is one which is self-correcting and self-enforcing.

But the immediate reason is well known. It is fractured polity which is mirror image of our fractured electorate. Its no secret that no action is possible against the a particular community because they are more organized. Look at the Gujjar agitation, once a community/caste gets organized and powerful, there will be politicians to milk their organized votes. The only short term solution to this problem is to get significant percentage of Hindus to vote strategically. If that happens, I bet many secular parties will overnight become communal and tough action will be taken against terrorists. The other solution is Moditva - aggressive and good governance. It neutralizes may of the fault lines in the society. A significant stat which has been kept under the wraps by the 'seculars' is that around 18-20% Muslims in Gujarat in the last election voted for Modi !
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by sum »

Link
Assam terror bombing trail leads to NDFB

Praveen Swami

No evidence of Harkat ul-Jihad-e-Islami role in attacks

Two of three cars used as bombs were purchased by the NDFB cadre

NDFB founder-chief Rajan Daimary issued the order for the operation

NEW DELHI: Evidence has emerged that a hit-team of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) executed the October 30 serial bombings in Assam — evidence which undermines earlier claims that the Bangladesh-based Harkat ul-Jihad-Islami (HuJI) was responsible for the murderous attacks.

Seventy-seven people were killed in the bombings.

Assam Police investigators have determined that two of the three Maruti 800 cars used as bombs were purchased by the NDFB cadre less than six weeks before the attacks. Based on the interrogation of suspects linked to the fabrication of the car-bombs, investigators now believe that orders to initiate the operation were issued by NDFB founder-chief Rajan Daimary in September.

Daimary, who is believed to shuttle between Bangkok, Manila and Singapore, is believed to have authorised the attacks to signal frustration at the lack of progress in talks between the NDFB and the government of India.

In May this year, NDFB leaders had released a charter of demands for talks with the Union government. No progress was made in talks, though, because of fears that concessions to the NDFB could complicate efforts to bring about a separate dialogue with the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

While senior NDFB leaders like Govinda Basumtary continued to support the ceasefire — a controversial agreement has allowed organisation’s cadre to conduct extortion and kidnapping operations with impunity —Daimary overruled them and ordered a large-scale, demonstrative attack.
Lethal past

Daimary has a long history of sanctioning brutal attacks against civilians. In October, 2004, at least 12 people were killed in attacks on targets that included crowded markets in the towns of Dhekiajhuli, Gouripur and Bijni.

Formed in October 1986, the NDFB — until 1994 known as the Bodo Security Force — seeks a sovereign state north of the Brahmaputra river.

Following offensive operations by Bhutan’s military in December 2003, the organisation suffered serious reverses. Its key ideologue, B. Irakdao, was reported missing following the operations. Bhutan also handed over the head of the NDFB’s central headquarters, Udang K.R. Brahma, to India in June 2004. Nileswar Baswumatary, who handled the NDFB’s finances surrendered to the Assam Police in March 2004, while the terror group’s deputy commander, Bijoy Boro, was deported from Bangkok later that year.

Police sources said that the ULFA appeared to have provided infrastructural support to the operation, in the form of explosives and logistical aid. “While the NDFB was assigned last-mile responsibility for the operation,” a senior Assam Police officer said, “it seems that ULFA did much of the back-office work”.

Like Daimary, ULFA’s Bangladesh-based chief Paresh Baruah has been seeking means to demonstrate his organisation’s reach and lethality.

In recent years, ULFA’s military capabilities have been severely degraded, with the decimation of the organisation’s 28 Battalion in sustained counter-terrorism operations. Leaders of two of the 28 Battalion’s three companies, Alpha and Charlie, were seeking to bring about a ceasefire along with pro-dialogue elements in ULFA’s still-potent 709 and 27 Battalions—an effort, police believe, that Baruah hoped to scuttle by co-sponsoring the serial bombings.

Some in India’s intelligence services believe the NDFB executed the bombings on behalf of Islamists in Bangladesh.

On Saturday, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi appeared to endorse that perception, describing Bangladesh as “our biggest threat.” “Assam is the most vulnerable State”, Mr. Gogoi said, “in regard to terror attacks from Bangladeshi soil. It is the main problem as a large number of terrorist groups there help our local outfits.”

Speculation that HuJI may have been responsible for the bombings was built, in part, on signs that the Islamist terror group was planning attacks to retaliate against recent anti-Muslim violence in Assam. In September, the Army had shot dead seven suspected HuJI operatives in a shootout near Boraibari village, 30 km from the India-Bangladesh border in Assam’s Dhubri district.

However, no hard evidence has so far emerged to support the proposition that either the NDFB or ULFA acted on behalf of Islamist terror groups such as HuJI, or Islamists within Bangladesh’s external covert service, the Directorate-General of Field Intelligence.

Police say a text message sent to a local television station, claiming responsibility for the bombings on behalf of the until-then unknown Islamist group called the Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen, turned out to be a hoax.
As expected, all traces of BD involvement slowly being wiped away.
Within a month, i expect our Foreign Min to hand over a apology note to BD govt apologizing for dragging their name into the blasts. :roll:
And then, the usual BD influx can continue peacefully till the next blast occurs and people raise their voices for a few days...Mera Bharat mahaan!!!
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by ezra »

amitk wrote:
shiv wrote: try to imagine being born a muslim and forced to follow mohammed's teachings. It is not their fault to be born muslim. more people have started paying attention to muslims. Talk to your friends about this guy who married a 6-yr old whne he was 50+, and married his own daughter-in-law. That should get them interested.

We can only "win" by getting regular muslim people away from islam. Muslims can and should be part of the solution.
OPINION:

It is apparent that while the religious attitudes and practices of many other religions are evolving in keeping with the progressive attitudes of people in a modern and progressive society,( one such as India), there appears a stubbon reluctance the world over for elements in the muslim faith to follow suite.

The extremist muslim presently living in a multi-cultural society it appears is frustrated at no being able to practice his religion the way he wishes without criticism and redicule, (like he use to 3000 years ago,( which may have been well and good then).

This frustration appears to be vented in the form of the violence we are presently witnessing the world over from people of this faith.

It is time now for moderate and peace loving Muslim-Indians to take back their religion from the extremist by reinterpreting the teaching of Islam in keeping with a changing society.

There is no doubt that the present and past campaign of terror is being fueled by Pakistan, using its claim to Islam to the fullest. At the end of the day however Pakistan will have to be held accountable for an esculation of terrorism in what ever form and made to pay the price....
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Tamang »

Assam blasts: ULFA points finger at RSS
The banned United Liberation Front of Assam on Tuesday alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was behind the deadly October 30 blasts in Assam and ethnic violence in Bodo Territorial Administered Districts.

The blast claimed 85 lives while 55 people died in the ethnic violence in BTAD areas.

In an e-mail statement, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa further alleged that Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah was an agent of RSS and was blaming ULFA to cover up his involvement in the blasts.

'Whether Sarmah is in Congress or AGP, he is in reality an RSS agent and to cover up his involvement is making misleading statements like ULFA and jihadi are the same,' he said.

Rajkhowa claimed the ULFA has enough evidence to prove RSS's involvement in the October 30 blasts in four towns of Assam, including Guwahati.

'A few months ago, the ULFA in its mouthpiece Freedom had mentioned about the secret directive sent by RSS to carry out blasts in different parts of the country but the state government took no steps in this direction,' he said.

Moreover, the recent blasts in different parts of the country and the subsequent arrests have also proved that RSS and BJP are involved in blasts in states ruled by non-BJP governments, Rajkhowa alleged.

He said that ULFA has never targeted indigenous Assamese population and has no links with jihadi or any other religious fundamentalist organisation.
This is just too much....ROFL!
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Re: Bomb blasts in assam

Post by Manu »

Link
Not just another NE bomb

Lookback: Syed Zarir Hussain

The Assam blasts of October 30 was not your regular north-east affair—it was the biggest ever terrorist strike in India

To stress the point that Saturday Special does view north-east terrorism with the same déjà vu as its peers, we present an analysis of the October 30 tragedy in Assam three weeks after what was easily the most powerful terrorist bomb blasts yet experienced in the country. Malladi Rama Rao, a distinguished observer of Indian affairs, asks the Assam government to own up to its responsibility behind the twin phenomenon of insurgency and infiltration if any resolution has to be found. Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, who researches region for a well known think tank, outlines the issues raised by the development.

An explosives expert of the elite National Security Guards (NSG) was simply flabbergasted as he stood with six of his colleagues at one of the sites of the October 30 blast in downtown Guwhati. "We have gone for investigations to many a blast site, but this one is surely the deadliest ever in the country", he remarked. He requested anonymity, but that was unnecessary. For, soon, every police official, minister, MLA, MP and esteemed terrorist expert was saying the same thing.

The seven-member NSG team donned their gloves and swung into action looking for clues to find out the nature of explosives used and other technical details. They were also keen to know how the devices were triggered, the modus operandi of the terrorists and the materials used.

"Such was the magnitude of the blasts that there were no visible remnants in the explosion sites. We have investigated blasts in New Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and other places and could immediately come up with our preliminary findings, but here we were simply collecting debris. Nothing was left due to the very high intensity of the blasts", the NSG detective said. Whereas in other parts of India, RDX was used in small measures, whoever planned the Assam blasts on October 30 went for big time -- RDX was used by the kilo.

According to preliminary findings, RDX and ammonium nitrate (a fertiliser) mixed with some plasticisers, was used. A Programmable Timed Explosive Device (PTED) triggered off the serial explosions – nine in a span of about 30 minutes all over the state. Three of the explosions took place in parking lots in Guwahati, three in crowded markets in Kokrajhar, two in Barpeta, and one in Bongaigaon in western Assam. "Probably about 35 kg of RDX was used in each of the three blasts in Guwahati," said Padmapani, director of the Forensic Science Laboratory in Guwahati.

Now the big question: who is behind the explosions? Was there a security lapse or intelligence failure? Authorities in Assam have come up with an official statement blaming the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for the wave of bombings in Assam in collaboration with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The ULFA was quick to deny any role. The NDFB too said it had no hand in it. Sriprakash Jaiswal, the union minister of state for home, admitted to a security lapse.

Jaiswal also revealed that Delhi was aware of the role of foreign agencies. Whether or not a local militant outfit was used as a carrier is under investigation. But the people of Assam, besides local police and intelligence agencies, would like to blame Islamist terror groups based in Bangladesh of masterminding the explosions.

"We have doubt in the investigations and the statement from the government about NDFB-ULFA hand in the blasts," said Atul Bora, a senior leader of Assam's main opposition party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), said. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was forced to seek a CBI probe into the blasts when opposition leaders put pressure on him at a meeting.

For more than one reason, it is plausible that October 30 was a project of Islamic terrorism. Last month, Army soldiers claimed to have killed seven Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (HuJI) terrorists in an encounter in western Dhubri district bordering Bangladesh. They were moving towards Guwahati through Dhubri where they were to meet with another group of HuJI terrorists that was already stationed in Guwahati and was planning strikes.

This information was collected by mobile interceptors. Various intelligence agencies are now claiming they had inputs about such a strike. Chief Minister Gogoi admitted: "We had reports but we did not anticipate such a deadly attack".

After October 30, the issue of Bangladeshi infiltration has been revived. The menace has now spread beyond the economic sphere. They now pose a serious threat to India's internal security. Infiltration continues unchecked despite promises over the past few decades regarding the fencing of the border and posting additional security all along the 272-km-long Assam-Bangladesh line. Says Samujjal Bhattacharyya, advisor to the influential All Asom Students' Union (AASU): " Jihadi forces are working along the border and unless there is an Army crackdown against religious fundamentalists, the situation would turn volatile,"

That there was a lack of coordination among intelligence and security agencies in Assam was evident when union home secretary Madhukar Gupta admitted to the need for a coordinated intelligence gathering mechanism in the region. nother issue is how the terror operators could plan and execute the strike with Assam under a unified command structure. "There is a need to have further synergy between all the security agencies”, a senior intelligence official said.

Police are still clueless about the actors behind the tragedy. A hitherto unknown group called the Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideed (ISF-IM) claimed responsibility and warned of more such attacks. "We, the ISF-IM take the responsibility for yesterday's blast. We warn all of Assam and India of situations like this in future. We thank all our holy members and partners. Ameen", read a text SMS sent to a local television channel in Guwahati. The police have confirmed the existence of a terror outfit by this name. They said a group by this name was floated in 2000 in western Assam, but nothing more was known.

A few arrests were made and the owners of the cars used in the bombings were being interrogated. But the authorities are still groping in the dark. The question making the rounds in intelligence circles is who is the bigger threat – ULFA or NDFB? Or, could it be that they have combined and are being controlled by a third group backed by the ISI? ULFA's Paresh Baruah and Arabinda Rajkhowa are both operating out of Bangladesh and could be in the grip of some third force. Even NDFB leader Ranjan Daimary is in Bangladesh.

If the NDFB and ULFA have indeed teamed up at the behest of a Jehadi group, then a hopeless future awaits the people of Assam. The state's security apparatus is definitely not competent to deal with such a combine.
Link
Unwilling to strike or wound

Malladi Rama Rao

Two weeks have passed since the horrific Assam blasts and the government has gone back to its apathetic policy on the north-east and its tormentor, Bangladesh

Following the October 30 blasts in which 83 people were killed and over 300 injured, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi announced he would set up a new state investigation agency along the lines of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). It is not clear how creating another bureaucratic structure would help when the state is already receiving all the inputs it needs to counter insurgency as well as the threat of ISI incursions through Bangladesh. Generating intelligence is not the problem – the Assam government has enough of it without having to burden the exchequer further.

The shortfall is with the will to act on the intelligence at its disposal. Will Mr Gogoi accept that it was his own Congress party that has contributed to changing Assam's demography? There were two waves of immigration into the state – one which was fuelled by attacks on the minorities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and the other of economically backward East Pakistani Muslims which was encouraged by wily politicians of Mr Gogoi's own party in search of loyal vote banks.

Bangladesh's present caretaker government turns a Nelson's eye towards the activities of anti-India organisations like Jama'at-e-Islami Bangladesh and its student's front, Islami Chhatra Shibir, which are the prime engines behind north-eastern insurgency. Also, while the caretaker government prevents the secular political parties form holding political meeting, it does nothing to stop the Jama'at from holding its waz mehfils (religious gatherings) where its political messages are formulated. Moreover, the regime has done little to unravel the Jama'at's links with Islamist terrorists. The need for this can hardly be over-emphasised when almost every militant leader in Bangladesh has been an alumnus either of it or the terrorist camps or both. It is now an open secret that the top leaders of the militant outfits of this region took shelter in Bangladesh and there is enough evidence of the present Bangladeshi government providing asylum to them to continue their subversive against India. Though it is true that Bangladesh itself is a victim of terrorism and is trying to counter it on its own, the Bangladeshi government cannot shy away from its responsibility to stop anti-India activities sponsored from its soil. In fact, there is a strong case for India being generous to its smaller neighbours in terms of aid and market access, and for not throwing its weight around

Unfortunately for Assam, by the time the gravity of the problem came to light in the mid-1970s, courtesy, a chief election commissioner, SL. Shakdar, illegal immigration became a political football. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

The United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, is today made to pay for the sin of befriending the Pakistan-Bangladesh combine in a fit of misplaced bravado. Many media reports have said that China is helping ULFA to set up bases in Northern Burma (Myanmar). Beijing has denied these reports; the denial is a mere formality, nobody takes it seriously.

It is well all over the north-eastern region that Maoist China has been the big brother of insurgency for the past 50 years. Whether it was Mizoram's Laldenga or Nagaland's Muviah or the Meithei rebels of Manipur, every one of them started on their long march to glorification only after a visit to Beijing. On their return, they had set up headquarters in cozy corners of Dhaka and operations units in the rugged hills of Chittagong. As a rule, these outfits have their operational headquarters in the Kachin territory (Northern Burma). This area adjoins Yunnan province of China. It makes possible the easy transfer of Chinese aid material and yet helps Beijing take is official stance of non-involvement. . Myanmar could have helped as Delhi has been going out of its way to humour the junta. But Yangon has slipped into Beijing's arms, in a manner of speaking, to the discomfort of South Block mandarins.

So, our officially patronised think- tanks in Delhi and Guwahati would do well to revisit their theories; like, for instance, " if they (ULFA) manages to set up bases in China or close to China, it would send a message that they can extend their base to as far as China". This is not to say that ULFA finds no urgency to be in the good books of China. Indeed, it is in a great hurry as it finds that the priorities of Islamabad and Dhaka have changed.

The October 30 blasts serve as an eye-opener to these realities. The immigration from Bangladesh is no longer economy-centric. It is a 'guided' immigration to achieve a goal in eastern India that was denied to the proponents of Pakistan in 1947. That unfinished agenda is sought to be achieved by facilitating a 'Greater Bangladesh' encompassing large tracts of Assam. Not in one day but by slowly and systematically bleeding India over the short to medium term, and cashing in on the pre-occupation of Indian leadership with vote bank politics in election seasons such as now.

For the moment, HUJI – Harkat-ul-Jihad –al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B)— is the chosen instrument. Promoted by Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF) in 1992, HuJI-B is an associate of the Lahore based Markaz –Dawa-al-Irshad (MDI) and its armed wing Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Naturally, therefore, it is the willing tool of the ISI and is enthusiastically implementing the Pakistan agency's new tactic of keeping its footprints in India well concealed and at the same time denying India a talking' point

The Begum Khalida Zia - led BNP government had patronised the outfit till it was proscribed three years back. The ban was lifted last month; HuJI became a registered and recognised party. The 'rehabilitation' of HuJI has coincided with the patch-up between Bangladesh and the Pakistan army leadership. Till a few days back, as James Crickton, a UK based analyst, notes, Bangladesh Army chief General Momen had put breaks on Islamic agenda of Islamabad, prompting the ISI to set up a TV channel through proxies to further the electoral fortunes of its local clients. The new avatar of HuJI signals continuity in the policies of Bangladesh, which are anti-India at the core, regardless of who is in the driver's seat in Dhaka.

India should review the situation from an open and unprejudiced perspective keeping in view the reality that Bangladesh never reciprocated to the amicable and constructive attitude of India to enhance bilateral ties. It is really an irony that on the one hand the present UPA government led by Congress is highlighting the Indo-US nuclear deal as a great success which will uplift India's status in the rest of the world, but on the other hand people of one of the parts of country, namely North East are suffering from identity crisis mainly because of wrong policy towards Bangladesh and policy of appeasement to a particular community for poll-politics. It will be better for the whole nation if the UPA government can rise above narrow political gain and review India's policy towards Bangladesh for the better interest of the nation.

The changed situation is not to the liking of the ULFA leadership which has made Dhaka its 'karma bhoomi'. Also, to the UK-based Ahom intellectual–lobbyists, who are calling for a course correction to 'Save Asom'.

Put differently, Asom's ethnic volcano is ready to explode. Will Delhi continue to refuse to acknowledge, much less act upon the signals?

-- The writer is editor of Asian Tribune and a frequent contributor to leading journals on security issues
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