6 Harkat-ul-Mujahideen ultras surrender in city

GUWAHATI, March 10: For the first time in the entire country, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants have come overground in a public function. Six Pakistan-trained Harkat-ul-Mujahideen ultras who hail from the State, bade farewell to arms before the Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, at an official ceremony held at the Circuit House here this morning. The militants also deposited one AK-56 assault rifle, one AK-47 assault rifle, one pistol and a .303 rifle while surrendering in the function which was attended by three Cabinet colleagues of Mahanta, the Chief Secretary and the entire top brass of the State police including the Director General, HK Deka. The surrendered militants were : Tajrul Islam, Sahabur Ali, Saukat Ali, Salahuddin Ahmed and Allauddin, all from Dhubri district while sixth one, Moinul Haque hails from Goalpara district. All of them were recruited very young by agents of Pakistani-backed Harkat-ul-Nujahideen and given training at a camp in Batrassi inside Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan. After they were lured into their fold, the agents of Harkat arranged for the militants' smooth journey to Batrassi training camp via Dhaka, Karachi and Islamabad. Before that they had to cross over to Bangladesh through the porous Indo-Bangla border in Dhubri district. The Director General of the State Police informed that from Dhaka to Islamabad, all of them were taken on border aeroplane. The State police chief further informed that as many as 30 young boys from the State had joined the Pakistan-based militant outfit and that many hardcore ULFA cadres had also undergone training in Batrassi camp run by Pakistan agencies. Addressing the surrender function, Sahabur Ali informed that he had joined Harkat when he was a 12th standard student who was preparing to sit for Higher Secondary examination. He was contacted by a man called 'Akram' who brainwashed him to join the Muslim militant outfit so that he could contribute towards the 'jehad' to safeguard the religious minority community from 'exploitation' in the country as well as in the State. He added, 'However, later I realised that the gun will not lead to solution of our problem which could be resolved through only peaceful means. So, we decided to leave the path of violence and bloodshed. Now we hope, the people in the State and the authority will help us to settle down in the normal life.' Welcoming the militants back to the 'mainstream', the Chief Minister, Mahanta hailed the efforts of their guardians in convincing their sons to leave the path of violence. He said guardians of the angry youngmen who had taken up arms, could do a lot to bring back their sons and daughters back from the clutch of militant organisations.