GUWAHATI, Aug 19 ? The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has turned into a group of mercenaries carrying out heinous crimes at the behest of foreign agencies inimical to India, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. However, Gogoi refrained from naming the foreign agency at whose behest the ULFA was allegedly working. Addressing a Press Conference at the Janata Bhawan here today, the Chief Minister strongly criticised the ULFA for the dastardly killing of women and children in Dhemaji on the Independence Day and said that such actions thoroughly exposed the insurgent outfit. Astonishingly, the ULFA even went to the extend of admitting its involvement in such a heinous crime, he pointed out.
Gogoi expressed the view that the ULFA does not want peace and development in Assam and as the outfit is losing public support, it resorted to attacking soft targets to create disturbance in Assam. The outfits like the ULFA strive on chaos and that is why the outfit started attacking soft targets to create chaos in Assam, he pointed out. He also said that the actions of the ULFA were against the traditions and culture of Assam.
The Chief Minister said that after being flushed out from Bhutan, the ULFA shifted its camps in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Myanmar and even in the neighbouring States of Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. ?We cannot say that the Governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar are helping the ultras but it is a fact that the ULFA has camps in those countries,? he added.
Gogoi said that the cease-fire with the NSCN (I-M) is also creating problems for Assam. He revealed that the Government has definite information of the Naga outfit providing shelter to the ULFA and said that he has already taken up the matter with the Union Home Minister. He expressed the view that the Government of India should immediately restrain the NSCN from creating disturbance in Assam.
Replying to a question on media reports that the Government had prior information of possibility of attacks by the ULFA during the Independence Day celebrations, the Chief Minister said that though there were some intelligence reports of possibility of attacks on the offices of the Congress, AGP etc, there was no pinpointed information about possibility of attacks on parade ground. He pointed out that earlier, the ULFA never resorted to killings of innocent women and children. He also pointed out that most of the attacks took place in the areas near the international and inter-state boundaries. He assured that the Government would take strong action against anyone found to be neglecting his duties and pointed out that two police officers have already been suspended and a thorough probe into the incident has already been ordered. He also disclosed that a week before the Independence Day, he had instructed the Director General of Police and the Home Commissioner to chalk out district-wise strategy plan to deal with the militants. He stressed the need for improved coordination between all the security agencies involved in counter-insurgency operations.
The Chief Minister thanked the people of the State for their spontaneous opposition to the killing of innocent women and children. He said that though the Government has a major role to play for containing insurgency, the people can play a big role in tackling militancy by building public opinion. He also admitted that the State needs more police stations and outposts to deal with the situation.
Replying to a question on reports appearing in a section of the Press about reported links between the ULFA and a State Minister, Gogoi said that the Government has no information in this regard. ?We cannot allow anyone to maintain links with the insurgents,? he asserted.
Referring to the AGP?s demand for his resignation, Gogoi said, ?the AGP wants power at any cost. They will have a chance in the next elections. I am not after power and can step down in five minutes if the people of Assam want me to do so but the people reposed faith in me in the last general elections also.? Replying to a question on whether the movement for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Manipur would spill over to Assam, Gogoi said that the misuse of the Act should be stopped and the State Government has been taking all possible steps in this regard.
Earlier, the Chief Minister held a meeting with the editors of the local newspapers to discuss the current situation. An official release said that speaking at the meeting, Gogoi said that the ULFA?s mindless and dastardly killing of innocent women and children proved the outfit?s desperate bid to prove its existence. The outfit has totally lost its base and isolated from the society, he said.
Gogoi urged upon the media to continue its tirade against the mindless killings of the ULFA. He announced that the Government has still kept its doors open for talks , but at the same time, he made it clear that no violence would be tolerated.
The Editors also strongly denounced the killing of innocent people and asked the Government to gear up the law and order machinery to thwart the sinister designs of the militants. They suggested that the Government should procure sophisticated machinery to detect the IEDs planted by the extremists.