SHILLONG, April 22 — The idea of flushing out the northeast militant organizations—United Liberation Front of Asson (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO) —from the soils of Bhutan through the joint army action by India and Bhutan has gradually faded away, reports North East Press Service. Although Bhutan Government had already appreciated the idea of joint military action to flush out the northeast militant organizations from its soil, the Government (Bhutan) had reportedly signaled the would-be consequences if such military action was launched against the militants outfits.
The Bhutan Government fears that those innocent Bhutanese people living parts of North Bengal and Assam may have to bear the brunt as a result of Army's action against the militants. It said any offensive against the ULFA and NDFB would lead to their mass exodus from the Kingdom to parts of North Bengal and Assam which may lead to insecurity to the Bhutanese people living in these areas. The Himalayan Kingdom’s main apprehension is that once those militants are driven out of its soil, they would naturally target Bhutanese people inhabited in north Bengal and Assam. However, the Bhutan Government has not backed out of a joint army action but they felt apprehensive of the retaliation of the militants once they are driven out of its soil, a top level intelligence official told to North East Press Service.
Bhutan King, Wangchuk is said to have already indicated his desire to have a tripartite discussion between the Indian Government, Assam government and the Government of Bhutan for ensuring that innocent Bhutanese people are not targeted once the militants are driven out of the Kingdom. It further said the Himalayan Kingdom would not be against to the idea of joint army action but wanted assurance from the Government of India for appropriate security for the innocent Bhutanese people living in India before launching such action.
According to reports, the Bhutan Government is planning to meet the leaderships of the outfits in an last ditch attempt to convince them (outfit) to leave the Kingdom. The Bhutan Government wanted to share with the militant leadership about the possible military action against them if the latter fails to comply with its request. The Bhutan Government would perhaps agree to the idea of joint military action if their attempt to convince the militant leaderships fails, the sources stated. Sources from across the border said that the meeting with the insurgents is likely to take place by the end of coming June. Bhutan had recently issued a deadline to the insurgents to leave the country by June 30 or face action for being flushed out.
However, the final decision to exert pressure on the militants will be taken by the Bhutanese National Assembly which is scheduled to meet by the end of June. It may be mentioned that the Government of India has been requesting Bhutan for the past many years to take necessary steps to flush out militants taking shelter in the Dragon Kingdom. However, Bhutan has always been rather soft on the militants and till date nothing concrete has been done to solve the crisis.