RANGIA, Jan 24 ? The Army?s strategy of resource control, by choking the supply routes of the ULFA and the NDFB insurgents holed up in Bhutan, is paying rich dividends as the outfits? camps are being starved of essential commodities and medicine. The General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Tezpur-based 4 corps, Lt Gen Mohinder Singh, AVSM, said here today that it has led to the lowering of the morale of the ULFA and NDFB cadres.
Lt Gen Singh, who was speaking to newspersons after attending the ?rehabilitation ceremony? of 27 ULFA and NDFB cadres, said that things required to sustain the militants in Bhutan are not reaching them. The resultant hardships have hit the psyche of the cadres, he claimed. The ?Gajraj? Corps GOC said that the Army is nabbing the couriers and suppliers of the militant outfits and handing them over to the police for action. Some 60 such people have been caught over the past six months, he said. The militant groups are not using the trunk routes to get their supplies, he said.
Lt Gen Singh said that the proposed induction of the Special Services Bureau (SSB) along the Indo-Bhutan border will increase the troop density in the State, especially along the borders. The SSB will also come under the purview of the Unified Command, he said. The General said that the militant leadership is gradually understanding the futility of their mission. They are coming round to realising that negotiations are the only viable option to secure a better deal for the people they claim to be fighting for. He said that the time has come to initiate dialogue with the outfits.
Lt Gen Singh said that the Army is not aware of the Pakistani ISI directly targeting the North East as such, though the North East is being used as a transit area by the agency. He said that the ISI is trying to foment trouble in the region by encouraging Islamic militancy through neighbouring countries. He said that Islamic militants are trying to spread their tentacles in the region though it is at a very nascent stage as of now. The 4 Corps GOC said that there is no report, as yet, of the ULFA establishing links with the Maoist insurgents of Nepal. But he said insurgencies do not flourish on their own as the ?commonality of gun culture brings them together?.
Lt Gen Singh said that the Army will continue with its policy of trying to wean away people from the path of insurgency by encouraging insurgents to surrender. He said that the recent arrests of some top NDFB militants has given a setback to the outfit?s heirarchy. He hoped that the creation of the BTC will encourage further talks with outfits like the NDFB.
Of the 27 militants who surrendered formally today, 16 belonged to the ULFA while 11 are from the NDFB, including a woman. These people have given themselves up before the Army authorities in the recent past. Among these who were rehabilitated today were self-styled major Kamleswar Das, Maj Tarani Baishya, office secretary Biren Koch, Enigma Group member Prafulla Das and Paschim Mandal Parishad member Pradeep Kumar Roy of the ULFA. From the NDFB, there were SS Maj Putul Ramsiary, SS lance corporal Lohit Ishwari and woman-member Promila Ishwari.
Present during the ceremony were parents and other family members of the cadres, Padma Shri and freedom fighter RN Upadhyay, GOC of the 21 Mountain Division (Red Horns Division) Maj Gen Gaganjit Singh, AVSM, college students and teachers, civilians and army officials.
Speaking to newspersons during the ceremony, the rehabilitated militants recalled the difficulties they had to face in the camps where food and medicines were in short supply. They also expressed their wish to lead normal lives. The militants also surrendered before the Army three rifles, including an AK-56, some pistols and revolvers, grenades, gelatine sticks, IEDs and explosive material.