NEW DELHI, Dec 28 ? Acting along expected lines, the Government of India has turned down ULFA?s conditional offer for negotiations, even as the suspension of flights between Bhutan and Bangladesh came into effect today. The outlawed ULFA?s offer for talks with a slight variation was not what New Delhi was expecting and it was promptly rejected. The Government of India is interested to hold dialogues with ULFA but without any pre-conditions, Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi had told newsmen on Friday here after deliberating on the issue with officials of Union Government.
Union Minister of State for Home, ID Swami talking to reporters after taking the salute on the occasion of the 64th Raising Day celebration of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said that there was no question of any compromise on the sovereignty and integrity of the country. Sources here said that Paresh Baruah?s reported offer for talks with the Government of India was more or less similar to its earlier conditional offer for talks. The only difference was that he has insisted on involvement of a neutral country in place of a United Nations observer.
The other two conditions including talks on the issue of sovereignty and negotiations in a third country remains the same, sources said, adding that there was nothing new in it for the Government of India to consider. Meanwhile, Bhutan and Bangladesh governments are heading for a diplomatic row with the Royal Government today suspending flight to and from Dhaka. The Royal Government fears that fleeing militants may use the flight to sneak out.
The Druk Air flight that operated via Dhaka earlier would now operate via Kolkata to Yangon and Bangkok and back the same route, the Royal Government announced. The action, however, is likely to put Bangladesh Government in an embarrassing position given that it is already under pressure to mount a crackdown on ULFA and NDFB leaders based in the country.
The agencies meanwhile, reported that buoyed by Bhutan?s operation against Indian insurgents, India will seek to build pressure on Bangladesh for a similar action against the North Eastern insurgents? camps on its soil by raising the matter at a high-level meeting here next week. A list of 180 camps operating in Bangladesh and 85 prominent insurgents based there will be handed over to Dhaka during the five-day Director General-level meeting of BSF and Bangladesh Rifles being held here from January 6, official sources said.
During the meeting, which will be attended by top officials of Ministries of Home and External Affairs, the Indian side will ask Bangladesh to shut down or destroy these camps and hand over the insurgents wanted for various crimes here, they said. The list mentions specific location of each camp and points out the groups running these. Bangladesh has been denying existence of any such camp in that country, insisting that it would not allow any anti-India activity on its soil.
Meanwhile, the Royal Bhutan Army?s operation to flush out the three Indian insurgent groups from Bhutan continued for 14th day today. The militants have been dislodged from all 30 camps and the camps burned and razed to the ground, according to a spokesman for the RBA. The Royal Government has formally confirmed that a large arsenal of weapons and sophisticated communication equipment were recovered. Over 500 AK 47/56 assault rifles and 328 other assorted weapons including rocket launchers and mortars, along with more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition, were found or confiscated. An anti-aircraft gun was also found at the site of the GHQ of the ULFA.
Meanwhile, three injured militants, who were initially treated by the RBA in the military hospital at Deothang, had been evacuated by helicopter for further treatment, the Royal Government has disclosed. According to RBA the ULFA had 14 camps including 10 in Samdrup Jongkhar district, three in Sarpang district, and one in lower Zhemgang. The NDFB had 11 camps: four in Sarpang and seven in Samdrup Jongkhar. The KLO had one camp in Samdrup Jongkhar, one in Kalikhola Dungkhag, and three in Samtse district.
Meanwhile, Bhutan Prime Minister, Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley said that the ULFA and the NDFB were extremely obstinate and uncompromising. ?They maintained that they could not leave until they had fulfilled the objective of achieving independence from India,? he said. ?In effect that meant their perpetual presence in Bhutan. The KLO, which also wants to carve an independent State from India, did not even make the effort to come for talks,? he was quoted as saying by Kuensel.
?Quite clearly, the presence of the separatist groups from India was not only harming the interests of Bhutan but those of our friend and neighbours, India. This is something that no Bhutanese is prepared to tolerate under any circumstances,? he said. Reacting to the crackdown, the Prime Minister said the Royal Government had made every effort to avoid taking military action. ?It was with deepest regret that I had to acknowledge the failure of the prolonged process to find a peaceful solution.? ?Giving the responsibility of removing the three Indian insurgent groups from Bhutanese soil to the Royal Bhutan Army was indeed painful. Yet, having exhausted all non-military options and endeavours over an extended period of six long years, the implementation of several successive decisions of the National Assembly to exercise the military option could no longer be averted,? he said.
Referring to the casualties on both sides, Thinley said termed it ?most regrettable?. ?It could have been avoided had reason and wisdom on the part of the insurgents met with the patience, tolerance and hope that the Bhutanese had shown and harboured.? The Prime Minister said he was deeply conscious that, as Indian nationals, the members of the insurgent outfits also had kith and kin among the innocent people in Assam and West Bengal. He added that special efforts had been made and taken care of to ensure that the women and children did not come to any harm and that they were well taken care of before being handed over to the civilian authorities in Assam. Wounded militants had also been given medical treatment, he assured.