NEW DELHI, Aug 17 ? Shocked at the killing of women and children in Assam, the Union Government was asked to prevail upon Bangladesh to end the free run enjoyed by the outlawed ULFA in the country. The Members in both the Houses of the Parliament expressed deep distress at the series of bomb blasts that rocked the State on Independence Day in Assam, even as the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, today issued a veiled warning to Bangladesh saying that supporting terrorism was a doubled edged sword which could hurt it as well. The Home Minister tabled a statement in both the Houses of Parliament on the incident.
The northern command of ULFA has been decimated on account of the cooperation of the Royal Government of Bhutan, but it is well established fact that the southern command of ULFA is active and flourishing in Bangladesh, said the Opposition leader, Jaswant Singh, in the Rajya Sabha. The Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha further praised the King of Bhutan for initiating the action on the rebels in Bhutan describing it as an act of statemenship. Take this situation seriously as the ULFA is rearing its head again and it could be a great source of trouble. Assam constitutes an anchor to whole of Nort East, the Opposition leader said. The BJP leader was joined by CPI-M member Motilal Sarkar, who said that time and again the Union Government has been told of the camps run by the insurgents in Bangladesh.
In response, the Union Home Minister said that India was grateful to the King of Bhutan for having assisted in taking actions against the underground outfits. ?We expect the same kind of action from other neighbours,? he said, without naming Bangladesh.
?We have to see in south Asia that terrorism does not take roots. It is a double edged sword, those who are affected suffers but those who are harbouring them also suffers,? he said. Earlier, Singh criticised the manner of handling of insurgency by the Union Government describing it as ?traffic light response. I have seen what has happened in case of Assam for years.? Earlier, several members condoled the deaths of 13 persons in Assam describing the act of ULFA as most barbaric. In the Lok Sabha, members belonging to BJP and AGP demanded a discussion on the incident. The AGP MPs demanded a judicial inquiry in to the incident of bomb blast. The Union Home Minister in his statement recounted the incident, assuring that the Government of India shall provide all the assistance required by the State Government to counter the acts of violence and insurgency perpetrated by the militants.
Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha, the Union Home Minister said that the Government of India has no reports regarding links of al-Qaeda with insurgent groups of the North East. However, available reports indicate that the ISI is providing assistance to some of the Indian insurgent groups.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Manik Rao Gavit, has ruled out peace bonus for Assam on the ground that the State continues to be affected by insurgency. The law-and-order situation in Assam remains vitiated due to violent activities of ULFA, NDFB and UPDS, he said in reply to a question by Anwar Hussain. However, he added that Assam was the largest recipient of financial assistance under the Reimbursement of Security Related Expenditures.