Insurgency / Assam

Guwahati, June 9: Almost seven years after militants cut short Sanjoy Ghose’s pathbreaking work in Majuli, Assam police are set to launch a campaign to fill the vacuum created by the abduction and murder of the man who roused the islanders out of slumber and made them aware of their rights. “The social mobilisation campaign of Assam, to be launched shortly, aims to bring about a sea change in the lives of people of the world’s largest river island,” director-general of police P.V. Sumant said.

He described the mobilisation campaign as an effort to involve police personnel in the task of...

GUWAHATI, June 8 – Despite Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s tall claims of peace having returned to the State, kidnappings in Assam seem to be witnessing a rising trend since he took over on May 2001. The latest kidnapping of a senior Minister’s son in the State has come as a big blow to the Chief Minister’s claims. There are also indications that extortion by militants is rampant across the State. Security sources revealed here today that since the Congress came to power in 2001, the incidences of kidnappings have increased steadily over the years. Thus, 82 people were abducted in 2001. In 2002...

JORHAT, June 6 — Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that a special package for surrendered ULFA militants will soon be sanctioned by the Centre, reports PTI. “There are at present more than 7000 surrendered militants in the State and I am happy to announce that there will be a special rehabilitation package for them very soon,” Gogoi told reporters here. The Chief Minister said that during his recent visit to New Delhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had assured him that those who come forward to surrender will be rehabilitated.

“The Prime Minister had a very positive attitude to solve...

Guwahati/Nagaon, June 4: Pressure is mounting on the Assam government to secure the release of minister G.C. Langthasa’s youngest son Nirmalendu from Ulfa captivity before the impasse causes an ethnic divide. In a memorandum to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the apex community organisation of the Dimasas said the relationship between the people of the hills and the plains was as much at stake as Nirmalendu’s safety.

“The community desires that Nirmalendu should come back safe, unharmed and immediately. It is only recently that N.C. Hills returned to normality from months of ethnic violence, and...

Silchar, June 1: Mediators trying to secure the release of Assam minister G.C. Langthasa’s youngest son Nirmal from Ulfa custody have reached a dead end. A member of the Langthasa family said last night that the militant group was unwilling to set Nirmal, a businessman, free without taking full advantage of the situation.

He said Ulfa members based in Karbi Anglong, who had been negotiating with the mediators, became incommunicado after conveying the message that any decision on the topic would henceforth be taken only by the top leadership.

Driven to despair by the deadlock, the minister’s...

Jorhat, May 30: Minister of state for defence Bijoy Krishna Handique today said the Manmohan Singh government was not averse to peace talks with militant groups of Assam on foreign shores, provided there were no more strings attached. “When you look at the world as a global village, holding talks in another country should not be a problem,” he said during the first visit to his constituency, Jorhat, since being included in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

Handique said starting a dialogue with any militant group was more important than deciding where to talk.

“Why...

GUWAHATI, May 27 – The Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has pulled up the Army over the atrocities committed on innocent people including some office-bearers of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) in Nalbari district and deputed a team of the Commission headed by its SP (Investigation) for an on-the-spot report. The inquiry team will submit its report within a fortnight. It has also issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari, and called for a detailed report on the incident within two weeks. The Commission further forwarded the complain petition of the aggrieved people to the...

Kokrajhar, May 25: Given his fascination for “border” themes, filmmaker J.P. Datta may not need too much prodding to make a film on the travails of the residents of Darranga, a once thriving town on the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam. Since the Royal Bhutan Army’s offensive against militants, life has been unkind to several thousand families dependent on trade with the Bhutanese people for their livelihood.

Darranga is about 115 km from Nalbari town and part of the newly created Baska district, which is administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council. The population is a mix of Bodos, Nepalis...

May 24: Indian intelligence agencies and the army have begun exchanging information with their Myanmar counterparts in preparation for a full-fledged offensive against Northeast militants operating from that country. A senior official of the army’s 4 Corps, headquartered in the central Assam town of Tezpur, said information had been received about the number of militant camps in Myanmar, their locations and logistical details.

“We have pinpointed the locations of the camps of Northeast militants in that country with their help. They have given us a list of camps that the Chin National Army...

Nagaon, May 24: United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) will soon meet the new Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, with the charter of demands that the Karbi militant group placed before the NDA government two years back. The open platform of the political and non-political organisations of the twin hill districts of Assam, the Common Parliamentary Forum, will also send a team of delegates to New Delhi to press the new government to find a fruitful solution to the problem of insurgency.

UPDS publicity secretary Tong-eh-Nongloda today said in Diphu that a team of delegates, led by the senior...