Politics / Northeast

NEW DELHI, Jan 1 - In yet another move towards building trust and confidence with Pakistan, India today said it is interested in making the existing open-ended ceasefire 'permanent' even as it urged SAARC countries to emulate Bhutan in flushing out insurgents from their soil, reports PTI. The ceasefire now in place was open-ended and not bound by any timeframe of one month, six weeks or two months, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters at Delhi Airport before emplaning a special IAF Boeing-737 aircraft for Islamabad for the SAARC summit.

"Therefore, India is interested in...

NEW DELHI, Dec 31 ? Reacting to outlawed ULFA?s clarion call for help, China has turned it down cautioning that it has alerted its Frontier Forces to check intrusion by the militants into the country. A spokesman of the Chinese embassy in its first-ever reaction to the ULFA?s appeal said that the peoples republic has taken note of the reports and it would closely monitor the situation. ?We are confident that Chinese frontier forces are capable of safeguarding the security and stability of our border areas,? the spokesman said. China has always followed the principle of non-interference in...

GUWAHATI, Dec 31 ? Though the process of handing over of the militants arrested by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) to India is still on, security agencies are of the view that several senior militants are still in the captivity of the RBA. Highly placed security sources said that the RBA has informed the Government of India about the arrest of several other top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) but they are yet to be handed over to India. According to information available with the security agencies, top leaders of the ULFA and...

New Delhi, Dec. 30: India wants its neighbours to follow the example of Bhutan?s operation against Northeast insurgents entrenched in its territory to show their commitment to ?good neighbourly? relations. Foreign secretary Shashank said the issue of Indian terrorists camping in neighbouring countries would be raised at the discussion of senior officials of the Saarc summit beginning in the Pakistani capital tomorrow.

In Guwahati, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi accused Bangladesh of playing a major role in the growth of insurgency in the Northeast, saying its reluctance to admit the presence...

GUWAHATI, Dec 30 ? Noted filmmaker Jahnu Barua, celebrated author Indira Gowami, prominent journalists Sanjoy Hazarika , Patricia Mukhim, Dileep Chandan and others have called on Bhutan and India to ensure transparency and respect the rights, especially of non-combatant women and children, in the ongoing military operations in Bhutan.

In a statement e-mailed to this newspaper they have urged that civil society groups and media be given access to the detainees. They also called on the armed groups to turn to dialogue and end their armed struggles in an effort to solve the problems of the...

NEW DELHI, Dec 29: 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, reports PTI. 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 told PTI.

During the meeting, which will be attended by top officials of...

SILIGURI, Dec 29: The crackdown on the militant camps by Bhutan Government had a serious impact on the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation(KLO), which in turn, will restrict the movement of the militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) through the North Bengal corridor.

However, the security agencies are not ruling out the possibility of retaliatory violence by the militant groups out of frustration in the North Bengal area as any major act of sabotage in the area can cut off the entire north-eastern region from the...

NEW DELHI, Dec 29: The Royal Government of Bhutan is still undecided about handing over the bodies of the militants who were killed in operations in the country. Highly placed sources said that they are still continuing with the operations, which are spread out in remote areas in districts spread all over the country. The issue of handing over the bodies of the slain militants is yet to be worked out, sources said. The Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) is also yet to come out with the death toll among the militants. Initial reports pouring in from the country suggest that at least 70 militants were...

Dec. 28: On the run in Bhutan, Indian militants have made a dramatic appeal to China to provide ?safe passage? and ?temporary shelter?. ?At this moment, they (the cadre) have no other option but to enter the territory of the People?s Republic of China extra-legally to save their lives, negotiating sub-zero temperature and starvation.? We would like to request you and your people to permit them safe passage to your territory and temporary shelter necessary for their survival,? said a joint appeal signed by Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.

The appeal was faxed to the ?Chairman of the People?s...

TEZPUR, Dec 28 ? The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Tezpur, HC Sharma today remanded the founder of ULFA and its political advisor Bhimkanta Buragohain (alias ?Mama?), along with three other ULFA leaders ? including self-styled major Robin Handique, Bolin Das alias Kamal Kachari and SS major Dr Amarjit Gogoi ? to five days? police custody. Talking to The Assam Tribune, counsels of the ULFA leaders, advocates Bijon Mahajan, Subhash Biswas, Bhaskar Dev Konwar, Nikabur Jaman and Raju Pradhan, informed that the ULFA leaders were produced before the residence of the Additional CJM this...