NEW DELHI, June 22 ? Outlawed ULFA and NDFB militants may face more heat from the Royal Government of Bhutan, with the 80th session of the National Assembly of the country all set to hold threadbare discussions on activities of the militant groups running bases in the country. That the militant outfits may be slapped with fresh ultimatums to quit the country is indicative from the series of high-level meetings being held by the Home Minister of the country. The most recent daylong high-level meeting was held on June 11 at Gedu. He had earlier held similar meetings at Deothang and Gelephu considered strongholds of both ULFA and NDFB militants. The security coordination committee for Chukha Dzongkhag meeting chaired by Home Minister, Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho drew up a 19-point resolution aimed at strengthening security measures to protect government infrastructure and service facilities. Twenty-one officials, representing the Royal Bhutan Army and Royal Bhutan Police, the Chukha Dzongkhag, and the Dungkhags of Kalikhla and Phuentsholing took part in the security coordination meeting.
Apart from pressures from India, the Royal Government has seen red over Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO) setting up bases in the country which are located close to Chuka hydel project and capital city of Thimphu, the seat of government?s power. The 80th session of the National Assembly that gets underway on June 25, meanwhile, would be dominated by discussions on national security. The illegal presence in Bhutan of the ULFA and Bodo militants and, more recently, the KLO in West Bengal continues to be viewed as the most serious challenge facing the Bhutanese population, it was officially stated. The broader discussions on security would also include the boundary talks and minor cross-border incursions in the north and north-east, it was further revealed.
The last time the National Assembly discussed the issue, the militants outfits including ULFA landed in serious trouble. The 79th session of the National Assembly had authorised the Royal Government of Bhutan to use force if required to evict the militants from their bases. Following the resolution by the Assembly, ULFA was given the deadline till December 31 last year to dismantle their camps and leave the country. The outfit partially complied by dismantling at least nine of their camps in North Bhutan, which some argue was just cosmetic in nature.
Reports with intelligence agencies suggest that ULFA has not decreased its presence in the country. The outfit?s chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, on the other hand, has reportedly shifted to the Himalayan Kingdom from his base in Chittagong Hills apparently to supervise the activities of the militants, puzzling agencies here. The Gedu meeting widely reported in the Bhutanese media was specifically called to discuss the emergence of KLO in the scene. Their presence was reportedly detected recently in the vicinity of the Dzongkhag. Although it was a small force, the KLO?s proximity to Chukha, and even to Thimphu, was a reason for concern and called for appropriate responses, the Bhutanese Home Minister was quoted as having said.