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...

SHILLONG, Aug 16 ? The proscribed A?chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), which recently signed a tripartite ceasefire agreement with the Centre and the State, is all set to usher in a fresh chapter in the violence-ridden history of the Garo Hills by giving up guns and working for development. Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh told reporters on the eve of Independence Day that the ANVC leadership would concentrate in the development of Garo Hills. ?As of now there is no demand from the ANVC for the Greater Garoland and what they want now is the improvement of Garo Hills,? Lyngdoh said adding the...

KOHIMA, Aug 16 ? Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has said his government would continue to work for withdrawal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from his state, claiming that peace prevailed in the state. His government would continue to pursue withdrawal of AFSPA from Nagaland, following extension of ceasefire agreement between the Centre and NSCN-IM, Rio said while addressing a gathering here on the occasion of Independence Day yesterday. The DAN government urged the Centre after a unanimous resolution by the state cabinet that the Disturbed Areas act should not be extended to...

GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) today admitted in an oblique manner, that the Dhemaji blast was its handiwork. In an e-mail statement issued by the self-styled chairman of the banned outfit, Arabinda Rajkhowa, today said that the schoolchildren of Dhemaji were used as shield by the Indian occupation force and its agents to defy the boycott call ?of a struggling organisation which has been engaging itself to uphold the popular interest despite military repression.? This act of the occupation force and its agents led to the tragic loss of so many students, said the...

GUWAHATI, Aug 16 ? Several organistations of the State including political parties as well as the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, have vehemently condemned the blast at Dhemaji by the proscribed ULFA on Independence Day that took the lives of 14 innocent people including women and children. The organisations include the APCC, CPI, BJP, TMPK and SFI, among others. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today described the Dhemaji incident as a dastardly act. While addressing a condolence meeting at the Janata Bhawan auditorium here, he said that the perpetrators of the act were, in fact, not for restoration...