DATELINE Guwahati/Wasbir Hussain
I’m sure even today, the ULFA hawks would like to regard themselves as ‘revolutionaries.’ The people of Assam are best placed to judge whether or not the ULFA is a ‘revolutionary’ outfit, but the question that arises is how long can a self-professed ‘revolutionary organization’ carry along on a denial mode. After the Nalbari twin blasts on November 22 that killed seven innocent, and obviously unarmed, civilians, the ULFA is on an overdrive to deny its hand in the attack. The group’s ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa, ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua and a dreaded field ‘commander’ Hira Sarania have all made it a point to deny having carried out the murderous raid. After all, those killed were all civilians from Nalbari, a district that had given the ULFA so much support in the past, and, perhaps to some extent even now!
One can’t help asking the question whether Paresh Barua & Co would have denied its hand in the blast had a few policemen or security personnel of other hues been killed in the explosion? The answer in that case is not difficult to predict. In any case, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has echoed what the security establishment in Assam has said: the Nalbari blasts were carried out by none other than the ULFA, out to avenge the arrest of its two top leaders, ‘foreign secretary’ Sasadhar Choudhury and ‘finance secretary’ Chitrabon Hazarika. In fact, senior Assam Police officials have said the ULFA wanted to target policemen by first setting off a small explosion and then a bigger one within less than 20 minutes, hoping that policemen from the police station close by will arrive to investigate the initial blast. That was not to be and the second blast ended up killing civilians, all people from Nalbari, the ULFA’s one-time stronghold.
Not many are surprised by the ULFA’s denial. But what has come as a surprise is that the ULFA has sought to pass off the attack as the handiwork of ‘forces’ out to thwart the chances of the group and the government entering into a peace process. What peace process is the ULFA talking about? Has it made up its mind that now is the time to start peace talks with New Delhi? If so, is it because the ULFA has seen the writing on the wall, that the people of Assam are disgusted with the bombings and other forms of mindless violence indulged in by the group? Or, is it because it is now weakened as never before and so wants to talk about peace to take the heat off its back? One should be prepared to ignore these questions if the ULFA is genuinely keen on starting the peace process with the Government of India. After all, a resolution of the ULFA issue can be best achieved through peaceful negotiations.
ULFA ‘chairman’ Rajkhowa has apparently telephoned a member of the People’s Consultative Group (PCG) — one thought the PGC had dissolved itself, frustrated at the lack of progress of its initial initiative — and has asked the PCG to be ready to take up a fresh initiative in the coming days. That is a good sign, but if the ULFA is hoping to step up violence in a bid to pressurize New Delhi to accept its terms for talks, the group would be sadly mistaken. The Nalbari blast is an act of desperation by its perpetrators rather than a show of strength. Something had to be done and it was done. The consequences are far too great for the perpetrators to handle. It is a tricky situation for the ULFA because New Delhi has made it very clear that the ULFA (or any militant group for that matter) must first surrender their weapons before any peace dialogue could start.
As I have written in this column in the past few weeks, the ULFA hawks (aside from having to tackle their internal crisis in view of the arrest of its top leaders and the crackdown by Bangladesh) are also aware of the fact that New Delhi has already begun exploratory dialogue with the pro-talk ULFA faction headed by Mrinal Hazarika, Jiten Dutta, Prabal Neog and others. So, Paresh Barua & Co must certainly have realized that if they do not come up with a right move at this juncture, the pro-talk ULFA faction might upstage the hawks and could even make them irrelevant in Assam’s insurgent politics. We have already seen that individuals and groups known to be close to the ULFA have already raised their voice for talks between the two sides, the ULFA and the Government. That would cut ice with New Delhi and taken seriously by the people of Assam only if the ULFA demonstrates its sincerity, stops violence and come forward for unconditional dialogue. Yes, the Government on its part can think of not pushing its ‘surrender your weapons first’ point and can rest at insisting on a truce to start with. THE SENTINEL
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