Pakistan, Bangladesh Involved in North East Terrorism: Stratfor

[akzaman]

India rebels 'making **** films'

By Subir Bhaumik BBC News, Calcutta

Rebels in India's north-eastern state of Tripura are making pornographic films to raise money for their separatist campaign, officials say. The information has come from surrendered guerrillas of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), according to police. They say the rebels are forcing captured tribal women, and some men, to take part in the films. The films are then dubbed to be sold in India and neighbouring countries.

Remote areas

The former guerrillas of the NLFT have told police their leaders not only sexually abused scores of tribal girls recruited into the rebel army but also used them - and some male guerrillas - to produce scores of **** films, officials say. "The films were found to be dubbed in Burmese, Bengali, Thai and Hindi, suggesting they were being marketed to many countries in the region," said Ghanshyam Murari Srivastava, Tripura's police chief. He said police have recovered scores of pornographic DVDs featuring young women and men from various parts of the state, including remote areas such as Amarpur and Gandacherra. Such pornographic DVDs have also been recovered from NLFT bases inside Bangladesh after they were raided by the Bangladesh army, the police chief said.

'Sleek product'

Discreet inquiries with video production houses in Tripura confirmed what the surrendered rebels are reported to have said. "We do get orders to process raw **** shot in remote tribal areas from time to time," the owner of a video
production company in the state's capital Agartala told the BBC. He did not want to be named. "We get a lot more money , much above our normal rates, to process these films and deliver a sleek final product.

"We know the insurgents are behind these films. When we process their raw stock, we can see boys standing around with automatic rifles and revolvers pulling in girls but we are supposed to cut all that out and just concentrate on the sex," the owner said. "It is very good money and we don't think it is right to question the insurgents anyway," he said. The latest pornographic video that has become sought after by young men in Tripura is Hamjagoi Tongthoklaima (Our Experiences in the Tripuri language). Like a feature film, it runs a full cast of "heroes" and "heroines".

Initially it appears to be a love film with boys and girls holding hands and walking past lakes and trees. But soon the video starts featuring close-up shots of the actors undressing and sex. Since Tripura's tribal young men and women have standard Mongoloid features, such pornographic films can pass off as being made anywhere in south-east Asia.

'Actress fled'

Surrendered NLFT rebels say their leaders have always abused tribal women , both in the villages and also those recruited into the rebel army. A study by two researchers, Meenakshi Sen Bandopadhyay and Jayanta Bhattacharya, documented in detail sexual abuses perpetrated by the NLFT. "The NLFT rebels did not allow a tribal girl in North Tripura to get married because they wanted to enjoy her by turns. Her parents were helpless because they lived in a tea garden in a remote area," the study says.

One surrendered NLFT guerrilla Mohan Reang said: "One tribal actress Anita Reang who played the heroine in some local films had to flee her village because a top NLFT leader wanted to whisk her away." But while forcing tribal women to have sex with them at gunpoint or carrying them away to the rebel camps is not new, using them to produce pornography certainly is. "This seems to have started a year or two back," says local journalist Manas Paul who began legal proceedings to bring this to the notice of the authorities. "But it is now rampant, so many of these discs are circulating all over our state and possibly in other parts of northeast India as well," he said.

But in some other northeast Indian states like Manipur, the rebels punish those who produce pornography. In the state of Manipur, some girls who acted in **** films were shot in the legs, as were the producers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4190570.stm

 

[con]

India rebels 'making **** films'

By Subir Bhaumik BBC News, Calcutta

Rebels in India's north-eastern state of Tripura are making pornographic films to raise money for their separatist campaign, officials say. The information has come from surrendered guerrillas of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), according to police. They say the rebels are forcing captured tribal women, and some men, to take part in the films. The films are then dubbed to be sold in India and neighbouring countries.

Remote areas

The former guerrillas of the NLFT have told police their leaders not only sexually abused scores of tribal girls recruited into the rebel army but also used them - and some male guerrillas - to produce scores of **** films, officials say. "The films were found to be dubbed in Burmese, Bengali, Thai and Hindi, suggesting they were being marketed to many countries in the region," said Ghanshyam Murari Srivastava, Tripura's police chief. He said police have recovered scores of pornographic DVDs featuring young women and men from various parts of the state, including remote areas such as Amarpur and Gandacherra. Such pornographic DVDs have also been recovered from NLFT bases inside Bangladesh after they were raided by the Bangladesh army, the police chief said.

'Sleek product'

Discreet inquiries with video production houses in Tripura confirmed what the surrendered rebels are reported to have said. "We do get orders to process raw **** shot in remote tribal areas from time to time," the owner of a video
production company in the state's capital Agartala told the BBC. He did not want to be named. "We get a lot more money , much above our normal rates, to process these films and deliver a sleek final product.

"We know the insurgents are behind these films. When we process their raw stock, we can see boys standing around with automatic rifles and revolvers pulling in girls but we are supposed to cut all that out and just concentrate on the sex," the owner said. "It is very good money and we don't think it is right to question the insurgents anyway," he said. The latest pornographic video that has become sought after by young men in Tripura is Hamjagoi Tongthoklaima (Our Experiences in the Tripuri language). Like a feature film, it runs a full cast of "heroes" and "heroines".

Initially it appears to be a love film with boys and girls holding hands and walking past lakes and trees. But soon the video starts featuring close-up shots of the actors undressing and sex. Since Tripura's tribal young men and women have standard Mongoloid features, such pornographic films can pass off as being made anywhere in south-east Asia.

'Actress fled'

Surrendered NLFT rebels say their leaders have always abused tribal women , both in the villages and also those recruited into the rebel army. A study by two researchers, Meenakshi Sen Bandopadhyay and Jayanta Bhattacharya, documented in detail sexual abuses perpetrated by the NLFT. "The NLFT rebels did not allow a tribal girl in North Tripura to get married because they wanted to enjoy her by turns. Her parents were helpless because they lived in a tea garden in a remote area," the study says.

One surrendered NLFT guerrilla Mohan Reang said: "One tribal actress Anita Reang who played the heroine in some local films had to flee her village because a top NLFT leader wanted to whisk her away." But while forcing tribal women to have sex with them at gunpoint or carrying them away to the rebel camps is not new, using them to produce pornography certainly is. "This seems to have started a year or two back," says local journalist Manas Paul who began legal proceedings to bring this to the notice of the authorities. "But it is now rampant, so many of these discs are circulating all over our state and possibly in other parts of northeast India as well," he said.

But in some other northeast Indian states like Manipur, the rebels punish those who produce pornography. In the state of Manipur, some girls who acted in **** films were shot in the legs, as were the producers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4190570.stm

Aah... Now I say boys have another source for **** in India other than usual CD rental shops

 

[akzaman]

Condoms for troops battling N-E rebels

SHILLONG: Defence authorities have asked soldiers battling violent separatist insurgencies in India's troubled northeast to carry condoms to prevent contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"We have instructed our men to carry stocks of condoms to prevent contracting HIV-AIDS while working in vulnerable areas," Vice Admiral V.K. Singh, director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services, told soldiers at an army cantonment in the Meghalaya state capital Shillong on Tuesday.

An estimated 100,000 army and paramilitary troopers are deployed in the rugged jungles of the northeast against some 30 guerrilla groups waging insurgencies for independent homelands or greater autonomy.

The directive to carry condoms comes after army and paramilitary authorities in the northeast confirmed that scores of soldiers deployed in the region were struck by HIV, with promiscuous sex being the main reason for contracting the deadly virus.

The paramilitary Assam Rifles was the first to officially acknowledge the presence of a large number of soldiers afflicted with HIV-AIDS, although other army and paramilitary units in the northeast are yet to come up with a formal assessment.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1215228.cms

 

[akzaman]

Assam Rifles top in AIDS/HIV

Assam Rifles jawans top in the list to have endured with AIDS/ HIV while among the three defence forces Army jawans rank highest to have contacted with this dreaded diseases, said Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGFAMS), V.K.Singh.

"The Assam Rifles rank highest mainly because most of the troops were continuously based in the vulnerable international border of this region," pointed out the DGFAMS while informing that the diseases has come in the three armed forces to 20 per cent less than the national average of nine per cent.

But senior armed forces and paramilitary officers got a breather when Country Representative United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS), Dr. Denis Broun eulogized the Indian Armed Forces for the lower prevalence rate ( 0.062 per cent/ 1000) in the armed forces than among the general population, contrary to most counties in the developed world.

"UNAIDS has the greatest respect for the Indian Armed Forces for the quality of prevent, control, care and support and we wished the that the Indian Army's policy and action be documented to serve as best practice for other armies in the world.

Assam Rifles Chief, Lieutenant General Bhopinder Singh revealed that 141 of his jawans have been tested AIDS/HIV positive and presently are undergoing medical treatment while 32 others has died.

Highlighting that the international border in the region is prone to AIDS/HIV, Singh, also a Surgeon Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy said Assam Rifles personnel have contacted the diseases may be due to "Intravenous Drugs Users or social behaviors (sex workers)." He said that every Indian Armed Forces personnel when deployed to any vulnerable place are provided with a condom to ensure that he is not affected from any diseases.

"Now we are not only going to tackle militancy but we are also going to fight against these dreaded diseases in this region," he said adding that aggressive programmes would be organized in every nook and corner of the region to expose the insinuations of this killer disease.

As a start to tackle these two diseases, the DGFAMS inaugurated a fifty bed Immunodeficiency Centre for North East at Military Hospital to help in diagnosis, treatment and rendering supportive measures to the troops deployed in the region.

Another two-Centre of the same kind would be set up in Dimapur and at Sukhovi village in Nagaland. "We are ready to cater the civilians with conditions that the states government are ready to cooperate with us in our discipline manners," Singh added.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya Governor M.M.Jacob on Tuesday inaugurated a four-day international AIDS/HIV workshop for peer group leaders of the armed forces at Rhino Hall.

http://northeasttribune.com/4805.htm

 

[Neo]

Does ISI have a new anti-India operation?

Sunday, 27 May , 2007

A former Indian army officer has claimed that Pakistan's ISI has launched a 'new' anti-India operation through Bangladesh, while Chinese support to insurgency in the Northeast has 'not fully dried up'.

"The Chinese stopped supporting insurgency in the Northeast in 1979. But intelligence reports indicate that the Chinese support has not fully dried up," retired Brig Dr S P Sinha, who was commissioned in the 9 Gorkha Rifles and served the region for decades, said in a recent book.

Regarding Pakistan's role, he said Bangladesh was being developed as a new base for its 'anti-India operations' and Pakistan has reportedly 'shifted almost 200 terrorist training camps from Pak-occupied Kashmir to Bangladesh'.

The book Lost Opportunities: 50 years of Insurgency in the Northeast and India's Response, brought out by Lancer Publishers, deals with insurgency -- ranging from Manipur and Nagaland to Assam and covers all states of the region, including the present peace processes.

Painting a grim picture on the Naga issue, Sinha said 'the ongoing peace process is already faltering' on the issue of creation of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim.

'The army has been warning that the Naga rebels are using the ceasefire for consolidating their position. In many parts of Nagaland and Manipur, the insurgents run a parallel government and have levied household taxes', besides even advertising in newspapers for recruitment in the underground government.

'The government will do well to prepare to cope with such a situation, if the talks fail', the former army officer warned.

Maintaining that narco-terrorism was the greatest threat to security in the region, Sinha said the Northeast has emerged as a major transit route for drug trade and gun-running.

Observing that an indicator of the scale of narco-trade was the high incidence of drug abuse in Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya, he said most of the drug trade was routed through Moreh in Manipur.

'The Naga-Kuki clashes are direct consequence of insurgent groups trying to control the road from Moreh to Imphal to facilitate the illegal trade. The demand for funds will fuel illegal trade in narcotics in a big way in future', the former army officer said, adding that no insurgent group could sustain itself without regular flow of funds.

Observing that the Northeast was 'profoundly affected' by the events and trends in the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh, he said the juxtaposition of illegal Bangladeshi immigration, now consisting mainly of Muslims, and the rising religious militancy has 'frightening consequences for India'.

He said the continuance of infiltration would create social tension and conflict on a much larger scale than experienced before.

Referring to problems faced in fencing the Indo-Bangla border, Sinha said in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura while the distance between two border posts was 7-9 kms, there were a number of villages located right on the border and some even beyond the fence. This keeps the area wide open for villagers and even infiltrators to pass through.

The book by Brig Sinha also critically examines the government's responses and counter-insurgency strategies -- from finding a military solution to winning the hearts and minds of the people.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14459200

 

[akzaman]

Manipur’s gathering storm

Anil Bhat

WITH no respite from different Meitei insurgent groups indulging in extortion, abduction and murder despite the detention of about 300 of them under the National Security Act over the last two yeas, the Manipur government found it necessary to seek the Army’s help. A brigade was deployed in April-May 2004 and it launched its first operation in October in Sajik Tampak (Chandel district), which insurgent groups claim as a “liberated zone”. Forty insurgents were killed in the operation conducted in cooperation with the Assam Rifles and police. Some were captured, some crossed over to Myanmar and some fled to Churachandpur and Tamenglong districts, shattering the peace there. The Chandel deputy commisioner, who had been operating from Imphal for years, was finally able to function from district headquarters and toured some areas, including Sajik Tampak.

After the killing of Manorama Devi in July 2004 while in the custody of the Assam Rifles, a campaign was launched for withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and removal of the Assam Rifles from Kangla. The later was evacuated and the Ibobi government withdrew the Act from the Imphal municipal areas,

When the Army launched operations in Churachandpur district where the United National Liberation Front had laid landmines in 2005, the militants fled to another part of Chandel district, where Kukis alleged they started harassing them, this time reportedly with the assistance of the Myanmarese army.

The landmines issue is disturbing: where do these come from and how many? The mines, which are of Chinese make, could have been handed over to the UNLF through Pakistan’s Bangladesh-based Inter Services Intelligence or from Myanmar’s Peace and Development Council with which the UNLF has established a rapport. If the LTTE in Sri Lanka is causing jitters because of its having acquired and using aircraft, then landmines in the hands of militants in Manipur should cause alarm requiring immediate action. Landmines are far more dangerous than conventional small arms and no country should allow militants to acquire these. In fact, it is time sophisticated surveillance equipment, as is used in Jammu and Kashmir, is deployed in Manipur too.

Meanwhile, the Kukiforum website has reported that those of its refugees who were allegedly abducted to Lallim in Myanmar on 13 March have returned to Moreh, thanks to efforts made by the Kuki Movement for Human Rights, Kuki Students’ Organisation, the Hill Tribal Council and other officials. Manipur cabinet minister Phungjathang Tonsing visited Moreh on 5 May to see the conditions of the returnees sheltered at a camp. Numbering about 600, they need to be taken care of and persuaded to return to their villages after the landmines are cleared. They must also be assured of jhum chultivation, which they missed.

The Kukis are generally peaceful and fun-loving. For ages they had lived in peace with the Meiteis. They are not known to have taken to armed militancy except maybe for self-defence during their feud with the Nagas in the early 1990s. But if the conditions do not improve there is every likelihood of their taking up arms in the event of which it might snowball into a communal Meitei/Hindu-Christian conflict. The Centre and the state govenment can ill afford to ignore this.

(The author, a security analyst, is chief editor, WordSword Features & Media.)
http://thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=157552

 

[akzaman]

Persecution of Assam's Hindi speakers

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Guwahati, Assam

Hindi-speaking migrants have started fleeing India's north-eastern state of Assam again after a week of massacres and bomb attacks left nine dead and more than 20 injured.

Separatists of the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) were blamed for the nearly 10 explosions in the third week of May, when attacks on migrants resumed in the northern districts of Dibrugarh and Sibsagar after a lull of three months.

Then followed a spate of bombings stretching from the far northern district of Tinsukia to the western district of Bongaigaon. "I am going back to Bihar with my family," says Ram Khilavan, hit by shrapnel in a bomb attack in Guwahati's busy Fancy Bazaar.

The exodus was beginning to abate but has picked up again after the recent violence "Life is more important than livelihood," he said. "If I don't get work in Bihar, maybe I will go to Delhi or Punjab," said Mr Khilavan, as he waits for a train in the railway station in the state capital, Guwahati.

The North-East Hindi-speakers Forum (Purbottar Hindustani Sammelan) says the exodus of Hindi-speakers has picked up again after the attacks in May. "At least 100,000 Hindi-speaking migrants have fled the state so far since the massive attacks in January. "The exodus was beginning to abate but has picked up again after the recent violence," says the forum's secretary, SP Rai.

'Shortage of force'
The Assam government says the claim is exaggerated, but admits that thousands of Hindi-speaking migrants have left the state since January, when Ulfa attacks started in the northern districts. But Ravi Shankar Ravi, editor of Guwahati's leading Hindi daily "Dainik Purvoday", says those who have fled are mostly seasonal labourers.

"I am not aware of long-settled migrants leaving Assam even after the violence. For them, this is their home, they have adopted the Assamese way of life. Those who have fled are seasonal labourers," said Mr Ravi.

There has been a spate of bombings recently Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi blamed his government's failure to prevent the attacks on "an acute shortage of force". He said an additional 4,000 paramilitary troops had been sought to guard Hindi-speaking migrants where they were concentrated in greatest numbers.

"Otherwise we have to take away troops from proactive, offensive operations against Ulfa. But this is exactly what Ulfa wants when they attack the soft targets," the chief minister said.

Assam police chief RN Mathur said Ulfa had suffered heavy reverses in recent weeks - more than 50 rebels have been killed or captured, including some top leaders of the group's military wing. "That is why they have started attacking the Hindi-speaking migrants again," said Mr Mathur.

The largest exodus has been reported from the districts of Upper Assam - Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar and Golaghat - where Ulfa militants killed nearly 80 Hindi-speaking migrants in January. The recent killings also took place in these districts. But it is the bomb attacks that have created most fear and public anger.

When a bomb exploded in Guwahati's Fancy Bazaar on 18 May, angry Hindi-speaking migrants pelted the police with stones and shouted slogans against the Assam government. The police used canes and tear gas to break up the protests.

'Blood and bombs'
"We are tense whenever we send our children to school or walk out for shopping. The bombs can go off any time," said Sunita Agarwal, a housewife at Fancy Bazaar, which has been bombed three times in recent months.

But the random bombings of locations like Fancy Bazaar have also upset the Assamese for other reasons. "If the Hindi-speaking migrants leave, the shortage of labour will be filled by the illegal migrants from Bangladesh. We cannot allow that to happen," says Sammujal Bhattacharya, chief adviser to the powerful All-Assam Students Union (AASU) that ran a campaign against illegal migrants in the 1980s.

Assamese school teacher Smita Mishra says the shopkeepers in Fancy Bazaar may be Hindi-speaking people, but the customers are mostly Assamese. "The explosions can hit us any time. If the Ulfa has guts, let them take on the Indian army and attack corrupt politicians rather than poor labourers," she says, as she listens to a song by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala which talks of Assam as a land of love and laughter.

"Now it is a land of blood and bombs," said the angry school teacher, reminding the present generation of the huge contribution to Assam's culture and literature by the likes of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala who hailed from a Hindi-speaking family.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6683767.stm

 

[akzaman]

Forgotten civil war in northeastern India

By Somini Sengupta and Hari Kumar The New York Times

IMPHAL, India A garland of red hibiscus adorned the dead man's portrait, and provisions for the afterlife were laid out for the mourners to see: new slippers and towel, a white undershirt, and dessert plates piled high with bananas and sugar-cane candy.

Rameshwar Ahanthem, 26, a day laborer mistaken for a guerrilla, was beaten to death by Indian troops under the aegis of a law that gives them extraordinary powers to quash ethnic insurgencies in this part of the country. His funeral rite on a midsummer afternoon offered a snapshot of the routine, gnawing anguish of daily life in the remote and forgotten state of Manipur.

The conflict here is more remarkable for its stamina than its death toll: Roughly 200 people a year have been killed in the last few years, according to official statistics, far fewer than in Kashmir, for instance.

But as in much of India's northeast, Manipur has been engulfed by civil conflict virtually since the birth of the country a half-century ago. The only change over the years is that the number of guerrilla groups has mushroomed.

Today, even as India flexes its muscle on the world stage, Manipur stands as an emblem of its unfinished business of binding together its people to resolve what Sanjib Baruah, a political scientist who studies conflict in the northeast, calls "India against itself."

"India's nation-building project is in more trouble in northeast India than it is usually realized," said Baruah, a professor at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, who is spending this year in India. "We have not done very well in terms of winning hearts and minds."

The rest of India - to say nothing of the world beyond - is all but blind to the plight of this restive corner, part of a lush swatch of land that juts out toward Myanmar. Foreign journalists must have permits to set foot in the state, and those are rarely issued.

The conflict dates to the creation of modern India. Like Kashmir in the north, Manipur was a princely state under British rule, and its incorporation into Indian territory in 1949, two years after independence, remains a sore point among many Manipuris.

More than a dozen ethnic armies operate here, each with its own separatist agenda. What they share is a deep distrust of Indian soldiers and a sense of apartness. In the half-century of conflict, India has poured in troops and money, but neither seems to have stanched political grievances or everyday misery.

"Our lives are not secure," is how Ng Rashtrapati Singh, an engineer with the state public works department, put it. "You cannot bear the pressure."

Singh was among 200 engineers who quit because of threats from insurgents this summer.

Extortion by guerrilla forces is common. Economic blockades, most recently for two months this summer by the Naga hill tribes demanding a separate homeland, regularly choke the flow of fuel and medicine into the state. In early July, Naga protesters set fire to dozens of government offices across the state.

In April, a mob from another ethnic faction, angered at the use of Bengali rather than Manipuri script in official documents, burned down the state library in Imphal, the state capital, and with it a trove of rare archives; they lie in a half-burned heap on the yard outside.

To make matters worse, heroin addiction and AIDS have cut a devastating swath across Manipur.

Then there is the seething grievance against the Indian troops and paramilitary forces that saturate the state, and particularly against the sweeping powers they are granted by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which allows them to search, detain and interrogate anyone suspected of guerrilla activity.

In practice the law, which applies only in the northeast, makes it next to impossible to hold soldiers accountable to a civilian court.

To take any member of the Indian armed forces to court, the central government must give special permission, which it rarely does.

Manipur erupted in anger against the law after the killing of Thanjam Manorama in July 2004. Manorama, 32, was taken from her home in the dark of night, shot dead and left in a field. Semen stains were found on her underwear, according to Indian media reports.

The military said she was a militant and challenged a state government inquiry into her killing, citing the Special Powers Act. An Indian Army spokesman said in a recent interview that there was no conclusive evidence of rape.

The attack against Manorama set Manipur boiling. In one of the starkest acts of protest the country has ever seen, nearly a dozen elderly women stripped themselves naked, stood in front of the military base in Imphal and held up a haunting imperative on a homemade white banner: "Indian Army Rape Us."

Last November, on the heels of the protests, the government in New Delhi set up a panel to review the law. That panel submitted its recommendations in June, but they have not been made public. Accounts in the Indian press suggest that parts of the law may be amended, but there have been no suggestions from officials that the law will be scrapped.

"It will be old wine in new bottle," said a local human rights worker, Babloo Loitongbam.

Since Manorama's killing, Loitongbam's group, Human Rights Alert, has documented 10 extrajudicial killings by government forces. The latest was that of Ahanthem, whose family was offered compensation of about $2,380 and a government job for one of its members.

>>Somini Sengupta reported from Imphal for this article, and Hari Kumar from Imphal and Churachandpur.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/02/news/india.php

 

[con]

Just a personal question. What do you do for living? Employeed,student?

I should say you sure have lot to time in ur hand to do all these search.

 

[akzaman]

Assam: ULFA’s Rerun of Violence against Migrant Workers

Dr. Anand Kumar

After all the negative publicity ULFA received in the wake of Dheemaji blasts, which killed several school children, the terror outfit has been looking for other soft targets. In this quest of ULFA, the Hindi-speaking migrant workers of Assam fitted the bill perfectly. These hapless people have been facing the wrath of the outfit since January this year for none of their fault. In the month of May, there has been an upsurge in violence leaving nearly twenty people dead and hundreds of others injured. This upsurge in violence has presented a serious challenge to the law enforcement agencies in the state, who claim that ULFA was able to strike with impunity as their strength was reduced due to Uttar Pradesh elections, where soldiers were deployed on election duty.

Even in the past, the minority Hindi-speaking migrant workers have been the easiest targets for ULFA whenever it wanted to register its presence in the state. By attacking these hapless people, the outfit tries to present itself as the saviour of native Assamese population. Ironically, the people whom ULFA is attacking never posed any threat to the local population. In fact, they have mingled with the Assamese society and are providing useful service to it.

ULFA is not interested in the positive contribution of this community. On the other hand, it finds these people sitting ducks who can be killed at will. It has been triggering blasts in Assam with uniform regularity setting off seven explosive devices, including five in the capital city, Guwahati in the month of May. In these incidents nearly twenty people were killed and hundreds of others were injured.

On May 26, 2007 ULFA triggered the explosion of a powerful bomb concealed inside an auto-rickshaw near Marwari Maternity Hospital at the commercial Athgaon area, killing seven persons and injuring 30 others.
On May 18, ULFA set off a bomb in Fancy Bazar injuring 20.
Athgaon has witnessed blasts carried out by ULFA twice earlier, one on May 6 in which 19 persons were injured, and the other on May 14, in which two persons were killed and eight others injured.
On May 3, ULFA exploded a bomb in the premises of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown in Guwahati injuring two of its employees.
On May 10, seven persons were injured in Upper Assam's Sibsagar town when one of ULFA's women cadres left a bag containing an explosive device inside a pathological centre.
On May 21, the banned outfit injured 14 persons in a powerful bomb explosion in Lower Assam's Bongaigaon district.
These blasts have caused a lot of resentment among the local people. The business community suspected that some ULFA members, in an attempt at land-grabbing in the prime commercial area of Fancy Bazar and nearby Athgaon, were triggering blasts to create a fear psychosis.

Clash between Tea Plantation Workers and Indigenous Assamese

To create a situation of lawlessness ULFA has also been inciting the local population. It tried to capitalize over the killing of Buddheswar Moran in eastern Assam's Tinsukia district. Hundreds of local Assamese blocked the highway linking Assam with neighboring Arunachal Pradesh state since May 6 after army troops searching for separatist insurgents shot and killed a local youth on the premise that he was a militant. However, locals said he was an innocent civilian.

This blockade resulted in violence on May 13 in which five people were killed and more than a dozen injured in Tinsukia when a group of tea plantation workers, armed with traditional bows and arrows, attacked hundreds of ethnic Assamese demonstrators, who had been blocking the main highway for more than a week to protest the army killing. The tea plantation workers were apparently agitated after their estates began running out of food and medicine supplies due to the highway blockade. Police later separated the groups by firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

ULFA Used Clash as a Pretext to Indulge In Violence

ULFA used this clash to legitimize its violence against the Hindi-speaking people. On May 15, a caller, identifying himself as commander Jiten Dutta of the ULFA's 28th battalion, told the local media that the outfit would target "migrant Indians" to avenge the death of "indigenous people in fratricidal clashes engineered by occupational forces at Doomdooma" in Tinsukia district. Next day, suspected militants of the ULFA gunned down three more Hindi-speaking traders at Dergaon in upper Assam's Golaghat district.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi held the People’s Committee for Peace Initiative, Assam (PCPIA) and the ULFA responsible for the May 13 incident in Doomdooma areas and warned legal action against those instigating people for ‘unjustified’ agitational programmes. Gogoi also alleged that people were threatened to take part in the road blockade programme. He claimed that there was no justification for a weeklong road blockade programme in the wake of the killing of Budheswar Moran by the Army, as the State Government had already announced a Commissioner-level inquiry into the incident. Pointing out the difficulties in tackling the insurgents he stated that whenever a person is arrested on charges of being a militant, people start making hue and cry demanding the person to be innocent. He also condemned the killing of six Hindi-speaking persons by the ULFA in Doomdooma areas and made an appeal to the militant outfit to give up violence.

ULFA which has been loosing appeal in Assam appears to have regained some of its strength. There are several reasons for it.

ULFA Moves into New Areas

Though the army has increased pressure on ULFA, the threat posed by the terror outfit is far from over. In fact, the latest maps handed over by the BSF to the Bangladeshi authorities indicate that the ULFA is moving into new areas which are difficult to reach or monitor. Sensing the military-backed government in Bangladesh ordering a crackdown on cross border insurgency, militant outfits have started shifting their militant camps to safer areas where detection becomes not only difficult but logistically inaccessible as well. The ULFA has started moving to Mymensingh and Chittagong. Earlier, in these places they had a presence, but clearly the concentration has increased recently. Both these areas have dense population and porous borders that aid gunrunning, drug peddling into and out of India. This has helped ULFA to spread its operation from Bangladesh. It is also looking to consolidate its presence in Myanmar.

Change in Extortion Tactics

Most rebel groups in the northeast, including the ULFA, depend on extortion to purchase weapons to run their campaigns against security forces. In the past, ULFA has been extorting huge amounts of money only from big businesses and tea plantations. Tea industry unofficially admit to having coughed up an estimated Rs.200 million as ransom to secure the release of abducted executives since insurgency took roots in Assam in the early 1980s. In contrast, the outfit is now serving extortion notices to even petty traders.

Police and intelligence officials believe the change in tactics by the ULFA to extort small amounts of money came after many people refused their demands and reported such matters to authorities. In the case of small extortion people generally try to settle the matter without involving police. Reports have indicated that ULFA rebels are even forcing villagers to donate bicycles and motorcycles besides mobile phone handsets. In one instance, a villager was asked to donate five bicycles whereas in another case a small time trader was asked to give five mobile SIM cards.

Change in Terror Tactics

Apart from the change in fund raising drive, ULFA has also changed its terror tactics. It has shifted from the conventional hit-and-run strikes on security forces to urban guerrilla warfare. ULFA is now triggering explosions in crowded cities and towns by strapping bombs on motorcycles. They simply come and park their motorcycles in a parking lot and vanish.

Changing Cadre Profile of ULFA

To increase its support base ULFA has now altered its recruitment pattern. It is tapping communities that are not part of its traditional support base to make up for the loss of prospective urban recruits. ULFA earlier used to recruit youths mostly from the tribes inhabiting Upper Assam and the general Assamese community. Now the change in cadre profile is reflected in the growing presence of the tea tribes, Bodos and minority Muslims in the militant group’s ranks.

Security agencies have also noticed that the urban youths are now completely alienated from the terror outfit. According to police, recruitment to the ULFA ranks is now “purely from the rural areas”. Economic development in the towns during the past few years has worked against ULFA’s effort to retain or replenish its urban cadre base. This has also increased awareness among the people about the futility of a violent campaign.

ULFA is reportedly operating in tandem with outfits like the Adivasi National Liberation Army in some pockets of the state and with the support of “disgruntled” Bodo militants elsewhere in areas dominated by the community. In Bodo areas, ULFA is roping in youths who were previously associated with Bodo militant groups. The unemployed rural youths are getting attracted to militancy due to the easy lure of money. The increasing political and economic aspirations of the tea tribes and the failure of the tea industry to cope with their demands is another reason behind the emergence of the Adivasi National Liberation Army as ULFA’s ally.

The increase in strength of ULFA has resulted into increased violent activities in Assam. To check this authorities have announced a massive military crackdown.

Cash Award for Information on ULFA Leaders

To contain the violence unleashed by ULFA and to pacify people whose ire is growing against the state government, Assam police has started on May 19 a poster campaign seeking information about the culprits. Dispur also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh in cash for anyone who can provide authentic information about the two dreaded ULFA activists- Hira Sarania and Akash Thapa.

Police believe that Hira Sarania and Akash Thapa, had masterminded and organised the recent bomb explosions in Guwahati. Hira Sarania, the commander of ULFA’s 709 Battalion, and his aide Akash Thapa, are reported to be operating in these areas. Sarania is believed to be a key lieutenant of ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah. At present, Sarania is an important operational head of the rebel outfit in Lower Assam, and his ambit of activities includes Guwahati. According to police, Sarania was instrumental in rebuilding the network of the militant outfit in Lower Assam, mainly in areas bordering Bhutan, after ULFA suffered serious reverses as a result of Operation All Clear in 2003. Sarania and Thapa are also considered to be responsible for the outfit’s extortion drive in Guwahati.

Government Mulling Alternative Strategy

Besides intensifying counter-insurgency operations in Assam, the state government is also planning a sustained employment-generation and development programme in “troubled” areas of the state to wean away prospective recruits and sympathisers of militant groups. This decision was taken after analyzing the factors leading to protests over the killing of Budheswar Moran and subsequent clash between the protesters and members of the tea community. The authorities were surprised by the clashes as these two communities had co-existed peacefully for decades. It was felt that the fallout of counter-insurgency operations is not the only reason why people from certain pockets of the state are taking to the streets with monotonous regularity. A major reason behind this clash was frustration over unemployment and the lack of development in these areas. This situation is being exploited by forces inimical to the state to keep the militancy pot boiling.

Conclusion

ULFA has adopted some new strategies to fund its terror operations and expand its support base. It is also using propaganda to incite local population to rise against the state. This propaganda of ULFA is putting the state on the defensive and hampering the efforts of law enforcement agencies. The terror tactics of ULFA has also changed. It is now using methods generally used by Jehadi outfits. It is targeting certain communities to create social tension in the state. These designs of ULFA have to be defeated. The government is now coming round to the view that neither intensive counter-insurgency operations nor administrative changes at the district level will be of any use unless these are supplemented with a sustained development process in select areas. With this objective government is now thinking to take measures to create job opportunities and improve connectivity in troubled areas. The home department intends to first identify areas/pockets that require “targeted intervention” before approaching Dispur with a formal proposal. These development programmes will take some time before they start showing results. Assam for the time being appears to be heading for more turbulent times.

(The views expressed by the author are his own. The author can be reached at e-mail anandkrai@yahoo.co.in)

http://saag.org/papers23/paper2257.html

 

[akzaman]

Manipur rebel challenges India to practise democracy

By John Ruwitch

The leader of a rebel group in India's northeast challenged the world's biggest democracy to live up to its name and let the people of the troubled state of Manipur choose for themselves if they want independence.

Sanayaima, chairman of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), said there was no room for peace talks with New Delhi without U.N. mediation, nor any middle ground short of a plebiscite on the restoration of Manipur's "sovereignty".
The UNLF was established in 1964 and has been waging an armed struggle since 1990 for independence for nearly two million people in the lush valleys and forested hills of Manipur on India's border with Myanmar."Whether we remain with India or whether we become a sovereign, independent nation: let the people decide," Sanayaima told Reuters in his first ever interview with foreign media.
"I think if India is the largest democracy in the world then they should accept the challenge."

The softly spoken underground leader, sporting a goatee and glasses, was speaking on a trip to Hong Kong shrouded in secrecy. Refusing to say how he left Manipur or where he was going next, he requested this story be issued only after he left the city. "If necessary, we will continue our struggle for another hundred years because it is the very fundamental right that we are fighting for, the national right that we are fighting for, so we cannot afford to get tired," he said.

Sanayaima, who turns 58 next week, said he decided to speak out "to reach out to the outside world, so that this Indian occupation is put to an end".India's Home Ministry spokesman was not immediately available to comment on Sanayaima's remarks.

India has stationed around 50,000 soldiers in Manipur, but there is widespread popular resentment against the military's powers to arrest and kill suspects.
The rebel leader said his force would be prepared to lay down arms if the Indian government agreed to a U.N.-monitored plebiscite in Manipur, withdraw its armed forces and allow U.N. peacekeepers into the former princely state."For us, without the involvement of any third party, particularly the United Nations, the peace process cannot be trustworthy," said Sanayaima, who only uses one name.

ARMY OFFENSIVE

Late last year the Indian army launched a major operation in Manipur, and said it had inflicted heavy losses on both the UNLF and other rebel groups there. But Sanayaima insisted the UNLF, which he said had around 2,000 armed cadres, was not on the run. "We are not fighting pitched battles against the invading Indian forces, but that doesn't mean we are running away. If at all we are running away then they should be able to come to our base headquarters. So far they haven't done that," he said.

He said New Delhi had yet to respond to his proposal for a plebiscite, first made in January. Nor has the UNLF responded to the Indian government's overtures for talks, he said."The Indian government sent some feelers for talks. So far we have not responded," he said. "The peace talks that the government of India has had with other groups in the region have not produced any satisfactory resolution of the conflicts."

Manipur is one of seven states in India's northeast, home to more than 200 tribes. The remote area, ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, has been racked by separatist insurgencies since India gained independence from Britain in 1947. Sanayaima said India was likely to try another offensive in the coming dry season, in a conflict which has cost more than 10,000 lives."There is no middle point where we can meet with India because we were a sovereign independent country before India annexed Manipur in 1949 and we just want to regain that sovereign independence," he said. "After that we can become a good and friendly country with India. And ... we have many things to learn from India."

Manipuris boast of two thousand years of history as an independent Hindu kingdom until the Maharaja agreed, allegedly under duress, to the state's accession to India in 1949.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/Ne...150453Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-216074-1.xml

 

[akzaman]

Must Meghalaya fuel N-reactors?

Patricia Mukhim

WHETHER or not uranium in Meghalaya should be mined, has been the bone of contention and an abiding controversy for the past 20 years. In a representative democracy, those elected are expected to represent the wishes of the people. If the majority of residents in the area surrounding the uranium mines are strongly against its mining because of radiation and other hazards then it would be fair to assume that the government of the day would abide by the peoples' wishes. But in a federal structure that India is, uranium is a strategic mineral; hence the property of the state. So up to what extent can the people of Meghalaya resist the mining of this contentious ore is the moot point.

So far as extractive industries and mining in tribal areas are concerned, the United Nations insists that all member states adopt the principle of "free, prior, informed choice" of the communities before engaging in such activities. But sovereign nations hardly feel the compulsion to be circumscribed by such guidelines. They are more anxious about meeting the demands of industry, and, in the case of uranium, about feeding the voracious nuclear reactors.
In Meghalaya no other topic has been so intensely debated as the issue of uranium mining. While urban residents might like to assume that they are best informed about the radiation hazards of mining uranium, they might be surprised to know that the Uranium Corporation of India, Ltd has taken several batches of tribals from Wahkaji and its surrounding villages for exposure trips to Jaduguda where the process of mining has gone on for decades. In a state-sponsored guided tour there is little that the guests can find out beyond what host UCIL wants them to. It would be embarrassing for the guests to be caught investigating further or to visit the homes of the miners and their families where the true effects of radiation are visible and palpable.
Uranium mining has few supporters. The majority are against it. This time the Khasi Students' Union proved to be the key antagonist in the debate. They called a 36-hour bandh beginning 11 June, hoping to foil the public hearing scheduled for 12 June at Nongbah-Jahrin in the West Khasi Hills where uranium occurs in its free state. Predictably the bandh sent Meghalaya into a paralytic seizure for two whole days as everything came to a standstill. No government office or public sector institution could function at all. But despite the bandh, the public hearing was held amidst strong protests from the people of the area who expressed their dissent by waving black flags. A handful of protagonists waved the white flag of consent.

This entire debate has also thrown up its own set of complexities. Public hearings have been held in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to protest against the mega hydro-electric projects as they have the potential to seriously damage the ecology and biodiversity of the region. But public hearings are increasingly becoming a farce enacted by the state. In a recent amendment to its rules, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, government of India, says that only those directly affected by any development project — in this case the proposed dams — are entitled to make their points at public hearings. Other voices, although present, will not be recorded. Obviously this is intended to exclude environmental NGOs, concerned citizens and informed individuals from participating. It is a classic case of state terrorism where projects are sought to be bulldozed by perfunctorily going through the motions merely to be legally and politically correct.

In any hydro-electric project that requires the damming of rivers, the environmental impacts are felt by dwellers in both the upper and lower riparian areas. In the case of the Tipaimukh dam, the people of Barak valley also stand to suffer in the long run due to the obstruction of the natural flow of an existing river. Delhi does not seem to bother about these "minor" details since the motto is to "exploit" all available resources to feed the ever growing demand of industry. The question is whether India's North-east can make that ultimate sacrifice of becoming the powerhouse of the nation at the cost of its own threatened existence?

We are painfully aware that India's nuclear power programme is heading towards a crisis. Natural uranium that fuels 13 Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors is in short supply. This is also the starting block for India's Fast Breeder Reactors and the thorium-fuelled reactors of the future. The generation target set to be achieved by 2020 is 20,000 MWe of nuclear power. Of this the indigenous PWHRs can only generate 10,000 MWe and this will come from the uranium mines of Meghalaya and Andhra Pradesh.

But Meghalaya is already over-exposed to coal and limestone mining. Much of its natural environment is badly ravaged. The state is a storehouse of some of the most effective medicinal herbs whose habitat is under serious threat from rampant deforestation to make way for mining activities. That apart, uranium mining and the process of converting the ore into yellowcake or magnesium diuranate is fraught with serious consequences for all living matter. As yet we have no examples of safe mining of uranium from any part of the world.
It would be prudent for the government of India to leave Meghalaya well alone and allow us to live and develop "according to our own genius" without tinkering with our environment. In a federal arrangement this is the least that a Centre can do for one of its environmentally fragile states.

http://thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid...1&id=159958

 

[akzaman]

Beyond the Chicken's Neck: Indian national security and Burma
By Christopher Smith

June 18, 2007 - Recent unrest along the Indo-Burmese border highlights a simple, yet vital, truth: Indian foreign policy regarding Burma is first and foremost a question of Indian national security.

The 1,640 kilometre border shared by India and Burma is largely a tangle of jungle, hills and valleys. This terrain, so vastly different from the Gangetic plains and heartland of the Indian sub-continent is populated by an array of peoples equally diverse from their fellow countrymen. While the states in question were largely inaugurated on the basis of ethnic demands, a multitude of ethnic and tribal groups continue to call, and fight, for further recognition and rights. Almost all the groups concerned claim land on either side of the manufactured borders, both domestic and the international boundary with Burma.

This Northeast region has been beset by violence ever since the advent of the modern Indian state became apparent. Thus since the birth of India New Delhi has sought and groped for a means of pacifying and integrating this volatile corner. And the security method of choice, gaining in momentum over the past 10 to 15 years, is that of prioritizing domestic, economic and energy security. As a Home Ministry official succinctly commented, to ensure that ethnic and nationalist movements "will become too comfortable to fight in the jungle again."

Burma watchers enjoy harking back to the days of Rajiv Gandhi and his outspoken support for democratic reforms in Burma. Those days are history. Further, Rajiv Gandhi, following in the footsteps of his mother, played politics on a global level at a time when political idealism still reigned supreme. The times have changed.

It is important to recognize that Rajiv Gandhi's approach came prior to the rise of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) as a serious militant threat to India's Northeast. While ULFA was in no way the first armed liberation movement on the scene, preceded by decades by the likes of the Naga National Council and Mizo National Front as well as others, the breadth and timing of the insurrection warned New Delhi as to the continued fragile state of security in its Northeastern states.

Of course the name Gandhi automatically conjures up the image of the Mahatma, and again Burma watchers love to question the merit of current Indian foreign policy in the shadow of Gandhian teachings.

And today a further spectre haunts and binds Indian and Burmese security issues: that of a politically unstable Bangladesh and the impact of Malthusian population that flows to and from that troubled country, along with the accusation of its soil serving as a staging ground for terrorist cells and operations.

These shared physical security threats naturally encourage a working relationship between New Delhi and Naypyidaw. And such an approach is doubly reinforced with New Delhi's continuing prioritization of economic opportunity and development. Since the advent of the 1991 "Look East" policy, Burma has served as an enchanting gateway to the markets of Southeast Asia – the only ASEAN member country with which India shares a border.

From the mid 1980s to 2005, Indian trade with Burma has mushroomed from a meager US $13 million a year to nearly US $ 600 million annually. Meanwhile, the increased importance placed on attaining energy security hardly needs comment as relating to a factor in favouring relations between the two nations.

And for better or worse, the results of New Delhi's initiatives can be witnessed on the crudest level on the streets of Northeastern cities. Invariably, the urban centres are awash with vehicular traffic, exhaust from freight trucks to taxis to jeeps choking the lives of city centres across the region.

The policy adopted by New Delhi to confront this volatile security question, economic development and integration, demands stability. Much as the debate in New Delhi regarding political events in Nepal rests on an ongoing struggle between those that view a potential Maoist-led government in Kathmandu as a beacon of light for India's own communist insurgencies and those who see a Maoist-led Nepal as a staging ground and strategic reserve for Northeastern insurgents, the New Delhi establishment also faces a realist security dilemma regarding Burmese opposition demands for a drastic overhaul of the current Burmese political landscape and what effect such an occurrence may have on Northeastern security.

It can be argued that in a worst case scenario for Burma, the end to military government only reignites violent campaigns for independence and rights of outlying communities. Given the porous border, potential for shared interests and histories of the communities involved – the Kukis, for example, inhabit parts of Burma, Nagaland and Manipur, while the Kachins have long since had ties with various Indian rebel outfits – this could easily spill over into India's Northeast.

Yet it can also be said possible that a best-case scenario in Burma could prove equally disruptive to India's Northeast. Having seen advantages gained in Burma, India 's still oppressed and marginalized minority communities may be moved to increase pressure on New Delhi for further concession.

In short, one way or the other, the paradoxical dilemma facing New Delhi is encapsulated in political commentator Sanjoy Hazarika's definition of Third World democracies as a "fatal flaw of aspirations never being met." Political idealism is thus eschewed, and to this end the means of addressing the security threat is to be one dominated by political and economic realism. If India's security policy regarding Burma is to be affected, such concerns must be made immaterial.

Thus, what New Delhi demands of security is for stability in Burma and any improvements in the political lives of the Burmese population to accrue under the direct control and watchful eye of a central governing authority – whether SPDC or NLD, Naypyidaw or Rangoon. And anymore, economic interests and development figure prominently in security designs.

This is not to say that elements within the Indian government and other regional bodies would not and do not sincerely hope for and urge change in Burma, witness the recent birthday wishes sent to Aung San Suu Kyi by 17 Indian Members of Parliament, but rather that such change will not be risked at the threat of further inciting unrest and insecurity at home and jeopardizing economic integration.

India today, as much as foreign voices may wish to suggest otherwise, is not the land of Gandhian initiatives, either of Mahatma or Rajiv. Engagement with Burmese leaders thus arises as a logical and rational approach. Geography of the modern political landscape and regional economic interests and demands of the 21st century have shaped India's position – a phenomena not shared by European and American states.

If Western policymakers and advocacy groups wish to see change in Burma, appreciation of regional security interests must be prioritized. And to this end, no place is more volatile along the Burmese frontier than India beyond the Chicken's Neck*.

* The Chicken's Neck is a term affiliated with the narrow land corridor between Nepal and Bangladesh. Measuring little more than 20 kilometers in width, it is India's only land access to its Northeastern states ( Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur , Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram).

http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/EdOp/20...-June-2007.html

 

[akzaman]

Manipur police appeals for immediate fencing of Indo-Burma border

A harassed police force in Manipur, northeast India has appealed for the immediate implementation of the central government's decision to fence the border with Burma because of unabated infiltration. "Because of the ease with which people can infiltrate across the border, the problem continues," Yumnam Joykumar, Director General Police (DGP) Manipur told Mizzima today in Imphal, Manipur's capital.
Unchecked infiltration across the border from Burma brings in its wake a host of problems. Unwanted forces inimical to India, smuggled goods, carriers of diseases come through the border state. The DG P feels it is a major problem which the Indian law enforcing agencies face. The DGP requested both the governments of India and Burma to immediately implement its border fencing plan. While acknowledging that the Indo-Burma border is a hilly and inhospitable terrain, without proper border roads, he said, "We are unable to monitor the open border here unlike the Indo-Pakistan or Indo-Bangladesh border."

The Assam Rifles has replaced the Border Security Force (BSF) to man the porous 1,463-km Indo-Burma border which has no border fencing. The government of India proposes to fence the Indo-Burma border in a phased manner. But due to a dispute over border pillars, fencing has not been taken up, the DGP said.

Manipur which shares a border 364-km border with Burma needs fencing and a parallel road to monitor illegal activities and movements of militants across the border. Manipur Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi had announced the plan to fence the border in many public functions. He had said the Indian Ministry of External affairs had sanctioned funds for taking up the fencing project and that the Border Road Organisation was to execute the project.

Apart from the movement of armed militants across the border, reports suggest that an estimated Rs. 20 crore (approximately US $ 5 million) worth of illegal drugs are smuggled every month through the Tamu-Moreh border. Boundary disputes have come in the way of infrastructure development in the border town. The Indian government is keen on development and Manipur has submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Rs 200 crores (approximately US $ 50 million) to the Centre.

http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/20...-June-2007.html

 

[BanglaBhoot]

ULFA denies hand in Saturday blast

K Anurag in Guwahati

Rediff - June 23, 2007

The banned United Liberation Front of Asom has denied its involvement behind the Saturday morning blasts at Machkhowa in the heart of Guwahati city that claimed 5 lives and injured 20 people.

The military spokesman of the outfit, Raju Baruah in a statement e-mailed to the media claimed that the ULFA was not involved in the Saturday morning explosion and condemned such attacks on innocent people.

The ULFA leader alleged that the 'colonial Indian rulers and security forces' were out to tarnish the image of the outfit.

He said the 'colonial Indian rulers' were not in favour of a peaceful political solution to 'Asom-India' conflict and wanted a military solution to it.

The ULFA also denied reports in a section of local media about the militant group having eight camps in Afghanistan. The outfit claimed that it didn't have any camp in any foreign country.

Regarding the often repeated allegation against the outfit having close links with Pakistan's ISI and fundamentalist outfits based in Bangladesh, the ULFA spokesman criticised the Indian security forces for trying to link the outfit with 'foreign forces through 'doctored' confessional statements extracted by force from arrested ULFA militants or even innocent civilians.