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The Assam
Government has called out the Army to battle the United Liberation Front of
Assam’s (ULFA) terror campaign of bombing oil, pipeline, and other
installations and targeting civilian centers inviting the wrath of many
influential organizations. The ULFA has so far triggered 24 bombs since June 6
killing 8 people and injuring 60 civilians. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU)
has condemned these attacks on civilians and the Journalists’ Union of Assam (JUA)
has strongly protested the threats issued against three writers.
The ULFA “Commander-in-Chief” Paresh Barua took credit for the bombing of
revenue installations claiming that the attacks are “marks of protest against
exploitation of natural resources of Assam by New Delhi.” However, he was
careful to distance his organization from the blasts that killed civilians. The
police was quick to highlight the sleight of hand and pinned the blame for all
blasts on the ULFA.
The ULFA has also threatened three senior writers in Assam saying that it will
not tolerate their relentless denouncement of the group and characterizing the
terrorist outfit as “irrational.” The ULFA claims that this criticism should be
construed as “anti-national activities.”
The ULFA was invited by the Government for dialogue in September 2005.
However, the group has nominated 11 famous civil personalities in a People’s
Consultative Group (PCG) to discuss with the Government before it became
involved. The nation was surprised by the recent attacks as they came the day
after the group announced June 22 as the date for the next round.
The Government is reportedly in contact with Dr. Indira Goswami, a prominent
member of the PCG in touch with the ULFA, asking her to influence the group to
desist from such actions that could “spoil the atmosphere” of peace talks. It
is not clear why the Government is taking a soft approach to solving what is
apparently a crime on society that is abhorred by the population at large
within Assam and in the nation as a whole.
Meanwhile, the Army reported quick success when it liquidated Amal Nath, the
alleged mastermind of the recent blasts.
The two countries will also explore ways to improve co-operation in oil and
petroleum sector and create mechanisms to fight terror. Sabah will meet Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and President Abdul Kalam.
Kuwait recently opened up its oil and petroleum sector to private industry and
looking for investments from India.
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