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Madrassas of Assam should be more transparent about its activities and should focus more on the educational purpose rather then any other activities, said Lt General Jitendra Singh Varma, General Officer Commanding, 4 Corps, and the operational head of the Unified Command structure. Talking to this correspondent at the garrison headquarters here during his first interaction with the press after assuming charge as GOC 4 Corps on November last, General Varma said all the Madrasas in the State like any other educational institution, should be registered.
Reluctant to speak about the alleged linking of madrassas of Assam with the Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) in sponsoring and propagating insurgency in the region, the General said adverse reports are not against all the madrassas of the State, and added that the Indian Army stays away from any religious institutions in order to avoid controversy. It may be mentioned that the Union Home Ministry recently claimed about the presence of ISI and Al-Qaeda activists in the State, and pointed out that till date the Central Government has failed to take effective steps to check the activities of such anti-national forces.
When asked to comment on the ULFA problem, the operational head of the Unified Command Structure said that the Indian Army has not placed any mines along the Indo-Bhutan border as claimed by the banned ULFA, and added that security forces have geared up its operational activities along the international border in the wake of the Royal Government's pressure on the militants groups to wind up it camps. He added that the Indian Army is keeping a close watch on the border to prevent the militants from sneaking into the State, and added that they are also closely monitoring the source of funding to the militants.
Further commenting about the ULFA's activities, the General said that during the last one year barring a few small incidents no major incident of sabotage could be materialised by the ULFA as they are now on the run. He also pointed out that the Army engaged in counter insurgency operations in the State, has become successful in curbing militancy, and the people of the State have once again developed a sense of safety and security of their life and property. However, he admitted that still recruitment is on by the ULFA.
Further when asked about the comment about the rift between the ULFA commander in-chief, Paresh Baruah, and Arobinda Rajkhowa, regarding the shifting of their camps from Bhutan which appeared in a section of press, the operational head of the Unified Command structure said that he was not aware of it, but added that there has been some problems in the camps regarding the shortage of foods and other essential commodities. Even some of the low-ranking cadres are suffering from malaria, he added.
Meanwhile intelligence agencies
told this reporters that the serious threat to the peace and security of
the north-eastern region is from the rising fundamentalist Islamic outfits
who are linked with the North East-based militants. The ISI had already
commenced support to the ULFA by providing weapons and explosives. Besides,
the Nepalese Muslims are also being cultivated by the ISI to assist them
in their designs. And, it is known that a fair amount of weaponry is being
infiltrated from Nepal, the sources said, adding that the ISI is now busy
in drawing up an elaborate plan to use the Jamait-e-Islami to mobilise
the Muslim population of Bengal and Assam through the Islamic Seval Sangh
(ISS) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
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