HVK Archives: Forget Delhi and rescue N-E, Tripura urges PM
Forget Delhi and rescue N-E, Tripura urges PM - The Pioneer
Abhijit Dasgupta
()
10 May 1997
Title : Forget Delhi and rescue N-E, Tripura urges PM
Author : Abhijit Dasgupta
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : May 10, 1997
The Tripura Government has sent a strong missive to Prime Minister
I K Gujral, saying that he must soon visit the North-East States,
particularly Tripura, if sanity is to be restored and confidence
brought back among people there.
The plea comes on the heels of the gunning down of 17 Central
Reserve Police Force personnel and a home guard of the Tripura
police, in an ambush by underground militants near Khumlungbari
village in South Tripura early on Wednesday, indicating a spurt in
extremist activity in the region.
A top CPI(M) functionary told The Pioneer over phone from Agartala:
"The Prime Minister must come to Tripura if anything has to be
done. He must also speak to his counterpart in Dhaka."
Incidentally, The Pioneer had recently reported that Begum Khaleda
Zia, Bangladeshi Opposition leader, and some of her key aides had
met three top insurgent leaders of the North-east in Dhaka and had
assured them full support. In fact, these insurgents had stayed at
the residence of Begum Zia's Press attach, where they were
"briefed" as to how to go about spreading terror in the North-East.
The Tripura Government is "extremely worried" about the situation
and is "fearing the worst" if proper action is not taken
immediately.
"We already know of what the Opposition is up to in Bangladesh and
the Government in Delhi has already been apprised about the
situation. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed had
categorically stated that she would not let her country be used as
launching pad for extremist activity in the North-east. But
obviously, she has failed. It is now up to Mr Gujral to talk to
her and chalk out a constructive plan. If things are allowed to
drift, the entire North-East will be in flames soon," the leader
said.
Refusing to divulge contents of the letter sent to the Centre, the
leader said, "all that we can say for the moment is that the Prime
Minister, if he has to save the North-East, must come down here and
forget the politics of Delhi for the moment. "He is the head of
Government and it is his duty to protect the interests of all in
this country. He cannot remain a silent spectator. "
Though there have been some stray incidents of arrest and surrender
of Tripura insurgents in Bangladesh, the latest ambush in the
strife-torn South District has rattled even the Army. According to
sources, the Army did not expect such a massive ambush in Agartala.
,The source said: "We had categorically told the authorities that
everything is happening in Bangladesh. The front organisation
formed there under the guidance of Begum Zia, called the Centre for
Research, is nothing but an outfit which trains these militants
with active help from the Central Intelligence Agency and other
international agencies."
He added: "Mr Gujral seems to be happy only with the waters deal
with' Bangladesh. He is supposed to be a master foreign policy
diplomat. What is stopping him from using all his experience to
exert more pressure on Mrs Wajed? Today, it is Tripura, tomorrow,
it will surely be Nagaland and then Manipur. We request the Prime
Minister to come here and see for himself what state we are in.
More troops are necessary and definitely more sophisticated
machinery is required to keep these insurgents in check. It is
equally true that the intelligence agencies failed badly in
pre-empting this strike."
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