Author: M.V. Kamath
Publication: Afternoon Despatch
& Courier
Date: October 22, 2004
URL: http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=editorials&xfile=October2004_mediawatch_standard78&child=mediawatch
India's North East is presently
in grave danger, and our national newspapers either don't seem to be aware
of what is going on or couldn't care less
Why is our government soft with
Bangladesh? It has been giving shelter to the gangsters of the United Liberation
Front of Assam (ULFA) and it is an open secret that the Directorate General
of Field Intelligence (DGFI) of Bangladesh is backing ULFA to the hilt
and yet Delhi is behaving that it does not really matter much. On October
4, ULFA proudly claimed that it was responsible for blasts in five places
in Assam and in just one place, Dimapur, 26 persons were killed. Even the
Indian media does not seem to be much concerned. Deccan Chronicle (October
5) thought that the attacks were "'all the more reprehensible since they
were carried out on a day dedicated to the memory of Gandhiji, apostle
of peace", as if murderers care for any peace apostle, let alone Gandhiji.
Subversive activities
Two days before the dastardly attack,
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had made a cease-fire offer to ULFA and
to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. As Deccan Chronicle noted
"ULFA rejected the offer and chose instead to unleash terror". The paper
said that there is much merit in Gogoi's assessment that the recrudescence
of insurgency in the entire North Eastern region can be attributed to the
influx from Bangladesh and Myanmar and it added: "It is now upto the Centre
to act on his suggestion that pressure be brought to bear on India's neighbouring
countries, especially Bangladesh and Myanmar, to dismantle the terrorist
infrastructure on their soil and stop the anti-Indian subversive activities".
Deccan Herald said in its editorial
that the ULFA violence may be linked to the recent surrender of 47 of its
members to the security forces, adding "importantly the bomb attacks could
also be linked to the proliferation of Muslim fundamentalist groups operating
in the region". It added: "The Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence and
the Bangladeshi Directorate General of Forces Intelligence have also been
supporting and promoting the activities of the NDFB and the ULFA (which)
gives an external dimension to the problem".
But all that the Herald could suggest
is that "considering that more than 50,000 people have lost their lives
to insurgency in the North East since Independence only a political solution
will solve the problem of unending violence". Hindustan Times was a little
more forthcoming. Commenting on the senseless acts of terrorism, the paper
said (October 5) that "the straight-forward issue is that the government
must press ahead and at against the sanctuaries the militants have in Bangladesh".
It added: "Merely lamenting Dhaka's
lack of cooperation is not enough. Too much is at stake and too many lives
have already been lost... India should make a high-level diplomatic demarche
on Bangladesh. If Dhaka remains recalcitrant, approach the UN and demand
action. Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1373, all states are enjoined
to prevent those who finance, plan, facilitate or commit terrorist acts
from using their respective territories against other countries and their
citizens. If the UN, too, fails in its task, New Delhi should make it known
that it reserves the right to consider other unilateral measures". That
is saying it as it is. But is Delhi listening? The Hindu (October 5) isn't
sure that it would be the right thing for India to take unilateral measures.
Consider what it says. According to The Hindu "The Centre should think
twice before accepting the advice of those who feel it is time to 'tighten
the screws' on Bangladesh or Myanmar, for allegedly providing shelter to
Northeast militants" Note the use of the word 'allegedly'. It is as if
The Hindu does not really believe that Bangladesh and Myanmar are giving
shelter to terrorists. But then it adds: "While the presence of individual
ULFA to Bodo leaders in Bangladesh - with or without the knowledge of the
government - is undeniable, there is no evidence that there are camps of
the kind that existed in Bhutan until last year". No evidence? The Hindu
could enlighten itself by reading Jaideep Saikia's book Terror Sans Frontiers:
Islamic Militancy in North East India (Vision Books). Saikia is an acknowledged
security analyst, internationally accepted as such.
Which is why it is shocking to read
The Hindu which says: "The sooner India drops any idea of 'muscular' talk,
the easier it will be to secure the cooperation of the Bangladesh Rifles
in matters of blocking insurgent cells from retreating across the border".
The Statesman has no illusions on this score. It is fully aware of what
is going on in the North East, enough for its Consulting Editor Sanjoy
Hazarika to write (October 5) that "the attacks are massive warning to
the Centre and all state governments to shrug off the complacency and smugness
which had set in over these past months and activate a far better system
of intelligence sharing, coordination of information and coordinated operations
against militant groups". It is difficult to understand why the government
of India is not taking a strong and determined stand against Bangladesh.
On October 5 Hindustan Times carried
a front paged story that said that "Bangladesh has become the biggest hub
for militant groups attacking India's northeastern states" quoting "highly-placed
government sources". The paper also said: "Indian security agencies are
convinced that the leaders of these outfits are being asked to pay for
the shelter given to them by orchestrating violence in the northeast at
the behest of Pakistan's ISI and Bangladesh's Directorate General of Foreign
Intelligence..." Jaideep Saikia's Terror Sans Frontiers provides massive
information on ULFA.
Willing hostage
According to Saikia "the present
government in Bangladesh seems to be not only sympathetic to the separatist
movements in North East India, but is also purportedly turning a blind
eye to the fundamentalist engineering which is currently under way in the
Islamic Republic itself". Saikia also writes authoritatively: "The United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) - the most prominent, ethnically based
separatist movement in Assam - has jettisoned the lofty ideals by which
it took birth, in order to become a willing hostage of the Inter Services
Intelligence of Pakistan..."
Nobody knows whether Dr. Manmohan
Singh discussed this matter with President Musharraff, but India's North
East is presently in grave danger, and our national newspapers either don't
seem to be aware of what is going on in Assam or couldn't care less. Altogether
this is a shocking state of affairs, India must demand the extradition
of Paresh Barua, the ULFA chief who is now living in Bangladesh. Involved
is India's security and integrity. Hindustan Times seems to have a better
appreciation of the situation in the north east than mot papers. Delhi's
'softness' is being taken advantage of and in the end it is the country
which will pay the price.
