Asom: Govt preparing to check migrants exodus

New Delhi, Jan 8: Concerned over the repeated attacks by the United Liberation Front of Asom in which 55 migrant workers were killed in Asom, the Centre and the state government are preparing a comprehensive security policy to prevent the exodus of people from Bihar and Bengal from the state.

Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal, who visited Asom yesterday alongwith senior officials of Home Ministry and Intelligence Bureau, told sources the ULFA was playing in the hands of foreign forces and indulging in such heinous attacks on hapless people to serve its vested interest.

Ruling out any talks with ULFA till it shuns violence, Mr Jaiswal said that no organisation should have misconception that they could challenge the sovereignity of the country. There will be no compromise with violence and sovereignity of the country, he asserted.

The support base of ULFA has highly shrunk in Asom recently, so these incidents were an indication of the desperation of the militant organisation, he said.

However, he defended the government decision of stopping army operation against ULFA for some time in August-September this year and said that the government gave a chance to ULFA to come to the negotiating table.

''Our intentions were clear but ULFA utilised that time to prepare and regroup its forces for such attacks. This is an experience which will help us in future negotiations with violent organisation like ULFA,'' he said.

Regarding the reports of ULFA setting up its training camps again in Bhutan two years after they were dismantled, Mr Jaiswal said that these have not yet been confirmed. However, if it was true then the government would again take up the issue with the Bhutanese Government as the earlier campaign against ULFA had proved highly successful.

He lauded the Myanmar Government for acting against the north east insurgent groups on the request of Indian officials. Without naming Bangladesh where ULFA top leaders are based, he said that the efforts of the Indian government with other neighbouring nations have not proved much successful.

UNI