Centre to act tough against ULFA: Narayanan

On Board Air India One, Jan 13 (UNI) National Security Adviser M K Narayanan today said the Centre would act tough against the United Liberation Front of Asom which he said ''was out of touch with the people of the state and was guided by external forces.'' ULFA had unleashed violence on innocent people in the state and the government would pursue the outfit ''in a manner which we have avoided so far,'' he told journalists accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Cebu in the Philippines for the 5th India-ASEAN Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit to be held there over the next two days.

''The people of Asom must reject such forces,'' Mr Narayanan said.

Dr Singh is due to visit the violence-hit areas of Asom on January 16. He will fly from Cebu to Kolkata on Monday and stay there overnight before leaving for Asom, official sources said.

''The ULFA leadership is out of touch with the people of Asom and is guided by external forces,'' Mr Narayanan said.

In response to a question, he said ULFA leaders Paresh Baruah and Arabinda Rajkhowa were ''sitting in Dhaka and being guided by forces inimical to India''.

Mr Narayanan said the Centre was keen on establishing peace in Asom.

He denied the Centre had been soft towards ULFA till now.

''There was an offer for dialogue, which we accepted and we have held three rounds of talks so far,'' he pointed out. He regretted that ULFA had now launched attacks against innocent people.

More than 70 people, most of them Hindi-speaking migrant labourers, have been killed by the ULFA in Asom in the last week.

UNI