EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW/Paresh Baruah, Commander-in-chief, ULFA The man who meticulously plans all of ULFA’s strikes, commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, is not one to mince words. He is said to have set up base in Myanmar’s Kachin Hills bordering China’s Yunnan province, running guns for the Chinese. On December 4 morning, even as the Bangladesh authorities were preparing to hand over Arabinda Rajkhowa and his family to the BSF at Dawki outpost in Meghalaya, he called up Sarbari Bhaumik to insist that there was no question of negotiations with India unless Delhi agreed to include the issue of Assam’s sovereignty on the agenda for talks. Excerpts from the exclusive interview: Will Arabinda Rajkhowa bow to pressure and start negotiations with India? ULFA is always keen to start negotiations and sort out the problems through dialogue. But any such negotiations, any talks, will have to have the issue of Assam’s sovereignty on its agenda. Otherwise we are not talking. I will expect our chairman to remember that 11,000 of our fighters, young Assamese who dreamt of freedom, have laid down their lives for sovereignty. We will dishonour their souls if we quietly drop the issue of Assam’s sovereignty from any negotiations. Home Minister P. Chidambaram has made it clear that India will only talk to ULFA if the demand for sovereignty is dropped. We will not talk to India if the issue is not included on the agenda. That is our position as an organisation and my position as an individual and as the leader of our movement. But there are reports in the Indian media that Rajkhowa might start talks by dropping the demand for Assam’s sovereignty. I don’t think it is true. The Indians have turned it into a huge drama but I think our chairman will not betray the sentiments and feelings of all our freedom fighters and the freedom-loving people of Assam. At the end of the day, organisations matter, leaders don’t. If an individual leader betrays the feeling of the collective, he should be prepared to face the consequences The media is talking of a split in your organisation. That is a huge nonsense. I have a very poor opinion of the Indian media, specially the so-called national media. They are jingoistic, they don’t see the reality on the ground. They write what the intelligence or the administration tells them to. There is no split in ULFA. Most of our central committee members and founders are in jail and you must have seen them telling journalists in Guwahati in no uncertain terms that there cannot be any talks without sovereignty being on the agenda and without me being a part of the negotiations. There is total consensus on this issue right across ULFA, within our central committee and from top to bottom. So there is no split in ULFA? I repeat, there is no split in ULFA. Some self-styled security analysts are also suggesting there is a three-way split in ULFA. They are shamelessly working for the Indian state and saying what they are told to. The reality is that from time to time, some of our people have walked out from the organisation and called it a day because they had lost hope in our struggle. Any struggle for freedom, specially against a powerful state like India, cannot be a road without thorns. We will have to face many challenges. But some of our people at times lose hope and go away. That is fine so long as they don’t become lackeys of the Indian state and work against our national movement. If Rajkhowa walks away and starts talks with India by dropping the sovereignty demand, how would you react? Let us not talk about ifs and buts. Our senior leaders will not betray the movement but, as I said, if someone does that, it will be at his own peril. Why is the Bangladesh government after your group? I really don’t understand why the new government of Bangladesh is succumbing to Indian hegemonist designs. They will pay dearly for what they are doing. Are you threatening violent action against Bangladesh? I am not threatening anyone. But if Bangladesh has expectations from India and are doing all this to make Delhi happy, they will be quickly belied. They will get nothing for what they are doing. There are reports that you are seeking, and perhaps getting, Chinese help. China is upset with India for its growing strategic relationship with the US. A major confrontation between India and China is in the offing. But what if that happens? How does it help your cause? Small people like us may either benefit from such a huge conflict of titans and gain our independence or get sandwiched and crushed between the two giants. It is worth taking a risk, is it not?

  

ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa did not surrender with his aides and family. It’s reliably learnt that he was actually lured into a trap while trying to escape from Cox’s Bazaar near Chittagong in Bangladesh.

In a planned intelligence operation handled at the highest levels in the government, the first inputs about Rajkhowa’s plans to escape from Bangladesh came soon after the “surrender” of ULFA finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika and foreign secretary Shashadhar Chowdhury in November first week.

A rattled Rajakhowa, sources said, had realised that the heat was growing on ULFA members in Bangladesh and that it was not safe for him or his family to continue staying there. He is believed to have then been in touch with Mukul Hazarika of Assam Watch, who is based in London. While it is not clear with whom Hazarika then got in touch, sources said Rajkhowa was ultimately put on to some local Bangladeshi contacts to make good his escape.

source :http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Rajkhowa-did-not-surrender–he-was-trapped-in-a-sting-operation/550546

I did not surrender: ULFA chief
ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Saturday said that he did not surrender and also did not have any plans to surrender even as the outfit’s commanderin- chief Paresh Barua denied reports of rift within its ranks.

Rajkhowa made the statement when he was being produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) here along with his bodyguard Raja Barua and the outfit’s deputy commander-inchief Raju Barua.

Upon their arrival here from the Assam Police guest house around 5.30 p m, Rajkhowa said, “I have not surrendered and will not surrender”.

At this time, youths, believed to be ULFA sympathisers, shouted slogans, “ULFA zindabad”, “Paresh Barua zindabad”, “Arabinda Rajkhowa zindabad” etc.

They also urged the rebel leaders not to surrender.

These happened in full view of the police and CRPF personnel deployed at the court complex.

Earlier, the arrested ULFA leaders were taken to the CJM court in a convoy of vehicles amidst unprecedented security arrangements. All three of them were handcuffed. The court remanded them to 12 days police custody.

The BSF had on Friday claimed that the ULFA leaders had surrendered along with their wives and children before their personnel at Dawki in Meghalaya.

source : http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=India+ticks+off+China,+Myanmar&artid=GkhFe/fGxek=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SEO=ULFA+chairman+Arabinda+Rajkhowa&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=

In an unprecedented move, Bangladesh has deported two top ULFA rebels to through the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

Border Security Force officials said Sashadhar Choudhury, ULFA’s Foreign Secretary and Finance Secretary Chitraban Hazarika have been sent to ten days police custody by a Guwahati court.

“Today he has been produced. Both of them have been produced in connection with…. police station case pertaining to special operation unit. And the police have sought 14 days police remand,” said Bijan Mahajan, a counsel for the accused.

Assam Police said that ULFA, estimated to have a depleted strength of around 700-800 combatants, is now left with only three leaders, Chairman Arabina Rajkhowa, Commander-in-Chief Paresh Barua and his deputy Raju Barua.

“We will not surrender in any case,” Choudhury said.

In 2006, New Delhi called off a truce with the ULFA when the security forces realised that the rebels used the ceasefire to regroup.

The ULFA accuse New Delhi of plundering the region’s mineral and forest resources, neglecting local economy and giving them back nothing in return.

India says that ULFA rebels have found safe havens in Bangladesh over the last two decades.

Bangladesh had earlier denied such allegations. But the Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has assured New Delhi of its cooperation in evicting Indian separatists from Bangladesh. (ANI)

The special operations unit of Assam police booked Hazarika, the “finance secretary” of the outfit, and Choudhury, its “foreign secretary,” on charges of possessing illegal arms and cash. The case was registered with the unit in 1998. Kamrup chief judicial magistrate Robin Phukan remanded the two to 10 days’ police custody.

Ulfa has called a 12-hour Assam bandh on Monday demanding that the two leaders be produced before the media.

Choudhury told reporters on the court premises that they had not surrendered and expressed ignorance about the identity of the persons who had detained them in Bangladesh. They were handed over to Assam police on Thursday, Choudhury said.

“Mori jam kintu Sasha Choudhuryea surrender nokore (Sasha Choudhury will rather die than surrender),” Choudhury said in reply to a question on the circumstances of his “arrest”.

The grey-haired duo, looking older than their years (both are in their late forties) appeared relaxed, showing little sign of strain. They were later taken to an undisclosed location in a police bus.

Advocate B.K. Mahajan, who represented the Ulfa leaders in the court, quoted the police as saying the duo were detained by the BSF when they tried to “infiltrate” through Tripura on the night of November 4.

“The BSF, accordingly, summoned the spotters of Assam police. They identified the Ulfa leaders and the BSF handed over the duo to Assam police on November 6,” he said.

Sources, however, said the Ulfa leaders told the court that they were picked up by the Bangladeshi agencies on November 1 and later pushed back into India by the authorities there.

Choudhury said he had no idea of the whereabouts of Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa. He also denied that Ulfa had links with the LTTE and the ISI.

Asked about the outfit’s future plans, Choudhury said: “We will carry on with our struggle for an independent Asom. There is no question of sitting for talks.”

In a statement hours before the duo were produced in the court, Rajkhowa demanded that the two leaders be produced before the media immediately to avoid the situation that followed an operation in Bhutan. Ulfa had alleged that several cadres had gone missing after that operation which Indian forces had launched with the co-operation of Bhutan.

Rajkhowa said armed, unidentified persons from Bangladesh had abducted the two leaders on November 1 midnight.

The Ulfa chairman added that the detention of the two leaders was an “evil design” of the “forces in India” who were out to confuse the outfit’s rank and file that were fighting for the freedom of the Assamese people.

Echoing Rajkhowa, Hazarika told reporters that their detention was a conspiracy hatched by the “forces of India”.

Earlier in the day, chief minister Tarun Gogoi confirmed that the two Ulfa leaders were in the custody of Assam police and that the law would take its own course. But he iterated that the door for talks was still open.

Hazarika and Choudhury were pushed back into Indian territory through the Tripura sector on Wednesday by the Bangladeshi authorities as it was the only option because the countries have no extradition treaty.

Anup Chetia, the Ulfa general secretary arrested in Bangladesh in 1997, continues to languish in a Dhaka jail as he could not be deported because of the absence of such a treaty.

The two Ulfa leaders were kept in the Gokulnagar camp of the BSF in Tripura before being handed over to Assam police. With the two in police custody, the banned outfit is left with only three known senior leaders — Arabinda Rajkhowa, Paresh Barua and his deputy Raju Barua.

 ”Bangladeshi minister for foreign affairs Hassan Mahmud has hinted that terrorists, who launched the November 26 Mumbai attacks, may have used Bangladeshi soil. This is the first time an official from the Bangladeshi government has pointed to a Dhaka hand in the attack.”( See More)

Without having any specific clue this comment is not apprecitabe from our high official.Which may impact on the weakness of our admistrative and intelligence.

We have experience of some irridating facts like 21st granate attact, Pohela Boisak bombing, Udichi attack at jessore Banglavai fact, serial attack at court. After than the security alert of this contry was much more alert condition and the extrmist of such as occurance was in full control…..

This new comments indicates that we again in a loose position on security conciousness?!!!

If that , why late to take the necessary innitiatives?

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