Amalgam termed 'divided lot'
Govt may talk to other groups if Hurriyat not forthcoming

NEW DELHI, Oct 15 : Admitting that there has not been any real progress on the talks front with the Hurriyat conference, a top official of the Prime Ministers’ Office today indicated the possibility of talking with other groups if the separatist conglomerate failed to come on the negotiating table.

"On Hurriyat front, we can say that we have not achieved any real progress. What we can say is that Home Minister (Shivraj Patil) has made several appeals. Now, if Hurriyat leaders want to find excuses that this is worded in this fashion, I think most people know that these are excuses," Special Adviser to the Prime Minister M K Narayanan said in an interview to All India Radio’s "spotlight" programme broadcast tonight.

"Home Minister has openly called for talks with a group which is seen as demanding secession. I think everything from Indian side is clear. If at all they (Hurriyat) have some suggestions to make, we may consider it," he said.

Narayanan said the Hurriyat was itself divided and it had further "complicated the matter." "One group is moderate while the other headed by (Syed Ali Shah) Geelani is totally a creation of Pakistan’s whim’s and fancies. Unless Pakistan tells it, they will not come for talks."

The other group (Ansari faction) has other problems. One, they fear for their lives, second they are not sure how the talks will progress. "I think Government has gone out of way and now it is for them to see. Because we have offered them, we have not approached any other group for talks, though there is lot of criticism, why we are not talking to other groups," he said.

Referring to the just concluded Indo-Pak talks in New York, Narayanan said "I think it was successful talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf."

"We are hoping that it will signal a period when Pakistan would be seen as not contributing to our problems and would help us to sort out our problems," Narayanan said and added "but on the ground we are yet to see that as far as Hurriyat is concerned, no message has come (from Pakistan) to Hurriyat to soften its stand. We are aware of the fact that Hurriyat is a creation from the other side."

Speaking about the problems in Northeast, he said though the situation is "far from comfortable", it was not that bad as compared to June and July this year.

"Lot of external support is forthcoming and it is unfortunate that our neighbouring Bangladesh Government has not taken adequate precautions in dealing with many of Indian insurgent groups that are operating from their soil," he said and added "there is only a general denial that comes but most of us know that that is not correct.

"...If that (the external support) was not forthcoming, it would have been more easy for us to tackle militancy in North East," Narayanan said.

About the fencing of border with Bangladesh, he said "our stand is very clear. We will fence the border. We are also aware that Bangladesh is not very happy about the fencing but we are defending our territory and we are hopeful that they will understand our constraints and our concerns."

He termed illegal migrants issue also as an equally important problem. (PTI)

SPO, Nambardar's daughter injured
Two ultras, two boys killed

Excelsior Special Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 15: Two militants including a Pakistani were gunned down by police and security forces in an encounter in Gandoh, Doda late this evening while a kidnapped youth was killed by the militants in captivity in Surankote, Poonch but his mother managed to escape.

A teen-age boy was also gunned down by the militants while daughter of a Lambardar was shot at and seriously injured at Larh in Mahore tehsil of Reasi police district last night.

Official sources said a joint team of Doda police and troops of 26 Rashtriya Rifles carried out a search operation at Chijar Dhar in Gandoh area of Doda district in early hours of this morning. Security personnel zeroed in on a suspected hideout of the militants at Chijar Dhar and asked two militants, hiding inside, to come out and surrender.

However, the militants fired grenades and opened firing on the security forces, who retaliated, killing both the militants. Hideout of the militants was destroyed in the gun-battle.

Bodies of both the slain militants have been recovered from the hideout. One of them was identified as Mohd Tauseef alias Kamran, a resident of Gujranwalla, Pakistan. Identity of his associate hasn’t been established so far. He was, however, suspected to be a local militant. Both of them were affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit.

Recoveries made from their possession include one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) with four shells, one wireless set, two Chinese grenades, one SLR with two magazines and 238 rounds, one pouch and one diary.

An 18 year old youth Mohd Khursheed son of Jalaal Din, who was kidnapped by the militants along with his mother from their residence at Banwali dhok in Morha Bachai area in Surankote tehsil in Poonch district on September 12 night, was found dead at 2.30 pm today.

His mother reached safely at his residence in the evening.

The youth had been shot dead in captivity. His body was sent for post-mortem by the police and handed over to his family. His mother told police that her son was tied with a rope in the captivity when she escaped.

In another incident, two militants struck at village Lar in Mahore tehsil in Reasi police district last night and opened firing killing a 12 year old boy Abdul Sattar and seriously injuring a 15 year old girl Fatima daughter of Abdul Aziz, Lambardar.

Injured girl has been hospitalised.

No reasons could be ascertained immediately behind the firing.

A Special Police Officer (SPO) Mohd Tariq was injured when the militants attacked a post of the SPOs at Lambi Barhi under the jurisdiction of Dharamshal police station in Rajouri district. The militants escaped after the attack.

Security forces destroyed a hideout of the militants in Rajouri and recovered one satellite telephone besides other recoveries. In another search operation in Chatru, Doda security forces recovered one 12 bore rifle, two AK magazines, 33 rounds and four hand grenades.

Indo-Pak talks should focus on J&K: FB
*Performance of UPA Govt termed ‘dismal’

SRINAGAR, Oct 15: Terming the performance of UPA Governnment as "dismal", All India Forward Bloc today said continuance of its support to the Congress-led coalition would depend on its functioning over the next 100 days.

"The performance of the UPA Government during the last four months has been dismal. We urge the Government to prioritise the issues included in the Common Minimum Programme and implement it properly and transparently", AIFB general secretary Devarajan told reporters here.

The first budget of the UPA Government was disappointing as it did not address the issues raised by the Left Parties in the CMP, he said. The AIFB, which supports the UPA Government from outside, would closely watch another 100 days performance of the Government and decide the future course of action with regard to its support to it, he said.

Devarajan said the party will organise a mass rally in Delhi on December 8 to pressurise the Government for speedy implementation of issues raised by the Left Parties during finalisation of the CMP.

Devarajan said the AIFB had extended support to the UPA, and not Congress, to keep the communal forces led by BJP away from power. "As a responsible party we could not have forced another election on the people so soon for which we needed to have a Government", he said.

The AIFB leader said the Labour Ministry has prepared a draft bill on Employment Guarantee Act and it will be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.

A committee will be formed for revival of viable but sick public sector undertakings very soon, he added.

The AIFB would continue to press for fulfillment of its demand of spending six per cent of the country’s GDP on education sector, Devarajan said.

"We will also press for completion of 600 irrigation projects in the country which have been neglected and ignored for the past 50 years as 70 per cent of the country’s economy is agriculture-based and there is no system for irrigation. We depend on rains and when they fail to arrive, we have droughts", he said.

Extending support to the dialogue process in Jammu and Kashmir, AIFB Parliamentary Party leader Bir Singh Mahato said it should include all concerned political parties including the separatists.

"The dialogue process within the State should be extended to all concerned political parties including the separatists. We have noticed that there are some political parties who took part in the elections before 1990 but have abstained in 2002 assembly polls", he told reporters.

Devarajan said the summit level talks between New Delhi and Islamabad should focus mainly on Jammu and Kashmir.

"Trade and other smaller issues can be dealt at the Secretary level ... Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not need to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for that. We said this to (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee but they did not pay any attention", he said. Devarajan said the basic issues of the common people in Jammu and Kashmir must also be addressed properly.

The problems of growing unemployment, non-availability of drinking water, lack of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, educational institutions, marketing facilities for farmers, etc should be solved through proper planning and execution, he said.

Deverajan said umeployment was the root cause of militancy in the State as it had led to frustration among the youth which was being exploited by the anti-national elements.

"If the Government creates jobs for the youth, the problem of militancy will be automatically solved", he said.

The AIFB leader said his party would raise the issue of Kashmir and the problems faced by it at all fora including Parliament, the meetings of Left Parties Coordination Committee and the Left-United Progressive Alliance Coordination.

"We have toured Kupwara and Baramulla districts and we will raise the issues that we saw in all the fora including Lok Sabha", he added.

AIFB, which has three members in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha, has also started a party unit in Jammu and Kashmir, Devarajan said. (PTI)

Siachen Major's court martial
Military court overrules objections

JODHPUR, Oct 15: A military court holding court martial proceedings against Maj Surinder Singh in Siachen fake killings case today allowed the prosecution to proceed ahead overruling the objections raised by the defence regarding validity of the GCM.

Brig A D S Grewal, heading a seven member jury, overruled the objections after hearing advise from Judge advocate S V Rao, who said the defence objections were baseless.

The warning letter issued earlier to the accused officer by Commanding Officer Col K D Singh was a ‘colourable exercise of power’ and hence not legally tenable, he commented.

The defence had made the warning letter, issued to Maj Singh in December last year for falsely informing killing of enemy troops, main point of contention in its objection to GCM holding that the officer cannot be punished twice for same offence.

Making further submission before the court earlier in the day, defence counsel R S Randhawa contended that under the rules no superior authority can again try an acused officer after he has been punished with a warning letter.

The cancellation of warning letter issued to Maj Singh after convening of the GCM was also legally unacceptable, he claimed.

What action the army has taken against Col Singh for issuing the warning letter if he did wrong thing,? Randhawa asked.

However, the Judge Advocate said Col Singh’s letter had no legal sanctity because it was issued without applying his mind as mandated in army rules.

The Commanding Officer did not hold any inquiry into the matter and also did not examine witnesses before issuing warning letter to Maj Singh, he asserted.

After the jury overruled the objections, prosecution counsel R N Singh made an opening address before the court describing the seven charges framed against the accused officer and the cirsumstances in which the crimes were committed.

Later the court asked the prosecution to present its witnesses and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow when the prosecution counsel sought time for the same. (PTI)

39 Executive Engineers adjusted

Excelsior Special Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 15: The State Government today ordered adjustment of 39 Executive Engineers, who were promoted from Assistant Executive Engineers (AEEs), vide a Government order on September 24.

According to the order V K Nanda, Gian Chand Parihar, Ghulam Nabi Shah, Bashir Ahmed, Ghulam Nabi Bandri, A K Koul, Mohd Amin Rather, Romesh Chander, G A Thakur and D K Gandotra have been posted in Power Development Corporation (PDC).

Maqsood Ahmed has been posted in Flood Control Department, Anantnag while F A Shah has been posted in Irrigation Department, Sumbal, Abdul Samad Waza has been posted in Monitoring Cell, PHE Srinagar.

Habib Ullah Tantray was adjusted in Designs and Quality Control, Srinagar while Uttam Singh was posted in Public Health Engineering (PHE) Nowshera. Varinder Badyal was posted in RTIC.

Varinder Malhotra has been posted in Irrigation Department’s Division No. 2 at Jammu. Narayan Mangi has been posted as TO to Chief Engineer, PHE Jammu while Hem Chander Jerath has been posted in Flood Control, Division Samba.

Prem Nath has been posted as TO to CE UEED while R N Bhat has been posted in Irrigation Department, Rajouri. Naseer Ahmed Dar has been posted as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Chief Engineer’s office of Irrigation and Flood Control, Kashmir.

Hamid Mehmood Shah has been adjusted in UEED while K K Gupta has been posted in Irrigation Department’s Division No. 1 in Jammu.

Narinder Kumar Rohmetra has been attached with Chief Engineer PHE Jammu till further orders. Javed Zaffar has been posted in Lake and Waterways while Saleem Iqbal has been posted in Master Plan’s Srinagar division.

Mir Nazeeb Ullah has been posted in UEED Srinagar while A R Beg has been adjusted in Designs and Quality Control, Srinagar. Mohd Hanief has been posted in Irrigation Division, Sopore. Mohd Ashraf Parimu has been posted in PHE Division Qazigund.

V K Verma has been posted in PHE Samba and Upinder Koul in UEED Jammu. S K Ganju has been posted in RTIC.

Hakeem Bashir Ahmed has been posted in Irrigation Division, Kulgam while M S Gilkar has been posted in Irrigation Division, Shopian.

Ghulam Nabi Sheikh has been attached with Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control, Kashmir.

15,000 kanals of land acquired for rail project

Excelsior Special Correspondent

Srinagar, Oct 15: For construction of Qazigund-Baramulla railway line 15038 Kanals of land has been acquired so far and the work on the project is going apace at present.

This was disclosed at a high-level meeting of officers of railway, revenue, planning, BSNL, R&B, Forest, Beacon, BRO, Police and Para military forces at Srinagar yesterday evening.

The meeting which was presided over by the Financial Commissioner, Home, S D Singh was informed that out of 15038 Kanals of land, 7661 Kanals has been acquired for construction of railway stations and 7347 for the construction of the railway track. Rs. 153.73 crore have so far been distributed among the land owners and the Ircon Railway Construction Corporation has spent Rs. 400 crore on the project during the year 2003-04, the meeting was told.

The meeting was informed that out of the 57 encroachments, 17 have been removed, while remaining are being removed in due course of time.

The process of acquisition of land for the project and removal of encroachments is closely monitored by the respective Deputy Commissioners under the supervision of the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, the meeting was told.

Regarding the provision of security to the employees and the labourers nine companies of Para military forces and J&K police, have been so far deployed against 18 companies demanded by the railways the remaining are being deployed soon.

The meeting which also reviewed the pace of work on 53 Kilo meter long Jammu-Udhampur rail link was told that three approach roads to Udhampur, Sangan and Bajalta have been completed by R&B department while as six approach roads in Udhampur- Katra are being constructed by Konkan and IRCON railways. Likewise six approach roads in Katra-Qazigund 137 Kilo meter long railway line would be constructed by the railway authority.

The meeting was further told that shifting of utilities of various departments including Electricity, BSNL, Irrigation PHE departments is also going on expeditiously.

The meeting also reviewed the progress made under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in the State and was informed that four road projects have been taken up at a cost of Rs. 150 crore in the State. These include Safawali, Basan Gali of Yamianwali, Gulmarg-Asha and Mohalgala-Dabaen Khawal roads.

The meeting also took stock on the progress made under 410 Kilo meter long National Highway 1A-Pathankot Jammu Srinagar Baramulla and Uri, Lakhanpur to Kunjwani and Srinagar by pass projects.

Financial Commissioner, Home while addressing the meeting directed the heads of the various departments responsible for the implementation of the ongoing projects to speed up the execution and maintain close co-ordination.

The meeting was also attended by Principal Secretary Planning, Iqbal Khanday, Principal Secretary Forest Mrs Sonali Kumar, Joint Secretary J&K affairs Government of India Rama Subban Director J&K Affairs Government of India D Reshmi Goel, Commissioner/Secretary Revenue Mumtaz Afzal, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Commissioner Secretary R&B R. K. Jerth Khurshid Ganie, ADGP (CID) Ashok Bhan. GOC 15 corps I. S. Sehgal, Chief Engineer Beacon, Railway R&B, BSNL, Power Grid Corporation, Project Director IRCON, Koran, IGP Kashmir, IG CRPF, BSF, Deputy Commissioners of Baramulla, Kupwara, Poonch, Rajouri and other senior officers of Line departments.

Govt not to hike petrol, diesel prices

NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Contrary to speculation, Government today decided not to increase petrol and diesel prices despite the sharp surge in crude oil prices, and asked the public sector oil companies to bear the burden for another fortnight.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also did not decide on changes in duties on crude oil and petroleum products, without which a hike of Rs 1.88 per litre in petrol and Rs 3.30 per litre in diesel prices may be needed in view of the international oil prices breaching 55 dollars a barrel mark.

"The CCEA has decided that for today the prices of all petroleum products will be held at the same level. There will be no increase for this fortnight," Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told reporters after the CCEA meeting.

Public sector oil companies were to meet today to review prices of petrol and diesel, which have remained unchanged since August 1 despite crude prices rising by as much as 20 dollars a barrel, leading to a Rs 2300 crore loss in revenue.

The Petroleum Ministry, which was not keen on raising the fuel prices in view of inflation still hovering above 7 per cent, had proposed slashing customs duty on crude, petrol and diesel and cutting excise duty on LPG and kerosene to offset the hike in crude prices but the CCEA decided against any mid-course correction.

"Duties are normally decided in the budget for the full financial year. It is not possible during the year to review them. Any change is possible only in emergency," Aiyar said. "A Finance Ministry committee headed by Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri was looking at duty recast in the entire oil sector and changes could only be considered after the committee submits its report," Aiyar said.

He said Government was conscious of its responsibility to protect the interests of consumers, and the burden of the surge in crude oil prices would be borne equitably by all stakeholders — oil companies, consumers and the Government.

"Our oil companies are extremely capable of bearing the present burden," he said.

He said a decision on revising prices was not taken due to absence of senior ministers such of Sharad Pawar of NCP and Lalu Prasad of RJD.

"Discussions would also have to be held with our other coalition partners and Left Parties (before hiking fuel prices)," he said.

The oil ministry had proposed halving customs duty on crude oil to 5 per cent, which would have substantially brought down the input cost. Due to rise in oil prices, customs revenues from crude oil had surged, and a cut in import duty would not have affected the Finance Ministry’s revenue projections.

The ministry had also proposed bringing down customs duty on petrol and diesel from 15 to 10 per cent. Though petrol and diesel are not imported, the import duty is built in the formula for calculating retail selling price of all petro products and a cut would have neutralised any need for raising prices.

Besides, it wanted nil excise duty on domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene, the two mass cooking fuel on which oil firms have already lost Rs 4992 crore. Without exise duty cut, LPG prices may be required to be raised by Rs 158 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs 11 per litre.

The ministry estimates that revenue loss for oil firms on LPG and kerosene would be Rs 13250 crore if either prices were not increased immediately or duties not cut. (PTI)

Bill allows Musharraf to remain in dual posts

ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: Amidst strong opposition protests, Pakistan National Assembly (Parliament) today passed a bill allowing Pervez Musharraf to remain in the dual posts of President and Chief of Army till 2007 despite his promise to discard the uniform by this year end.

The Government-sponsored bill, passed amid stormy protests and threats of prolonged agitation by the opposition parties against his rule, provides necessary legal immunity for Musharraf to retain both the posts indefinitely.

With the passage of the bill, Musharraf, elected President for a five-year term through a referendum, which the opposition termed as unconstitutional, in April 2002, is set to continue till 2007 in both the posts.

The bill titled ‘The President to hold office bill, 2004’ was passed by a simple majority in the 342-member National Assembly amid uproar by the MMA and the 14-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) whose members trouped to the well of the House as Speaker Amir Hussain ordered a quick voting on the bill at the instance of the members of the treasury benches.

Musharraf had given the commitment through a national address over TV to quit the post by December 2004 in order to win the support of the Islamist Alliance Muttahida Majli-e-Amal (MMA) to get his referendum and constitutional amendment ratified by Parliament.

According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afghan Niazi, the bill was warranted to provide legal immunity to Musharraf to continue with the posts. (PTI)

CRPF set to become world's largest Central police force

KANNUR, KERALA, Oct 15: The Central Reserve Police is all set to become the largest central police force in the world, CRPF Director General J K Sinha said.

By 2006, the strength of the CRPF battalions would be raised to 201 from the present 176 battalions. With 22 battalions undergoing training in different areas in the country, it would become the largest Central Police Force in the world, he told reporters last night.

According to the "one border-one force" doctrine envisioned by the Kargil review committee and recommendations of a group of ministers, Mr Sinha said, the process of taking over the entire counter-insurgency role by the CRPF had already begun. It had already replaced five BSF battalions in Manipur and eight battalions in Srinagar on internal security duty.

Mr Sinha was addressing a press conference at Peringom, about 70 km from here, after laying the foundation stone for two barracks at the recruit training centre, which was established in 1996 on a 275-acre complex.

The CRPF had initiated steps for total computerisation and the first phase of the project ‘intranet selo’ had been launched at a cost of Rs 41 crore, he said.

Noting that 37 per cent of the CRPF had been deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and 33 per cent in the North-East to quell insurgent activities and maintain law and order, he said another 16 per cent was engaged in battling Left-wing extremism.

During the first nine months of the current year, the CRPF had killed 124 extremists and apprehended 1,648 in different encounters. They had recovered 646 major arms, 11,737 rounds of ammunition, 1,784 kg of explosives and 588 grenades, bombs and rockets during the period.

Ten CRPF battalions were deployed in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to deal with Left-wing extremism and during the last nine months, 29 extremists had been killed and 779 apprehended by the CRPF in these states.

Mr Sinha said the CRPF had made a major contribution to the conduct of incident-free peaceful Amarnath yatra this year and also in conducting a free and fair Assembly polls at Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan last year.

The CRPF was also setting up its own intelligence apparatus on the lines of other para-military and police forces, for which personnel were being trained, he added. (UNI)

Kalam celebrates birthday with children

MYSORE, Oct 15: President A P J Abdul Kalam today celebrated his 73rd birthday by distributing cake to children who have undergone surgeries for cleft lip and palate deformities in Suttur village, 22 km from here.

The President who arrived at Suttur, a religious seat of ‘Veerasaivism’, to inaugurate the national youth conference on "Unity of Minds - A Pathway to Harmony of Religions", was lustily cheered by all those assembled including spiritual heads and children.

Kalam, who loves children, was visibly moved when they greeted him with a happy birthday song and acknowledged their greetings with folded hands.

The President, turning towards spiritual heads, quoted saint composer Thyagaraja’s famous keertana "endaru mahanu baavalu andarige naa vandanamulu" (to all those great persons present, my salutations).(PTI)

30 pilgrims killed in mishap

DEHRA DUN, Oct 15: Thirty pilgrims, including 10 women and a child, were killed and six seriously injured when the bus in which they were going to Yamunotri temple skidded off the road and fell into Yamuna river in Uttarkashi district of Uttaranchal today.

The tourist bus carrying 36 pilgrims, mostly from Chattisgarh, fell into the river in Syanachatti, 250 kms from here, police said adding the cause of the accident was not immediately known.

As the bus fell into the river it broke into two pieces, they said.

All 30 bodies have been fished out of the river, police said adding that the injured were first admitted to a hospital in Nungan and later shifted here in view of their critical condition.

The bus was on way to Yamunotri temple from Hardwar when the accident took place, the sources said.

This is the second major bus accident in the State within a month. On September 24, fifteen pilgrims from Tamil Nadu were killed when the bus carrying them to Badrinath fell into a gorge in Chamoli district.(PTI)

Gupta restrained from claiming president
Jammu-Poonch route

Excelsior Special Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 15: First Civil Subordinate Judge Jammu, Mr MK Sharma has restrained Bharat Bhushan Gupta from claiming himself to be the president of Jammu-Poonch Bus Service, Bus Stand Jammu or forcibly occupying or interfering in the office or the properties of the Association, till the disposal of the suit.

The order was passed in an application filed by Mohinder Singh and Bharat Bhushan Bamba, wherein they had challenged the election to this post.

While allowing the application, the Judge held that the applicants have made out a case for indulgence of the court at this stage.

Before parting, Mr Sharma made a personal note, wherein he stated that when he reached home yesterday after attending the court, he saw two persons waiting in his drawing room. Both had started discussing the case with the Judge and wanted a favour for non-applicant number one ( Bharat Bhushan Gupta). In the personal note, the Judge stated that " since I didn’t respond, they left home. One of them is well known to me. While leaving, I found three polythene bags containing different food articles in them, lying in the drawing room. I don’t know whether those people had brought these articles to bribe me or had left them in hurry. However, this is really distasteful", the note said.

It stated that the articles be returned to one of those persons— Hari Dutt Pahalwan of Ram Nagar. This aspect of the order, the judge said, has no bearing on the disposal of the petition.

Assam Govt accepts ceasefire offer

GUWAHATI, Oct 15: Assam Government today accepted the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) ceasefire offer following the arrival of the formal communication from the militant group late last night.

Talking to reporters, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said he had received the letter from the NDFB top brass offering ceasefire late last night and would be forwarding the same to the Centre to frame the ground rules.

"With this, only one militant group, the ULFA is outside the purview of the ceasefire as all other militant groups of Assam have ceasefire with us," he said asserting that the situation would improve in the State.

The NDFB had caused mayhem in Assam on the first week of this month, killing at least 70 people after triggering more than a dozen bombs in a span of 48 hours.

"Naturally we will reciprocate to their gesture but the ground rules will be framed by the Centre," Mr Gogoi said on the sidelines of the north east DGP’s meet, which was inaugurated by him at the Assam police headquarters.

"Like the Naga peace process, the Indian Government will frame the ground rules. It is going to follow the same way," he said.

Asked whether the operation against the NDFB would be suspended, the Chief Minister only said the Government would reciprocate.

About the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD), the Chief Minister said that it would bring in peace. There should not be any problem with the moderate and majority Bodos, he said.

The moderate leaders have questioned the NDFB’s ceasefire offer asking them to clarify their position on their demands. Appropriate action will be taken for a permanent peace in the State. "We now think that the ULFA will also soon follow the suit," he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the two-day conference of the DGPs of the North East where the top brass of the IB, CRPF, Assam Rifle and BSF are also taking part.

Setting the agenda, he asked for complete halt of arms smuggling, narcotics trade and better relation between the north eastern states in countering insurgency.

"We have been able to contain insurgency in Assam and because of that the NDFB had come for ceasefire which is a really big positive sign," he said.

Welcoming the participants, IB Special Director N C Parhi urged the Chief Minister to give political guidance to resolve cross-border terrorism from across the neighboring countries.

"This must be taken up and should be resolved through the Ministry of External Affairs," he said.

Later, talking to newspersons, senior officers of Assam Police who handled the NDFB matter said that initially there might be some problem with their arch rival Bodoland Liberation Tiger (BLT) supporters but that should fade away.

The BLT have technically dissolved as their leadership have taken over the political leadership of the BTAD. (UNI)

Naxals sit with Govt on table

HYDERABAD, Oct 15: Marking a new phase in the 35-year history of Left wing extremism in the country, Naxals today sat with the Government across the negotiating table amidst a few paradoxes.

The secluded M Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute (MCR HRDI), the chosen venue for talks was inaugurated by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who survived an attempt by Naxals last year.

As coincidence would have it, Marri Channa Reddy was the first Congress Chief Minister to lift the ban on Peoples War Group imposed by his predecessor N T Rama Rao.

Manjeera guest house, where the Naxals are lodged, shares a common boundary wall with ‘grey hounds’, the elite police created to curb Naxal activities and came to be known as anti-Naxal squad.

The guest house too carried the inscription of being inaugurated by Naidu and the big plaque cannot be missed by anyone entering the main hall.

The heavy presence of police, who till recently were in a hot chase with Naxals, at the guest house with people who carried rewards on head moving around freely, completes the paradox.

Eversince their arrival in the city, Naxals hogged the limelight leaving some of the media friendly politicians awestruck.

The Naxals were receiving a stream of visitors from various Dalit organisations and a few parents also called on them to enquire about their missing wards. (PTI)
 
 
 

 

 

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