Times of India, October 31, 2008
Avijit Ghosh, TNN
NEW DELHI: Thursday’s serial blasts in Guwahati and other places in Assam, the third major terrorist strike carried out in a northeast state capital this month, indicate the growing swagger of N-E extremist groups, say security analysts. ‘‘It shows that terrorist groups are now confident enough to carry out blasts anywhere they choose,’’ says Bibhu Prasad Routray, a specialist on conflicts in the northeast. One of the explosions in Guwahati occurred at Ganeshguri near a high security zone. Another bomb exploded in front of the Kamrup district commissioner’s office. Similar strikes have been carried out in Agartala and Imphal this month. On October 1, four explosions rocked the Tripura capital leaving at least 75 people injured. The All Tripura Tiger Force was allegedly behind the blasts. Again on October 21, blasts killed 18 in Imphal, Manipur’s capital. Police suspected the role of Prepak, a terror outfit. Security experts say the needle of suspicion over Thursday’s blasts points to HuJI and Ulfa. Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) is a Bangladesh-based terror outfit while United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is an extremist outfit fighting for a ‘‘sovereign’’ Assam. However, former DG (BSF) E M Rammohan, an Assam cadre officer, says that it would be uncharacteristic of Ulfa to place bombs in areas where there is a strong possibility of Assamese getting killed. ‘‘Of late, they normally put explosives where migrant Biharis stay,’’ he says. ‘‘Among other places, bombs were also placed in vegetable and fruit markets in Guwahati. It appears unlikely that a particular community was being targeted.’’ The blasts also took place in Assam’s Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon districts. Rammohan says Ulfa doesn’t have the infrastructure to carry out blasts in Kokrajhar, primarily a Bodo town on the western tip of Assam. According to Rammohan, Ulfa would be wary of carrying out indiscriminate blasts after the group faced flak from Assamese people for an Independence Day blast in Dhemaji district in 2004 that left 17 dead, including 10 schoolchildren. The finger, therefore, points more towards HuJI, which has a decent base in all areas in Assam with a migrant population of Bangladeshi Muslims. ‘‘The blasts could be a statement of intent from HuJI, a way of announcing that they are there,’’ says the former police officer. However, Routray, a research fellow at Institute for Conflict Management, feels that Ulfa could be the prime culprit. That’s because, in his view, no other outfit has the capability of carrying out serial blasts across Assam in such a organized manner. ‘‘The high intensity explosives used for the blast do not seem to have originated locally. These probably were smuggled from Bangladesh,’’ he says. Ulfa, incidentally, is headquartered in Bangladesh. Ulfa has been involved in carrying out serial blasts in the past, notably on August 26, 2004, when seven serial blasts were carried out in five districts in Assam. Six people were killed and over 100 injured in those blasts. But what’s the message behind the blast? Routray maintains that ever since Ulfa’s 28th battalion, based in Myanmar, had come overground in June 2008, the organization was under tremendous pressure to prove that it wasn’t a has-been. ‘‘For Ulfa, the blasts are a demonstration of strength,’’ he says. The security expert concedes that while Ulfa has strong links with HuJI, the latter does not have the capability of carrying out serial blasts in different districts, on its own. ‘‘However, the involvement of HuJI cannot be ruled out,’’ he says. Security analyst Ved Marwah maintains that Ulfa and HuJI have linked up in Assam. ‘‘The links really strengthened after the last state assembly elections,’’ says Marwah, who has also served as governor of Mizoram and Manipur. Marwah, now an honorary professor at the Centre for Policy Research, feels that Assam has become a tinderbox due to the shortsighted policies of political parties. ‘‘When secular parties play the communal card, then we have a long problem to face. Today, Muslim fundamentalist forces have acquired a foothold in Assam politics,’’ he says.
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