Who doesn’t have a nexus with the ULFA?

Less than a month after the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam ‘allowed’ the Congress-led government in Assam to peacefully hold the much-delayed 33rd National Games...

Less than a month after the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) ‘allowed’ the Congress-led government in Assam to peacefully hold the much-delayed 33rd National Games, senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha LK Advani has once again reopened the issue of an alleged nexus between the government and the militant group. This has virtually stirred a hornet’s nest with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi daring the veteran BJP leader and former Union Home Minister to prove his charges.

Advani had on Thursday alleged in Parliament that the Assam government had a secret understanding with the ULFA and he tried to drive home the point by referring to the “omission” of the ULFA in the President’s address. “The mere omission of the ULFA was a clear indication that the government was hand-in-glove with the underground outfit,” Advani had reportedly said. The former Union Home Minister’s reference to a Guwahati-based TV news channel, which had allegedly said that the Congress-led government in the state had “managed” the ULFA by paying some money, has further enraged Chief Minister Gogoi who even said that he would quit politics if Advani could prove the charges.

The ULFA had recently not only denied having taken any money from the government to withdraw its boycott of the National Games, but had also warned the government that the latter should not consider this as the ULFA’s weakness. And, as if that was not enough, the militant group had also asked the private TV news channel to wind up if it could not substantiate its report (of the ULFA taking money) within a month. That deadline for the news channel ends next Tuesday.

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But it remains a fact that political parties have by and large tried to get the ‘blessings’ of the ULFA and other militant groups from time to time, the most favourite time being during elections. Even the militant group has admitted that political parties make use of the ULFA during elections. A few weeks ago, the ULFA had complained that the Congress government made its peace moves and held a few rounds of discussions with an ULFA-nominated body only to tide over the state Assembly elections.

And if one takes a close look at the past two or three state Assembly elections in Assam, it becomes almost clear that the ULFA openly opposes one party or the other and stops short of extending open support to one of them. Though Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi reminded Advani on Friday that Congressmen were today the most favourite targets of the ULFA, what he did not mention was that the BJP-AGP alliance was the worst sufferer during the run-up to the 2001 elections.

Then, there is that famous report saying politicians (and bureaucrats) not only help divert development funds in the North-East to militant groups, but also that some politicians even take their assistance during elections. An expert group appointed by the Union Home Ministry a few years ago had prepared this report. No wonder political parties in the state do not openly criticise or oppose the ULFA.