NEW DELHI: The former chief minister of Assam, P.K. Mahanta Dec 3 expressed concern over the operations launched by security forces to flush out the secessionist ULFA and alleged that the Centre had imposed “Army rule” in the guise of President’s rule.

On his first visit to the Capital after imposition of President’s rule, he said the govt virtually blacked out all news from upper Assam where most of the operations were being conducted. Many villagers had been forced to leave their homes and kept in temporary camps, he alleged.

I cannot say how long President’s rule will continue, but it will depend on the Congress, how long, it would want to keep the state under Central rule, “he said. According to him, the “Tripura experiment” was sought to be repeated in Assam by the Congress in which the security forces would allegedly be used to further the chances of the Congress during subsequent elections.

Mr Mahanta, who attended the meeting of the National Front presidium, claimed that the Army had so far failed to arrest any hardcore ULFA activist. “Even we bad arrested around 200 ULFA activists before the Central rule was imposed. The Army has now rounded around the same number of Persons”, he claimed. Those arrested so far by the Army were all Low-ranking activists, he added.

SIX CAMPS: At least six camps had been opened in upper Assam where villagers had been kept, he said. Three MPs of the AGP, Mr Nagen Saikla, Mr David Ledger and Ms. Bijoya Chakravartty were camping at Digboi to monitor the developments from the party’s side. The dense forests near Digboi have been the scene of clashes between the security forces and the ULFA activists.

As the first phase of opposing the Central rule, the AGP had called for a statewide bandh last week and future programmes would be decided at a party meeting in Guwahati on December 5. Mr Mahanta said. So far there was no move to pull out from the National Front as alleged in a section of the Press, the AGP president said.

He, however, said the National Front president had been told of his party’s views that frontline parties of the Front, like the Janata Dal should have minimum say in states where the regional parties were preeminent. Mr Mahanta took strong exception to the president of the Assam unit of Janata Dal. Mr Golap Borbora, welcoming the imposition of President’s rule. The party president, Mr S.R. Bomma, had been informed of the AGP’s views on this.

PRE EMINENT POSITION: There had been no discussions within the AGP on severing ties with the Front, he said, but added that the Front should not go back on its cabinet decision to grant the AGP the preeminent position in Assam. Currently, a piquant situation prevailed with the Janata Dal condemning the imposition of Central rule while its state unit chief had welcomed it.

‘According to him, the day the Centre announced President’s rule, the Prime Minister Mr Chandra Shekhar, had asked Mr Mahanta to control the activities of the ULFA while at another level he had been initiating steps to impose Central rule. Alleging duplicity on the part of the Prime Minister, Mr Mahanta claimed that during earlier meetings, Mr Chandra Shekhar had expressed himself in favour of not disturbing the democratic process.

The former chief minister and some of his party leaders would be visiting upper Assam soon to assess the situation in the wake of Army operations.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 21, 1990