Rajkhowa says he has not surrendered

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LFA 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa today said he has not surrendered and asserted he will never do so.

"Surrender nai kora, nokoru (I have not surrendered and I will not surrender) was Rajkhowa's one-line statement as he was taken to the Kamrup chief judicial magistrate's court amid speculation whether he had surrendered or was arrested.

ULFA 'deputy commander-in-chief' Raju Barua and Rajkhowa's bodyguard Raja Bora were also produced.

The trio, along with their family members, were brought to the court in a bus under stringent security escorted by senior police officials in a convoy.

As the ULFA leaders were being taken into the court, a group of people in the crowd shouted 'ULFA zindabad' (long live ULFA) and were immediately taken into custody.

The gates of the court closed as soon as the Rajkhowa and others were taken inside.

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No lasting solution if talks held sans Paresh Barua: experts

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rrest of ULFA 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa may have triggered hopes for talks to settle Assam's vexed insurgency problem but both experts and members of the group maintain that without 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua there can be no lasting solution.

"Paresh Barua is someone who cannot be ignored altogether. If the government is planning to go ahead with talks by involving the 'chairman', then it is a big mistake," said noted litterateur and former facilitator for peace talks Indira Goswami.

"The government may have its reasons, but the person controlling the cadres and cash cannot be ignored. All said and done, peace talks without Barua will be futile and counter-productive," the former Delhi University professor said.

Former state police chief Harekrishna Deka said Rajkhowa's detention may have paved the way for a dialogue between the group and the Centre but if Barua is out of the process, then there will be no end to violence in the state.

"Barua will go all out to create disturbances in the state as he still has his group of followers and he will be desperate to prove the group's strength," he said.

ULFA's arrested 'vice chairman' Pradip Gogoi also asserted that both Rajkhowa and Barua must be present for talks.

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Talks without Paresh Barua unrealistic: ULFA

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eace talks without ULFA's 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Barua was not possible and the demand for sovereignty cannot be given up, three top arrested leaders of the group said on Thursday.

"It is possible to hold talks within the framework of the Constitution but talks without Barua would be unrealistic and would not solve the problem...sovereignty must be the basis for talks though whether it will be achieved or not, the future alone can tell," ULFA 'publicity secretary' Mithinga Daimary told reporters.

Daimary was produced before the Kamrup chief judicial magistrate's court along with ULFA 'vice president' Pradip Gogoi and 'cultural secretary' Pranati Deka during the day in connection with several cases. On 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa's surrender, Daimary said "Things are different now."

Talks held with the chairman in custody cannot be the same as had he been free. "The chairman alone cannot take certain decisions but the entire general council of the group has to decide on the future course of action," he said. There is no division in ULFA and "if our ideals are respected and honoured we are ready for talks", Deka said.

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Assam Police sounds alert fearing Ulfa backlash

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UWAHATI: Police have sounded an alert across Assam fearing attacks by a section of Ulfa militants loyal to their "commander-in-chief", Paresh
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Baruah, following chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa's reported arrest in Bangladesh. The move comes amid reports that there are differences of opinion between Rajkhowa and Baruah regarding peace parleys. Security agencies here fear that Ulfa rebels supporting Baruah's stand might launch an offensive, including triggering blasts.

According to intelligence reports, some Ulfa cadres are planning to launch an offensive in protest against the latest developments and a section of lower-rung Ulfa militants may carry out subversive activities in the state, including Guwahati.

"I have alerted police and we are prepared to face any attempts by Ulfa to create terror," said chief minister Tarun Gogoi.

An Assam police official said, "We have information that some rebels may try to create problems after Rajkhowa's detention as they tried to do after two top Ulfa leaders "foreign secretary" Sasadhar Choudhury and "finance secretary" Chitrabon Hazarika were arrested last month. We have alerted all police stations keeping in mind the latest development."

Hours after Choudhury and Hazarika were produced at a local court here on November 7, two Ulfa rebels had attacked Nalbari SP Jitmol Doloi and opened fire in protest against their arrests. Doloi, however, escaped unhurt and police commandos gunned down the two rebels.

On November 6, the two rebel leaders were handed over to police by BSF personnel in Tripura. They were reportedly detained in Dhaka on November 1 and "pushed back" to India.

After the November 24 twin bomb blasts in Nalbari, police had blamed Ulfa and said it was the handiwork of some "disillusioned members" of the outfit to avenge the arrest of the two top leaders. The two explosions near Nalbari police station, about 60 km from here, had killed eight people and injured over 50.

Security has been beefed up throughout the state, particularly in Sivasagar, Rajkhowa's hometown, with patrolling being intensified around vital installations. Police in Guwahati, too, have stepped up vigil at crowded market places, flyovers and all entry and exit points to prevent terror strikes by Ulfa.

"Guwahati is under constant threat of militant strikes. There is possibility of strikes by Ulfa. Recently, a senior journalist was threatened by suspected Ulfa cadres after he hosted a show on Ulfa-government talks. This points to the fact that some Ulfa supporters are disappointed over the recent developments," said a senior police officer.

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Assam school to get Rs 40 lakh from MP Manmohan

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UWAHATI: A dusty 3-km trek away from NH-52 in Darrang district's sleepy Hazarikapara village stands Jatiya Vidyalaya, class VIII student
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Dhanjita Das's school.

Now, this decrepit structure with thatched walls and tin roof will be getting a Rs 40-lakh makeover, thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who Assam's Rajya Sabha MP,too.

Last month, Dhanjita had met Singh as part of a delegation of talented students in New Delhi. Her description of the school bereft of some basic facilities, with even a hint of floods forcing it to remain closed for months during her interaction with him prompted Singh to allocate Rs 400,000 under the MP Local Area Development fund. The money will be used for an overall development of Jatiya Vidyalaya, the only educational centre within a 10-km radius.

Darrang deputy commissioner Dhrubojyoti Hazarika said a detailed project report has been prepared and sent to the PMO for approval. The building plan has also been prepared with the help of the PWD executive engineer. "As soon as the money (Rs 40 Lakh) reaches us, it will be used for overall improvement of the school, including the building," Hazarika added.

Surrounded by an expanse of golden yellow paddy fields, the Jatiya Vidyalaya is like any other school in Assam's remote villages ---- forlorn and forgotten. It's Dhanjita's efforts that have drawn the Prime Minister's attention to her school. There are about 643 primary schools in Darrang, and about 90 per cent of them are under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

"The Prime Minister certainly has a large heart. Otherwise, why should he be so kind to a small school, and that too, after a little girl's appeal? We can't help but feel proud of him," Dhanjita's elated father, Purna Das, said. Purna felt that the school, where 300-odd children study, has been in a sorry state for years owing to lack of funds.

In recent years, a concrete building had been constructed with donation from a US-based Assamese NRI, Bhabani Sarma. The school has provisions for up to ClassX. But its classrooms have thatched walls and a tin roof. "We got Rs 2 Lakh from the former Mangaldoi MP. That amount was used in the foundation of the school. As there were no more funds, the walls are still thatched," he added.

Basanta Deka, president of The Mangaldoi Unnayan Parishad, a development NGO in the district headquarters town, said, "This (Prime Minister's allocation of Rs 40 Lakh) gesture has proved that he truly cares for Assam."

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Peace process sans Paresh won't be fruitful: Jailed Ulfa leaders

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UWAHATI/DIBRUGARH: Amid reports of Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa's arrest in Bangladesh, some jailed leaders of the banned outfit said peace
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negotiations would not be fruitful if their "commander-in-chief" Paresh Baruah is kept out of the process.

They feel that it would be difficult for Rajkhowa alone to take a decision on peace talks. "The process will not be fruitful if Paresh Baruah is not involved in the process. Besides, the outfit's demand for sovereignty' should be taken into account," said Ulfa publicity secretary' Mithinga Daimari, who is in Guwahati Central Jail at present.

"Peace talks depend mainly on the Centre's response to Ulfa's demand for sovereignty," said the outfit's jailed cultural secretary, Pranati Deka. She added that only the general council of the outfit can take a decision on it.

Outfit's vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi, who is also in Guwahati Central jail, urged social organizations of the state to play a positive role at this crucial juncture.

Paresh Baruah's mother, too, said if the proposed peace process was initiated without her son, it will be a futile exercise. "All the boys (the Ulfa leadership) had set out on a journey to achieve something for Assam. And if negotiations are held without Paresh, then the entire thing will lose its meaning," 84-year old Miliki Baruah said in Dibrugarh.

"Peace will not return if he is left out of the talk process. If the government has the capacity, then it should bring all of them (Ulfa leaders hiding in other countries) back. All the boys went together to realize a common goal. Then why is the government bringing back some and leaving out the others?" she questioned.

However, she was "confident" that her son would return if the government can convince him about its intentions.

On the other hand, AGP, the biggest opposition party in the state, has appealed to the government not to repeat past mistakes in the name of peace talks with militant outfits.

"We have experience of peace talks. In 1991, the Centre initiated peace parleys with a section of rebel leaders but it failed. In 2005, the People's Consultative Group (PCG) formed to initiate the process held three rounds of discussions, but it also flunked," AGP chief Chandra Mohan Patowari said on Thursday.

"We want the state government and the Centre to go for a process where the whole group of Ulfa could be brought to the negotiating table. This will herald a lasting solution to the state's insurgency problem," he added.

Patowari said the peace process would never succeed if a single faction of the outfit is left outside. He added that the government must learn from its past mistakes and should try to bring the entire outfit to the negotiating table.

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LeT duo admits role in B'lore blasts

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HILLONG: The two Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, who were handed over to India by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) near the Indo-Bangla border in
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Meghalaya on Wednesday, have reportedly admitted their involvement in the serial blasts that rocked Bangalore last year.

"Nazir Tarian Dabede (25), alias T Nazir, told interrogators of Meghalaya Police and BSF that he had planted the bombs along with another person, Rahim," a top police official said here on Thursday. "The duo did not admit their involvement in the 2005 terror attack on the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in Bangalore," the official said.

Nazir, a bomb expert, and another LeT operative, Siraj Shamshudeen Shamas, 33, were handed over to BSF by BDR on Wednesday at Erbamon village in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills after the two security agencies had shared intelligence inputs about their presence in that country.

The militants, who were on Thursday remanded to a day's judicial custody by the additional district magistrate, are likely to be taken to Bangalore on Friday.

A team from Bangalore Police, led by an ACP, has arrived here and formalities were on to take the two militants to Karnataka, officials said. Incidentally, the LeT duo is from Kerala.

Nazir and Siraj, who were in Bangladesh about a year, have reportedly revealed some "vital information" about their bases in south India during the interrogation.

Nazir's name surfaced in February last year when Mohammed Yahya Kammukutty, 31 was arrested as part of a probe into a SIMI network in Karnataka that has already led to the arrest of six youths, including four medical students, from the northern part of the southern state. Kammukutty is a resident of Mukkom in Kerala's Kozhikode district.

The police officer said Nazir also revealed during interrogation that five new LeT recruits had gone to PoK for a five-month training after the Bangalore blasts. "Four of them were killed by the army, while the whereabouts of one are not known yet," the official added.

Nazir and Siraj reportedly told of the existence of the LeT's bases in UAE, Qatar and Bahrain. The duo was first interrogated at the Pynursla police station and later brought to Laban police station in Shillong where they were being quizzed by a special Meghalaya Police team and central security agencies, the sources said.

Intelligence agencies suspect that a Lashker "commander" had been in touch with Nazir and the duo was on a "recruitment spree" following ISI's orders.

Nazir was arrested after FBI's inputs to Bangladesh about LeT's plan to carry out attacks on the US embassy and the Indian high commission in Dhaka last month. The US agency had unearthed the LeT plan after interrogating the terror duo David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana in Chicago for plotting attacks on India and Denmark.

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