Assam for Muslims

GUWAHATI, Feb 1 – In a corroboration of what has been suspected all along, a former super sleuth of Intelligence Bureau (IB) has confirmed that ‘Assam for Muslims’ was and continues to be a potent programme of the communalist Muslim organisations in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Open Secrets, India’s Intelligence Unveiled by former Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau, Maloy Krishna Dhar, is likely to leave the Congress Party in general and a few of its leaders in particular red faced, as sinister plots including designs to topple elected Governments, links with fundamentalist organisations and underground outfits get uncovered, says a report in The Assam Tribune by its New Delhi correspondent Kalyan Barooah.
“There are ample scopes for a dispassionate analysis of the historic imbalances that Assam suffered from for over seven decades and the dubious roles played by the Indian National Congress, Indira Congress and the fanatic Muslim political and religious organisations. The gaping fault line created in Assam was not overlooked by Pakistan and its successor regime in Bangladesh,” Dhar commented.
“It should be sufficient to say that senior Congress leaders like Nehru and Sardar Patel had almost agreed to cede Assam and Eastern Bengal to Pakistan as demanded by MA Jinnah. Nationalist leaders like Gopinath Bordoloi and Mahatma Gandhi saved Assam and the rest of the North East for India,” he further said.
Dhar, who has had long stints in the North East and was no stranger to the region’s political inner dynamics, was himself a key player in several of the sordid dramas of toppling elected Governments in Assam and Manipur.
Did the then Chief Minister, late Hiteswar Saikia had a hand in formation of the outlawed ULFA? He had, if you believe the super sleuth.
In a startling revelation that is sure to create a storm in the State, Dhar has concluded that Hiteswar Saikia’s hands were clearly discernible behind the formation of the ULFA in 1979. The plot further thickens with further revelations that Saikia had developed close links with top ULFA leaders belonging to the Ahom community including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, C-in-C, Paresh Baruah and Anoop Chetia.
A close acquaintance of the then Chief Minister, late Hiteswar Saikia, he was closely involved with Operations Bajrang and Rhino against the ULFA. It was also revealed that Saikia too was closely involved in planning and execution of Operation Bajrang. “The nitty-gritty of Operation Bajrang was worked out in collaboration with Hiteswar Saikia and certain key human assets provided by him. The wily Ahom leader had developed key human assets, mostly drawn from the Nepali, Bengali and Muslim communities. These assets were contacted in Calcutta and in certain rural locations in Meghalaya, he disclosed in his book.
Hiteswar’s Ahom ethnicity had helped him in establishing equation with Ahom Muttock (Thai-Ahom origin) leaders like Arabindo Rajkhowa, Golap Barua, Prodip Gogoi and Paresh Baruah.
“Some chilling details of Hiteswar’s linkages with the breakaway AASU leaders, who cobbled up with ULFA, were narrated to me by Samiran way back in 1981 during one of his clandestine visits to Delhi. At that point of time, I had treated his story as another application of dirty tricks by the inner coterie of Indira Gandhi,” Dhar wrote.
“That was the salient point of time when Indira Congress leaders like Hiteswar Saikia and Lalit Doley extended tacit support to the ULFA faction of the AASU and AAGSP. They blindly tried to use the Ahom nationalist card against the Muslims. Hiteswar did not do anything new. The Congress Party has the distinguished history of supporting divisive forces in the North East to its political advantage,” he said.
“My personal awareness of the complicated interrelationship between the ULFA and AASU and AGP, on the one hand, and the cream of the Indira Congress leaders on the other gave a creeping feeling. The feeling arose not out of version for Hiteswar. He was one of the illustrious flag posts of Indian nationalism in the North East.
“The allegation that he had patronised the early ULFA dialogues and extreme separatist was not unique in Indian politics. He followed the footsteps of his illustrious political colleagues, who, almost around the same time, had crafted out another Frankenstein in Punjab,” Dhar commended.
ULFA had gunned down number of Saikia’s close relatives including his brother.
“I had done what I had to do to help Hiteswar. But I had no illusion that he was the person responsible for aiding and abetting Indira Congress leaders like Santosh Mohan Dev to incite the Muslims, North Cachar tribals and the Bodos to organise dirty games against the AASU and the AGP.
On the much-flaunted Operation Bajrang, the man who was in thick of it described it as a mixed bag. “Operation Bajrang offered us a mixed bag. The infected layers in the Assam administration had leaked out information about the impending Army operations. Most of the camps were abandoned by the ULFA leaders, some in the nick of the moment, leaving behind huge cash (over 50 million) and gold bars.
Certain recovered materials indicated that ULFA leaders and cadres either believed in family planning or took abundant precaution against AIDS. They enjoyed sex! It was revealed.
The former IB joint Director also confirms ULFA close links with ISI of Pakistan and DGFI of Bangladesh. Though the top leadership of ULFA had taken shelter in Bangladesh with active support of the ISI operatives and under the tutelage of the DGFI, its massive organisational wings managed to strengthen grass root support inside Assam.
Dhar’s narrative indicated that there were differences between Home Ministry and Saikia’s Government over the move to split the ULFA in 1991. The Home Ministry was recommended by IB to mount another round of operations to soften up the fringe elements.
The then Union Minister of State for Home Subodh Kant Sahai on a tour of the State was informed by Governor D.D.Thakur that a section of ULFA headed by publicity secretary, Sunil Nath was ready for negotiations with the government. This move was based on certain false indices. Thakur’s legal acumen was not matched by his political wisdom,” Dhar said.
The ULFA was already sucked into the ISI and DGFI network. The internal security imbroglio in Assam had acquired foreign support.