Wow! Isn't that something? Is that extraordinary courage on Tarun
Gogi's part or what?
But seriously, I am glad to see that at long last it has dawned
on the powers at be at Dispur that something isn't quite right about
the darwan-General's pronouncements and that it might not exactly be
compatible with democratic governance of a state in a federal
union.
At 4:47 PM +0000 2/18/06, Bartta Bistar wrote:
Assam governor may be recalled?
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action="">
Guwahati: The Assam government may soon consider requesting President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to recall Governor Lt. Gen. (retired) Ajai Singh following mounting differences over vital policy matters.
"I will definitely take up the matter with the appropriate authority," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters Saturday on asked if the government was seeking a change of the governor.
"We have many differences in opinion and the governor's views on certain things differ from what we think."
The chief minister was reacting to questions posed by journalists on whether the army was being guided by the governor in carrying out anti-insurgency operations independently bypassing the state government in recent weeks.
The possibility of the governor being recalled has heightened with assembly elections round the corner. Relations between the governor and the chief minister have worsened in recent months.
On the eve of the Republic Day, the governor had told journalists that holding peace parleys with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was a meaningless exercise. Instead of talks, the rebels should surrender and join the mainstream or else face the military.
"They (ULFA) should surrender and seek rehabilitation or should face the security personnel," the governor had said.
"What is there to talk? There is nothing to be discussed with militant groups. They use these talks to regroup and come back."
Gogoi lashed out at the governor for his views.
"We do not give much importance to the governor's personal views on talks with the ULFA and other militancy-related issues," the chief minister said.
Singh's statement is contrary to New Delhi's policy of tackling insurgency through peace talks in Assam and the other northeastern states.
He had earlier locked horns with Gogoi over the issue of illegal influx of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam, saying some 6,000 people enter through the border daily.
Has army bypassed Assam government?
http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action="">
By Syed Zarir Hussain, Guwahati: Many are asking if the military is operating independently in Assam, bypassing the state government, after the death of a suspected rebel in army custody and the subsequent killing of nine protestors in police firing.
The clash in which police opened fire on thousands of protesters in eastern Assam erupted after a local villager, Ajit Mahanta, was picked up by the army on suspicion of having militant links. He allegedly died in their custody a day later Feb 6.
The army ordered an internal probe to investigate the matter. The state government says army soldiers picked up Mahanta on their own without the knowledge of the civil administration and police. The army authorities are yet to react to the government's version.
But if the government version is to be believed then there is a big question mark over the functioning of the Unified Headquarters where the army, paramilitary and police are supposed to work in tandem in countering insurgency.
The Unified Headquarters came into being in 1997 with the state's chief secretary as the head of the strategic group with clear guidelines being given that the army would carry out operations or pick up suspects in the presence of a magistrate and police.
The question now is if the army is working independently or is the state government losing control of the Unified Headquarters.
"We need to seriously discuss these things threadbare so as to avoid any communication gap in the Unified Headquarters," a senior Assam police official said requesting anonymity.
The fallout of the alleged custodial death and the subsequent police firing in Assam's Tinsukia district has already evoked sharp reactions from opposition political parties, students and rights groups, besides common people.
"We have requested the president to withdraw army operations from Assam as they are committing excesses on innocent civilians in the name of anti-insurgency operations," Dilip Saikia, senior opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader, told IANS.
"It is true the army is acting on its own. The state government must resign as they failed to control the army from killing innocent people". Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had deputed four senior ministers to cool tempers in the emotionally charged Tinsukia district - but the lawmakers failed in their efforts.
Assembly elections in Assam are due in April-May and this incident has already become a live issue with the opposition capitalising on it to the maximum. The state government, however, has failed to read the situation.
There were simmering protests soon after the news of the alleged custodial death came in. But the authorities were slow in reacting.
"The government should have immediately reacted by ordering a probe to investigate the custodial death. Some senior ministers should have visited the spot to heal the wounds and as a confidence building measure," an analyst said.
But nothing happened until some 20,000 people Feb 10 took to the streets with some of them threatening to set ablaze a police station. Unable to control the mob, police opened fired that killed nine people.
A week has elapsed but the government is yet to come up with a formal explanation as to what led to the police firing or how Mahanta was killed. Unless the ruling Congress government comes clean on this issue, it would be a real tightrope walk for the party in the upcoming elections.
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