*The height of Ulfa hyprocrisy* http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=14&theme=&usrsess=1&id=162134
Anil Bhat IN a recent issue of its mouthpiece, Freedom, the Ulfa dwelt on environment-friendly technology, the use of fuel from more various sources and development in agriculture being necessary for Assam's progress. It said, "An atmosphere for developing integrity among the races and tribes must be created along with maintaining a balance of the environment." As far as taking the initiative in Assam befitting the international endeavour to protect the environment, it says, "Activities like free excavation in Assam, drilling for natural gas and its subsequent burning, building dams on the rivers of Arunachal Pradesh are pillage by occupational forces and exploitative political decisions." Such "advice" from an outfit that is fast losing public sympathy is nothing short of ridiculous. Because not only has it contributed most generously to degrading the physical environment in Assam and neighbouring states, it is also working hard to destroy government property meant for the needs and welfare of the Assamese people, whose cause it claims to champion, aided and abetted by countries and organisations inimical to India. It has been a strong catalyst in a serious demographic invasion of Assam which, in turn, has also caused ecological disturbance. When the Army was first deployed to tackle Ulfa at its camps in the Lakhipathar and Saraiphung forests, to what extent it had damaged the land came to light. Camps were set up in these dense jungles by indiscriminately felling trees, killing animals, littering the areas around with dumped muck and, worst of all, burying murdered victims in shallow graves. This was, and is being repeated, in every other area where they have set up camps, including neighbouring states and countries. A news agency in 1997 quoted a Traffic-India report stating that a growing demand for rhino horn in east Asia and its barter for arms by North-east extremists was pushing the Indian one-horned rhinoceros to the brink of extinction. Rhino horns, which can fetch anything up to Rs 8 lakh a kg, are bartered by militants with poaching syndicates in Nagaland and neighbouring Myanmar for arms. The report said, "Some evidence of such exchange came to light in Manas, as also in the case of horns from Kaziranga, bartered for arms in Nagaland and Myanmar." It continued that the Assamese and Naga ultras even sold the horns to fund their activities. The World Conservation Union in its report in June 2001 said it was informed that insurgency continued to be a problem in sanctuaries. A large number of Ulfa militants reportedly moved into the Manas wildlife sanctuary in December 2000 from the Bhutan side. This followed the alleged infighting in Ulfa camps in September 2000. Poaching continues to be a serious problem at this site. There has been a major decline in the number of rhino over the past 10-15 years as also of elephants and swamp deer. By actively assisting in settling and supporting illegal Bangladeshi migrants in many parts of Assam, Ulfa has caused demographic changes and displaced animals from their age-old habitats, which adversely affect the environment. In December 2006, the Army nabbed three Ulfa militants in Assam with a haul of brown sugar worth Rs 10.3 million. This was the clear evidence that the the KIO junta duet in Myanmar had an Ulfa angle. The porous India-Myanmarese border opens market for drugs, with Ulfa acting as an intermediary that finances its hit squads with illegal business investments and transportation of contraband commodities. In many of its camps raided by the Army, since the late 1990s, large amounts of drugs were recovered. In the wake of many seizures of cannabis, the trafficking routes, identified by security forces and law enforcement agencies, run through Rowta, Rangiya and Udalgiri. Ulfa is useful for the Myanmarese junta both as a business partner and as a bargaining chip against India, which cheers Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement. Yangon tries to prove itself "useful" to India by occasionally cracking the whip on Ulfa and the NSCN(K) while not entirely smashing their hideouts on its soil. This delicate strategy of keeping the Ulfa menace simmering enables Yangon to buy New Delhi's tolerance for the absence of democracy in Myanmar. India ends up as the biggest loser of this triangular Junta-KIO-Ulfa game that is destroying the social fabric and economy of Assam. Besides all these anti-people and anti-national activities, this is the same group which has extorted undisclosed amounts of money from people, destroyed many bridges, railway lines, oil installations and killed thousands of innocent and unarmed people as well as provided henchmen to kill leaders in Bangladesh, where its leaders live in luxury, owning at least seven hotels and actively involved in the circulation of fake Indian currency in Assam and the North-east on behalf of Pakistan's Dhaka-based ISI. And yet Ulfa dares to preach the message of environment conservation! (The author, a security analyst, is chief editor, WordSword Features & Media.)
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