Guwahati, Feb. 1: Dispur is set to brief Delhi on pressing security issues concerning Assam on Wednesday, four days ahead of the third Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security convened on February 7.
Sources said chief secretary P.C. Sharma, who is in Delhi attending the two-day first Annual Conference of Chief Secretaries beginning today, would meet Union home secretary G.K. Pillai on Wednesday to brief him about security issues in the state.
The meeting assumes significance as the Union home ministry, in a letter to Dispur last month, wanted to know about the “threat” posed by designated camps accommodating rebels who had laid down arms, problems with ongoing and proposed ceasefire groups, steps to begin talks with Ulfa, issues on state police modernisation, funding of designated camps and the forthcoming elections to the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD).
The pressing issues that Sharma is likely to bring up before Pillai included the much awaited laying down of arms by the Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), follow-up measures to restorelasting peace in North Cachar Hills district after the DHD (J) gave up arms in October, funds for running the designated camps and non-withdrawal of security forces from the state.
Sharma, the sources said, would not only be articulating the ground situation and the response of the state to these situations but also seeking support from the Centre to resolve these situations.
“It will be an one-to-one. The state government is awaiting a clearance from the Centre on the KLNLF. Similarly, it would like the Centre to take it into confidence before initiating a move vis-à-vis the Ulfa,” one of the sources said.
“The state government was virtually in the dark when Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa was netted in Bangladesh. Dispur would not like to be in the same position again. He will also seek to know the areas in which the proposed chief minister’s conclave on internal security will deal with so that Dispur can come adequately prepared,” the source said.
Though there has been no official confirmation, the hands-on Pillai, the sources said, would be visiting Kokrajhar on February 10 with an official delegation to review the law and order situation in the four BTAD districts where killings, kidnappings and extortions were on the rise since 2008.
The BTAD comprises Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa and Chirang districts.
There is a fear that bloodletting in the run-up to the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls in April could rise given the fluid political situation in the area, more so with the ruling Congress seriously weighing its options of contesting the elections alone.
The Congress is in alliance with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) that controls the BTC, at Dispur. The AGP is also seeking allies to contest the BTAD polls.
Security sources, however, said the fear of bloodletting is being fanned by those with political interests.
“Redeployment of existing forces and some additional deployment will take care of the situation. Elections can be held if the government so desires. If proper steps are taken, we see no problem. Polls can be held whenever it is scheduled,” a security official said when asked about the law and order situation vis-à-vis the ensuing elections.
The BTC has to be constituted by May 16.
Guwahati, Feb. 1: Dispur is set to brief Delhi on pressing security issues concerning Assam on Wednesday, four days ahead of the third Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security convened on February 7.
Sources said chief secretary P.C. Sharma, who is in Delhi attending the two-day first Annual Conference of Chief Secretaries beginning today, would meet Union home secretary G.K. Pillai on Wednesday to brief him about security issues in the state.
The meeting assumes significance as the Union home ministry, in a letter to Dispur last month, wanted to know about the “threat” posed by designated camps accommodating rebels who had laid down arms, problems with ongoing and proposed ceasefire groups, steps to begin talks with Ulfa, issues on state police modernisation, funding of designated camps and the forthcoming elections to the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD).
The pressing issues that Sharma is likely to bring up before Pillai included the much awaited laying down of arms by the Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), follow-up measures to restorelasting peace in North Cachar Hills district after the DHD (J) gave up arms in October, funds for running the designated camps and non-withdrawal of security forces from the state.
Sharma, the sources said, would not only be articulating the ground situation and the response of the state to these situations but also seeking support from the Centre to resolve these situations.
“It will be an one-to-one. The state government is awaiting a clearance from the Centre on the KLNLF. Similarly, it would like the Centre to take it into confidence before initiating a move vis-à-vis the Ulfa,” one of the sources said.
“The state government was virtually in the dark when Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa was netted in Bangladesh. Dispur would not like to be in the same position again. He will also seek to know the areas in which the proposed chief minister’s conclave on internal security will deal with so that Dispur can come adequately prepared,” the source said.
Though there has been no official confirmation, the hands-on Pillai, the sources said, would be visiting Kokrajhar on February 10 with an official delegation to review the law and order situation in the four BTAD districts where killings, kidnappings and extortions were on the rise since 2008.
The BTAD comprises Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa and Chirang districts.
There is a fear that bloodletting in the run-up to the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls in April could rise given the fluid political situation in the area, more so with the ruling Congress seriously weighing its options of contesting the elections alone.
The Congress is in alliance with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) that controls the BTC, at Dispur. The AGP is also seeking allies to contest the BTAD polls.
Security sources, however, said the fear of bloodletting is being fanned by those with political interests.
“Redeployment of existing forces and some additional deployment will take care of the situation. Elections can be held if the government so desires. If proper steps are taken, we see no problem. Polls can be held whenever it is scheduled,” a security official said when asked about the law and order situation vis-à-vis the ensuing elections.
The BTC has to be constituted by May 16.
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