Unease in Assam

By Barun Das Gupta

GUWAHATI, OCT. 2. The sweeping victory of the Begum Khaleda Zia- led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alliance in the Bangladesh elections is being viewed here with acute anxiety and unease. ``It bodes ill for us,'' said one of the top men in the Government, requesting anonymity because he did not to want to be seen as commenting on the internal affairs of another country.

The apprehension is justified. Begum Zia, who is going to be the next Prime Minister, openly declared at a public meeting in Mymensingh a couple of years ago her support for the different militant groups in Assam and the North-East region which were ``waging a freedom struggle against India''. The Hasina Government had tried to curb the activities of the ULFA by denying it sanctuary in Bangladesh. Under intense pressure, the ULFA had to close down many of its camps in Bangladesh in the last two years and shift to Arunachal Pradesh. It is being feared that the ULFA will now become active in Bangladesh openly and legally.

Those engaged in counter-insurgency operations recall that it was during Begum Zia's prime ministership that the recently-banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and another fundamentalist group of Assam developed links with the Jamaat-e- Islami of Bangladesh. About 50 to 60 persons, under assumed Hindu names and divided into small groups, were sent to Kashmir and from there to Pakistan - and possibly also to Afghanistan.

Militant activity had considerably declined in Assam in the last couple of years. It is feared that the political change in Bangladesh will come as a shot in the arm for the ULFA and other militant groups who will step up their activities. Sources point out that the ULFA has about Rs. 400 crores deposited in the Sonali Bank and Rupali Bank of Bangladesh and ``huge'' amounts in different banks in the U.S. Now that the assets of Osama bin Laden have been frozen in the U.S. and several other European countries, they think it is time India asked Bangladesh and U.S. to freeze the ULFA's bank accounts too.

During Sheikh Hasina's time, the anti-India activities of the ISI in Bangladesh were curbed and Kathmandu became the main operational base of the ISI in the east. Under the new Government, they fear, Dhaka will become the main ISI outpost in this region.

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