Silchar: As days pass by after the ghastly ever serial bomb blasts in different parts of Assam, Gogoi government is still caught in blind alleys to identify or name the terrorists and their organisations. Its own intelligence agencies after being cautioned by the Union Home Ministry not long ago were caught napping. Under pressure from the Centre and the opposition parties, the Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, made ambiguous statement about the involvement of ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam), NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland) and quite cautiously not to disturb the traditional vote-bank refused to name HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami) but preferred to point out at a third force based in Bangladesh.
Opposition parties, AGP and BJP in particular, questioned the veracity of the statement of Tarun Gogoi and said they were not ready to take his revelation at its face value. It is an exercise to protect jehadi forces, they pointed out.
In fact, Gogoi government has exposed itself to contradictions despite impeccable evidences with the central intelligence agencies about the involvement of HuJI which has now camouflaged itself as Indian Mujahideen (IM) or Islamic Security Force (ISF), a dubious and nefarious force stationed at Dhaka whose complicity in Varanasi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Delhi and other metropolitan cities has been conclusively proved.
On the very first day of the blasts in Guwahati, Barpeta, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar, IGP of Assam, Khagen Sarma, came out with the statement that jehadi forces were behind the mayhems. ISF-IM sent sms to local TV channel News Live owning responsibility for the blasts. The police is on record that IM-ISF were floated in the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District Council areas, inhabited by the Bodos and other tribals, in 2000 to counter the NDFB and the then Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT).
It is all the more shocking that the Chief Minister happens to be the Home Minister of the State and the police force is supposed to work and even issue statement in coordination with him. AGP chief spokesman Atul Bora reacted, ?this is a clear ploy on the part of Gogoi to cover up the real culprits?. The Chief Minister should name the third force based in Bangladesh, he pointed out.
Toeing the line of the Chief Minister, Assam government spokesman and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was tactful to tell the media-persons ?the investigative team has not given any information regarding the identity of the third force?. As a face saving device from mounting public criticism, the Chief Minister had to call an all-party meeting and decided to hand over investigation into the serial blasts to CBI which is expected to expose the forces, internal and external, behind the genocides of October 30.
Notwithstanding what the Chief Minister and his lieutenant Himanta Biswa Sarma might say for political expediency, the fact remains the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of Union Home Ministry alerted Assam in October 2007 about the possible strike by HuJI. The report said HuJI has planned strikes during Deepawali, the festival of lights, in all major cities and towns not excluding that of Assam. The IB even identified the headquarters of the terrorist outfit at 380-B Khelgaon, Taltula, Dhaka, which has laid down its network firmly in league with ISI. The report further added to say that after infiltrating through the Porous border, HuJI floats or set-up modules. These modules are formed with persons drawn from diverse professions. Accordingly, the IB sent caution missives to the northeast states in respect of the threat-perception as HuJI'stargets would be soft crowded places during festive occasions. It was exactly a year later of this report of SIB that different places of Assam were rocked by bomb blasts during Deepawali. Does the government of Assam need more proof about the identity of the third force?
