[Assam] Sounds like ranting of a brain imbued with Ganja(Indian Hemp) smoke! To say the least, the ULFA is known to be a protector of the Rhinos of Assam and has a record of punishing poachers of the animal the Assamese adore.

[Bartta Bistar]

*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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