ASSAM: ULFA BLAST DURING PM VISIT. PROSPECT OF PEACE TALKS

UNCLAS KOLKATA 000114 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PTER PHUM CASC IN SUBJECT: ASSAM: ULFA BLAST DURING PM VISIT. PROSPECT OF PEACE TALKS LOW REF: KOLKATA 000084 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On April 8, a bomb carried by boys working for the secessionist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) accidentally detonated earlier than planned and killed one person in Guwahati, Assam. The explosion took place during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's April 8-9 to the state. Earlier in the month, another ULFA attack, which injured 15 people, preceded a statewide strike organized by the wives of missing ULFA militants against alleged police atrocities. The attacks by ULFA are intended to put pressure on the GOI to hold talks with the group on the issue of Assam's sovereignty. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has expressed his willingness to hold talks without preconditions, but not on the sovereignty issue, and a resolution appears unlikely. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) On April 8, an explosion killed one person in Guwahati, Assam, shortly before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to address a gathering and lay the foundation stone for a second bridge over the Brahmaputra river. The blast occurred within 10 kilometers of Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, where the Prime Minster was scheduled to speak. Police said that two boys were carrying the explosives on a motorcycle when they hit a speed bump. The boys lost control of the cycle and fell, detonating the bomb. In response to the bomb, the Assam state government has sounded an alert in Upper Assam, as the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the city of Dibrugarh on April 9 to lay the foundation stone of the Assam Gas Cracker Project. A senior police official told Post that ULFA was responsible for the attack, and is trying to pressure the government to hold talks on the sovereignty of Assam. He said that a number of explosives have been recovered by the police over the past few days. ¶3. (U) On April 3, a grenade blast in a busy marketplace in Guwahati injured 15 people. Police also discovered another bomb inside the Army Supply Corps base at Bhalukmora on the border between Jorhat and Golaghat districts. Improvised explosive devices and other explosives were also found in a rice paddy field at Sutagaon in Jorhat district. The April 3 attack occurred on the eve of a 12-hour statewide bandh (strike) called by ULFA to protest alleged police atrocities committed against the wives of ULFA members missing since the December 2003 Bhutan military operations against ULFA's bases in Bhutan. Six women have been on a "fast-unto-death" hunger strike since March 21 demanding information on their husbands' whereabouts. On March 30, Assam police took the women into custody on charges of attempt to commit suicide and admitted them into a hospital for medical care. ¶4. (SBU) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, on March 29, turned down a plea organized by the People's Committee for Peace Initiatives for talks with ULFA on sovereignty or a plebiscite on the issue. Gogoi was also sent a copy of a memorandum suggesting a plebiscite on the future of Assam addressed to the President of India by wives of missing ULFA leaders. Gogoi said that Delhi was ready to hold unconditional talks with the ULFA, but there was no point discussing the sovereignty issue as no government could concede to such a demand. On March 30, ULFA ruled out unconditional talks with the government, saying its cadres had reached the stage of conducting attacks with bombs attached to their bodies. ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa warned that the situation would turn violent if issues of identity, nationality and birthrights were not taken seriously, and complained that the Gogoi was reduced to parroting the GOI line. However, on March 31, the Assam government renewed its plea to ULFA to come forward for negotiations without preconditions. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Despite Indian Army and paramilitary operations, ULFA's campaign of violence and extortion in Assam continues. Some members of the Assam Police have complained that they are unable to tackle ULFA because of confusing signals from their political leadership - calls to bring ULFA to the negotiating table mixed with promises to "crack down" on the group. In addition, rumors of high-level corruption and of "important people" placating ULFA are complicating the situation further. End Comment. JARDINE