Ritam Banati
Guwahati: The 2009 New Year began with a blast for Assam. A bomb blast. The serial explosions occurred just before Home Minister P Chidambaram visited the state and despite the tight security that was in place at the time. Guwahati was rocked by three explosions in 3 places that time which injured 20 people.
Among the blasts were also the ones that created panic in the Maligaon & Dhekiajuli areas of the capital city. The April explosions were on the eve of PM Manmohan Singh’s visit to address LS poll rallies.
Incidentally Singh is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam. In all 13 got killed and scores sustained wounds.
Among the year`s latest terror-related incidents in Assam were the twin blasts that shook the Nalbari town on November 22. The explosions took place in front of the police station and killed eight commoners besides wounding 50. ULFA was suspected to be behind the same.
The ULFA targeted a goods train, which was carrying high-speed diesel from Numaligarh refinery in upper Assam, with explosions that resulted in the loss of around Rs 35 million.
Then in a serious setback to the militant outfit, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa`s got arrested in Bangladesh following which a security alert was sounded through out the state. After he agreed to join the peace process, it raised hopes for normalcy to be restored in the North-East.
Meanwhile ULFA said that any dialogue seeking peace would be meaningless without the Commander-in-chief of ULFA Paresh Barua. Barua has called upon the government to either hold dialogue on the issue of sovereignty or hold a “plebiscite” to resolve the three-decade-old “India-Assam conflict”.
