Assam CM Gogoi sees Maoists-ISI axis behind insurgency

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday said the insurgency situation in the state had assumed a new dimension with Maoists trying to strike an alliance with insurgent groups, and the involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence in it.

Briefing the media after a closed-door meeting with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram at the Raj Bhwan in Guwahati on Sunday morning, Gogoi said, "Though the insurgency-related violence has come down in the state there is, however, no scope for getting complacent in view of news about Maoists infiltration and the ISI trying to get involved in it. The security review meeting took into consideration the need for evolving a new strategy in view of Maoists infiltrating some districts of Assam in coordination with local insurgent groups, which are already being backed by ISI."

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram took stock of the insurgency situation and the status of peace process with various insurgent groups in Assam in the meeting with Gogoi and the Centre's peace interlocutor and former IB chief P C Haldar. 

Gogoi said that the state government requested the Centre for special fund that is provided to naxal-affected states in the country to facilitate rehabilitation of surrendered militants as well as more central forces to prevent insurgents from making fresh strikes. "We now have 86 companies of central paramilitary forces and 13 more companies are coming back to the state after election duty in Uttar Pradesh. We want at least 125 companies in total," Gogoi said.

The meeting also focused on the N-E insurgent base in Myanmar (western part) bordering North East. "It has been a matter of concern for us that Myanmar has become a hub of insurgent groups from North East, which have coordination with Kachin Independent Army, taking advantage of lack of proper control in a particular region of that country. We have to revamp our counter-insurgency strategy to tackle the problem," Gogoi said.

Chidambaram on Sunday reviewed the status of peace process with various insurgent groups in Assam including ULFA (pro-talks), NDFB (progressive), both factions of Dima Halam Daogah, Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) and discuss with Gogoi and Haldar how the government was planning to carry forward the peace processes.

Gogoi further said that he was in favour of the Central government's decision to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre given the new dimension of terrorism tackling that needed not only cooperation within the country but with international community.

Gogoi said, "I don't believe that the Central government will do anything while tackling terrorism without consulting the concerned states."