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G Vinayak in Guwahati
Bhutan's interior ministry is planning pre-emptive measures to prevent the local population from being caught in the crossfire during proposed military action against extremist groups from Assam hiding in various camps in the southern jungles of the Himalayan Kingdom.
According to the state-run weekly Kuensel, Bhutanese Home Minister Lyonpo Trinley Gyamtsho is planning to shift the people of the border areas if necessary to deal with the threat posed by militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland. These two extremist outfits run several training camps inside Bhutan.
The home minister, according to Kuensel, said: "We are planning to move people of west and east Panbang to safer areas."
He added: "The illegal presence of ULFA and Bodo militants in Bhutan is a direct threat to the kingdom's security and has serious implications for its sovereignty."
Meanwhile in a related development, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has also sought cooperation of the Royal Government of Bhutan in flushing out militants operating out of the Himalayan Kingdom for the larger interest of the two neighbours.
According to the state's leading English daily, The Assam Tribune, Gogoi's request came when the Bhutanese ambassador in Delhi called on him late last week.
According to The Tribune, Bhutanese Ambassador Dago Tshering called on the newly-elected chief minister in what was described as a courtesy call. The chief minister was also briefed by the ambassador about his country's stand on the rebels belonging to the outlawed ULFA and the NDFB.
According to Assam government sources, the chief minister sought the assistance of the Bhutanese government in evicting the insurgents from the country, who have been striking in Assam with impunity. Tshering also apprised the chief minister about the resolutions adopted by the National Assembly of Bhutan against the militants, the report said.
It may be mentioned here that the operation of the training camps by the northeast-based militants outfits has been a cause for major headache for the Assam government and the previous Asom Gana Parishad regime, apart from pressing the Centre to talk to the Bhutan government, had even gone to the extent of staging demonstrations in front of the Bhutanese embassy in New Delhi.
The minister of home affairs in Guwahati believes that despite the public posture adopted by the Royal Government of Bhutan against the militant outfit, it is reluctant to launch any offensive because of the might of the outfits.
The Indian government, for instance, is still awaiting a positive response from the Royal Government to its proposal to launch a joint operation to flush out the militants.
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