The end of the honeymoon of Gogoi with the ULFA was indicated by the recent strikes of the outfit.

The recent series of strikes of the United Liberation Front of Assam in several vital oil installations and attacks on police camps and on a group of Hindi-speaking people have indicated that the outlawed outfit, ULFA, has gathered strength and is ready to confront the State. The relations of the ULFA and the ruling Congress before and after the Assam Legislative Assembly election in 2001 seemed to be non-confrontational, if not cordial.

The Assam Legislative Assembly has unanimously appealed to the ULFA to come to the negotiation table and promised to extend help to its leaders if they came out of hiding and sorted out their problems with the Government. But the leaders did not respond to the appeal of the House. The State Government was very cautious from the beginning of its tenure in dealing with the militants. The State police had avoided confrontation with the outfit as much as possible. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was so worried when the Guwahati City police killed two ULFA militants in an ambush in the capital area of the city that he transferred the Superintendent of Police and the Additional Superintendent of Police of the city as punishment for not trying to nab the militants alive. This gave a signal to the police officials that the Government policy towards the ULFA militants was soft. However, with the passing of the days, the confrontations increased and the end of the honeymoon of Gogoi with the ULFA was indicated by the recent strikes of the outfit.

The ULFA launched a mortar attack on a storage tank of the Digboi Refinery, one of the world’s oldest refineries, and in a gas pipeline of the Kathalguri oil collection centre in Dibrugarh district on the night of March 8. A group of ULFA militants gunned down a number of Hindi-speaking labourers when they were resting in their huts at Darangiri in Goalpara district. Two of the labourers were killed on the spot and six others seriously wounded in the incident. The militants also attacked the Darangiri police station before they gunned down the labourers. It may be recalled that the ULFA militants launched a series of attacks on the Hindi-speaking people of the State two years ago which led to the exodus of this segment from Assam to neighbouring States.

The ULFA militants attacked the Police Reserve at Bongaigaon town on the same night. Meanwhile, a powerful bomb was defused by the police near the Bongaigaon thermal project near Salakati in Bongaigaon district.

The Chief Minister termed these attacks as utter disrespect of the hopes and aspirations of the people of the State. He also said that the insensitive, violent activities of the outfit have once again proved that they have become conscienceless. Such violent activities will dissuade investors outside the State who had shown their interest in investing in the State. The immediate casualty of such a disturbed situation will be the younger generation as it is facing stiff competition in establishing itself.

However, the Chief Minister has vowed to continue the developmental work that his Government has undertaken in spite of the threat of the militants. He condemned the strike on the oldest refinery of the country and said that the ULFA had committed a heinous crime by striking at such a vital installation of the State.