A strong approach to countering militancy is something that most major political parties promise, the BJP more so than others. So it was not a surprise that the chief minister of Assam claimed on Monday that the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the state's most prominent insurgent outfit, had lost its strength.
However,the statement came on the same day that a famous tea estate in Tinsukia district claimed that a faction of ULFA had asked it to contribute Rs 1 crore to the group's organisational fund.
According to media reports, the extortion letter was sent via WhatsApp to an employee of the tea estate. It was purportedly signed by finance secretary 'brigadier' Jibon Asom of the ULFA (Independent) faction and requested the company to 'courteously' donate Rs 1 crore.
A week ago, five members of the same faction had attempted to kidnap the manager of another tea estate in Tinsukia who, however, managed to escape.
Responding to the reports of ULFA extorting tea estates, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal claimed the information was 'misleading' and said, “We have to see the situation in the entire state.” He declared that ULFA's strength was 'no more' and there was no law and order problem in Assam.
He argued that businesses would not have invested Rs 6,500 crore in Assam under the BJP government if the state was not peaceful. He claimed that the ULFA threats were only seen on WhatsApp and such cyber-activities sowed confusion in people's minds.
Sonowal said that Assam had been seeing infrastructure development and was being projected as the gateway to ASEAN nations as it had road connectivity to Myanmar and maritime links with Bangladesh's Chittagong port, in addition to air connectivity.
(With agency inputs)
