Assam militants call for PM8217;s boycott, security stepped up

GUWAHATI, JULY 8: Security measures were tightened in Assam on Wednesday following a boycott call given by the ULFA, NSCN and two other p...

GUWAHATI, JULY 8: Security measures were tightened in Assam on Wednesday following a boycott call given by the ULFA, NSCN and two other proscribed rebel groups of the region to ignore Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee8217;s visit to the State. in protest against the quot;killing of Kashmiri freedom fightersquot; by the Army.

The Prime Minister, who will arrive in Agartalal on Thursday on an official visit, will on Friday morning travel to Numaligarh in upper Assam to formally announce the commissioning of a Rs 2725-crore oil refinery, after which he will fly to Guwahati to give away the prestigious Sankaradeva Awards to noted litterateur Syed Abdul Malik and internationally-reputed painter and sculptor Bhabesh Sanyal the same evening.

The Prime Minister will also address the public and is likely to announce his party8217;s as well as the Government8217;s manifesto for the north eastern region. This will be Vajpayee8217;s first public meeting after the Army recaptured Tiger Hill.

The ULFA, NSCN along with the Manipur People8217;sLiberation Front and Tripura People8217;s Democratic Front, have urged the people to boycott the Prime Minister8217;s functions.

The ULFA, it may be recalled, has been repeatedly stating that the Pakistani infiltrators into the Kargil sector were quot;Kashmiri freedom fighters,quot; and criticising the Army for crushing their quot;strugglequot;. But despite this support for the Pakistani infiltrators, the ULFA has, at the same time, been denying that it was working on behalf of Pakistan8217;s Inter-Service Intelligence ISI. The State Government and especially the Army here have been repeatedly saying that the ULFA was working hand-in-glove with the Pakistani intelligence agencies, and that its activists have been regularly calling up ISI bureau in Lahore and other places to pass on information on Army movement in the the north eastern region.