NEW DELHI, DEC 16: Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta okaying a month-long safe passage to ULFA may raise eye-brows in the face of mayhem let loose by the militant outfit, but he has the Union Home Ministry backing him on the move. The rising attacks on non-Assamese has placed the Central Government and in particular the BJP in a double bind. As observers point out, with Assam going to polls early next year, the saffron party has already shown its inclination to forge an electoral alliance with the ruling Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). But the massacres of Biharis and other non-Assamese groups, which make up a big chunk of the BJP’s vote bank in Assam, has led to the very real prospect of the party losing its hold on this segment.State Governor S.K. Sinha had a 10-minute one-to-one meeting with Union Home Minister L.K.Advani last Saturday, a day after ULFA militants massacred 28 people in Tinsukhia district. What they discussed is anybody’s guess. The meeting took place minutes before Advani called a large group consisting of Defence Minister George Fernandes, Army Chief S. Padmanabhan, Mahanta and top Home Ministry officials to his North Block office to review the Assam situation arising out of the ULFA attack. It is learnt that the decision to give safe passage to ULFA during the ongoing Bihu festival, which will last a month, was taken by the Assam Government after Mahanta discussed the issue with Advani. On the face of it, say officials, the move is aimed primarily at roping in more ULFA militants to ‘‘surrender’’ before security forces. This year alone, some 1,900 of them have laid down arms, the last batch of 150-plus switching over a few days ago.
