ULFA returns

The remote-controlled bomb that killed three soldiers on the platform at the New Jalpaiguri railway station may be an indication that Pak...

The remote-controlled bomb that killed three soldiers on the platform at the New Jalpaiguri railway station may be an indication that Pakistan, fighting a rearguard action both in Kashmir and on the diplomatic front, is falling back on its core strategy 8212; destabilising India from within.

The United Liberation Front of Asom has denied involvement with either the event or the ISI, claiming that Army intelligence is trying to quot;malignquot; it. Just for the record, it is not possible for anyone to drive the organisation8217;s image any lower than it already is. It plumbed the nadir after its dastardly treatment of Sanjoy Ghose, who was killed after being taken hostage by it. Besides, ISI operatives have recently been apprehended in the region. And there is substantial evidence of the organisation8217;s links with the ISI. The ULFA, along with other groups in the Northeast, was part of the narcoterrorist network developed by the ISI to move heroin out of northern Myanmar. Its denial of involvement in the blast is asunconvincing as Nawaz Sharif8217;s monotonous denial of Pakistani involvement in Kargil.

Two factors may have contributed to the resurgence of the ULFA. Like its Pakistani ally, the ULFA is also on the back foot now. It set up camps along the southern border of Bhutan after Operation Rhino made life difficult for it in Assam. Very recently, Thimphu asked for India8217;s cooperation in dislodging the insurgents from its soil. It is unlikely that the ULFA will be able to operate freely in Bhutan for too long. At the same time, Army personnel and reserve security forces are being pulled out of the Northeast. Partly because of Kargil and partly, according to Prafulla Kumar Mahanta8217;s allegation, because Assam does not figure in the BJP8217;s list of priorities. The ULFA has no option but to make a strong comeback, and what better way than a blast that kills servicemen and earns a pat on the back from the ISI?The blast should remind the security agencies of the possibility of Pakistan seeking to reopen a very old front 8211;the one within. It may be on the defensive in the battlefield at Kargil but it has been relentlessly successful in the war of terror. If the body count is ever totted up, it will surpass all military deaths on the border by an order of magnitude.

Having lost the initiative on the border, it is only natural for Pakistan to fall back on its core competency, developed over long years in the field. The Indian security agencies should be prepared for yet another terror offensive in the country. However, this is also an opportunity for them to launch an information offensive. The casualty figures of the battle behind the lines ought to be totted up now. The evidence for Pakistani involvement in the Bombay blasts ought to be collected, along with that for ISI links with various insurgent organisations in India. In particular, there is a fair amount of information about Pakistan8217;s narco-terrorist operations that will damn it for all time. These facts should be used to good effect in the war of words that is clearlyin the offing. Now that the world is prepared to give ear, let it know the real story of Indo-Pak relations.