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                         Vol.4, No.57 [*] September 3, 1999
                         ----------------------------------

     There is a holy, mistaken zeal in politics, as well as religion. 
               By persuading others we convince ourselves.
                                - Junius
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

1  BANGLA JAMMAT'S OPEN SUPPORT TO NORTHEAST ULTRAS       [S:1-SEP-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   SILCHAR:  Apart from its overt and covert leaning  towards  several
   Muslim outfits, Jammat-i-Islam of Bangladesh has come out openly to
   lend  wholehearted  support  to different militant organizations of
   the Northeast India for  what  it  terms  as  `their  struggle  for
   freedom against New Delhi.'
   
   According  to  reports  from Bangladesh, Jammat-i-Islam organized a
   massive rally last week in Sylhet in which the speakers lashed  out
   at  the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Bangladesh's
   Sheikh Hasina regime.

   Professor  Gulam  Ayam,  the chief guest at the rally, reminded the
   200,000 strong assembly that `the people  of  the  seven  Northeast
   states have been fighting for their human and democratic rights and
   to liberate  themselves  from the imperialist rulers of Delhi'.  He
   said `the dictatorial Vajpayee government' is  now  trying  to  use
   Bangladesh  as  a  corridor  for  military  operations  against the
   freedom fighters of the Northeast.
   
   Without naming the militant organizations of  the  Northeast,  Prof
   Ayam described  their  campaign as `a historic necessity'.  He said
   Jammat-i-Islam was morally  bound  to  stand  by  them.    Mohammed
   Kamarujjaman,  a  prominent  Jammat  leader,  said  that  the Prime
   Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, was working as a `stooge  of
   Delhi'  and  warned  that  the  people  of  Bangladesh  would never
   tolerate it.

   The  rally, according to observers, was significant as it was timed
   well  to  add  grist  to  the  mill  of  Pakistan's  Inter-Services
   Intelligence (ISI)  gameplan in the Northeast.  Another signal came
   out clearly that various extremist organizations of  the  Northeast
   would  now  be able to regroup themselves and regain their bases in
   Bangladesh.
                                               
2  TO BANGLADESH DESPITE COURT CASE                       [S:2-SEP-99]
   --------------------------------
   KARIMGANJ:  Ms Manju Devi, who had been arrested a few months  back
   on  charges  of  having direct links with ULFA leader Alok Goswami,
   and later released  on  bail,  went  to  Bangladesh  with  a  valid
   passport.   Conscious  circles in the town expressed surprise as to
   how the woman having links with a banned outfit and a pending  case
   at  the  Gauhati  High  Court,  could  manage  to go to Bangladesh.
   Sources said that Pakistan's ISI was successful in  engaging  their
   agents  at  different  levels  of  the  administration in the Barak
   Valley districts.
   
3  ULFA ULTRA'S KIN KILLED BY SECRET KILLERS              [S:3-SEP-99]
   -----------------------------------------
   JORHAT:  The bullet-ridden body of Keshab Konwar,  brother  of  top
   level ULFA activist of the outfit's Dhansiri local unit Arup Konwar
   alias Amar Singh, was recovered near Kakodonga bridge under Titabor
   police station on the morning of September 2.  Keshab was kidnapped
   by  a  gang  of  four to five unidentified gunmen in a Maruti Gypsy
   vehicle from his residence on the night of September 1.
   
4  FOUR HUNDRED THIRTY POSTAL BALLOTS IN 1998 POLLS       [S:2-SEP-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   Of  the  14.2  million  voters in the 1998 elections in
   Assam, only 8.37 million had exercised their  right  to  franchise.
   Of  them,  however,  a minuscule 430 only, cast their votes through
   postal ballots.
   
   According  to  the records in the State Election Office, of the 430
   postal ballots, 304 had been cast for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
   47 for Congress and 39 for the Asom  Gana  Parishad  (AGP)  --  the
   remaining  40 votes having been cast in favour of other parties and
   candidates. 
   
   The maximum number of postal ballots were cast in Jorhat where  100
   voters  had  posted  their ballots, followed by 85 in Nagaon, 60 in
   Barpeta, 54 in Kaliabor and 34 in Dibrugarh. Only two were cast  in
   Lakhimpur.
   
5  JORHAT ADMIN PLEA TO TRADERS REGARDING PRICES          [S:2-SEP-99]
   ---------------------------------------------
   JORHAT:  In view of  the  alarming  rise  in  prices  of  essential
   commodities  in  the  district,  the Jorhat district administration
   held a discussion with officials of the  supply  department,  Upper
   Assam  Traders' Association and several other traders' organization
   on September 1.
   
   In  the  meeting,  the  district  administration  called  upon  the
   business  community  to  ensure  that  the  prices   of   essential
   commodities  were  not  raised  on  the  pretext  of the floods and
   elections.
   
   Earlier,  the  traders  had maintained that they were bound to hike
   the prices as the prices have been hiked at the sources.  According
   to another source, financial pressure on traders at Guwahati itself
   in view of the ensuing polls, was the reason behind the price hike.

6  DOORDARSHAN ASSAMESE NEWS ON FLOOD CREATES PANIC      [S:31-AUG-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   DHAKUAKHANA:  The official television Doordarshan's  Assamese  news
   bulletin  at  7:15  on  August 29 created panic among the people of
   Dhakuakhana and the people of the subdivision living elsewhere.   A
   news  item  of  the  bulletin  said  that  due  to  a breach on the
   embankment at Matmora in the subdivision all the institutions  near
   Charkaria river have been inundated.
   
   Soon  after the bulletin, telephone calls from various parts of the
   State began to reach the subdivision. The people were sacred by the
   news because it was due  to  the  breach  of  the  embankment  near
   Matmora  on  September 2, 1998  that  the  subdivision of Lakhimpur
   district had to bear the burnt of the devastating flood.
   
   Having  received  a  number  of  phone  calls, the president of the
   Dhakuakhana Press Club had to ask the Subdivisional Officer (Civil)
   through telephone to ascertain  the  veracity  of  the  news  item.
   Though  the  officer  could  not  give a clear picture of the flood
   situation in the area immediately, he did confirm  later  that  the
   news item was not correct.

______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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