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                        Vol.4, No.64 [*] October 25, 1999
                        ---------------------------------

                  Whoever said love is blind is dead wrong.
                  Love is the only thing that lets us see
                   each other with the remotest accuracy.
                              - Martha Beck
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   
1  FULL-SCALE CRACKDOWN ON ULFA, NDFB SOON               [S:25-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   In  a  bid  to pressurize the outlawed ULFA and NDFB to
   respond to the Government's call to come forward for  negotiations,
   the  Unified Command, consisting of military and civil authorities,
   operating in Assam, will soon launch a full-scale offensive against
   militant outfits.  This was disclosed by the Joint Secretary of the
   Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  (Northeast),  G.K.Pillai  during   his
   three-day visit to Meghalaya and Assam.
   
2  ARABINDA TO GET SAFE PASSAGE TO VISIT AILING PARENTS  [S:23-OCT-99]
   ----------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Governor S.K.Sinha declared that he would initiate steps
   to  ensure  a  free  passage  for ULFA supremo Arabinda Rajkhowa to
   visit his old parents both of  whom  are  seriously  ill  at  their
   native village  at  Lakwa  in Sibsagar district.  This will be done
   purely on humanitarian  grounds  and  during  his  visit  there  no
   interference  or any security risk on him and he will be allowed to
   stay with his parents for one week.
   
   The governor told mediapersons that  he  had  taken  this  decision
   after   he   had   visited  98-year-old  freedom  fighter  Umakanta
   Rajkonwar, father  of  the  ULFA  supremo.    An  ailing  Rajkonwar
   complained  the  Governor  that  he  was feeling very lonely at the
   twilight of his life.  Overwhelmed at this, the Assam Governor took
   his decision to ensure a safe passage for the leader of the  banned
   outfit to visit his parents.
   
3  SECRET KILLERS, NOT THE CHIEF MINISTER CURSED         [S:22-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI: The Government has refuted a news item in  a  section  of
   the  press that the Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has
   been cursed by the local people which gathered  at  the  Pithakhowa
   Namgarh (community prayer/meeting hall) on October 10.
   
   An  official  release  citing  the  statements of Baneswar Nath and
   Bipin Saikia, village headmen of  Pithakhowa  No.1  and  Pithakhowa
   No.2  village respectively, said that the profane oath was taken by
   the villages, calling for the ruin of the  people  responsible  for
   the  ongoing  assassinations  in  the state. No such curse was made
   against the Chief Minister, the release said.
   
4  NAGARIK MANCHA SIT-IN TODAY AT TEZPUR                 [S:25-OCT-99]
   -------------------------------------
   TEZPUR:  The Nagarik  Mancha,  Tezpur  will  observe  a  three-hour
   sit-in  strike  at  the  Hem  Baruah  Smriti  Bhawan  on October 25
   demanding immediate release of Rajesh Mishra and Rajib Koch who had
   been kidnapped by suspected secret killers on September  28.    The
   citizen's forum also decided to submit a memorandum to the Governor
   of  Assam  and  the  President  of  India  in  this  regard besides
   demanding from the Government a white paper on the missing  persons
   in the State.
   
   It may be mentioned that local people of Tezpur had recently raided
   a office of the surrendered ULFA (SULFA) and recovered a huge cache
   of arms including AK-47, AK-56, grenades and ammunition.  Following
   which  several  police  officials   were   suspended   and   others
   transferred.    The   Deputy  Commissioner  and  the  newly  posted
   Superintendent of Police had  assured  the  public  to  arrest  the
   culprits within 20 days.
   
5  NHRC DIRECTIVE TO ASSAM DGP ON ANANTA KALITA CASE     [S:25-OCT-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The  National  Human  Rights Commission (NHRC) has begun
   into `the alleged attempt to kill AJYCP member Ananta Kalita by the
   police and  secret  killers'.  The  Manab  Adhikar  Sangram  Samiti
   (MASS),  in  a  release,  said  that  the  rights body directed the
   Director General of Police (DGP), Assam to submit the report  about
   the allegation of the MASS in this regard within November 8.
   
6  BURSTING OF BALLOON LEADS TO COMMUNAL FLARE-UP        [S:22-OCT-99]
   ----------------------------------------------
   NAGAON:   In  a  classic  case of an innocuous incident involving a
   child ending up in a flare-up between groups of people, a veritable
   communal riot-like situation arose at Koklung in  Kathiatoli  under
   Kampur  police station area on the Vijaya Dashami day of Durga Puja
   on October 20, but due  to  the  timely  intervention  of  sensible
   people, the police and the civil authorities it was averted.
   
   It started when a girl went to buy a balloon from a toy shop put up
   by  a  Muslim  youth  and, as she was handling a balloon, it burst.
   Enraged at this, the youth slapped the  girl.    At  that  time,  a
   procession  for  immersing the Durga idol was passing through, when
   some of the processionist beat up the shopkeeper  and  damaged  his
   shop.   Others  set  fire  to six other shops and a thatched mosque
   nearby.
   
   In  the  melee  that ensued, two teenagers Abdel Ali and his sister
   Jelekha Khatun, who ran for safety across  the  bridge  on  Kuklung
   river, slipped  from  the bridge and drowned.  The body of the girl
   was recovered the next day, while that of the boy remain  untraced.
   The death of the teenagers cast a pall of gloom in the area.
   
7  WHERE IS BHARAT PUNYABHUMI OF SHANKARDEV ?            [S:25-OCT-99]
   ------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   `If  Assam is not a part of India, if it was not in any
   way related to the mainland of  India,  then  which  territory  was
   referred  to  as  Bharat  punyabhumi  (holy land India) by Srimanta
   Shankardev', asked Assam  Governor  S.K.Sinha  while  addressing  a
   citizen's meeting at the circuit house in Guwahati.
   
   Stating that Assam was related to India since the late  Vedic  age,
   Sinha  said  that  Lord  Krishna  married  Rukmini of Sadiya in the
   State. The kingdom of Kumar  Bhaskar  Barman  was  extended  up  to
   Bengal and Bihar, he said. And added that Lachit Barphukan was more
   courageous  in  many  respects than Rana Pratap and Shivaji, yet he
   has not got national recognition.
   
______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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