Ulfa no longer a threat, says Gogoi

A STAFF REPORTER

Tarun Gogoi inaugurates the Kamrupa Anusandhana Samiti building in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture UB Photos Guwahati, April 20: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today said Ulfa was no longer a threat to the state and dared the outfit's commander-in-chief Paresh Barua to run his show from home soil rather than hiding in foreign countries. Reasoning that had Paresh Barua been a "real Assamese", he would have led his struggle by staying in Assam and not from foreign countries, Gogoi said, "During the last 12 years of my tenure as the chief minister I had faced such threats from the banned outfit on several occasions. I have not been bogged down by such threats and continued my efforts to bring peace to Assam. The people of the state have understood the futility of Ulfa's ways of functioning and thus are no longer concerned by its threat or diktats." "Does Barua really represent Assam? If so, why he is hiding in foreign countries? I dare him to come among the people of Assam and continue his struggle," he said. The chief minister said this while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of an official function at Assam State Museum here. Yesterday, a person claiming to be Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua had called up a private news channel to speak about the outfit's ban on rendition of Hindi songs atbihu functions. During the conversation with a journalist of the news channel, Barua said Gogoi, despite being the chief minister of Assam, had failed to communicate the sentiments, aspirations and culture of the people of the state to the rest of India. He said Gogoi was only a shrewd politician who did everything that helped him in politics. He had also warned of consequences if artistes like Zubeen Garg continued to sing Hindi songs at bihu functions. Gogoi, on the other hand, had yesterday lauded Zubeen for singing Hindi songs at bihufunctions, defying the Ulfa ban. He promised that his government would provide security if the singer felt it necessary, to help him continue performing at bihu functions. Earlier today, the chief minister attended the closing function of the centenary celebrations of Kamrupa Anusandhana Samiti at the State Museum premises and inaugurated both antiquarian museums (manuscript section) and the Raj Bahadur Naupat Raj Kedia memorial hall annexe. He discussed measures to preserve historical material so that future generations could benefit from them. "The history of Assam, or for that matter, the country, is so rich that we feel proud. Some of the glorious facets of our history that were buried under the sands of time have been brought to the surface owing to research oriented institutions like Kamrupa Anusandhana Samiti," he said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130421/jsp/frontpage/story_16809613.jsp#.UXPtQqKBlA0