ULFA slams army's missile programme in Assam, Nagaland

Guwahati, March 26 (IANS) The banned militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Monday slammed the central government's proposed plan to base the Akash and Brahmos missile regiments in Assam and Nagaland and said the move has threatened the existence of the people of Assam and northeast as a whole.

'The people of Assam are being 'sandwiched' between the Indo-China conflict by the government of India and we appeal to them to stop this design to destroy the culture and heritage of Assamese people,' said ULFA Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah alias Paresh Asom in an e-mailed statement.

The ULFA chief also cited the example of the 1962 Chinese aggression and said that India has always used Assam as its shield. 'When the Indian army escaped from Assam due to aggression of Chinese forces in 1962, the Chinese also backtracked respecting the right to life of the people of Assam,' he said, addding there is no conflict between Assam and China.

'The main reason of Indo-China conflict is Arunachal Pradesh. However, the government of India has chosen Assam for establishing the base for the missiles programmes. The missile bases are bound to be targeted by Red China and in that case Assam will have to bear the brunt of nuclear explosion,' he said.

'A retired Indian army chief V.P. Malik had recently admitted that India does not have the capability to win a war with China and so Indians will escape Assam-like in 1962 in case of any attack by China. The Indian army had already inducted fighters Sukhoi-30MKIs at Tezpur and Chabua in Assam. These are not good signs for Assam,' he said and appealed to the people of Assam to take a strong stand against 'this conspiracy of the government of India'.

'This is high time for the people of Assam and northeast to think and act against the evil designs of the government of India otherwise it would be difficult to save our future generations from nuclear explosion and radiation.'