The recent serial bomb blasts in Assam, as also those in Delhi, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad in the latest series have at last, woken up the Government to the seriousness of foreign-inspired terrorism aimed at weakening the Indian state. Terrorism has now acquired a pan-Indian character and speaks of Pakistan's strategy of sponsoring local jehadi groups and training and arming them to execute bomb blasts, instead of sending foreign terrorists across the border, for which it has been internationally admonished. A host of Islamic organizations have been floated and financed to spread hatred against the Indian state and destabilize it. The Central and state governments affected by it appear so shaken and confused that they are unable to comprehend the magnitude of the problem or devise effective and coordinated strategy to deal with it and ensure safety of life and property of the citizens.

Failure of intelligence, the slothfulness of the police force and lack of focus and strategy have all created an extremely dangerous situation which, if not tackled expeditiously, forcefully and with determination could have serious consequences for the country's security and ethnic harmony, the government has been battling insurgency in the north-east for decades and ought to have acquired considerable experience in dealing with secessionist elements and addressed the root causes of the malady. The authorities in these states ought to be in a state of permanent alert, particularly after the recent ethnic strife between Bodo tribe's people and illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who have been encroaching on forest land, depriving locals of their source of living.

Assam's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi also has complained that even though his Government had received prior intelligence about possible terror strikes in the State, it was too vague and general in nature and hence not actionable. Further, the various agencies also lacked coordination though it was his suspicion that the forces responsible for the blasts were being sheltered in Bangladesh. He had told the Central Government that as long as the forces of destabilization continued to get shelter in Bangladesh, the Government would find it difficult to deal with terrorism. Assam now intends to form a special task force, on the lines of the Grey Hounds in Andhra Pradesh, to combat terrorist activities more effectively.

The suspects remain the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HUJI) which seems to have teamed up to take on the Indian State more violently in furtherance of their objectives. Home grown terror outfits like Indian Mujahideen and Islamic Security Force also seem to have helped their agenda in the northeast. The number of organizations in the northeastern states is so large that it is difficult to keep track of them. The confusion become more confounded with the involvement of Islamic terror outfits which have made their presence felt only recently and have their own agenda, apart from that perused by the separatist outfits in the region operating for several decades.

The situation does not call for panic but a united non-partisan approach to fight terrorism of every variety. The BJP, which is involved in several state assembly elections and is preparing for the General elections next year, is indulging in blame game, when its own record during the time it was in power at the Centre of combating terrorism has been dismal. Parliament House was attacked when the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L. K. Advani was Home Minister, as well as, Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Advani blames the UPA Government for failure to check illegal immigration from Bangladesh and wants deportation of those already in India. But, during his tenure at the Centre, Mr. Advani did not deport a single Bangladeshi, but his party relied on them as a vote bank in Delhi and other elections.

The Party must now be feeling embarrassed over the discovery of Hindutva extremism, suspected to be involved in bomb blasts in Nanded and other places and the arrest of some Bajrang Dal, ABVP and other activists. More revelations are being made every day about the involvement of the RSS and the training imparted to the terrorists in private military academies owing allegiance to the Sangh Parivar. The answer to terrorism by some Islamic outfits is not Hindu terrorism as it smacks of a deep conspiracy to divide the country along religious lines with unpredictable consequences.

Harsher laws do not necessarily curb terrorism, just as death penalty has not deterred killings and murders. Mr. Advani's demand for revival of POTA lacks substance for, during the NDA regime, not even half a dozen terror suspects were convinced by courts -- the bulk of them having been sent free for lack of evidence. Laws like POTA make the police more careless and lazy because they do not have to bother about collecting evidence and filing prosecution in a court for upto a year while the suspect languishes in jail. It has led to human rights abuses on a large scale without curbing terrorism. The laws of the land are stringent enough to take care of terrorist activity, but what is lacking is efficiency and devotion to duty of the police forces and intelligence agencies reflecting in their failure to prevent terrorist incidents and to apprehend the culprits in the quickest possible time because these agencies often have no clue to the mushrooming terror outfits and fail to keep track of their activities.

Terror groups have now acquired greater confidence to carry out attacks anywhere they choose. Similar strikes have been carried out in Agartala (which was relatively free from such incidents) and Imphal, Manipur's capital. The needle of suspicion for the Assam blasts points to HUJI, which is a Bangladesh-based terror outfit, while ULFA is an extremist outfit fighting for a "sovereign" Assam. However, experts feel it would be uncharacteristic of ULFA to place bombs in areas where there is a strong possibility of Assamese getting killed. They normally put explosives where migrant Biharis stay or target the security forces. The finger, therefore, points more towards HUJI, which has a reasonably large base in all areas of Assam with migrant population of Bangladeshi Muslims. But some others feel that ULFA is the prime suspect because no other outfit has the capacity of carrying out serial blasts across Assam in such an organized manner. The high intensity explosives used do not seem to have originated locally, but were probably smuggled from Bangladesh, where ULFA is headquartered.

It is pointed out that ever since ULFA's 28th battalion based in Myanmar came over ground in June 2008, the outfit was under great pressure to prove its militancy and hence staged the blasts to demonstrate its strength and capability. At the same time the involvement of HUJI cannot be ruled out as it could have used ULFA's vast network to carry out the serial explosions. The manner in which the blasts occurred all over Assam within an hour points to HUJI's hand. The organisation had staged bomb blasts simultaneously at 100 places in Bangladesh during the Khalida Zia regime (which was soft towards the Islamists) which led to banning of the organization. The inference is that ULFA and HUJI have linked up recently with a common agenda of destabilizing Assam and causing an ethnic divide across several fault lines.

The involvement of more than two groups is also suspected, which adds to the worry of the government and the security forces. At the same time, years of conflict between multiple militant groups, some with very limited strength, a porous border with Bangladesh which has yet to be completely fenced and the annual destructive floods form the background to the situation. Mass inter-state migration, to escape strife and natural disaster have led to land disputes, heightened conflict, unemployment and poverty. Such a volatile cocktail has helped terrorism to spread.

To add to the confusion, some Muslim organizations come to defend the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants whose presence has put pressure on scarce land resources and is gradually changing the State's demographic character. A Muslim organisation, United Democratic Front won 10 seats in the last Assembly elections and claims to represent the interests of the community. The vote bank politics practiced by most political parties, because Muslim constitute a big minority, has helped, the Islamists further their cause and also facilitate illegal immigration from Bangladesh.

Pakistan has been providing sustence to ULFA and HUJI through its network in Bangladesh of which the Government professes ignorance. It is time that all parties joined hands to tackle this menace, prevent illegal immigration from Bangladesh, address local grievances, ensure effective policing and intelligence, create employment opportunities through industrialization and enlist the cooperation of Bangladesh Government in neutralizing HUJI and ULFA.

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