Incomplete Task

THE consequences of handing over to the army the putting down of the movement launched in Assam by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have been predictable. Fortified by the dismissal of the elected AGP government, the imposition of Central rule and the enforcement of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Assam Disturbed Areas Act, the army launched a typical military campaign complete with even a code name, 'Operation Bajrang'. Inevitably, though the army has so far failed to lay its hands on any of the top leaders of ULFA, reports of detention and torture of suspects and of atrocities against ordinary people have mounted. Even the Guwahati high court felt impelled recently to intervene to stop the army from whisking away suspects, including women, to army camps for 'interrogation'. Some idea of what 'Operation Bajrang' has meant for the people, especially in the remoter areas of the State, can be had from the report that two soldiers had to be discharged ostensibly for 'dereliction of duty' but in fact after they had been found guilty of rape.