DIWALI DHAMAKA: A PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE OVER THE DEATH OF PARESH BARUAH
By Pranab Kumar Gogoi
Guwahati: The mystery behind the news of death of ULFA’s Supremo Paresh Baruah is almost unveiled. The gloomy Wednesday morning started with a upload of the news inputs by a suspected news web portal that Paresh Baruah is killed. As the Sun grows up with the day the mist and confusion shrouded on death of rebel giant is laid open with nefarious transparent handiwork of some unknown security agencies, suspected to be backed by unscrupulous journalist.
Repeating their old tactice, Paresh Baruah was again “killed”. However contrary to this fact, different overseas news sources across the border confirmed the “death” as planned and fabricated. As a result, two web portals automatically came to intelligence rader to haunt the actual motive of this “Big Breaking” while Assam politics is going through ordeal, following the “Hindu Bangladeshi issue”. May be it is an intelligence hoax to hear the pulse bit of Paresh Baruah as well as the people on the eve of Panchayat election.
Going back to the down memory lane of ULFA’S history, Paresh Baruah was killed, injured or butchered many times for the interest of various intelligence assessments. Most of such past “assassinations on Paresh Baruah” took place while the rebel leader was in unknown foreign hideouts.
As per records for the first time Paresh Baruah was attacked by "Santi Bahini Rebel Group" of Bangladesh on Khagracherri-Maicherri Road in Chittagong Hill Track in Southern Bangladesh on the day the day of December 16th, year 2000. Then “cross border sources” also revealed that this attack was carried out by Shanti Bahini Rebel Group, under the headship of pro- Awami League Leader Santu Larma following the rift with its breakaway fraction “Jana Samhiti Samity” of Bangladesh. Interestingly, at that time Assam Rifles based at Tripura frontier narrated the same incident as “Paresh Baruah was assassinated by his own men”.
In 2006, there was another reports of fresh incident, he narrowly escaped from the bullets of unknown gunmen in Bangladesh. However according to intelligence sources, hardliner Paresh Baruah shifted his base from Bangladesh to China - Myanmar frontier on April 10, 2009, just before the celebration of Bengali New Year in Bangladesh and Bihu in Assam, aftermath of beginning of peace process with liberal fraction of ULFA.
In September, 2011, there was media report that Paresh Baruah was seriously injured in serious gun battle with Burmese Army in the interior jungles of North West Myanmar. After this rumours Paresh Baruah made his first public appearence along with his own armed guerillas, dancing together in Bihu "Hussori" at Taga in Northern Burma.
Therefore, after the close assessment of past precedents, there is a reasonable ground to doubt about the authenticity of Wednesday’s news reports regarding deceptive "death" inputs of rebel C-in-C. However, government should find out the behind motive of such propaganda very carefully in present political context.