Saturday, September 30 2006 14:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: With the Indian Army deciding to come down heavily on the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and increasing its forces along the borders with Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh, the peace process has for all practical purposes died a speedy death.

For now, the Indian government feels that a high-intensity campaign against the rebels looks inevitable because the ongoing operations are not enough to corner the outfit - more so after the ULFA-nominated People's Consultative Group (PCG) pulled out of the dialogue process.

"We repeatedly briefed negotiators about the ULFA's intentions, that the rebels were divided over the talks. We have now decided to resume operations and prevent the insurgent group from crossing over," said a defence ministry official.

Ministry officials maintained that the number of personnel deployed along the Bhutan border would be increased to about 12,000 from 5,000 in a phased manner by next year while the number of border posts is also being increased to 132 from 35.

In December 2003, the Indian Army along with the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) launched joint military operations and smashed nearly all the 30 rebel camps.

At that time the ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Kamtapuri Liberation Organisation (KLO) had entrenched themselves in well-established camps in Bhutan.

The latest army action began over last Sunday after the ULFA killed a policeman and a tea garden manager despite the efforts of facilitators to bring the rebels and the Indian government to the negotiating table.

So far three rebels have been killed and five arrested.

Senior home ministry officials also hinted that the military junta in Myanmar had this time around decided to go along with India's request to hit out at the rebel bases that have for long used Myanmar as the staging ground for anti-India operations.

The visit of Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt to Yangon last week overlapping with the calling off the ceasefire was precisely for seeking help to flush out the rebels.

With the army launching its offensive, one way out for the ULFA leadership is to give a written commitment to join the talks directly and not negotiate through a committee of Assamese civil society personalities, as they have done for nearly a year now.

But the rebels have insisted on the release of five of their top leaders now serving sentences in Indian prisons before they join the talks directly.

With army operations under way, the rebels have responded by saying all Indians living in Assam would have to pay a compulsory tax.

Clearly, the talks process has suffered a serious setback and the northeastern region, which witnessed a relative calm in the last couple of months, is bound to see another escalation in violence in the coming weeks and months.