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1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

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Bodo militants in the country pose grave threat to national stability and<br />

prosperity, national security has become the foremost concern of the Royal<br />

Government and the people. Hence, the ULFA-Bodo issue has been extensively<br />

discussed in the National Assembly in the past five years.<br />

The Royal Government has sought the approval of the National Assembly in<br />

implementing any strategy to expel the militants. The Chairman reminded that<br />

the 78 th session has endorsed four strategies to resolve the militant problem:<br />

peaceful negotiation, stopping supply of rations to the militants, enforcing the<br />

National Security Act by punishing supporters of the militants, and if all else<br />

fail, resort to military action. Since a military action involves heavy expenditure<br />

and also threatens the lives of many Bhutanese people, the Royal Government<br />

has persevered in expelling the militants through peaceful means. No peaceful<br />

approach till date has however, been effective and the government has initiated<br />

discussions to resort to military option.<br />

In submitting reports on the recent negotiation with the ULFA-Bodo militants,<br />

the Chairman informed that the talks did not lead to a satisfactory outcome.<br />

Nevertheless, some peaceful means of solving the problem has come up. He<br />

said that a detailed report would be submitted by the Hon’ble Home Minister<br />

during the discussion on the issue according to the agenda.<br />

The ULFA-Bodo problem has affected development activities in twelve<br />

Dzongkhags. Moreover, the security of Bhutanese people, especially those<br />

living in high security-risk area has been greatly endangered. Therefore, the<br />

Royal Government has pledged to expel the militants at the earliest possible.<br />

The Chairman reminded the Assembly about the tragic incident of December<br />

2000, when eleven innocent Bhutanese passengers were murdered, and fourteen<br />

others injured. The security problem has made it unsafe for Bhutanese vehicles<br />

to travel through India greatly affecting trade and commerce in south-eastern<br />

Bhutan. Since the militants are rebels fighting against the Indian government,<br />

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