The Tata Tea/ULFA Story
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TATA TEA's DEALS WITH THE ULFA AND THE GOVERNMENT Contd..
Meanwhile, militancy in the state had reached alarming proportions. When the
Centre began questioning the Mahanta government on the increasing violence,
the AGP decided to take firm steps against the militants. When the ULFA
realized that the AGP had turned against it, they even made unsuccessful
attempts to kill Mahanta and other AGP leaders. At this time, the United
Front government, which the AGP was a part of, was at the Centre.
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Analysts claimed that Mahanta saw the Tata Tea episode
as a chance to take ‘revenge'against the tea industry. Mahanta
complained to Gujral that Padmanabhaiah was forcing Hrishikeshan to stop
the interrogation of Tata Tea executives. This was strongly denied by
home ministry officials.
In October 1997, in a conversation with Ratan Tata, Nusli Wadia –
chairman of textile company Bombay Dyeing – extended his support to Tata
Tea and mentioned the names of people in Delhi who would be of help. The
conversation revolved around strategies for countering the Mahanta
administration's charges against Tata Tea. The following day, the
transcript of the conversation was reproduced in Indian Express, one of
the leading newspapers in India. |
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The conversation revealed that Gogoi had been living in a
Tata guesthouse in Calcutta all the while Tata Tea claimed it knew nothing of
his whereabouts. To add to the company's troubles, the Assam police discovered
documents revealing that the company had paid the airfare for four NDFB
militants. (The militants had gone to New Delhi to attend a meeting with senior
Tata Tea officials.)
As the company's troubles mounted, analysts commented that Tata Tea was losing
out on every front. While it had estranged itself from the state governement by
keeping it in the dark, the ULFA was angry at learning that the company had
always kept the IB informed about their deals. An industrialist commented, “Who
did they think they were when they tried to play detective? Didn't it ever cross
their mind that it could jeopardise the lives of their employees?”
Barua said, “If the Tata Tea top brass have been keeping the IB informed of
their dealings, it is only logical to assume that they have also been taking
instructions from IB. This cannot but be regarded as hatching a conspiracy
against ULFA. Under the circumstances, therefore, Tata Tea will have to face the
consequences in Assam for their double-standards in their dealings with ULFA.”
The Indian Express expose directed coniderable attention to the phone tapping
involved in the episode. The telecom secretary, MTNL, the Vice-President, the
Rajya Sabha Chairman, the Prime Minister and many prominent corporate leaders
were involved in the issue. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated
an inquiry into the phone tapping episode.
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