The Tata Tea/ULFA Story
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TATA TEA's DEALS WITH THE ULFA AND THE GOVERNMENT Contd..
Towards the end of September 1997, Kidwai reached Guwahati after receiving a
summon from the Assam police and was interrogated for over two days. Krishna
Kumar also reached Guwahati a few days later and was interrogated. Over the
next few weeks, media reports mentioned that the Tatas were contemplating
pulling out of Assam.
In November 1997, former Assam governor Bhishma Narain Singh (Singh)
mediated a meeting between Ratan Tata and Mahanta. Tata Tea had approached
Singh in October 1997, as he was believed to have a good rapport with
Mahanta. Singh was able to persuade Mahanta to hold talks with Ratan Tata.
The differences between the two parties were reported to have narrowed down
considerably after this meeting. The Tatas managed to convince Mahanta that
Tata Tea should not be blamed if the Centre did not pass on the information
to the state government.
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In December 1997, the Assam government and Tata Tea
decided to put an end to the conflict and Mahanta reportedly gave
instructions to the officials involved in the case to go slow on the
investigations and ensure that the matter was put to an end soon.
THE UNSOLVED PROBLEM
Media reports claimed that Mahanta's decision to put an end to the Tata
Tea case was because he had ‘completed his revenge'by showing the tea
industry the trouble he could put the companies through. Moreover, since
the biggest segment of the Assam government's revenues came from taxes
imposed on the tea industry, the former could not afford to be always at
loggerheads with the latter. |
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An analyst said, “The determination of the state government
to prosecute managers of the company for consorting with the enemy is sheer
hypocrisy. With the Assam state government's writ barely extending beyond
Guwahati and its compromised police and paramilitary forces unable to provide
even minimal protection to the far-flung properties and personnel of tea
companies, they had no option but to parley with militant organisations. The
revelation that Tata Tea managers had kept the IB informed about the
negotiations provides further proof of their bona fides.” Noted media
personality Pritish Nandy, supported this stand: “A government that cannot
protect its people and its corporates, has no right to punish anyone who is
protecting himself.”
The Assam government however maintained its stand that the funding of extremists
by business houses was an anti-national act. Mahanta said, “It is the moral
responsibility of companies to inform the government, the police or intelligence
agencies about extortion by militants.” Former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti
Basu supported him, stating that no business house should pay insurgents to buy
peace and that the tea companies in Assam should not have bypassed the state
government.
In July 2000, the operational chief of the counter-insurgency operations in
Assam claimed that the ULFA had renewed its links with the tea industry. Soon
after, the manager of a tea-estate, belonging to the Williamson & Magor Group,
along with two doctors, was arrested by the police for allegedly extending
medical and financial aid to a senior ULFA leader. The arrest opened yet another
round of debates over the tea industry-militant nexus.
In November 2000, terror returned to Assam's tea estates with the killing of J
Basumatary, Assistant Manager of Fatemabad Tea Estate in Barpeta district.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
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