The Tata Tea / ULFA Story

<< Previous

Tata Tea's Deals with the Ulfa and the Government Contd...

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. 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. 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.

Next >>