Breaking Ulfas backbone calls for more than talking tough.

REACTING to the 6 April bomb blasts in Assam that left 10 dead, Union home minister P Chidambaram said (as reported in The Assam Tribune) that the Ulfas offer for negotiation is a myth. There will be no quarter taken and no quarter given, Ulfa will be fought... there will be setbacks but we will fight. No Central leader before him has come out with such a bold assertion, so it is welcome. But coming as this does before the parliamentary elections, one can be forgiven for finding his assurance somewhat suspect. Besides, time is too short for the UPA government to match words with action, nor is there any guarantee that the new government that will be installed at the Centre next month will follow up in expected manner …