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Terrorist As Pilgrim

Arundhati Ghose cries foul as Geneva plays a liberal host

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Terrorist As Pilgrim
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WORDS come easy to Arundhati Ghose, India's ambassador to the UN in Geneva. And they came out fast and furious when she finally decided to speak out against a grave injustice. That Anup Chetia—general secretary of ULFA, the group accused of abducting her nephew Sanjoy Ghose—was being allowed to roam free in Geneva. "We were in the coffee lounge where the sub-commission on human rights was meeting. At the next table was Anup Chetia—who had a warrant of arrest out for him by the Swiss Interpol," she said, speaking in a personal capacity to Outlook. In the early '90s, Chetia had considered making peace with New Delhi. But the efforts fell through and ULFA is now stronger than ever. Incensed with Chetia's presence in Geneva, Ghose remarked: "I've met ULFA members in the past, but that was before the group was banned. You also have LTTE walking in and out of human rights meetings here. This is why I've decided to take up the matter seriously now."

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 Unable to believe she was in the same room with Chetia, Ghose barraged the UN and the Swiss government with questions.The Swiss police said they were unable to arrest Chetia because he was a registered delegate of the NGO Liberation. "But I was told that NGOs don't have any immunity against arrest for a crime," she says.

When contacted, the Swiss authorities said that according to the "host country agreement" between Switzerland and the UNO, limited immunities are granted to NGO representatives—these include freedom to enter and exit the host country and freely express their views during meetings. They have no authority to give accreditation to a representative of an NGO invited to UN meetings—the responsibility lies with the UN itself. However, Ghose was told the matter would be looked into "on a case by case basis". It's understood that India has protested to the Swiss government for not handing over Chetia. But no action has been taken so far.

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For its part, the UN has told Ghose that this is the first time such a slip has occurred. "I told them you are lucky no LTTE guy has taken a potshot at the Sri Lankan ambassador. There is no security here whatsoever. They're now trying to set in motion some kind of security thing." Meanwhile, with Geneva becoming too hot for him, one morning Chetia just upped and left. Ghose has no idea where he might be now.

Travelling under an alias with a Bangladeshi passport, Chetia had managed to pass himself off as a human rights activist going to attend a conference in Switzerland. Ghose blames Liberation—"a fringe London-based NGO"—for not doing its homework before giving Chetia the necessary papers. "On what basis did they give their banner to a criminal group?"

 Not surprisingly, other banned groups like the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah), the People's Liberation Army and the United National Liberation Front (both Manipur-based) consider Geneva a safe place to express their views with impunity. "It's the only forum left for dialogue between governments and other political groups," says a human rights activist. "There's also some confusion about who constitutes a terrorist and who constitutes a freedom fighter."

One analyst says economic liberalisation in India has fostered regional cooperation to end militancy and forced leaders of militant groups to look more towards Europe as a viable base. "Thailand recently helped curb India's problems with insurgency by freezing bank accounts held by NSCN in Bangkok. Sri Lanka also is willing to take part in security operations in the region, as arms for LTTE are reportedly routed via Phu-ket," says the source. "This tends to crowd Geneva, as also other European countries."

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 In a world where Yasser Arafat once addressed the UN General Assembly, a pistol prominently displayed on his person, and where Bill Clinton saw it useful to invite Gerry Adams—head of IRA's political wing Sinn Fein—to Washington, surely the presence of an ULFA member at a conference table in Geneva is not that surprising? But Ghose insists "militants are using the covenant of human rights to say their own rights are being violated. They're not only bringing human rights to disrepute, they're also bringing genuine NGOs like Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre to disrepute. You've these armed groups burgeoning all over the world and they turn up here (in Geneva) and try and get respectability, and presumably look for money."

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As for going public now, Ghose has decided to do so because she has only a few weeks left before she reaches the end of her term in Geneva and she wants to see improvements in security in Geneva before she leaves. Does she believe things will change? "Inshah Allah," she says hopefully.

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