- NET Web Desk
An Indian-origin doctor from Assam who is now based in northeast England appeared in a London court on Monday to fight extradition to India on terrorism charges, as the purported chairman of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I).
Dr Mukul Hazarika (75), a general practitioner (GP) in County Durham, was wanted by Indian authorities for plotting with a banned terror outfit based in India.
The Crown Prosecution Service, appearing on behalf of the Indian government informed the District Judge Michael Snow at Westminster Magistrates’ Court that the conspiracy Hazarika is wanted for entails organizing terrorist camps and recruiting terrorist cadres as part of his membership in a terrorist cell.
He is charged of waging or attempting to wage war against the Indian government, as well as supporting and abetting the same.
The court also heard that Hazarika, also known as Abhijeet Asom, gave a speech to “assembled cadres” in Myanmar in 2016 to promote an armed struggle to build a separate sovereign state of Assam, according to sources.
Ben Cooper, Hazarika’s lawyer, outlined Hazarika’s active human rights advocacy activities, including creating Assam Watch, and claimed that he was being targeted by Indian authorities as part of a broader crackdown on dissenting voices in the region.
