Insurgencies in North-East India

By Kumar Amitav Chaliha

NEW DEHLI (KWR) -- The seven states of north-east India have witnessed insurgency and ethnic strife since the Naga tribes revolted against the first independent Indian government in 1947. The region, bordering Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh, has always remained on the fringes of mainstream India. A continuous influx of illegal immigrants from East Pakistan (and later Bangladesh) to the sparsely populated area, and an unwillingness by successive Indian governments to check this inflow, has led to alienation among the local population. The people have also felt that while mainstream India has been exploiting its rich mineral resources, economic benefits have never accrued to them. These factors, together with historical distrust among various ethnic groups, have resulted in innumerable insurgencies in the north-east.

ASSAM

After Tripura, Assam has seen the largest influx of illegal Bengali-speaking migrants from East Pakistan, and later Bangladesh. In 1979, the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the premier student body in the state, and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP), an amalgamation of ethnic Assamese political parties, started a mass movement for the detection and deportation of illegal migrants from the state. The agitation soon took a violent turn and began to display secessionist tendencies. A militant organization, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), was set up in 1979 to "liberate Assam from Indian colonial rule" and to form a "sovereign Socialist Assam".

In 1985, the AASU-AAGSP signed an accord with the Indian government to end the agitation, and subsequent elections saw this combined group coming to power as a new regional party, the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP). Under a sympathetic AGP state government, ULFA ran a parallel administration and created terror in Assam disrupting communications and hitting economic targets, kidnapping businessmen for ransom, and killing government officials. As the AGP lost control of the situation, the Union government dismissed the state government in 1990 and called in the army. Nearly 2,500 militants were killed and arrested. In 1992, the Congress government in power suspended army operations and announced a general amnesty. Over 4,000 ULFA cadres surrendered to the authorities. Since then, hundreds have been killed in internecine encounters between surrendered ULFA members, known as the SULFA, and ULFA militants.

The ULFA, however, has proved resilient and continues its activities in the state. It now has around 2,000 members in 36 camps in Bhutan’s Sandrup Jongkhar bordering Assam’s Nalbari district. Chairman Rajib Raj Konwar - alias Arabinda Rajkhowa - and commander-in-chief Paresh Barua lead the organization.

The outfit shifted its base to Bhutan in the early 1990s for strategic reasons. At the insistence of India, Bhutan has now started pressuring the ULFA to move out of the country. The group is reportedly looking for alternative sites to relocate. Besides Assam, ULFA has become active in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and north Bengal where it has been aiding nascent local insurgent groups.

The outfit has also been running training camps in Bangladesh since 1989. It operates several profitable business ventures in the country to finance its activities. Sympathetic Bangladesh regimes, especially the anti-India Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have always patronized the ULFA and other north-east insurgent groups. The ULFA is also suspected to have close links with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The other major insurgency in Assam is by the Bodos, a major plains tribe. The Bodos have always resented the hegemony of the non-Mongoloid Assamese and have been demanding better social, political, and economic conditions since India’s independence in 1947. In 1989, the militant Bodo Security Force was formed to secure a "sovereign Bodoland" in the areas of Assam north of the river Brahmaputra. It was later renamed the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) with Ranjan Daimary as the chairman.

The 1,500-strong NDFB has been involved in widespread killings, bombings, and extortions, often in collaboration with the ULFA. It is active in Assam’s Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Barpeta, Darrang, and Sonitpur districts. It has bases in Myanmar and has set up 21 camps in southern Bhutan.

Another terrorist group, the Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) headed by Prem Singh Brahma, was set up in 1996 to fight for a separate "Bodoland" within the Indian Union on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The 800-strong BLTF signed an agreement with the government in February for the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council, a reserved area for the Bodos.

The NDFB and the BLTF have frequently fought each other. Both have also resorted to ethnic cleansing of non-Bodos in Bodo-inhabited areas.

The Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO), the Dima Halong Daoga (DHD), and the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) are three other terrorist organizations active in Assam. The KLO wants a separate Kamatapur state for the Koch-Rajbangshi tribe comprising Assam’s Goalpara district and six districts in north Bengal. The DHD and the UPDS are fighting for separate homelands in the North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong districts. The three are small outfits with limited areas of operation.

In 1997, a unified command was set up by the state government to counter insurgency in the state, which continues to date. It comprises 40,000 army, paramilitary, and state police personnel.

NAGALAND

The Nagas were the first to revolt against the Indian government with Angami Zapu Phizo’s Naga National Council (NNC) in 1947. In 1956, Phizo formed an underground government and an armed wing. The Indian army was deployed to crush the insurgency, and Phizo escaped to East Pakistan and later to exile in London.

In 1975, the NNC signed an accord with the Union government and surrendered. But a group of 140 NNC activists repudiated the accord and set up the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), a terrorist organization, under Thuengaling Muivah, Isak Swu, and S.S.Khaplang. In 1988, the outfit split along tribal lines with Khaplang setting up the NSCN (K) with Konyak Naga tribe members and Muivah and Swu forming the NSCN (IM) with Tanghkul Nagas. Since then, hundreds of cadres have been killed in inter-factional clashes.

The 3,000-strong NSCN (IM) has been demanding an independent "greater Nagaland" comprising Nagaland state and Naga-inhabited areas in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Myanmar. It is aided by the ISI and is active in parts of Nagaland, the North Cachar Hills, and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam, Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and in the Naga-inhabited northern districts of Manipur.
The NSCN (IM) has been observing a ceasefire with the security forces for the past four years and has been holding peace talks with the Indian government.

The NSCN (K) has 2,000 armed cadres and its organization and aims are similar to those of NSCN (IM). It is active in parts of Nagaland and the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the Union government in 2001 and has agreed to hold peace talks. Despite the ceasefire and the presence of over 5,000 army, paramilitary, and police personnel, extortion and kidnappings by both NSCN factions have continued.

MANIPUR

Internecine conflicts among Manipur’s ethnic groups and tribes are common. The Hindu Meitei majority in the Imphal valley have long resented the reservation of jobs and land for the other tribes in the state’s five hill districts. Disillusionment with the Indian government has led to secessionist sentiments among the Meiteis and several separatist groups have emerged.

The United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the oldest Meitei insurgent group, was set up in 1964 to establish "an independent Socialist Manipur". The UNLF, with about 800-armed cadres and training camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh, has close ties to the NSCN (K).

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was established in 1978 by N Bisheshwar Singh to unite all ethnic groups in the state for "liberating Manipur from Indian rule". It has a "government in exile" in Bangladesh, and has two camps in Myanmar and five in Bangladesh where about 700 recruits have received training in guerrilla warfare.

The People’s Revolutionary Front of Kangleipak (PREPAK) was formed in 1977 for the expulsion of non-Manipuris in the state. It has 400 cadres trained by the NSCN (IM).

While Meitei outfits are active in the Imphal valley, the NSCN (IM) is strong in four of Manipur’s five hill districts. For most of the 1990s, the NSCN (IM) fought with the Kuki National Army and the Kuki National Front over the control of narcotic traffic from Myanmar, leaving over 1,000 people dead. The Kukis are an avowedly anti-Naga tribe in the state.

After Assam, Manipur has the largest deployment of security forces to counter insurgency. Nearly 20,000 army, paramilitary, and police personnel are stationed in the state.

TRIPURA

The indigenous Mongoloid people of Tripura, who accounted for 95 percent of the population in the 1931 census, were reduced by successive immigration from East Pakistan and Bangladesh to 31 percent in the 1991 census. This unchecked migration has led to widespread discontent among the tribal population and subsequently to militancy.

The first terrorist outfit in Tripura was the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) set up in 1978 to fight for a separate tribal state. To counter the TNV, immigrant Bengalis formed the militant Amra Bangali. In the ensuing violence about 1,800 people were killed. The TNV surrendered in 1988.

Some former TNV cadres formed the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) in 1989 to carry on the TNV cause. It has an estimated strength of 800 cadres, and its headquarters is in the Khagrachari district of Bangladesh. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which controls the state government, has been the chief target of NLFT attacks.

Another group of former TNV cadres formed the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) in 1990. The strength of the outfit has been considerably reduced after 1,600 cadres surrendered in 1994. It has 400-armed members now, and its headquarters is in Tarabon, Bangladesh. It has strong links with the CPI-M party and the ULFA.

MEGHALAYA

Two local militant groups are active in the state. The demands of the smaller Hynniewtriep National Liberation Council (HNLC), a Khasi tribal outfit, are not clear. The larger 350-strong Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) is fighting for a separate state for the state’s Garo tribe. Both have set up bases in Bangladesh and are being aided by the NSCN (IM), ULFA, and the NLFT.

THE FUTURE OF INSURGENCY IN THE REGION

Many see the peace overtures by major militant outfits such as both factions of the NSCN, and sporadic surrenders by disillusioned militants, as signs of the rest of the region going the Mizoram way. There has been complete peace in the region’s Mizoram state since the Mizo National Front laid down arms in 1986 after two decades of insurgency.

However, the widening network of extortion and criminal activities by militants is increasingly having a corrupting influence on government officials, politicians, and society. It would be difficult to easily shake off this influence. Also, the fissionary trend of every tribal, linguistic, cultural, and religious sub-group demanding separation from the others, and radical demographic shifts and the record of poor governance, makes north-east India a potential source of increasing mass strife in the future.