Tripura: Christian Militancy Degenerates Further
Anand Kumar
Oct 10, 2005
South Asia Analysis Group
Tripura, a northeastern Indian state has been in the grip of insurgency for over two decades now. But the tribal militants who initially took up arms to oppose the dominance of outsiders later became devoid of any ideology. The rank and file of militant organizations is now getting increasingly disenchanted as their leaders maintain double standards within the outfit. The pressure maintained by the security agencies has restricted their activities. The state has also tried to win over the cadres of the insurgent groups by offering them various surrender schemes. As a result the cadre base of militant organizations has shrunk. This changed situation has forced the insurgent groups to resort to some desperate acts.
In once such desperate act, heavily armed rebels of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) attacked the village Hazrapara, about 120 kilometers northeast of Tripura's state capital Agartala on September 25. At least eight people, including three women, were killed and two critically wounded in the attack. All the victims were from the majority Bengali-speaking community in Tripura which borders Bangladesh .
Security forces suspected that the rebels came from their bases in Bangladesh and sneaked back to their hideout across the border that is just about five kilometers from Hazrapara after carrying out their act.
Earlier on August 25 the militants of the All Tripura Tiger Force had warned of a genocide in the state unless “extra-judicial killings” of tribal youths and Tiger Force activists stopped immediately. In a press release the commander-in-chief, Bikash Koloi said, “We warn that unless these killings are immediately stopped, Tiger Force will take a very hard decision which will hurt all sections of the people and the state government alone will be responsible.”
Background of Insurgency
In Tripura, tribal population was in majority some three decades back. But now they account for only about 30 percent of Tripura's 3.1 million population. The militants say that tribal culture and traditions have been under threat due to the continuous flow of Bengali people from across the border. Hence they have been targeting this section of population.
The militancy in the state also grew because of the domestic politics. Its roots can be traced to late 1960s when the then Congress government in the state used militants to try and break the CPI (M)’s strong bases of support in the tribal-dominated hills. Although successive governments tried to solve the problem through both negotiations and use of force, they failed repeatedly. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Tripura during the past two decades.
In Tripura, there are two major outlawed rebel groups - National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). Both are fighting for independent tribal homelands and are believed to be operating from bases in adjoining Bangladesh . Tripura shares 856-kilometer-long border with Bangladesh with at least 70 percent of the boundary unfenced and with concrete pillars separating the two countries. But Dhaka denies the presence of Indian rebel bases in their territory.
Depleting Cadre Base Makes Rival Rebels Plan Joint Operations
In the month of August, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force joined hands to observe October 15 as “black day” in protest against the erstwhile princely Tripura’s merger with the Indian Union on that date in 1949. Till 2003, the two outfits were sworn enemies and often fought pitched battles to extend or preserve their hegemony in the hilly areas of the state. But a series of surrenders and desertions by a large number of lay cadre as well as top commanders have led to major depletion in the ranks of both.
These groups were concerned at their waning influence. They had failed to strike successfully on the security forces or the civilians on August 15, when they had called a boycott of Independence Day. To regain their lost ground Ranjit Debbarma of the Tiger Force and Biswamohan Debbarma of the NLFT reached an understanding to go for joint operations after a secret meeting. Intelligence sources of the state police also indicate that in order to make their presence felt the Tiger Force and the NLFT have also reached an understanding with the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).
Filming Porn to Fund Terror
As the insurgents have now lost their old collection sources in the state, they are resorting to new methods to raise funds. So far these outfits were involved in narcotics, counterfeit currency and arms running. But the militants who once claimed that they had taken up arms to liberate Tripura have stooped to the level of running a racket in making pornographic films and selling them in the market. Even more shocking, they are forcing their own cadres to act out the scenes in these films.
Recently the state police of Tripura made this exposure. The film titled "Hamjagoi Tongthoklaima" ("Our Experiences") made in the local Kokborok tribal dialect featured local women. The surrendered rebels of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) confessed that such films were sold in India , and neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar . Ghanshyam Murari Srivastava, the police chief of Tripura said, "We have many pornographic CDs with young women and men featuring in these movies which were handed over to us by some surrendered NLFT cadres." Police suspects the involvement of NLFT behind the racket involving porn films.
According to Indian security officials most of the pornographic material was filmed in the rebels' bases in Khagrachari district of Bangladesh. An unnamed police official said, "There are no advanced facilities here to professionally edit a film and package DVDs. The entire operation was done somewhere in the Chittagong Hill Tracts."
Militants Trafficking Women for Sleaze
The local police claim that this racket goes much beyond producing pornographic materials. Besides the dubbing of the CD in Thai and Burmese languages, it has been learnt that the wife of ATTF's leader Ranjit Debbarma runs a parlour in Dhaka where these girls are used as prostitutes.
Insurgents are also trafficking women from the region to work in sleazy beauty parlours in South Asian countries as part of a massive fund raising drive. Reports have indicated that young tribal women from the state were being forcibly recruited by rebel groups and then sent to South Asian nations via Bangladesh . Srivastava said, "Many of the girls are working in beauty parlours in Thailand and other adjoining countries with the rebel groups getting money in return for the women supplied to agents in those areas."
Surrender of Militants
The security agencies achieved a major success on September 3 when in the largest surrender in past one year, eighty-six insurgents associated with banned outfits, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) surrendered before the police in Agartala. Mantu Koloy and Kamini Debbarma led the NLFTs surrendering rebels. The rebels also handed over their arms and ammunition which included one light machine gun, 13 AK-47 rifles, 11 self-loading rifles, two Chinese rifles, seven revolvers, 23 grenades and ammunitions.
The surrender is believed to have come in the wake of intensified anti-militancy operation by the state police and central and state paramilitary forces. However, the frustration among the insurgents due to their internal problems was also a major reason for giving up.
Police plans to give vocational training for one year to the surrendered militants after which they would be rehabilitated under the new surrender-cum rehabilitation package formulated by Home Ministry. The new package provides for sufficient incentives, including providing food and shelter for three years instead of earlier one year, to those who surrender.
Double Standard of Separatist Leaders
The surrender of separatists of the banned outfits has time and again highlighted the manner in which the separatists are luring the region’s youth to a path of violence, through their false promise. They have also disclosed the duplicity, which the leadership of the terrorist outfit was maintaining towards the unfortunate cadres of these outfits and to their so-called cause.
Some surrendered ATTF cadres revealed that they had received training at camps in Bangladesh in the Taraban locality in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. But what disturbed and pained the youth the most was the double standards the outfit’s leadership was maintaining, giving training to the youth in harsh camps, while they themselves led a life of comfort in Bangladesh . The cadres say that the so called insurgent leaders are not guided by any ideology. They are more interested in terrorising the people and extracting ransom for their own survival. While the lower rung cadres indulge in petty crime the separatist leadership enjoys the hospitality and a life of luxury in foreign countries like Bangladesh .
Surrenders not Fully Effective
The surrender of militants in Tripura has not been able to deliver the expected result as a large number of these are stage-managed. The inefficiency of Indian state has also encouraged such deception and manipulation. The intelligence sources reveal that tribal youth these days "surrender" just to earn a fast buck and a rehabilitation package that temporarily takes them out of grinding poverty.
Since August 10, 1988, when the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) headed by Bijoy Hrangkhawl surrendered before authorities following tripartite talks, more than 6,600 militants formally surrendered before government functionaries and security forces. But according to the government's own estimate, the TNV had just about 800-900 militants.
No doubt, some of the surrendered militants were top leaders of their outfits, the rest were never involved in militancy. They were, by and large, unemployed tribal youth brought to "surrender functions" by leaders who wanted to show off their strength. Intriguingly, many of the "militants" came bare-handed. Some made a mockery of the surrender show by coming to it with wooden guns made by carpenters in villages. As per the Centre's surrender policy for North East militants, only those rebels who came overground with firearms were eligible for the rehabilitation package and financial assistance.
In Tripura, during the surrender of National Liberation Front of Tripura (both Nayanbasi Jamatia and Mantu Koloy factions), militant leaders openly "recruited" youths to join the surrender ceremony, demanding Rs 15,000 from them to be included in the list. More surprisingly, leaders of militant groups often got the same set of people to surrender time and again. The so called surrendered rebels return to jungle life in almost no time.
Out of the top six senior insurgent leaders, three -- Kamini Debbarma, Binoy Debbarma and Dhanu Koloy -- have themselves surrendered thrice each. Kamini Debbarma, the NLFT's self-styled home secretary, got a jeep the first time he surrendered as a rehabilitation package. Unhappy with the reward, he returned to the jungles to form another outfit in 1991. Four years later he came walking to Agartala to surrender, got something and went underground again after a year. In 2004, he resurfaced and surrendered all over again. State police officers have not been able to explain this phenomenon.
No doubt, the constant pressure maintained by the security forces and disenchantment of the cadres with their leaders has weakened militancy in Tripura, but the state will not be able to rid itself from the problem unless it makes the surrender policy more effective. Besides, some effort also needs to be made to uplift the condition of tribal population who should be brought into the national mainstream by sharing more political power with them in the state so that their fears of getting overwhelmed by the outsiders could be removed.
Oct 10, 2005
South Asia Analysis Group
Tripura, a northeastern Indian state has been in the grip of insurgency for over two decades now. But the tribal militants who initially took up arms to oppose the dominance of outsiders later became devoid of any ideology. The rank and file of militant organizations is now getting increasingly disenchanted as their leaders maintain double standards within the outfit. The pressure maintained by the security agencies has restricted their activities. The state has also tried to win over the cadres of the insurgent groups by offering them various surrender schemes. As a result the cadre base of militant organizations has shrunk. This changed situation has forced the insurgent groups to resort to some desperate acts.
In once such desperate act, heavily armed rebels of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) attacked the village Hazrapara, about 120 kilometers northeast of Tripura's state capital Agartala on September 25. At least eight people, including three women, were killed and two critically wounded in the attack. All the victims were from the majority Bengali-speaking community in Tripura which borders Bangladesh .
Security forces suspected that the rebels came from their bases in Bangladesh and sneaked back to their hideout across the border that is just about five kilometers from Hazrapara after carrying out their act.
Earlier on August 25 the militants of the All Tripura Tiger Force had warned of a genocide in the state unless “extra-judicial killings” of tribal youths and Tiger Force activists stopped immediately. In a press release the commander-in-chief, Bikash Koloi said, “We warn that unless these killings are immediately stopped, Tiger Force will take a very hard decision which will hurt all sections of the people and the state government alone will be responsible.”
Background of Insurgency
In Tripura, tribal population was in majority some three decades back. But now they account for only about 30 percent of Tripura's 3.1 million population. The militants say that tribal culture and traditions have been under threat due to the continuous flow of Bengali people from across the border. Hence they have been targeting this section of population.
The militancy in the state also grew because of the domestic politics. Its roots can be traced to late 1960s when the then Congress government in the state used militants to try and break the CPI (M)’s strong bases of support in the tribal-dominated hills. Although successive governments tried to solve the problem through both negotiations and use of force, they failed repeatedly. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Tripura during the past two decades.
In Tripura, there are two major outlawed rebel groups - National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). Both are fighting for independent tribal homelands and are believed to be operating from bases in adjoining Bangladesh . Tripura shares 856-kilometer-long border with Bangladesh with at least 70 percent of the boundary unfenced and with concrete pillars separating the two countries. But Dhaka denies the presence of Indian rebel bases in their territory.
Depleting Cadre Base Makes Rival Rebels Plan Joint Operations
In the month of August, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force joined hands to observe October 15 as “black day” in protest against the erstwhile princely Tripura’s merger with the Indian Union on that date in 1949. Till 2003, the two outfits were sworn enemies and often fought pitched battles to extend or preserve their hegemony in the hilly areas of the state. But a series of surrenders and desertions by a large number of lay cadre as well as top commanders have led to major depletion in the ranks of both.
These groups were concerned at their waning influence. They had failed to strike successfully on the security forces or the civilians on August 15, when they had called a boycott of Independence Day. To regain their lost ground Ranjit Debbarma of the Tiger Force and Biswamohan Debbarma of the NLFT reached an understanding to go for joint operations after a secret meeting. Intelligence sources of the state police also indicate that in order to make their presence felt the Tiger Force and the NLFT have also reached an understanding with the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO).
Filming Porn to Fund Terror
As the insurgents have now lost their old collection sources in the state, they are resorting to new methods to raise funds. So far these outfits were involved in narcotics, counterfeit currency and arms running. But the militants who once claimed that they had taken up arms to liberate Tripura have stooped to the level of running a racket in making pornographic films and selling them in the market. Even more shocking, they are forcing their own cadres to act out the scenes in these films.
Recently the state police of Tripura made this exposure. The film titled "Hamjagoi Tongthoklaima" ("Our Experiences") made in the local Kokborok tribal dialect featured local women. The surrendered rebels of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) confessed that such films were sold in India , and neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar . Ghanshyam Murari Srivastava, the police chief of Tripura said, "We have many pornographic CDs with young women and men featuring in these movies which were handed over to us by some surrendered NLFT cadres." Police suspects the involvement of NLFT behind the racket involving porn films.
According to Indian security officials most of the pornographic material was filmed in the rebels' bases in Khagrachari district of Bangladesh. An unnamed police official said, "There are no advanced facilities here to professionally edit a film and package DVDs. The entire operation was done somewhere in the Chittagong Hill Tracts."
Militants Trafficking Women for Sleaze
The local police claim that this racket goes much beyond producing pornographic materials. Besides the dubbing of the CD in Thai and Burmese languages, it has been learnt that the wife of ATTF's leader Ranjit Debbarma runs a parlour in Dhaka where these girls are used as prostitutes.
Insurgents are also trafficking women from the region to work in sleazy beauty parlours in South Asian countries as part of a massive fund raising drive. Reports have indicated that young tribal women from the state were being forcibly recruited by rebel groups and then sent to South Asian nations via Bangladesh . Srivastava said, "Many of the girls are working in beauty parlours in Thailand and other adjoining countries with the rebel groups getting money in return for the women supplied to agents in those areas."
Surrender of Militants
The security agencies achieved a major success on September 3 when in the largest surrender in past one year, eighty-six insurgents associated with banned outfits, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) surrendered before the police in Agartala. Mantu Koloy and Kamini Debbarma led the NLFTs surrendering rebels. The rebels also handed over their arms and ammunition which included one light machine gun, 13 AK-47 rifles, 11 self-loading rifles, two Chinese rifles, seven revolvers, 23 grenades and ammunitions.
The surrender is believed to have come in the wake of intensified anti-militancy operation by the state police and central and state paramilitary forces. However, the frustration among the insurgents due to their internal problems was also a major reason for giving up.
Police plans to give vocational training for one year to the surrendered militants after which they would be rehabilitated under the new surrender-cum rehabilitation package formulated by Home Ministry. The new package provides for sufficient incentives, including providing food and shelter for three years instead of earlier one year, to those who surrender.
Double Standard of Separatist Leaders
The surrender of separatists of the banned outfits has time and again highlighted the manner in which the separatists are luring the region’s youth to a path of violence, through their false promise. They have also disclosed the duplicity, which the leadership of the terrorist outfit was maintaining towards the unfortunate cadres of these outfits and to their so-called cause.
Some surrendered ATTF cadres revealed that they had received training at camps in Bangladesh in the Taraban locality in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. But what disturbed and pained the youth the most was the double standards the outfit’s leadership was maintaining, giving training to the youth in harsh camps, while they themselves led a life of comfort in Bangladesh . The cadres say that the so called insurgent leaders are not guided by any ideology. They are more interested in terrorising the people and extracting ransom for their own survival. While the lower rung cadres indulge in petty crime the separatist leadership enjoys the hospitality and a life of luxury in foreign countries like Bangladesh .
Surrenders not Fully Effective
The surrender of militants in Tripura has not been able to deliver the expected result as a large number of these are stage-managed. The inefficiency of Indian state has also encouraged such deception and manipulation. The intelligence sources reveal that tribal youth these days "surrender" just to earn a fast buck and a rehabilitation package that temporarily takes them out of grinding poverty.
Since August 10, 1988, when the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) headed by Bijoy Hrangkhawl surrendered before authorities following tripartite talks, more than 6,600 militants formally surrendered before government functionaries and security forces. But according to the government's own estimate, the TNV had just about 800-900 militants.
No doubt, some of the surrendered militants were top leaders of their outfits, the rest were never involved in militancy. They were, by and large, unemployed tribal youth brought to "surrender functions" by leaders who wanted to show off their strength. Intriguingly, many of the "militants" came bare-handed. Some made a mockery of the surrender show by coming to it with wooden guns made by carpenters in villages. As per the Centre's surrender policy for North East militants, only those rebels who came overground with firearms were eligible for the rehabilitation package and financial assistance.
In Tripura, during the surrender of National Liberation Front of Tripura (both Nayanbasi Jamatia and Mantu Koloy factions), militant leaders openly "recruited" youths to join the surrender ceremony, demanding Rs 15,000 from them to be included in the list. More surprisingly, leaders of militant groups often got the same set of people to surrender time and again. The so called surrendered rebels return to jungle life in almost no time.
Out of the top six senior insurgent leaders, three -- Kamini Debbarma, Binoy Debbarma and Dhanu Koloy -- have themselves surrendered thrice each. Kamini Debbarma, the NLFT's self-styled home secretary, got a jeep the first time he surrendered as a rehabilitation package. Unhappy with the reward, he returned to the jungles to form another outfit in 1991. Four years later he came walking to Agartala to surrender, got something and went underground again after a year. In 2004, he resurfaced and surrendered all over again. State police officers have not been able to explain this phenomenon.
No doubt, the constant pressure maintained by the security forces and disenchantment of the cadres with their leaders has weakened militancy in Tripura, but the state will not be able to rid itself from the problem unless it makes the surrender policy more effective. Besides, some effort also needs to be made to uplift the condition of tribal population who should be brought into the national mainstream by sharing more political power with them in the state so that their fears of getting overwhelmed by the outsiders could be removed.
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