HAFLONG, Feb 25 — “Kaun rahega yaha saab ? Ye jungli the jungli hi rahega. Kya ceasefire saab? Woh log to abhibhi paise mang rahe hain. Jeena mushkil ho gaya yahan”, Shushil (not real name), a retired NF Railway staff, said in his sharp voice. What this aggrieved ex-railwayman said can be construed as the reaction of the common man in NC Hills area to the ceasefire declared by the militant Dima Halong Daogah (DHD).
“I have worked here for 40 years since the day I joined NF Railway. Still I am not willing to stay here. I will go back to my ancestral village in northern India so that I can spend the rest of my days without being haunted by the threat from the militants,” said the workshop staff of the NF Railway’s Lumding-Badarpur hill section. Many railwaymen working in this section on condition of anonymity admitted that they were still being made to pay up by the militants despite the ceasefire.
Of course, the modus operandi has changed. Earlier, they were being served extortion notices while now they are slapped with donation coupons. Not only Railwaymen but others in the area too are still buying peace from the ultras or rather, former underground elements. “Yes, now extortion notices are being replaced with donation coupons because of the truce with the security forces,” said Raja Ram, Regional Security Officer of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) while talking to this Correspondent at Lumding. He said problems were still there as some criminal elements or a few disgruntled members of the militant outfit were harassing the commoners demanding money in the name of the outfit.
However, the truce has been a boon the security forces as well as railway staff engaged in massive gauge coversion work in the section as they now know that there would be at least no attempt on their lives from ultras. But it has failed to make any difference for the common man. While NSCN and DHD militants are now lying low in NC Hills and other southern Assam areas, it is the Kuki militants from across the State boundary who are now causing trouble in the area. The Kuki ultras are not known to be in good rapport with the Dimasa militants and are expected to create trouble in the area to tarnish the image of the latter who have come overground to have their problems settled through negotiation with Government of India. So, there is hardly any respite for the security forces including the RPF battalions deployed in the area.