DHD steps up activities for separate State

SILCHAR, May 12 ? The Dimasa outfit Dima Halam Danga (DHD) has intensified its activities for the creation of a separate Dimaraji State with the inclusion of the parts of Cachar, North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts. This has created fear psychosis among the people living in the areas. A vernacular daily of Silchar has reported quoting intelligence sources that the DHD has chalked out a blue-print for this. It is learnt that the Bodo outfit NDFB has extended its support towards the DHD for creating a strong movement like the Bodoland one. NDFB has reportedly opened some training camps in the interior places of North Cachar Hills and are also planning to intensify subversive activities in southern Assam. Another source informed that the DHD is also giving arms training to Dimasa youths in Bangladesh with the help of Pakistan?s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The demand for the creation of separate Dimaraji State is not new, it can be mentioned here that some Dimasa organisations earlier had supported the separate Dimaraji State movement. In a conference held at Haflong, a few years back a committee was formed under the name and style of Dimaraji Revival Demand Committee (DRDC) to create a movement for separate Dimasa state and which was supported by various organisations including All Dimasa Students? Union (ADSU). Some Dimasa youths at that time took arms training under NSCN (IM) and DHD and NSCN (IM) then started the collection of money jointly. But differences crept up between the outfits over the share of money. After this, DHD started their activities with the help of NDFB. Four years back, both the outfits started a movement for the separate greater Cachari State with Boro-Cachari, Karbi-Cachari, Dima-Cachari and Mising-Cachari but the movement had to be aborted due to the lack of public support and DHD separately started the movement for separate Dimaraji State. DHD has started its activities in four district and in the eastern part of Cachar district, they have intensified with activities particularly. The extortion has become very common in this area. The people of the locality are reportedly paying rupees 100-125 per month as tax. The tea gardens of the area has also been included under this tax. Police Administration of Cachar district is of the view that the NSCN (I-M) is behind DHD and due to the limited force, they are unable to provide security in such a vast area. During the past six months, innumerable incidents of extortion, killing, kidnapping, threatening, eviction etc. have been reported from the various parts of Lakhipur sub-division in Cachar district. After the recent killings and eviction of villagers from Guabari and Thaligram village by suspected DHD militants, people are now evacuating these villages and taking shelter in safe places. They alleged that the militants are coming out in open daylight and threaten them to pay the tax within a stipulated period and whenever they fail to pay in time, they face humiliation. They held the view that the militants are trying to vacate these villages with a view to open training camps. The district administration has taken some measures to tackle this sort of activities by the militants in each Cachar. In fact, as per the version of the people, the east Cachar is now totally under the control of militants. On the other hand, a delegation of Nikhil Cachar Hairamba Burman Samity and Dimasa Sanskriti Parishad visited Guabari, Thaligram and Khaspur areas on Tuesday and demanded strong action from the administration.