Insurgency / Northeast

NEW DELHI, Feb 14 ? Assam as well as other North East States may have apprehensions over being swamped by Bangladeshi infiltrators, but the Government of the country considers this fear as irritant, with visiting Foreign Minister Morshed Khan hinting that it could be tackled under international rules on migration. There are international set rules regarding illegal migrants, Khan told a meeting of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today.

The Foreign Minister?s comments came before his formal meeting with External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha when the contentious issues were...

Life flows incessantly in this picturesque setting, just like the gurgling streams in the area. The rectangular valley that houses a cluster of thatched structures could easily pass off as any countryside: smoke whiffing out of chimneys, a mother sunbathing her baby in the courtyard or a group of elderly people engrossed in conversation around a fireplace in the open.

This hamlet sprang up just three years ago on the banks of Tenup and Tephak, two streams in the Patkai hill ranges, and has a cosmopolitan character. The inhabitants are from different parts of the Northeast, have different...

In the diffused light of the candle-lit room, the tears in the eyes of 17-year-old Inavi Yeptho glisten like dewdrops in sunshine. The young but battle-hardened NSCN (K) activist weeps in solitude whenever he remembers his younger sister. She was a toddler when he left home two years ago and he has not seen her since.

The likes of Inavi, who have made the jungle their home and war their mission, have had to pay a big price for the sake of the cause they profess to uphold ? long periods of separation from their near and dear ones. Some like Pangmei, barely out of his twenties, have tragic...

A stone juts out from the thick undergrowth of the forest, its edges blunted by the vagaries of nature. The stone, however, does not have any umbilical link with the Patkai hill ranges. It is just the ?official? demarcation between India and Myanmar, the lone sentinel on an international boundary avoided by border forces of both countries.

The open border in the picture-postcard setting holds the key to the many mutinies afflicting the Northeast. Leaders of several insurgent outfits revealed to The Telegraph that everything the rebels need in their jungle camps ? from rations to arms ? are...

Sometime in the Eighties, a desperate husband had carried his wife hundreds of miles through jungle paths to reach the Upper Assam town of Margherita to ensure that she received proper medical treatment for a serious illness. Years later, the overwhelmed wife has become the stabilising factor in the life of S.S. Khaplang, who heads the NSCN (K).

From ensuring a constant supply of lukewarm water ? which Khaplang claims keeps him refreshed all day ? to managing his ?home? deep inside the jungles of this Tenup Tephak Joku Valley in Myanmar, the insurgent leader?s wife makes sure that he is never...

NSCN-K Council headquarters (somewhere in the jungles of Myanmar), Feb. 4: In a move reflecting his eagerness to end fratricidal clashes, insurgent leader S. S. Khaplang berated a section of his men for claiming that the Tangkhuls were not Nagas.

?They are Nagas like any of us. If they are not, then Muivah (NSCN-IM general secretary Th. Muivah), who is a Tangkhul, would not have been appointed general secretary of the Naga National Council and the NSCN,? he told The Telegraph at his headquarters deep inside the jungles of Tenup Tephak Joku Valley in Myanmar.

The Tangkhuls are natives of Ukhrul...

NEW DELHI, Feb 3 ? In a significant move to quell tension in Manipur and Assam over the Naga issues, NSCN(I-M) has said it ?fully recognises the legitimate rights and aspirations? of all neighbouring people and offered to hold talks with them to resolve the differences, reports PTI. ?Let us end tensions that have sometimes existed between us and live as good neighbours, who respect each other?s rights and aspirations. We are convinced that there should be no differences between us that cannot be resolved through dialogue and understanding,? the major Naga insurgent group said in a statement, a...

Pangsau Pass (Indo-Myanmar border), Feb. 2: A retired soldier of the Myanmarese army has become the vital link between troops deployed on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border.

Fifty-year-old Chettry Kalu, who retired from service a few years back, has been recruited afresh by the Myanmar army for a special assignment that requires his expertise in languages.

Being a Nepali, Chettry is well versed in Hindi while his stint with the army has given him a working knowledge of various Myanmarese dialects. The retired soldier?s proficiency in languages is now being put to use by the Myanmarese army...

GANGTOK, Feb 1 ? Vice-chairman of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Dhiren Boro and his three accomplices, who were arrested at Sikkim on New Year?s day, were taken to Assam for further investigation and trial. Sikkim Police DIG (Range) SD Negi said Boro, his wife Pratima and two accomplices were taken to Assam by train on Thursday by a team of Assam Police. ?The NDFB leader will be tried there and may be brought back hereto Sikkim if the court needs them,? Negi said. Boro along with the three was arrested here from a rented house by a team of Sikkim Police and booked...

Guwahati, Feb. 1: Assam Rifles will acquire new surveillance equipment for its units deployed on the porous Indo-Myanmar border, which has become one of the hotspots of militancy in the Northeast.

The director-general of the country?s oldest paramilitary force, Lt Gen. G.K. Duggal, today said the presence of troops along the Indo-Myanmar border ?spanning the four states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram ? was adequate at present. However, the Assam Rifles would still like to strengthen its presence along the border, he added.

Duggal disclosed that Assam Rifles units would...