Insurgency / Northeast

Kokrajhar, May 25: Given his fascination for “border” themes, filmmaker J.P. Datta may not need too much prodding to make a film on the travails of the residents of Darranga, a once thriving town on the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam. Since the Royal Bhutan Army’s offensive against militants, life has been unkind to several thousand families dependent on trade with the Bhutanese people for their livelihood.

Darranga is about 115 km from Nalbari town and part of the newly created Baska district, which is administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council. The population is a mix of Bodos, Nepalis...

May 24: Indian intelligence agencies and the army have begun exchanging information with their Myanmar counterparts in preparation for a full-fledged offensive against Northeast militants operating from that country. A senior official of the army’s 4 Corps, headquartered in the central Assam town of Tezpur, said information had been received about the number of militant camps in Myanmar, their locations and logistical details.

“We have pinpointed the locations of the camps of Northeast militants in that country with their help. They have given us a list of camps that the Chin National Army...

NEW DELHI, May 24 – Resolution of the problem of militancy in the North Eastern Region (NER) is likely to be one of the key focus areas, with Union Ministers from the region advocating meaningful dialogue with the underground outfits. If Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) PR Kyndiah set the tone by advocating the need for a sustained dialogue with the underground outfits, his colleagues from the region also underlined the need for early resolution of the problem.

Earlier, it was Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil who soon after...

SHILLONG, May 10 – A senior intelligence official has favoured initiating people-to-people contact with Bangladesh on the lines being done with Pakistan, and marshalling of world opinion against safe sanctuaries being provided to the North East militants to usher in a “more secured environment” in the region. Stating that some Bangladeshi groups were supporting Pakistan’s ‘proxy war’ with India and preferred Islamabad as a ‘preferred model’ with a view to “cut India to size”, Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) Joint Director JM Chaudhury stressed the need for a ‘track-II’ diplomacy with...

GOLAGHAT, May 8 – International underground organisations having links with militant outfits like the NSCN and the Karbi National Volunteer (KNV) have set up a market on the Assam-Nagaland border in Golaghat district to sell arms, drugs etc, to the local ultras.

Local people here alleged that extremist outfits, aided by international groups, have set up bases in the border areas from where they have extended their illegal trade in drugs and arms and ammunitions. Such anti-social activities have made life miserable for the people here.

It has also been alleged that militant outfits...

NEW DELHI, May 7 – Major militant outfits including the outlawed ULFA, NDFB, NLFT, ATTF faces the threat of coming under international scanner with the United States mulling to add them on its list of terrorist groups. Though the US has not indicated which of the rebels groups might face action, Ambassador and US State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador J Cofer Black told newsmen last evening that top US counter-terrorism official were visiting India soon to hold talks with the Government of India in this connection. The US move has delighted the Ministry of Home Affairs...

SAIK TAMPAK (Manipur), May 6 : The Army is not ready to take up any Bhutan type operation along the Indo-Myanmar border to flush out insurgents. In the recent past Indian forces had teamed up with their Bhutan counterparts to flush out the United Liberation Front of Assam (ulfa) as well as some other outfits which had camps along the Indo-Bhutan border.

Similarly based on the intelligence inputs, army authorities after identifying the movements of the ultras, recently launched an unnamed flushing out operation since mid-April this year on the ground that many of the banned underground...

New Delhi, May 5: The displaced Bru community of Mizoram is set to return home from the refugee camps of Tripura after seven years of uncertainty and hardship. The militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) and the Mizoram government have drafted an agreement on rehabilitation of the 40,000-odd members of the tribe who were hounded out of the state in 1997.

“The draft of the accord has been finalised and it will be placed before the cabinet for approval very soon. Almost all contentious issues have been resolved and the accord is likely to be signed after May 25, by which time the poll...

DIMAPUR, May 3 – Former Prime Minister and JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda on Sunday said the United Front Government under him was the first regime at the Centre to make serious efforts to remove regional imbalances and solve the insurgency problem in the North East.

“I have been the only Prime Minister who visited the region for seven consecutive days and announced the first economic development package to remove the infrastructure bottlenecks in the North East,” Deve Gowda told PTI here. The former Prime Minister said he was aware of the long-felt demands and needs of the people of the...

DHAKA, May 3 – A meeting of border forces of India and Bangladesh ended here today in disagreement over existence of terrorist camps in each other’s territory, even as the Indian side handed over a list of 195 camps of North East insurgents based in the neighbouring country, reports PTI. Although a joint statement of discussions was signed by BSF Director General Ajai Raj Sharma and his Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) counterpart Maj Gen Jehangir Alam Chowdhury agreeing to stop illegal cross-overs, the two sides engaged in allegations and counter-allegations over the issue of terrorist camps.

Duri...