GUWAHATI, Jan 23: A whole bunch of militant groups of the North East and North Bengal have given a call to boycott the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. They have also called a general strike on that day. Among the militant groups are the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
ULFA ?foreign secretary? Shasha Choudhury, in an e-mailed statement, on behalf of the Arunachal Dragon Federation (ADF), Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People?s Liberation Front ? MPLF (PREPAK, RPF and UNLF), the NDFB, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-BM), Tripura People?s Democratic Front (TPDF) and the ULFA, said that genuine and lasting peace in the region can be possible only when ?we have our freedom and independence with the spirit of fraternal co-existance among all of us and with our neighbours as well.?
The ?Solidarity Statement? called on the people to boycott the Republic Day and also to prevent any such celebration from being held in the region. A general strike will be observed from 1 am to 6 pm on the same day throughout the region, Choudhury said.
Meanwhile, in a separate e-mail release, the NDFB?s information and publicity secretary B Erakdao said that his organisation will observe January 26 as ?Indian Occupation Day? an called on the people to boycott the official programmes and functions of the Republic Day. However, in its call to observe a general strike, the outfit gave the time from 5 am to 5 pm. It may be mentioned here that last year, the NSCN(K) and the DHD had also joined the call for boycott of the Republic Day. This time, however, these two outfits are on a ceasefire with the Centre.