Dimapur/ Kohima, Jan 22: If the Centre were to make peace with Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, it would have dealt a body blow to insurgency in the region. Because the NSCN (I-M) is today the pivotal force behind insurgent groups operating in Assam, Manipur, Tripura and even those creeping into Meghalaya.
Officials engaged in counter-insurgency operations have reason to believe that the NSCN (I-M) has ‘‘contributed in good measure’’ to the activities of outfits in states across the N-E, training and arming them and drawing from an extortion pool to fill its coffers.
‘‘Other ethnic groups have been encouraged to take up arms. It suits the NSCN (I-M) because counter-insurgency operations get scattered, taking the heat off the dominant group. These are tactical moves since we get engaged elsewhere. It allows them to generate funds from areas where its writ doesn’t run, still cornering the major share of the spoils. Smaller groups don’t mind picking the responsibility tab because it keeps them in circulation, allowing them to grow and even carve out space,’’ says a senior official with years of counter-insurgency operations behind him.
There was a time the NSCN trained under the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) in the Myanmar jungles. When the KIA switched off in the early ’90s, the NSCN headed for Bangladesh. The timing was right. The Khmer Rouge had collapsed in Cambodia and a huge stockpile of modern weaponry was floating all over South East Asia, up for sale.
Purchases were routed through Cox Bazaar in Bangladesh and NSCN cadres ferried their cache of arms into Nagaland through Bandarban — the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) maintains a regular arms dump at its Alikadam camp — and then past Mizoram and Manipur. Officials say the NSCN also acquired arms turned in by Myanmar druglord Khun Sa when he made peace with the Yangon junta in the mid-90s.
‘‘The NSCN (I-M) became the Big Brother. Sahpa in Myanmar, where Muivah’s boys pitched tents years ago on their return from China, is the favourite destination of many insurgent groups,’’ concedes an official in Kohima. Over the years, the NSCN (I-M) has helped, at some stage or the other, outfits like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front for Bodoland (NDFB) in Assam and the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) in Manipur.
In recent times, the NSCN (I-M) has forged links with the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) and the A’Chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) in Meghalaya. Officials point out that there’s another reason why the NSCN (I-M) is constantly reaching out to newer groups — it helps them secure safe havens for its cadres. Yet they all agree the strain on counter-insurgency operations will be greatly reduced if the NSCN (I-M) were to promise Delhi a farewell to arms.