The year 2002 began with the Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announcement, on January 1, of a safe passage offer for the terrorists willing to sit for a round of negotiations with the government. Only on the previous day, December 31, 2001, two youth from Jamthung village in Dhalai district were killed by cadres of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), apparently miffed over the decision of the villagers not to aid the terrorists in any way. It clearly remains to be seen whether 2002 will bring any change in the attitudes that have kept terrorism alive through 2001.
2001 had ended the way it began in Tripura. On January 1, 2001, NLFT cadres killed two persons, including a security force personnel, in two separate incidents in Dhalai and West Tripura district.
In terms of fatalities, violence in 2001 has fallen considerably as compared to the previous year. The only exception to this trend was the casualties suffered by security forces, which doubled in 2001.
Casualties of Terrorist Violence in Tripura - 2002
Note:Figures are compiled from news reports and are provisional. (More Data>>)
Towards the end of 2001 the NLFT suffered a major setback when the chief of its armed wing, Mantu Koloy, was reportedly arrested by the Bangladesh police from Ghagrachari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Conflicting media reports suggested that Koloy, second in command to NLFT President Biswa Mohan Debbarma, and seven other NLFT cadres were arrested in November 2001. The arrest, if the reports are accurate, would be the second setback for the organisation which, on February 18, 2001, had suffered a vertical split as a result of the formation of the NLFT-Nayanbasi (NLFT-N). On that occasion, a sizeable number of NLFT cadres deserted camps in Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh under the leadership of Nayanbasi Jamatiya in the wake of sharp differences among the top hierarchy of the outfit. On April 1, 2001, NLFT’s ‘foreign secretary’ Joshua Debbarma alias Jogendra and ‘senior commander’ Janabir Debbarma quit the mainstream faction of the outfit along with some cadres, and joined the breakaway faction. Instead of reducing ongoing violence, however, the split only contributed to internecine violence, with the NLFT-N targeting supporters and sympathisers of the NLFT. In one such instance, a senior NLFT cadre who was the ‘defence minister’ of the outfit’s ‘government-in-exile’, Utparna Tripura, was killed during an NLFT-N raid on a camp of the mainstream faction. Later, on September 18, 2001, five NLFT-N terrorists and a civilian were killed by members of the mainstream faction at Takarjala in West Tripura district. The break-away faction also aligned with the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). The cadres of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), the over-ground political wing of the NLFT, were also targeted by the ATTF-NLFT(N) combine for selective killing and abduction. Three IPFT activists were killed on September 25, 2001.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which controls the State government, bore the main brunt of NLFT attacks. More than 25 leaders and activists of the CPI-M were killed by the group between June-August 2001. On August 31, 2001 a CPI-M leader was killed as 15 NLFT terrorists attacked his house and fired from close range in Thakurpara village. In another attack, on September 4, 2001, NLFT terrorists locked up the residences of 17 CPI-M leaders in Khowai and Takerjala areas. The group was repeating terror tactics which had been used successfully in April-May 2000 during the elections to the Tripura Tribal Autonomous Development Council (TTADC).
The NLFT has been running what can virtually be considered a parallel government in the State. In October 2001, it decided to lift the ban it had imposed in 1996 on the Durga Puja celebrations, a major festival for the State’s majority Bengali settler population. However, a circulated pamphlet which announced the withdrawal of the ban also warned tribals to keep away from the celebrations.
The ATTF has also been actively indulging in large-scale violence during 2001. In an ambush by its terrorists on March 3, 2001, at Bampur in South Tripura district, 11 security force personnel and two civilians were killed, while three were injured. In another attack by the group on the TTADC headquarters at Khumulawng in Jirania district on May 27, 2001, a senior police officer was killed. Two ATTF terrorists were also killed in the attack.
In the third week of June, the Tripura Peoples' Democratic Front (TPDF), the over-ground political wing of the ATTF issued a statement indicating that it would ‘pull off ambushes on the vehicles and may even try to storm the camps of the armed forces and State police’. This statement was in reaction to the civic action programmes launched by the armed forces, targeting the tribal population in an attempt to alienate the extremists.
Most terrorist groups claiming to represent the tribal interests in the State, seek to exploit the anti-tribal image of the State government. Their case gained support when the Union Tribal Welfare Minister, Juel Oram, while speaking to the media in Agartala on October 8, 2001, said that the lack of foresight on the part of previous governments and lack of development are some of the causes for the Northeast militancy. He also said that the Tripura government had failed to demonstrate a readiness for properly implementing schemes for the tribal development.
The United Bengali Liberation Front (UBLF) also kept up its insurgent activities targeting tribals. Police claim to have discovered a nexus between this terrorist group and Amra Bengali, the political wing of the Ananda Marga, a socio-religious extremist group based in West Bengal. Fringe Bengali extremists groups also emerged to add to the cycle of violence in the State. The Bengali Liberation Army (BLA), primarily a group of youth formed to avenge the killings of Bengalis by tribal extremists, detonated a powerful timed device in an Agartala market on July 22, 2001, killing one and injuring 16. This, incidentally, was the first incident of such nature in the State capital.
Other terrorist groups in the State largely maintained a low profile. The Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT) suffered two major setbacks when, within a span of one week between March 27 and April 4, 2001, 65 of its cadres, including a front ranking leader, Alendra Debbarma, surrendered in Dhalai district. Its woes continued as, between May 21 and June 21, 2001, 42 more BNCT cadres surrendered in Agartala. Similarly, 17 terrorists of the Tripura National Security Force (TNSF), led by Kironjoy Reang, surrendered at Agartala on February 22, 2001. There were several other surrenders by terrorists of the NLFT and the ATTF as well. 25 NLFT terrorists surrendered on May 22, 2001, at Narsinghgarh, while six others surrendered on June 13 in North Tripura district. Nine terrorists of the NLFT-N surrendered in Agartala on June 11, 2001. Other sporadic surrenders were reported throughout the year.
In September 2001 the State government announced its intentions to formulate special counter-insurgency measures. However, the nexus between politicians and individual terrorist groups, which has been increasingly evident, has hampered these efforts. The ruling CPI-M is reportedly promoting the ATTF as a counter to the NLFT, whereas the opposition Congress is reported to be promoting the NLFT. In addition to this political patronage, another major handicap for the counter-insurgency operations is the location of the terrorist camps. Both the NLFT and the ATTF operate from the well-entrenched bases in neighbouring Bangladesh and mainly engage in hit and run guerrilla strikes.
Reports of a strengthened nexus between elements in the Bangladeshi army and the NLFT and ATTF pose supplementary challenges for the security forces. This problem has deepened with the new government controlled by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is far more supportive of the insurgents operating against India than the predecessor regime.
The government’s policy for surrendered terrorists received bad publicity after more than 110 former cadres of the Tripura Resurrection Army (TRA) went on a hunger strike in September 2001 demanding rehabilitation and withdrawal of pending cases against them. A total of 145 TRA terrorists, led by Dhananjay Reang, had surrendered in 1997 in South Tripura district. The surrendered terrorists also demanded jobs conforming to their eligibility. While, the government could take comfort from the fact that this band of former terrorists can hardly afford to resume violence, the hunger strike did give negative publicity to the entire surrender policy pursued by the State government.
As in previous years, the Jamatiyas, a martial community, headed by the Hoda (supreme council), continued to defy the diktats of the insurgents. On February 13, 2001, the Hoda pledged support to the government in its fight against terrorism. In September 2001, the Jamatiyas began an agitation against conversion of tribals by the NLFT in the hill areas. In fact the Hoda has been the rallying point for the Hindu tribals in their resistance against the conversion drive of the NLFT. In July 2001, a Janajati Samskriti Suraksha Samiti (JSSS) was formed at the initiative of the Hoda, consisting of elders of the 19 Hindu tribal communities in the State. The NLFT, in turn, targeted the members of the Jamatiya Hoda for selective killing. In September 2001, the ATTF through its mouthpiece, Chaba, said that the NLFT Chief Mantu Koloy had planned to kill some of the top leaders of the Hoda. Six Jamatiya members were killed in an NLFT attack at Noabari in South Tripura district on September 2, 2001. The Hoda’s association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other elements of the right wing Sangha Parivar carry an the inherent danger of communalising their initiative.
There is evidence of a strengthening of the nexus between some government officials and terrorist organisations. In one such instance, an officer of the Information Department posted at Santirbazar in South Tripura district was arrested on November 30, 2001, on charges of recruiting students for the NLFT. The State Home department is said to have prepared a list of 100 such officers in the State. Three members of the TTADC were also interrogated by the police in this connection.
Development and other economic activity continued to suffer due to the unabated insurgency. On January 7 and 8, 2001, NLFT terrorists abducted 14 railway workers in separate incidents in North Tripura and Dhalai districts. Nine of them were released on February 21, 2001. The fate of the others is yet unknown. Meanwhile, on February 19, security force personnel recovered four skeletons from a jungle in Talarjala, West Tripura district. The skeletons were identified as that of four workers of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), who were among the 12 workers abducted on March 19, 2000, by suspected NLFT terrorists from Gulakathalarpara in the district. The abduction of these non-combatants appears to be a move to disrupt infrastructure development programmes launched by the government in the State and also could be a move to extort ‘protection money’ from public sector organisations with a presence in the State.