12 killed in Assam violence

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
21

ya sure :)

You are absolutely right in saying that the current problem can be traced to pre-partinioned days. And later what happened with most of those sevensisters at the hands of India only led to the detrioration in the security situation and human rights abuses by the centre.

Anyhow, their history is mindbogling and the situation becomes all the more complex due to the fact they share borders with other neighboring countries. As for Bangladesh, I mentioned it just by the by , the sad fact that Pakistan is implicated in all such events taking place as they say in urdu, ' teesra mohala.'
But Assam, I believe does share border with bangladesh and so far Bangladesh has refused to cooperate with the Indians on this front. The fact that the rebels can hide in Bangladesh is a point of concern for Assam's government.

And Green White, I don't think that the Asamese are predominantly christians. They are animists, budhists, muslims hindus and christians. Maybe Goliko can help you out there.
And I think this problem is different from that of the Maosists. These are the tribal people. Whereas pockets of Maoists are found in Assam, in greater number in Nepal and Bhuttan and they are waging their own jehad, i believe separate from the tribals.

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^The population of Assam is a broad racial intermixture of Mongolian,
Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian and Aryan origin. The hilly tracks of Assam are mostly inhabited by the tribes of Mongolian origin.Ethnically, Assamese-speaking people represents the state's largest population ,while Tibeto-Burman tribal groups make up one quarter of the rest.The state has the largest number of tribes within their variety in tradition,culture, dresses, and exotic way of life. Most tribes have their own languages. Boro (or Kachari), Karbi, Kosh-Rajbanshi, Miri, Mishimi and Rabha are also among these tribes exhibiting variety in tradition, culture, dresses, and exotic way of life.
Assam's total population. = 26,655,528
Hindu population.............=17,296,455 (62 Percent)
Muslim population...........= 8,240,611 (31 Percent)
Indigenous People(animists)=7 Percent.
Six of Assam's 27 districts have a majority Muslim population. The district of Barpeta tops the list with 977,943 Muslims and 662,066 Hindus. The other five districts where Muslims constitute a majority are Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Muslim population in Assam, in comparison with other religious communities, is second only to Jammu and Kashmir (75 per cent Muslims).

Looking at these demographics of Assam..... the problem is one can't blame many of Assams problems over to Bangladesh....The truth with Assams case is that... internal strife is so much that no external forces are required to create any chaos....

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Bangladesh urges India to discuss militant camps

Bangladesh urges India to discuss militant camps

Thu Oct 7,10:58 AM ET

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh and India must discuss ways to resolve security concerns over militant camps on each other's soil, Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said on Thursday, in response to an Indian request to root out any such camps.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced concern this week over rebel hideouts in Bangladesh after more than 70 people were killed in violence blamed on tribal militants in Nagaland and Assam since the weekend.

Singh's remark was nothing new, Khan told a news conference, as India had long blamed Bangladesh for sheltering insurgents.

"Bangladesh and India should address their security concerns through discussion between the two sides," he said, adding that while Indian insurgents had no camps in Bangladesh, he had evidence of many Bangladeshi criminals hiding in India.

Singh told reporters in Bombay on Wednesday, "The fact that some insurgents' group can take shelter in Bangladesh has been a source of concern to us, and I have myself made representation to the leadership of Bangladesh at the highest level."

Officials of the Bangladesh Rifles border force (BDR) said the two sides had been unable to hammer out a solution to the problem during recent talks in New Delhi between top officials of the border forces of both sides.

At the talks, the two also exchanged lists of suspected insurgent camps in each other's territory. Bangladesh did not agree to an Indian proposal for joint operations to hunt for the camps, saying it was illegal for the forces of one country to cross the border, BDR sources said.

Late last year Bhutan, another of India's neighbours to the northeast, launched a sweep to drive anti-Indian rebels from its border region after India pressed it to tackle the insurgents.

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Manmohan Singh says northeast rebels hiding in Bangladesh

Wed Oct 6,10:18 AM ET

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - *Some of the guerrilla groups fighting Indian rule in the volatile northeast are operating out of Bangladesh, the Indian prime minister said on Wednesday, after an upsurge of separatist violence in the region. *

More than 70 people have died in a wave of bombings and gunfire in the states of Nagaland and Assam that began at the weekend which New Delhi largely blamed on tribal militants.

*"The fact that some insurgent groups can take shelter in Bangladesh has been a source of concern to us, and I have myself made representation to the leadership of Bangladesh at the highest level," Manmohan Singh said. *

"It is our hope and expectation that the territory of any neighbouring friendly country will not be used to encourage insurgent activities which seek to destabilise our country," he told reporters in Bombay, the country's financial capital.

*Dhaka has repeatedly dismissed Indian allegations that it hosted anti-India guerrilla camps, and relations have been strained in recent weeks. *

Singh's comments came as New Delhi deployed more troops in the remote state of Arunachal Pradesh to stop attacks by guerrillas from neighbouring states ahead of a state assembly election on Thursday.

*India's resource-rich northeastern states, which share borders with China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been a hotbed of secessionist movements for more than a half-century. Ethnic rebels say India has exploited oil and other resources without developing the region. *

Singh, who has faced criticism from the main opposition Hindu nationalist party for failing to stop the violence in the northeast, said there was a broad intelligence warning about the weekend attacks in Nagaland and Assam, the worst in recent years.

"But I think terrorists have the advantage of giving us a surprise. So momentarily they have an upper hand, but I have no doubt about our resolve to meet this challenge," he said.

The vote in Arunachal Pradesh will be followed by assembly elections in the huge western state of Maharashtra on October 13, seen as a first test for the communist-backed national Congress government since it took power in May. "We are closely monitoring the borders with Assam and Nagaland so that militants cannot sneak in to disturb the polls," Arunachal police Inspector General P.N. Agarwal said. Arunachal Pradesh is a relatively peaceful state in the turbulent northeast where dozens of separatist groups are fighting for greater autonomy, statehood or secession.

The mountainous state was the scene of heavy fighting in a brief war between India and China in 1962. Election officials have travelled to remote parts of Arunachal Pradesh by helicopter and elephant, carrying electronic voting machines. Some 600,000 people are eligible to vote.
(Additional reporting by Braden Reddall and Maria Abraham in BOMBAY)

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thanks Goliko for posting the links. I am really short of time, so will try posting a detailed reply later. However, this was what I was trying to point out that its easier for rebels to move to and fro from one neighboring province or country to another. For example, Asamese rebels carryiing out attacks from the Bangladeshi territory.
I guess you mistook that, I never said Bangladesh was involved :bummer:

Anyways, :–)

26

I can't upload the map, sorry.

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Troops capture rebel stronghold in Manipur
By Biswajyoti Das

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Indian troops have captured an important rebel stronghold in Manipur, close to the border with Myanmar, the army said on Saturday.

Around 6,000 troops have been deployed in a major military operation against rebel-controlled regions of Manipur this week, with the help of Myanmar which has closed its border to cut off escape routes.

The army said it had re-established control over Sajik Tampak, a stretch of thick forested mountains where an estimated 2,000 rebels had set up their camps.

"Sajik Tampak is no longer a 'liberated zone' because of the army presence, but the area is yet to be completely cleared of rebels," Major Santanu Dev Goswami, military spokesman in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, told Reuters.

"Operations are going on every day to clear the remaining areas."

Civil government officials have reopened offices in small towns and villages in the area, which had been out of bounds for several years. The area lies in Chandel district, just 80 km south of Imphal.

The Indian army says it has attacked more than 100 rebel bases in Manipur since Monday. Police officials in Chandel said at least 30 rebels had been killed and 50 arrested, while the military said two soldiers died after stepping on a landmine.

FEELING THE PINCH

Residents of Imphal said five or six army trucks could be seen heading towards the conflict area every day. Civilians were being moved out of the conflict zone and trucks carrying food to the area turned back in an attempt to starve the rebels out.

Locals said the rebels were clearly feeling the pinch.

"Since the attack in Sajik Tampak started there has been a quantum decrease in activities and movement of the underground cadres," said N. Ibungo Choubi, editor of the Manipur Mail newspaper.

Myanmar's military ruler Senior General Than Shwe visited Delhi last month and promised to not to allow rebels to operate from his country's territory.

The camps belonged to the powerful United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and other smaller armed groups, which have been battling Indian rule in the state for three decades, Goswami said.

The rebels accuse New Delhi of plundering the region's resources and neglecting its economy and welfare.

Manipur has seen several popular demonstrations this year against a controversial law that gives the army wider powers to arrest and kill suspected rebels.

India's seven northeastern states, home to more than 200 ethnic and tribal groups, have been racked by separatist and tribal insurgencies since independence from Britain in 1947.

New Delhi says many of the rebel groups have bases on the other side of porous borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

Last year, Bhutan did a military sweep to throw Indian rebels out of the tiny Himalayan kingdom. But India is less happy with the cooperation it is getting from Bangladesh, concerns highlighted in the defence ministry's annual report on Friday.

"Bangladesh has not been responsive to India's concerns regarding the presence and activities of Indian insurgent groups from the northeast ... on Bangladesh soil," it said.

The report also complained that Dhaka had not responded to Indian concerns about large-scale illegal migration, border crimes and the activities of Pakistan's military intelligence agency within Bangladesh.