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The
NDFB does not extort money, but relies on voluntary donation as
agreed upon in the ceasefire accord, says an official |
The one-year tripartite
ceasefire agreement between the National Democratic Front of Bodoland
(NDFB), the Government of India and the Assam state government ends
on May 31, and the leadership and cadre of the militant outfit are getting
edgy. Despite many feelers to the government from what was once considered
the most dreaded of all the militant outfits in the Northeast, so far
there have been no moves by the authorities to extend the ceasefire.
This prompted the NDFB to announce on May 9 that there would be no dialogue
until they get information from authorities about the Bodo rebels who
went missing during Bhutan’s offensive against insurgents in 2003.
If the ceasefire
agreement is not renewed, NDFB leaders say that they will be forced
to leave the camps they have been housed in by the government and go
back to waging a guerrilla war against the State from the jungles in
support of their demand for an independent Bodoland. “We are waiting
and we want the government to invite us for talks,” says B. Rakhaw,
an NDFB press officer. The peace between NDFB and the State received
a setback on April 22 when Assam police arrested eight NDFB cadres,
including ‘commander’ S. Bikharwja, on charges of extortion.
In protest against the arrests, the NDFB gave a 24-hour bandh call and
B. Dwithun, an NDFB member, was shot dead in Bilasipara sub-division
of Dhubri district while trying to enforce the bandh.
Rakhaw says that
the NDFB does not extort money, but relies on voluntary donation as
agreed upon in the ceasefire accord. “As per the ground rules
of the ceasefire agreement, we can receive voluntary contributions as
we have no source of income. This is a fabricated case by the Assam
police… We are obeying ground rules even when the government shot
at our cadres. We did not raise arms though we have them.”
The NGO All Bodo
Peace Forum is acting as a pressure group, trying to mobilise people
by organising peace rallies at different places in lower and central
Assam and send a message to the Indian government. “We are trying
to urgently spread the message that the ceasefire is about to expire
and the government is not at all sincere about holding talks... Not
a single round of discussion has been held all of last year which is
very unfortunate,” says the adviser of the forum Bhramon Baglary.
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Battle
Ready: Cadres at NDFB’s Khumguri camp
Photos Anu Boro |
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The NDFB was directly
responsible for 174 deaths out of a total of 201 people killed
in Assam between April 1996 and March 1997, according to a Union
home ministry report |
Government authorities
say that taking the peace process forward will take time. “We
too want an early resolution of the issue. The process had been delayed
due to the elections… we have no problem in extending the ceasefire.
But the process will take some time,” says Khagen Sharma, IG,
special branch.
RM Singh, IGP, Bodoland
Territorial Area Districts (BTAD) says, “We too want peace to
return to the area and the uncertainty to come to an end… We will
have a meeting of the jmg (Joint Monitoring Group) before the expiry
of the ceasefire so that the extension of the ceasefire can be made.”
The restive NDFB
is hopeful that the dialogue will begin with the installation of a new
government in Assam.
NDFB was originally
established as the Bodo Security Force (BDSF) under the leadership of
Ranjan Daimary, alias DR Nabla in 1986. In 1994, the BDSF re-christened
itself as the NDFB with the purported objective of securing a ‘sovereign
Bodoland’ in the areas north of the river Brahmaputra.
In the subsequent
years, the NDFB cadres committed many acts of violence, including murders,
bomb explosions, and kidnappings for ransom in Assam. According to a
1996-97 Union home ministry report, of a total of 201 people killed
in the state between April 1996 and March 1997, the NDFB was directly
responsible for 174 deaths.
In December 2003
another Bodo militant group, the 2,641-strong Bodo Liberation Tigers
(BLT) renounced violence and signed a peace accord with the Government
of India and the Government of Assam, marking an end to seven years
of insurgency. As per the agreement, an interim 12-member autonomous
Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was formed in Kokrajhar. The Central
government will be involved in the economic development of the autonomous
BTC area comprising Kokrajhar and the yet to be formed districts of
Chirang, Baska and Udalguri.
It is said that
the BLT, with its predominantly Hindu cadre, has always demanded autonomy
within the Indian State, while the NDFB has a Christian majority and
its stated goal is outright secession from India and the formation of
an independent Bodoland. However, B. Rakhaw denies this, saying that
religion is not an issue in the Bodo struggle. The NDFB has both Hindus
and Christians among its cadre, he said.
Baglary says that
the BTC accord signed with the BLT has not solved the Bodo issue. “The
urgent need of the hour is to review the political will of the Bodo
people through talks with the NDFB. If this is not done, the existence
of peace in the heart of Bodo areas and the state of Assam as a whole
will be a distant dream,” he warns.
