Analysis: Tripura's tribal strife
Like many other states in India's insurgency hit north-east, the people of Tripura have over the last five years endured thousands of abductions and hundreds of killings.
Most of this violence has been carried out by the two main separatist rebel groups, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).
Tripura is one of India's seven north-eastern states, sometimes known as the seven sisters.
It has a population of around three million - three-quarters of whom are Bengali-speaking settlers whose families mostly arrived in the state after the partition of India in 1947.
Banned
Both the National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force say they want independence for tribal areas of the state, which exist in all of Tripura's four districts.
Both have been been banned by the BJP-led Indian central government.
In support of their goal both groups have kidnapped political opponents and launched violent attacks on the Bengali speaking community: nearly 150 have been killed this year alone.
However, it is here that the similarities between the two rebel groups end.
The NLFT is larger and better armed. It says it is fighting not only for the removal of Bengali immigrants from the tribal areas, but also for the tribal areas of the state to become overtly Christian.
The NLFT has warned members of the tribal community that they may be attacked if they do not accept its Christian agenda.
The rivalry between the groups was clearly seen recently when the NLFT and the ATTF clashed in the jungles of Bangladesh. An ATTF commander was killed.
It is estimated that around half of Tripura's 200,000 tribal community are Christian and support the NLFT.
It is unclear where the loyalties of non-Christian tribals lie, partly because it has been alleged that they have been coerced into supporting the NLFT.
Tribal elections
Another key difference between the two groups is the decision by the NLFT to take part indirectly in recent elections to the state's tribal council elections which were boycotted by the ATTF.
The NLFT backed the Indigenous Peoples' Front of Tripura (IPFT) in the vote to the council, which rules over roughly one-third of the state's population.
The IPFT won most of the seats, and immediately announced that one of its main priorities was to redress what it described as the marginalistion of the tribals.
It warned that non-tribal people would be treated as foreigners. Thousands of Bengalis have over the last decade been expelled from areas controlled by the council. Against this background the state's Bengali-speaking community has begun retaliation attacks.
Meanwhile the Indian central government led by the BJP - which has no representation at all in Tripura - must decide whether the most effective way to end the state's ceaseless violence is by enforcing direct rule from Delhi.
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http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/tripura/terrorist_outfits/nlft.htm
National Liberation Front of Tripura
Formation
The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed on March 12, 1989, with Dhananjoy Reang (former Vice-President of the Tripura National Volunteers) as its ‘chairman’. Reang after being ‘expelled’ from the NLFT in 1993 formed a separate outfit, the Tripura Resurrection Army (TRA), but surrendered in the year 1997. After Reang’s removal, Nayanbasi Jamatiya became leader of the outfit and later Biswamohan Debbarma took over. However, another split occurred in September 2000 following differences between the Halam and Debbarma tribal members of the NLFT. Thus, the Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT) was formed by Jogendra alias Joshua Debbarma. Personal ambitions of the leaders and parochial religious considerations are believed to have caused yet another split in 2001 when Nayanbasi Jamatiya and Biswamohan Debbarma parted ways from the parent outfit to have factions of the NLFT under their respective leaderships. Further, the fourth split is said to have occurred in June 2003 when Biswamohan Debbarma was deposed allegedly at the behest of NLFT’s patrons inside Bangladesh and Mantu Koloi was placed as the leader of that faction. Debbarma is reported to have subsequently set up separate camps on the Tripura-Bangladesh border with his followers.
The NLFT was outlawed in April 1997 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, following its involvement in terrorist and subversive activities. It is also proscribed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), 2002.
Split
The NLFT split into two groups, one headed by Biswamohan Debbarma and the other by Nayanbasi Jamatiya, in February 2001. Following the expulsion of Nayanbasi Jamatiya and Joshua Debbarma from the NLFT, nearly 125 cadres of the group formed a parallel outfit under the leadership of Nayanbasi Jamatiya. Police records based on interrogation reports of surrendered/arrested cadres reveal that the split occurred as a result of:
- Reluctance of the Central Executive Committee of NLFT led by Biswamohan Debbarma to nominate Joshua Debbarma as the King of ‘Tripura Kingdom’;
- Misappropriation of funds by senior leaders;
- Lavish lifestyles led by the senior leadership; and
- Forcible conversion of tribal cadres/civilians to Christianity.
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/nlft.htm
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed in December 1989 for the purpose of seceding from India in order to create an independent Christian fundamentalist state of Tripura. The group was banned under the Unlawful Activies Prevention Act of 1967.
The headquarters of NLFT is located in the Khagrachari district of Bangladesh, about 40-45 km southeast of Simanapur.
In Tripura a systematic surrender of arms by a faction of NLFT insurgents and NLFT fringe groups is due to the increased security pressure and to infighting within NLFT insurgent ranks. Since 2000 a few hundred militants have surrendered in small groups to the security forces, handing in their weapons. The NLFT leadership engaged in peace talks with Mizoram Chief Zoramthanga in April 2001, however the NLFT has not promised acceptance of any future peace process.
The NLFT has set up a number of camps in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), in the Sylhet, Maulavi Bazar, Habiganj and Comilla regions. NLFT also has ties with Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).