Army Convoy Ambushed in Arunachal

April 27, 2015 - PRLog -- According to an item published in the latest issue of Indian Military Review three Army personnel of 4 Rajput battalion were killed and four injured, on 2 April, when suspected NSCN militants ambushed their vehicle in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district bordering Nagaland. The soldiers were on their way to the camp at Longding in the morning after a night halt at Khonsa, about 530 km east of Artunachal's capital Itanagar. They were coming from Tinsukia in neighbouring Assam in four vehicles. Most of the personnel, who were on leave, were returning from their home state. When the convoy reached Topi area, a group of suspected militants started indiscriminate firing.

Giving details, the new issue of Indian Military Review, published from New Delhi says it was suspected that one of the two factions of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) — Isak Muivah and Khaplang — was behind the ambush. The NSCN faction led by S.S. Khaplang had called off the ceasefire with the government on 27 March. It would have taken the help of anti-talk faction of ULFA militants in carrying out the ambush. Officials did not rule out the role of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM), either.

NSCN (K) leadership claimed to have abrogated the 14-year-old ceasefire agreement with New Delhi. But home ministry officials maintained that they had neither been informed nor had any such intelligence input indicating any attempt to break the ceasefire, which it intended to extend on April 29.

NSCN-K is headquartered in contiguous Naga areas in the jungles of north-west Myanmar. NSCN-K leaders and cadres emptied out of their designated ceasefire camps in the state of Nagaland—home since a ceasefire in 2001—and engaged in sporadic attacks on security forces before exiting India. It is seen as acceptance by the Myanmar-born Khaplang, who fired two key pro-ceasefire, pro-peace talk negotiators before the pull-out, that at this time he saw little benefit from a weakening hold over his slice of Naga nationalism bankrolled by citizens and businesses in Nagaland.

Khaplang would also, evidently, continue to provide sanctuary for a consideration to several rebel groups battling India. These include the Paresh Baruah-led faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom that has evolved into major weapons-runners; the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland; and six rebel groups influential in the Imphal valley areas of Manipur that collectively use the moniker Coordination Committee, or CorCom.

NSCN-K’s arch rival and pre-eminent Naga rebel group, NSCN-IM, led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah—the M in the acronym, and by far the more aggressive partner. IM, unlike K, takes issue with the idea of India imposed on Naga people. This territorial range includes Nagaland as well as Naga areas in Manipur—mostly in the hill areas that comprise nearly 90% of that state.

If the government of India is to have any hope to formally settle the Naga conflict, it will need to honourably carve out an integrated future not only for rebel leaders, but also cadres. Any settlement will also need to include smaller rebel factions like NSCN-KK, a breakaway from K, led by Khole Konyak and Kitovi Zhimomi.

In what may give a new dimension to the insurgency scenario of the north-eastern states, the coordination committee, an umbrella organisation of six insurgent groups in Manipur, welcomed the decision of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN to abrogate the ceasefire with the Centre.

The coordination committee, which is known as CorCom in a statement said, “The decision taken by the NSCN (K) under the leadership of S.S. Khaplang to abrogate the 14-year ceasefire with the Centre is a right step.”

The CorCom comprises six militant groups, Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Progressive), Kangleipak Communist Party, United National Liberation Front and Revolutionary People’s Front. In what is suspected to be a planned move of insurgent groups operating from Myanmar, the CorCom has termed the Centre the “common enemy” while welcoming the NSCN (K) statement that no one could distort the freedom of the Naga people.

The secretive peace talks between the government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) have dragged on for around two decades. But the government’s decision to hold exclusive negotiations with the Manipuri Tangkhul-dominated NSCN-IM has marginalised the people of Nagaland in the peace process.

Nagaland is home to 18 recognised indigenous Naga (including Zeliang) and non-Naga (including Kachari and Kuki) tribes that account for about 86 per cent of its population. While the largest Naga tribe has a population of about 2,50,000, the population of the two smallest non-Naga tribes put together is barely 2,500.

The populations of Kachari, Kuki, and Zeliang tribes range between 15,000 and 75,000. Given the wide disparity in sizes and persistence of historical territorial boundaries between tribes, the assembly seats allotted to a tribe’s traditional stronghold reflects its political power.

Each of the six large Naga tribes controls between four to 10 seats in the 60 member legislature, whereas the smaller tribes control between zero to two-and-a-half seats.

A Naga settlement cannot come about without adjustments with these tribes..