Maoist women fighters stop
for lunch west of Kathmandu. Below, a Bhutanese refugee
The Maoists
are Working Hard to Carve Out Their Own Country
By
Arun Rajnath
JALPAIGURI
(Indo-Nepal-Bhutan-Bangladesh Border), July 24: Over 165 Maoist
cadres are being trained in Bhutan at present, as Bhutan has been
included in the future Maoist country, ‘Dandkaranya
Desam’. The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)
and Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO) are imparting the training.
A senior leader of the Standing Committee of a Maoist outfit confirmed
this to the South Asia Tribune.
The
next meeting of the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and
Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) is likely to be held in
Bangladesh by the end of this year to chalk out the future strategy.
The Maoists of the Purba Bangla Sarbhara Party (PBSP) of Bangladesh
are coordinating.
Bhutan
has been included in ‘Dandkaranya Desam’,
a Maoist El Dorado in South Asia. Maoists in Bhutan have already
formed Bhutan Communist Party against the imperative rule of King
Jigme Singye Vancgchuk. Over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal
have also supported them.
A
meeting between KLO Chief Sunil Biswas and the Maoist source of
the South Asia Tribune was held somewhere in the Jalpaiguri
region a few months ago for the training of the Maoist recruits
in Bhutan.
The
training is going on at several places in Bhutan. The source did
not disclose the localities as the Royal Army of Bhutan had attacked
their camps and had destroyed them two years back.
According
to the sources, 3-4 days training capsules are being provided
to the Maoist recruits in guerilla warfare, bomb-manufacturing
techniques and arms training. The militiamen of the ULFA and KLO
are imparting the training.
Maoist
sources say that the combined strength of the Indian and Nepali
Maoists is gradually increasing, and they are trying to raise
armies in Bangladesh and Bhutan. At present there are about 16,000
Combatants, 32,000 Militia, 14,000 Cadres, 70,000 hardcore followers
and 600,000 Sympathizers.
They
have also united more than a dozen ethnic and regional classes,
such as Bhutanese of Nepali origins (refugees in Nepal), dalits,
majhis, kols, etc. These are the classes that work as informers.
India,
particularly the Northeastern region, has become the hotbed of
insurgency. The Maoist forces of Bhutan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh held a meeting with the communist leaders of Nepal
and Bangladesh during the 18th Congress of the Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that took place in April 2005 at New
Delhi.
Chhabilal Bishwokarma, Rajan Bhattari of the Communist Party of
Nepal; Rashid Khan Menon, Haider Akbar Khan Rono, Manoj Saha of
the Workers Party of Bangladesh; Mujahidul Islam Selim, Shah Alam,
Syed Abu Jafar Ahmed of the Communist Party of Bangladesh attended
the convention.
Raja
Collure, T. Kugada, Nadarajah Bhavan of the Communist Party of
Sri Lanka and Somawansa Amara Singha and Sunil of the Janatha
Vimukthi Permuna, Sri Lanka were other leaders who participated
in the Congress. Indian Maoist sources told the South Asia
Tribune that the Maoist leaders met some of the world communist
leaders for their support and help.
Though
these leaders do not reconcile with the extremist approach of
the ultras, yet they have sympathies with ultra outfits as both
of them have the same goal of ‘salvation of the masses’.
The
Maoists of the region have included Bhutan as a part of ‘Dandkaranya
Desam’ that starts from Nepal-Bhutan and covers the
whole region of North Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, South
Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Secondly, the Maoists have also
planned to intensify their activities in Tamilnadu and Karnataka
to complete the region. They are also planning to gain ground
in Bangladesh where they have some influence. Keeping this strategy
in mind they would meet in Bangladesh by the end of this year.
As
far as Bhutan is concerned, it had initiated cleaning up operations
within its borders to eliminate the anti-India forces. The Bhutanese
army had conducted combing operations and destroyed the training
camps of the United Liberation Force of Assam (ULFA).
Bhutan
had launched operations against three anti-India outfits, viz,
ULFA, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), and the Kamtapur
Liberation Organization (KLO) in December 2003. Before the attack,
the Indian Army had also sealed the Bhutan Gate near Phuntsholing,
the entry point to Bhutan from West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri
district. This is known to be one of the most commonly used transit
points for militants.
At
Barovisa near the West Bengal-Assam border check post, the Indian
Army had deployed at least one tank along with medical units and
other combat equipment. Five ULFA and two Bodo militant camps
were destroyed during the day’s operations.
While
King Jigme Singye Wangchuk might have informed the then Indian
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee about the action a day before,
the fact is that the two had discussed military action when they
had met on September 14, 2003.
It was not without reason that the Indian Army had started quietly
moving troops from Tezpur-based IV Corps and equipment to the
Indo-Bhutan borders in Assam in October itself. The Siliguri-based
33 Corps had also been placed on alert. The entire operation was
kept top secret with the West Bengal police told to seal the borders
this month.
According to highly placed sources, the Bhutan Army had destroyed
20 militant camps of the three groups, but the menace is not finished
yet. While the top leadership of ULFA, NDFB and KLO is safe in
Bangladesh, the total number of Northeast armed militants in the
Jalpaiguri (India) region is around 4,500. Jalpaiguri is adjacent
to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Government sources told the South Asia Tribune that the
Bhutanese government was told at that time that these organizations
were linked with Maoists, who were out to uproot the monarchy
in Nepal.
Bhutan
fears that militants would take counter-action and target its
communication lines. This could lead to scarcity and may spark
off unrest within. As it is, Bhutan largely relies on India for
its supplies, trade and exports. Though the UPA Government has
also assured Vangchuk of all support, including strengthening
his royal army, yet the Maoist menace in Bhutan has increased
manifold and Bhutanese Maoists would participate in the next meeting
of the CCOMPOSA.
Over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin have been hounded
out of Bhutan after the promulgation of the Citizenship Act, 1985
and nation wide census in 1988 in Bhutan. These refugees are now
living in dingy and sub-human conditions in Nepal. Some of the
refugees are in West Bengal and especially in the region of Jalpaiguri.
Bhutanese refugees are mostly settled in the Eastern region of
Nepal which is one of the strongholds of Maoists. This correspondent
met with some Bhutanese refugees in Jalpaiguri, which told me
that more than 2000 refugees have joined the Maoist outfits of
Nepal and India.
The
newly formed Bhutanese Maoist outfit, the Bhutan Communist Party-Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
(BCP-MLM) has already issued the warning to the King of Bhutan
“to mend his ways and pave way for the rule of the different
Nationalities in Bhutan.”
The Chief of the BCP-MLM is someone with an alias of ‘Vikalpa’
on the line of Nepali Maoist Chief ‘Prachanda’.
The word ‘Prachanda’ means ‘Fiery’ whereas
‘Vikalpa’ is ‘Alternative’. The combination
of both i.e. ‘Prachanda Vikalpa’ would mean
the ‘Fiery alternative’ to other forms of administration.
A large number of frustrated youth in the refugee camps in Nepal
are joining them. These youth have also joined the Maoist rebels
of Nepal. The BCP-MLM is constantly raising voice for their early
repatriation to Bhutan where they legally belong.
For the next meeting of the CCOMPOSA in Bangladesh the Maoist
rebels of the region have established contacts with the Maoist
forces of Bangladesh. Maoist parties of the region are rendering
important assistance to the initiatives of the Maoist rebels of
Bangladesh to spearhead their revolutionary activities.
Sources
said: “Their assistance and specially the examples of unification
of various different Maoist centers and efforts towards such unification
in Bangladesh played and will continue to play an important and
positive influential role. PBSP appreciates on advancing this
process to the whole region.”
