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13 March 2014

Understanding Tribal Affinities: Key to Resolving Insurgency in Northeast India

12/03/2014


A crude cycle bomb exploded on 26 December 2013 in Jalpaiguri town in North West Bengal, killing five persons and wounding seven bystanders . The blast was attributed to an almost defunct insurgent group called Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), as it had used cycle bombs in the past to create disturbances in the state. KLO traces its origins to All Kamtapur Students Union. It began as an overground organisation to address the issues of unemployment, land alienation, economic deprivationamongst the locals and a perceived neglect of Kamtapuri language. KLO commenced armed struggle in December 1995 for creation of a separate state of Kamtapur comprising four districts of Assam, namely, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Golparaand six districts of North Bengalviz Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North and South Dinajpur and Malda with active assistance from ULFA and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB). KLO is also thought to be the armed wing of Kamtapur Peoples Party (KPP), a political entity fighting for the rights of the indigenous local population known as Koch Rajbanshis.

Historical Links

A comprehensive study of Koch Rajbanshi people indicates their linkage with other ethnic groups in Northeast and explains the rationale for cooperation of other insurgent groups with KLO. Kamtapur was an ancient Koch kingdom, which rose into prominence in 16th Century. Later, the princely state of Cooch Behar was the last remnant of the kingdom before it merged with India in 1949.The Koch are of Mongoloid race and believed to be the oldest inhabitants of Northeast having migrated to the region and settled along the various river plains. Depending upon their area of settlement and their evolving religious and cultural distinctiveness, the Koch tribe embraced different identities. The Koch is known as Bodos in BrahmaputraValley, as Dimasa in North Cachar Hills and as Rabhasin Jalpaiguri district. Today, the Koch Rajbanshi community can be found in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Nepal and Bangladesh. The community has been granted Scheduled Tribe status in Meghalaya. Despite issue of an ordinance by the President of India in 1996, a similar status has not yet been accorded to them in Assam. The population of Koch Rajbanshis in Assam is around three million, almost ten percent of the total population. Though Koch tribe forms only 1.2 percent of Meghalaya’s population, the Rajbhanshi dialect bears a close similarity with Garo and Bodo languages.

KLO received active assistance from ULFA and NDFB in the initial stages of its armed struggle. NDFB draws its support from the Bodo inhabitants and is active in the districts of Bongaingaon, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Barpeta, Nalbari, Dhubri, Sonitpur and the Garo hills of Meghalaya. A comprehensive study of the tribal composition would have indicated presence of a sizeable population of Rajbanshis in districts of Bongaingaon, Kokrajhar and Dhubri where Bodos are the other dominant community. Even though the Rajbanshis are predominantly Hindus, Bodos follow Bathouism , a close cooperation between KLO and NDFB would have been expected to take place due to the inter-woven social structures. Similarly, linguistic connection with Bodo and Garo languages would indicate that a KLO militant could move almost undetected from Assam to West Bengal to Meghalaya and onward to Nepal or Myanmar. KLO’s chief,JeevanSinghais believed to be in Myanmar in ULFA or NDFB camps. He escaped during Operation Flushout in 2003, with other important leaders to Nepal . The historic tribal linkages have led to close cooperation amongst the insurgent groups in terms of assistance in training, providing arms, use of camping sites and most importantly, unhindered ease of movement within various states to avoid security forces.

Challenges for Security Forces

Majority of the insurgent movements have taken shape based on perceived injustice coupled with poor governance. The aggrieved sections of people visualise the armed struggle as an escape mechanism to rectify historical or governance wrongs against their community. Thus, aspirations of every ethnic group to establish its own distinct individuality have led to demands of a separate homeland, which hasthe potential to weaken the internal security structures.

Indian Army has been and will always be the most important stakeholder in tackling defensive sub-conventional warfare. In majority of the cases, the units or formations move into an area for stabilisation operations at the peak of insurgent movement. Maximum effort is focused towards counter terrorist operations and comparatively little attention is paid to understanding local people and their cultural sensitivities. The cyclic nature of deployment, essential due to vagaries of location and terrain results in frequent troop and unit turnovers. Consequently, gains made in creating a favourable public opinion cannot be fully consolidated. This aspect may be one of the reasons for initiatives like the Sadbhavana projects having a limited outreach. Though the army formations and units have decade’s long experience in tackling various phases of insurgency since independence, there is no institutionalised mechanism for providing an in-depth study of local population when units move into a disturbed area. The units have to rely on available security briefs, past experiences and general awareness while conducting operations or during their dealings with government functionaries and the locals.

Way Forward

Understanding tribal structures and social affinities will enable junior leaders and stakeholders to have a comprehensive understanding of local issues as well as provide them an insight into societal complexities. Though some studies or analysis would be available at higher headquarters, a number of institutionalised steps can be taken to empower own leaders, namely:

• Sponsor studies at formation level or commission studies with local universities to identify strengths and weaknesses of each community. The knowledge of tribal inter-linkages and SWOT analysis can be later used to enhance success of own operations or predict likely course of action of militant groups.

• There is a need for institutionalised training of area experts who can provide an unbiased objective analysis and a deeper insight into the psyche of the local people. Nominated officers and soldiers can be sponsored for short courses at local or regional universities.

• Formations could organise frequent interactions with local academia as well as other security forces operation in the region to have regular updates and be aware of local sensitivities. The units also must identify soldiers with flair of learning local languages and take in-house steps for their education. Given the deployment patterns, the unit may be back in the same area after 7 to 10 years and knowledge gained can be gainfully exploited.

• Headquarters at Division level and above could regularly commission studies with various think tanks or universities on various aspects of the region to have a divergent view.The experts from academia and other fields can be roped at various stages rather than relying solely on own analysis.
• Area studies must form a sizeable aspect of pre-induction training. A small step in educating own officers can be greater focus on J&K and Northeast insurgency as part of promotion exams.

Indian population is a diverse mix of different races and tribes bound together due to religious and cultural identity. The Northeast states are home to over 220 ethnic groups and almost a similar number of dialects. Each state has a unique composition with a complex mix of various tribes and sub-tribes. An in-depth knowledge of the social fabric will pay rich dividends to the security forces during their deployment in a disturbed area as well as provide useful inputs during stablisation phase of any insurgent movement.

The author is a Senior Fellow at CLAWS. Views expressed are personal.

Kamtapur Liberation Organisation Signature in Jalpaiguri Cycle Bomb, PinakPriya Bhattacharya, Times of India, available at http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-27/kolkata/45 625623_1_klo-kamtapur-liberation-organization-jalpaiguri-sadar-ho spital. Accessed on 15 Jan 2014.

http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/assam/ terrorist_outfits/klo.htm
BG Karlsson,Contested Belonging: An Indigenous People's Struggle for Forest and Identity, Curzon Press, Surrey, UK, 2000. pp194

Bathouism is the traditional religion of Bodos, practiced by almost 90% of Bodo population. Bathou means five principles of creation, Bar(Air), San (Sun), Ha (Earth), Or (Fire) and Okhrang (Sky). There is not fixed place of worship in Bathouism.
KLO Top Guns Operating out of Nepal, http://www.mungpoo.org/2014/01/KLO-top-guns-are-now-operating-out -of-nepal.html. Accessed on 08 Feb 2014.

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