National Liberation Front of Tripura

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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 state of Tripura, and has since then conducted a violent campaign to that end. It was declared as an unlawful organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 1997. When the Prevention of Terrorism Act was made into law, it were declared a terrorist organization under its purview .

Militancy and Violence

An estimated 11,000 have been killed on both sides of the conflict. In addition, the terror has left over 40,000 as refugees.

History, Funding and Church Support

The Baptist Church of Tripura was initially set up by missionaries from New Zealand in the 1940s. Until the 1980s, only a few thousand people in Tripura had converted to Christianity. In the aftermath of ethnic riots in the 1980s, the number of conversions grew.

The NLFT was born in 1989, allegedly with the help of the Baptist Church. Since then, the NLFT has been advancing its cause through armed rebellion.

In April 2000, then Chief Minister Manik Sarkar of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was reported as saying that state police had evidence that the Baptist Church was involved in backing separatist rebels, and had uncovered details of the alleged link after questioning a senior church leader, who had been arrested with a large quantity of explosives.

Activities

In April of 2000, Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was caught providing 50 gelatine sticks, 5 kilograms of potassium and 2 kilograms of sulphur and other ingredients for making explosives to the group. Halam later confessed to buying and supplying explosives to the NLFT for the past two years.

The statements of some former guerillas that surrendered in August 2005 revealed that the NLFT have been making and selling pornography to finance their activities, including DVDs of men and women kidnapped and forced to participate. The movies are dubbed into various languages and sold illegally throughout the region for a profit. According to the surrendered militants, some of the women members of the guerilla force were also sexually abused and forced to participate in the filming.

Other Ties

The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura is generally seen as the political wing of NLFT. In fact, its formation was pushed through by NLFT by forcing various factions to unite into INPT. NLFT is working closely with other North-Eastern Indian insurgent groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom for liberation from India. (see Insurgent groups in Northeast India)

Peace Efforts

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.

Split

In February 2001, the NLFT split into two groups, one headed by Biswamohan Debbarma and the other by Nayanbasi Jamatiya.Nayanbasi Jamatiya and Joshua Debbarma, two NLFT members, were expelled from the group and a parallel outfit was formed under the leadership of Jamatiya.

While the Debbarma faction reportedly has an estimated strength of 550 cadres, the Nayanbasi faction comprises approximately 250 cadres. 90% of the NLFT's top leaders are Christians.

References and external links

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