Military

DATE=10/05/04

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

NUMBER=5-55932

TITLE=INDIA/NORTHEAST SEPARATISTS

BYLINE=ANJANA PASRICHA

DATELINE=NEW DELHI

HEADLINE: Violence hits India's Remote Northeast, 60 Dead

INTRO: India's remote northeast has been hit by the worst violence in recent years as a wave of militant attacks in three days left more than 60 people dead and at least two hundred injured. Anjana Pasricha in New Delhi has a report on India's efforts to fight a host of militant groups.

TEXT: The seven mountainous states that make up India's northeast region are set apart from the rest of the country by culture, tradition and topography. They stretch into a narrow area boxed in by Bangladesh to the south and China, Bhutan and Burma to the north and east.

The region is seldom in the news except when it is hit by natural disasters or when violence rocks the region - as it did a few days ago when the states of Assam and Nagaland reeled under a spate of bombings and killings.

Independent political analyst Prem Shankar Jha says the northeast is one of India's most isolated and restive regions.

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"There are large, large numbers of very small tribes with very distinct characteristics, distinct languages, different ways of dressing and so on. Secondly, the whole area has been blocked off from the rest of India, and this has had a disastrous effect upon its economy."

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The recent violence was blamed on two separatist groups based in Assam - the United Liberation Front of Assam and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.

They are among dozens of groups in the two states that are fighting for either more autonomy, or independence from India. Many of the groups say their needs are ignored by New Delhi, and that the federal government is plundering the region's rich natural resources.

Some of the campaigns go back 50 years. But militancy flared in the northeast in a big way in the late 1970s when local people in Assam were angered by the influx of people both from the plains of India and across the border from Bangladesh.

The settlers took away scarce jobs in the region and posed a threat to the cultural identity of many of the local tribes.

The insurgents began targeting both outside settlers and Indian security forces sent to tackle the violence.

Military commanders say the militants easily find sanctuary in the dense forests and mountain bordering Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Several months ago, both Bhutan and Burma carried out offensives to smash bases the separatists had established in those countries.

Indian officials say the recent bloodshed is an effort by the rebels to demonstrate that they have regrouped since those offensives. New Delhi particularly blames Bangladesh for allowing militants to operate freely in its territory - a charge Dhaka denies.

Assam's Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says it is impossible to end the rebellions unless neighboring countries cooperate more in preventing militants from setting up camps.

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"First thing the roots has (have) to be uprooted. The roots in Bangladesh and in Myanmar, the two roots have to be uprooted otherwise this problem will be there all along.. Today I am more vulnerable than what I was . because today all the militant groups have established links."

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But analysts say a military solution cannot be a final answer, and only a political dialogue can resolve the many conflicts in the region.

The Indian government has made an effort to open peace talks with some of the groups. Negotiations have been under way with a militant group in Nagaland for more than six years.

After surveying the scenes of the recent violence, India's Home Minister Shivraj Patil stressed that despite the bloodshed New Delhi wants to negotiate with other rebel groups.

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Mr. Patil says the Indian government is flexible and wants to pursue peace talks.

However, analysts point out that the conflicting demands for independent homelands between various ethnic groups have complicated the task.

And some militants, such as the two groups accused of orchestrating the recent attacks, have refused to come to the negotiating table.

Mr. Jha, the political analyst, says that is partly because some of the militants are no longer driven by a clear political ideology, and have become little more than what he calls "terrorist outfits." He says more economic development in the region would help end the militancy.

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"You have to meet the problems of the majority, by doing which you isolate the minority who refuse to be rehabilitated, and eventually the population of that area turns against them."

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Some say that is already happening. After the recent violence for example, angry villagers burned down the homes of the members of the Bodo ethnic group, the minority blamed for the bloodshed. And as people tire of the bloody guerrilla campaigns that have left tens of thousands dead, local people and civil society groups are pushing for peace initiatives. (signed)

HK/NEB/AP/KPD/KBK/FC