North Cachar Hills, Assam:
Niranjan Hojai and Jewel Garlosa's instructions to their cadres are very clear. Starting Sunday DHD (J) militants are assigned to massacre all Nagas inhabiting North Cachar Hills. Zemi Nagas constitute 11 per cent of the district's population dominated by the Dimasas.
The massacre was planned meticulously. Target villages were marked, food supply was kept ready and even escape routes were worked out. But something seems to have gone wrong in the planning. For the first time in months the security forces have been able to encircle the militants and choke their supply routes.
Caught in the security net are a number of wanted militants, including outfit's commander Debolal Garlosa alias Daniel Garlosa, who has been leading the recent military offensive in the hills.
More than two hundred houses have already been destroyed in retaliatory violence. Twenty two people have been killed between the violence between the two communities. DHD (J), once patronized by the NSCN (IM), has now gone against its own mentor. This is a regular turf war situation sparked by a faction of 65 cadres breaking away and taking shelter at the NSCN (IM) camps in Dimapur. Killing Nagas means hitting the NSCN (IM).
The DHD (J) has also exploited this situation while stepping up its insurgent activities -- killing people, abducting contractors, firing indiscriminately on trains and security forces. A three-hour rail journey from Guwahati takes us to Lumding, an important railway junction. It's here that the hill section begins. It was once a beautiful steam engine run meter gauge vintage train journey.
Crossing through 28 quaint stations, established when the British engineered this route through 37 incredible tunnels and hundreds of small and large bridges, Pahar Line as it is locally referred have always been a delight.
Besides its heritage value and engineering excellence this is the lifeline for a number of states in India's North East. Beyond N C Hills lies the Barak Valley in the south of Assam. Further up in Mizoram, on one side, Manipur and then Tripura. This is what the DHD (J) has taken hostage.
Since January 4, 2009, they have struck thirteen times, killing four persons and injuring several people. Their threat is underlined. Till the government declares ceasefire of hostilities they will not allow trains to pass by. Running of passenger trains have been suspended, but trains carrying goods were being forced to go through. That has stopped as well. Five stations have been abandoned by the staff. But the railway staffs say this is a temporary measure.
The management forces them to resume work. The railway has a system of siren which is sacrosanct. Four sirens mean an emergency. Six means an accident or a calamity. After recent attacks, six sirens created reactions amongst the staff, so the management has done away with the six-siren in N C Hills. Instead, four sirens is becoming a regular trend to ensure that the staff can be collected at a given time and packed off for restoration or other duties. We also found out that reporting sick in Railway hospital in Lumding is becoming a trend to avoid going on that dreadful journey.
After a series of attacks on driver the engine, a bulletproof carriage has been made. But the rest of trains carrying the staff are sitting ducks.
The day before NDTV team travelled to Langting, which is not even half way through the route trains were fired upon, they were targeted again. How we got away is surprising. But a two- and-a-half thousand railway staff in this section requires immediate protection.
The security forces may have been able to avert a major militant offensive today, but the DHD (J) has emerged as the most active militant outfit in the country. They have acquired long-range and sophisticated weapons. Their monetary collection far exceeds ULFA and NDFB. Their cadres are less, but they are going all out.
If Mr Chidambaram is prioritizing his renewed role, N C Hills should be somewhere in his immediate priorities.