By S Datta

Srinibas Das (34), a professional jeep driver, still shudders to visualise the daylight and summary murder he had been witness to: cold blooded killing of a young tribal militant by his commander in front of the hide-out in remote Shermoon area on the Jampui hills of North Tripura. A resident of Ambassa colony in Dhalai district, Srinibas Das had been abducted at gun-point by NLFT from Shikaribari area of the disrict in September 1999 and taken blindfolded across hilly terrain to what he still believes to be Shermoon area .

Guarded all along by twenty armed 'sepoys' Srinibas Das one day woke up from his fatigue-induced midday nap to sound of gunfire . What he saw in half stupor petrified him to his appointed place within the NLFT's hide-out : a young militant lying dead in a pool of blood and two tribal elders in tears sitting close by. The elders had complained to the militant commander that the slain militant had raped a girl in their household previous night to which summary killing was the sequel . Soon afterwards others in the group shifted Srinibas to another hide-out from which he was set free after his relatives had made a payment of Rs 20 thousand as ransom. 'Before that I had never seen a sight like this and I still have nightmares' said Srinibas.

While the anecdote bears ample testimoy to how the demented tribal youths stalk Tripura's benign hills, other details in "Santras Klanto Tripura"(Terror-stricken Tripura), first detailed and authoritative book , authored through painstaking research by leading journalist Jayanta Debnath, on state's two decade long insurgency, clearly focusses on the so-called militancy propelled by diverse factors. The book which is set to hit book stands in upcoming Kolkata book fair slated to commence later this months provides authentic details for the first time on the connection between church and the militants as well as the nexus between security forces in Bangladesh and the banned militant outfits of Tripura.

NLFT's Bangladesh connection is borne out from a letter addressed by the group's commander Sajek Tripura to the local Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) commandant in Khagaracherri district in Chittagong hill-tracts on the problems faced by them. In the copy of the letter, presumably seized from a surrendered NLFT rebel and printed in the book 'Terror-stricken Tripura' the NLFT commander explains their temporary abandonment of a hide-out for fear of Indian security forces . 'It has come to our sharp notice and confirmation that the anti-NLFT squad led by expelled Sanjit Reang and sponsored by Indian Intelligence Agency , RAW is to concentrate near the Indo-Bangladesh border', the letter says as the reason for temporarily withdrawing from a hide-out close to the border with Tripura.

Apart from this, author and journalist Jayanta Debnath has made a virtual revelation abut the close connection between NLFT , sections of ATTF and christian church.The copy of a top secret state government's report to union home ministry, printed in the book, proves how the missionaries enjoy a free run in their proselytizing activities in the name of spreading education and providing service to the people. The increasing funds received by the various denominations of the church is proved in cold figures from the officialy reported and published in the book. It shows that remittances from the church in the year 1994-95 was Rs 16 lakh 8 thousand while it rose to Rs 68 lakh 73 thousand in 1997-98. 'Information indicates that some members of extremist outfits frequent some churches and attend prayer in civics' the report poignantly notes.

Rich in documentation , Jayanta Debnath's 'Santras Klanto Tripura' ( Terror-stricken Tripura) gives a proper perspective of Tripura's chronic insurgency problem with its's roots in the post-partition history of the state and the daunting socio-economic issues. While authentic statistics and reproduction of vital documents add immensely to the book's value , even a cursory reading of the interrogation reports of militants printed in the book leave one with the inescapable condition that the movement ,propelled by ethnic hatred as the dominant ideology , aims only at mindless violence. Thus NLFT militant Shikinya Koloi candidly discloses to police interrogators how he had been driven to join the outfit for fear of ATTF who had charged the the tribal headmaster of his school in South Tripura's Taidu with a 'tax' notice of eighty thousand in 1994. Plucked thrice in Madhyamik examination Shikinya had failed to collect anything beyond Rs 800 at the request of his headmaster and gave the amount to the ATTF commander Kuchiya Debbarma. But the ATTF strongman did not relent and threatened that unless he managed to hand over the entire amount soon Shikinya would be liquidated. Simply to save his life hounded Shikinya joined rival NLFT and went on a killing and abducting spree before being arrested in 1999.