Apart from these two major incidents, there have been scores of killings. But except for the lightweightMinister of State for home ID Swamy making a perfunctory visit to one of the relief camps housing the Hmartribals in southern Assam, the Union Home ministry has not even bothered to send an official to look at theproblem.
Contrast this with the MHA's treatment of Kashmir. The moment Nadimarg massacre took place in J&K, UnionHome Minister LK Advani himself rushed to the place to placate and commiserate with the people. And this isnot the first time that this has happened. It's been going on for years. The standard excuse given in Delhifor not taking the situation in the North-East as seriously as J&K is that in the valley an external force(read Pakistan) is involved in the killings while in the seven states of the north-east, the problems mainlystem from inter-ethnic rivalries and home grown insurgent groups. This is only a half-truth.
The insurgencies are indigenous all right but many of them get help and shelter from neighbouring countieslike Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Pakistan Inter-Services Agency (ISI), may not be as active as it inKashmir but it definitely has designs in the north-east. At least that's what the MHA keeps saying."Cross-border" terrorism is not a fashionable word in the region as yet but the fact remains thatmilitant groups such as ATTF, NLFT, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National DemocraticFront of Bodoland (NDFB) have several camps in Bangladesh and Bhutan.
About three months ago, in fact, New Delhi, stung by repeated denials from Dhaka, had specifically identified"99 training camps" of North-east insurgents in Bangladesh, Border Security Force (BSF) officialshad said. The list of locations has been handed over to Dhaka for action, these officials claimed.. At aborder coordination meeting held in New Delhi, BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) had differed on existence ofsuch training camps of North-East insurgents in Bangladesh. The issue of training camps was taken up by BSFDirector General Ajai Raj Sharma with BDR Chief Maj Gen Rezaqul Haider during the two-day bi-annual talks inDelhi.
The list prepared by the Indian intelligence agencies, includes 25 camps run by the National Liberation Frontof Tripura (NLFT), 20 run by All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), 18 by National Socialist Council of Nagaland -Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM). The list also includes 10 training camps run by People's Liberation Army (PLA), 17 byUnited Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), two by National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), two by MuslimUnited Liberation Tiger of Asam (MULTA), three by Achik National Volunteer Council, one by Chakma NationalLiberation Front (CNLF), and one by Dima Halong Daogah, sources indicate.