South Asia Terrorism Portal

Tripura: Reigniting Ethnic Fires
Giriraj Bhattacharjee
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On January 16, 2019, the Union Government signed a quadripartite agreement with Tripura, Mizoram, and leaders of the Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum (MBDPF) to resolve the decades old Bru displacement crisis.After signing the agreement, it was announced that the Bru migrants (over 30,000) who had not returned to Mizoram would be settled in Tripura. The Government also announced a financial package worth INR 6 billion for settling them in Tripura.

Over 30,000 Bru refugees had fled Mizoram, in 1997 following the killing of a Mizo forest guard, allegedly by Brus, and had taken shelter in Tripura. Till date approximately 11,107 Bru migrants (2,239 families) have been successfully repatriated in several phases. The first phase took place between November, 2010, and January 13, 2011, and 322 migrant families were repatriated. The latest phase (ninth) started on October 3, 2019, and ended on November 30, 2019, and resulted in the repartition of 1,165 Brus (289 families). Bru leaders cite the ‘hostile environment’ in Mizoram as a reason for not going back.

Meanwhile, Tripura remained free from insurgency-related violence through 2019.The State did not record a single insurgency-linked fatality.The last such fatality was recorded on November 17, 2014, when a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper and a civilian driver were killed when cadres of the Biswamohan Debbarma faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT-BM) ambushed their vehicle at Pusparam Para in North Tripura District. At its peak in 2004, the militancy had claimed as many as 514 lives, including 453 civilians, 45 militants and 16 Security Force (SF) personnel.

In fact, the last incident of insurgency-linked violence in the State was recorded on November 24, 2017. Unidentified militants abducted four employees of the Tripura Gramin Bank (TGB) from the Khasiamangal area of Teliamura subdivision in Khowai District. The abductors who reportedly asked for INR 2 million for the release of each of the bank staffers, later released the victims after receiving five million as ransom. The abductors were later arrested and the Police was able to recover 4.8 million out of the five million paid out.

Out of two indigenous militant groupings once active in the state, the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) is largely defunct.

Three out of the five factions of the other indigenous militant group, the NLFT, have given up violent means. Two factions of NLFT, one jointly led by Montu Koloi and Kamini Debbarma, and the other led by Nayanbashi Jamatiya aka Nakbar were disbanded in year 2004 and 2006 respectively. The last to join the negotiation process was the Subir Debbarma faction (NLFT-SD). On August 10, a tripartite agreement was signed between NLFT-SD, the Union Government and the Tripura Government. Later, on, August 13, 2019, at least 88 NLFT-SD cadres surrendered along with their arms in Dhalai District. Another minor faction, formed in 2014, under ‘commander’ Prabhat Jamatya is dormant. The fifth, the NLFT-BM, though, remains active, but has weakened considerably. Maintaining constant pressure on the degraded militancy in the State, SFs arrested six cadres of NLFT-BM through 2019. Another 43 cadres surrendered in 2019 in three incidents.

Even though militancy has remained under check due to continuous SF efforts, of late the State has been witnessing some turbulence due to ethnic mobilization on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, (earlier, on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) 2019).

On January 7, 2020, tribal protesters under the banner of the Joint Movement Against CAA (JMACAA) staged a protest demonstration in the capital city, Agartala, in West Tripura District. Later, the Police detained around 200 tribal activists who were part of the demonstrations. JMACAA is the rechristened version of JMACAB, a joint forum of three tribal political parties and some social organisations, that had led the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 protests in the State.

Moreover, members of Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally in the State Government ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are participating in an indefinite sit-in-demonstration at Khumulwng, headquarters of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTADC), against CAA. They are demanding that NRC be conducted in the State, illegal immigrants be deported, and a separate State be created for the tribals. The sit-in protest is still ongoing at the time of writing.

During the JMACAB three-day Tripura bandh (shutdown strike) from December 9-12, 2019, to protest against CAB-2019, the State recorded incidents of violence in several pockets.

Two Tripura Districts were also under partial curfew - North Tripura and Dhalai - and two columns of the Army were deployed to contain violence. Internet services were suspended in all Districts of the State as well, till December 13, 2019.

Opposition to CAA also stems from other quarters, worryingly including both active and erstwhile militant groupings. On December 8, 2019, former ATTF President Ranjit Debbarma, who is now the convener of the Tripura United Indigenous Peoples Council (TUIPC), [an umbrella organization of the State's surrendered militants] asserted that the Bill would 'violate' the 1993 peace accord  signed between the State Government and the outfit. Debbarma stated,

The major militant formations of Tripura, ATTF and NLFT, had initially advocated the expulsion of all 'foreigners' in the State who arrived post-September 1, 1956. These demands of expulsion have once again resurfaced.

On December 7, 2019, NLFT-BM 'secretary general', D. Uomthai stated,

Reports indicate that the presently decrepit NLFT-BM is trying to capitalize on the anti-CAA sentiments as the proverbial last straw to revive itself by exploiting the fear of marginalization prevalent among the tribal residents of the State.

Despite its considerable weakening, NLFT-BM remains a concern. Tripura's Additional Chief Secretary Kumar Alok, following the MoS with NLFT-SD in August 2019, noted, "...There might be other people out (of NLFT-SD) there. But we shall deal with them at a later stage". Subir Bhaumik, veteran journalist from Tripura and presently a senior Editor with Dhaka-based bdnews24.com, noted,

Another related and contentious issue is the demand to carry out a National Register for Citizens (NRC) exercise in the State. While tribal groups support the NRC exercise, non-tribal (Bengali) groups remain opposed to such an exercise. On November 22, 2019, a prominent civil society activist and veteran journalist Subal Kumar Dey stated,

Significantly, the initial round of insurgency was provoked by the influx of refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), which exacerbated the indigenous population’s minority status in Tripura. There is, consequently, a need to address legitimate fears amongst the tribal residents in the State, and any mishandling of the unrest could take a violent turn, leading to the crumbling of a hard-earned peace. Effective border management will also continue to remain important to curb illegal activities in migration.

Meanwhile, the porous international border with Bangladesh is yet to be completely sealed. According to a September 27, 2019, report, Border Security Force (BSF) officials stated that, out of the 856 kilometre-long Indo-Bangladesh international border (falling in the State) fencing work has been completed along 790 kilometres. Earlier, on May 15, 2018, an unnamed official from State Home Department had conceded, “Tripura’s border areas with Bangladesh in some parts are still unfenced at Sepahijala and Dhalai Districts.” The unfenced border facilitates the movement of militants and drug smugglers.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has sounded an alert about plans of Bangladesh-based terrorist outfit, Jamat-ul Mujahideen-Bangladesh (JMB), making permanent bases within 10 kilometres of the portion India-Bangladesh international border in Tripura, adding to India’s security worries. On March 5, 2019, Police arrested a JMB militant, Nazir Sheikh, from West Tripura District. Director General of Police A.K. Shukla told media persons that Sheikh, a resident of the Murshidabad District of West Bengal, was an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) ‘expert’.

The State is once more witnessing mobilization along ethnic lines due to CAA, NRC, and the fear of demographic shifts that were, to a certain extent, responsible for past decades of violent insurgency. The SFs successfully degraded the once-dreaded insurgency through a Police-led campaign, and it is incumbent upon the present Government (both at Centre and State) to maintain the peace through a politically inclusive and sensitive response to the current tribal discontent. 

Exemplary Record
S. Binodkumar Singh
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

On December 29, 2019, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five cadres of Allah’r Dal (The Army of Allah) while they were holding a clandestine meeting in the Labanchora area of Khulna District. RAB recovered some leaflets of the organisation from their possession.

On December 26, 2019, RAB arrested two cadres of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from an under-construction house from the Digarkanda area in Mymensingh District. RAB recovered books promoting extremism, two laptops, two mobile phones and some leaflets from their possession.

On December 26, 2019, Police arrested six cadres of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) from the Badda area of Dhaka city.

On December 5, 2019, RAB arrested two militants of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from the Pallabi area of Dhaka city. The elite force recovered some leaflets and jihadi books from their possession.

The Awami League-led Government, which retained power winning the 10^thGeneral Elections held on January 5, 2014, continued its policy of containing Islamist extremist forces through 2019.  According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), 279 militants of Islamist groupings, including 76 cadres of JMB, 70 of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)-Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), 36 of Ansar al-Islam, 31 of Allah’r Dal, 29 of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), 25 of ABT, nine of HuJI-B and three of Jamaatul Muslimeen, were arrested from across Bangladesh in different raids in 2019. There were 560 such arrests in 2018.

Two Islamist militants, both cadres of JMB, were killed in 2019. By comparison, 15 Islamist terrorists were killed in 2018, 71 in 2017, 115 in 2016, 56 in 2015 and 68 in 2014.

On November 5, 2019, the Government banned the Allah’r Dal. In an official notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the group had been banned as its activities posed a threat to public safety and security. Earlier, Bangladesh had banned seven Islamist groups – Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) (March 1, 2017), ABT (May 25, 2015), HuT (October 22, 2009), HUJI-B (October 17, 2005), JMB (February 23, 2005), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) (February 23, 2005) and Shahadat-e-al Hikma (Martyrdom and Islamic Wisdom, February 9, 2003).

On November 29, 2019, Global Terrorism Index 2019 noted that Bangladesh had been the most successful South Asian country in countering terrorism: “Bangladesh had the largest improvement of any country in South Asia. It recorded 31 terrorist attacks and seven fatalities in 2018, a 70 percent reduction in deaths from the prior year.” The index published by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace ranked Bangladesh 31st in 2018, down from 25^th the preceding year.

Meanwhile, the War Crimes (WC) Trials, which began on March 25, 2010, have thus far indicted 125 leaders, including 50 from Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI); 27 from the Muslim League (ML); 11 from Nezam-e-Islami (NeI); five from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); two each from the Jatiya Party (JP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); 27 former Razakars (a prominent pro-Pakistan militia); and one former Al-Badr member. Verdicts have been delivered against 95 accused, including 69 death penalties and 26 life sentences. So far, six of the 69 people who were awarded the death sentence have been hanged; 32 are absconding and another 31 cases are currently pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, out of 26 persons who were awarded life sentences, five persons have already died serving their sentence; 13 are absconding and another eight are lodged in various jails of the country. Significantly, one indictment and six verdicts came in 2019. Altogether, 15 persons were awarded death sentences in the six verdicts.

Dhaka also continued its campaign against the Left Wing Extremist (LWE) movement. Three LWE-linked fatalities were recorded, all of LWE cadres, in 2019. These included Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party (PBSP) ‘zonal commander’ Shafiur Rahman Jyoti (65), PBSP ‘regional leader’ Atier Sardar (28) and Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) ‘regional leader’ Badsha Sheikh (50). Similarly, there were eight LWE fatalities, all of cadres, in 2018; and 13, all of cadres, in 2017. There was no arrest of any LWE cadre through 2019. However, there were three such arrests in both 2018 and 2017.

Meanwhile, the problem created by the Rohingya refugees from the Rakhine State of Myanmar continued to be a security dilemma for Bangladesh. Reports indicate that Rohingya militants were active in Bangladeshi refugee camps. The International Crisis Group (ICG) report “Building a Better Future for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh” released on April 25, 2019, claimed that Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants and gangs mostly control the camps and often commit violence against the residents. Separately, Deutsche Welle, on September 24, 2019, reported that a man claiming to be an ARSA cadre, told Deutsche Welle that some 3,500 fighters were sheltering in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, and that a group of several hundred fighters had secretly crossed to neighbouring Myanmar for military training. But, he conceded, there was little scope for any large-scale attacks, given that the group lacked weapons and ammunition.

Online radicalization was another and growing problem in Bangladesh. On December 3, 2019, the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit disclosed that, in an attempt to dodge law enforcers, JMB had opted for an online platform that allows anonymous communication for recruiting new members. The Ehsar (Permanent) members of the banned militant outfit were using the TOR (The Onion Router) browser for fresh recruitments, following the same strategy used by international terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda. The browser is well-known for its ability to evade online surveillance. Currently, the outfit has some 40 Ehsar members and each of them receives a monthly payment of BTK 1,000-1,500. The CTTC disclosed that this information had been gleaned from Abu Raihan aka Mahmud, the acting Ameer (Chief) of the JMB arrested on November 25, 2019.

Separately, on October 19, 2019, Monirul Islam, Chief of the CTTC unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), addressing the inaugural session of ‘Dhaka Peace Talk’ at the DMP media centre in Dhaka city, noted that militants were using online platforms to recruit fresh members by offering lucrative packages. He asserted that the recruiters were targeting youths with low mental strength, zero patriotism and minimum kindness. He also claimed that youth who had no responsibility towards family and society were also at risk of being involved in violent extremism.

In a shocking revelation, on June 21, 2019, Mohamad Moniruzzaman, Additional Deputy Inspector General of Police, at a seminar titled “Preventing Terrorism and Extremism through Community Engagement” held at BRAC University in Dhaka, claimed that some 56 per cent of people involved in militancy came from a general education background, compared to 22 per cent from a madrasa (seminary) background. The Police headquarter conducted the study based on a sample of 250 persons arrested between 2015 and 2017 for their involvement in militancy. Moniruzzaman also revealed that 80 per cent of those arrested were radicalized through the internet while 20 per cent were swayed by their peers. Further, he revealed that students of Bengali and English-medium schools used the internet more often, compared to madrassa students.

Meanwhile, on December 11, 2019, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Javed Patwary and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Shafiqul Islam, at a conference in Dhaka city, expressed their concern over the weak counter-extremism mechanism inside the prisons across the country. Mohammad Javed Patwary in his speech observed,

Similarly, Shafiqul Islam argued that there was a lag with respect to the counter-extremism mechanism for those who were arrested or were in jail. He further asserted that at least 99 per cent of the arrested and under-trial extremist suspects belonged to the Ahle Hadith community and their senior preachers should be engaged to spread counter-extremism messages.

After the worst terrorist attack on July 1, 2016, Bangladesh has, no doubt, taken giant strides to root out terrorism. Dhaka has demonstrated the efficacy of determined and relentless action against terrorist formations over the past years, and Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led Government has also demonstrated enormous courage in pressing ahead with the War Crime Trials. It is significant that the leadership of a number of Islamist extremist groups in Bangladesh was drawn from or linked to the leadership responsible for the War Crimes in 1971. The latest verdicts against the War Criminals have once again reaffirmed the Government’s determination to honour its 2008 General Election pledge to bring the guilty of the 1971 genocide to justice.

Nevertheless, as terrorists adapt to exploit new technologies and new tactics, the challenge will be kept alive. Bangladesh’s “war on terror” is unlikely to end soon.