Haflong, May 15 : Serious differences have cropped up between the army and Assam police over dealing with the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah after police’s spadework for revival of the peace process with the outfit has almost been jeopardised by a “proactive army”.
A police officer said the army had fallen prey to a ploy of the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim that aimed at disrupting the peace process with the DHD (J). He also backed the outfit’s claim that troops gunned down a dozen of its cadre on Saturday. The army, however, said it had not found a single body despite a massive search.
Contesting the army’s claim that last week’s gun battle took place within the North Cachar Hills district, the officer said the encounter took place in Manipur and added that the army had been tipped off by the Naga outfit about the presence of the DHD (J) militants at Tamei in Manipur.
“After last month’s meeting with the Gorlosa faction, we asked its cadre to lie low. Accordingly, they withdrew from civilian areas and started holing themselves up in areas adjoining the border the NC Hills shares with Manipur,” the officer said.
The army’s hardcore line towards assorted militant gangs was drawn up after Brig. Ashoke Kumar Sarkar joined as the commander of the 57 Mountain Artillery Brigade posted in Haflong for counter-insurgency operation against the Dimasa rebels.
The outfit called off the unilateral ceasefire it had announced after the army went on an offensive against it and raided its hideouts four times in the last one month.
The ceasefire offer was made after two leaders of the outfit met a senior officer of Assam police’s special branch in Guwahati last month.
The army pointed out that in the past the state government and the police had accused troops of being soft towards the rebels operating in the NC Hills and even raised the issue at the highest level.
The relation between DHD (J) and the NSCN (I-M) had soured over the Gorlosa faction’s demand for change of name of the NC Hills into Dimaraji, meaning Dimasa homeland, in the eight-point charter of demands it submitted to the police last month.
The troubled district has a large Naga population. According to the NSCN (I-M), a change in nomenclature will hurt the sentiments of the Nagas living in the district.
Formed in 1993 with the NSCN (I-M)’s help, the DHD fell out with the Naga group in 2000 over division of extorted money. Their relationship worsened after the DHD’s founder chief Jewel Gorlosa, who was accused of being soft towards the NSCN (I-M), broke away to form his own group.
The outfit after waging 10 years of guerrilla war entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2003. But the truce led to a bitter internal conflict between a group led by Gorlosa and another by Dilip Nunisa.
The conflict eventually resulted in a split in 2004 and Dilip with the help of Pranab Nunisa upstaged Gorlosa from the outfit.
Gorlosa soon renewed his old ties with the NSCN (I-M) and formed his own group, DHD (J). The group is also referred to as Black Widow.
Telegraph India
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