Security has been beefed-up along the 4,096 km India-Bangladesh border as the Indian federal government has alerted its north-eastern states over possible terror attacks in the run-up to the Independence Day.
India will be celebrating the 68th year of freedom from the British rule on August 15.
India’s Home Ministry has alerted its north-eastern states to maintain strict vigil ahead the Independence Day and foil any attempt by separatist outfits to create a violent situation.
The ULFA separatists in Assam state have set off a few explosions in recent weeks, specially targeting areas populated by Bengali Hindus and Muslims.
These Bangla-speaking people are derisively described as ‘Bangladeshi illegals’ by regional groups in Assam and ULFA has recently threatened to drive them out of the state.
Several other rebel groups in Northeast have joined the ULFA in calling for a boycott of the Indian independence day .
Border Security Force (BSF) units deployed along the long porous India-Bangladesh border has intensified night patrolling to prevent trans-border movement of militants.
Bangladesh’s present government has cracked down hard on rebels from India’s Northeast, but some are still believed to be based in remote areas of Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tracts .
Additional troopers have been deputed and both land and water patrolling has been intensified to stop any type of trans-border movement.
The two neighbours share 2,979 kilometers of land border and 1,117 kilometer of river boundary and also share 54 rivers, including eight rivers flowing from the state of Tripura.
Red alert has been sounded and additional troopers have been deployed in the airports also.
In Tripura, the paramilitary Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and other central paramilitary units, accompanied by bomb disposal and dog squads, are continuing search operations at airports, hotels, bus and railways terminals, markets, congested locations and national highways.
The Northeast Frontier Railway has also beefed up security measures regarding the running of trains in Assam and Tripura.
Meantime, as many as 11 militant outfits of northeast, including Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) active in the northern part of the West Bengal state, have called for a ‘boycott’ of Independence Day celebrations as a means to demonstrate their continuing resistance against the government.
The Coordination Committee (CorCom), an umbrella organisation of six Manipuri outfits in alliance with Hynnewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), KLO, National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB)’s Songbijit faction, National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) and Ulfa (Independent), has asked people of the region to abstain from the celebration.
The separatist outfits have called for a 17-hour general strike from Aug 14 midnight and for boycotting the Independence Day celebrations.
They have mailed a joint statement accusing the newly-formed Narendra Modi government of cheating the northeastern people on the long-pending illegal influx issue. .
Four north-eastern states — Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam — share a 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while India and Bhutan share a 643-km unfenced border.
Four states of the region – Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh – also share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.
Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km unfenced border with China.
Source: BD news24