Ratnadip Choudhury
Guwahati
Guwahati
At a time when the villages on the
Assam-Meghalaya border are witnessing a rise in insurgency, people from
83 villages in the Garo Hills, inhabited mostly by the Garos, took an
oath on 16 May to fight insurgency.“We want to put a stop to insurgency, which brings nothing but misery. We have already suffered a lot and the bitter experience is still alive in our minds. It is resurging after 16 years and we cannot allow it to destroy our future,” said locals Benedict Areng and Xavier Sangma at Kinangaon, a nondescript village near lower Assam’s Boko town.
The Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), which
is fighting for a separate Garoland in Meghalaya, the Rabha Viper Army,
a rebel group of the Rabha tribe and the United Liberation Front of
Asom (ULFA) have been abducting people and extorting money. A section of
the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), has been violating ground
rules of ceasefire in the area.
“We know the rebels would not be happy but
whatever we are doing, it is to ensure better education, healthcare,
food security, and to increase our earnings. Hence, we will not allow
the rebels to recruit anyone from our villages, provide shelter to them
or agree to their extortion demands. Else the villagers will seek the
help the law,” Areng added.
“Nobody, not even the poor, are spared,” Xavier
alleged, “and that’s why we have decided to fight back. We have only
one weapon that is our will power and the rebels will have to step back.
This area is underdeveloped has thus has turned into a breeding ground
for insurgency.”
It is becoming a huge challenge for the Garos
to keep up with growing extortion demands of the rebel outfits of both
Assam and Meghalaya. “When a person cannot sustain his family, how will
he pay the extortion money? They blame the Assam government for the rise
in insurgent activities along the border. Here, students stop going to
schools after class 8 as there are no high schools,” Mintu Sangma, a
local said.
For 84 Garo hamlets in the area, there are only
two provincial high schools—Gohalkona High School and Hahim High
School—and students have to undertake a 20 km trudge every day. Ten out
of 14 sanctioned posts are lying vacant in Gohalkona High School.
However, this fight against the rebels in the
area is not new. In 1996, the villagers of Kinangaon had reportedly
captured a group of militants and handed them over to the police.
This time as well, the villagers are sure the
rebels will retaliate but they are resolute that they will drive the
insurgents away.
With inputs from Kishore Talukdar in Boko.
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