Underground tremors

The train blast in Jalpaiguri is a reminder of unfinished business. Outfits such as the KLO have regrouped after the Bhutan flushout

The terror strike in Jalpaiguri by underground groups operating out of strategically located North Bengal marks a return to violence after almost three years. Monday8217;s attack that claimed eight lives was the first blast on a train in the state, and a wake-up call for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in Bengal about the renewed threat that these separatist groups pose.

There was relative calm in the region after the 2003 flush-out operations when the Indian and Bhutanese armies carried out raids on separatist bases in the jungles of Bhutan. The terror outfits were largely dismantled but some of the key leaders managed to sneak out to 8220;safe shelters8221; in Bangladesh. Apparently, these leaders have once again been able to regroup a section of the old cadre and recruit new ones. The KLO is also suspected to have set up small units for subversive activities in six North Bengal districts 8212; Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North and South Dinajpur and Malda.

Prior to the blast, the state government was alerted by security agencies against the entry of about 80 newly trained Kamtapur Liberation Organisation KLO cadre into the region. The KLO, comprising mostly ethnic Rajbanshi and Koch population8212;iquest; concentrated in Coochbehar and Jalpaigur8212; iquest; has been demanding a separate homeland carved out of six North Bengal districts. They share an ethos almost identical, culturally and socially, to the Bodos of the adjacent districts of Assam.

One strain of evidence that seems to corroborate the security agencies8217; claim of is the arrest of nearly 20 KLO cadres from different parts of Malda, North and South Dinajpur about two months ago. This came following the arrest of Madhab Mondal alias Malkhan Singh, who had headed the KLO8217;s self-styled 4th battalion and fled to Bangladesh after the Indo-Bhutan operation. The police found on him an AK-47 and two rifles that had been snatched from the force earlier.

Though the KLO8217;s resurgence is bad news for the LF government in Bengal, the major concern is hardly that. It is outfits like the United Liberation Front of Asom which has allegedly been acting as an umbrella organisation for smaller groups such as the KLO. Chief Minister Bhattacharjee had been harping on the fact that the KLO was being aided and abetted by outfits like the ULFA and Pakistan8217;s ISI. The involvement of a few local youths allows the organisations to reach deeper in the belt and establish a network.

Apart from the jungles of Bhutan which are still proving a safe halt, Indian and Bangladeshi 8220;enclaves8221; numbering over 220 are being described as new shelters. The exchange of 8220;enclaves8221; was part of the whole deal to provide a corridor facility from Patgram in mainland Bangladesh to Dahagram, an enclave on the Indian side to Bangladesh at Tin Bigha in Coochbehar. The corridor was handed over but the 8220;enclaves8221; virtually remained no-man8217;s land. Constituents of the Left Front, such as the Forward Bloc, warn that they will soon start movements demanding closure of the Tin Bigha corridor if the 8220;enclaves8221; are not exchanged within a specific timeframe.

The root of the issue, however, is knotted as ever. Economic growth and development is yet to penetrate these pockets and in parts of south Bengal East Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia, in fact, Maoists have gained a foothold for the same reason.

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In North Bengal, the indigenous Rajbanshi and Koch population continues to feel alienated, especially with the Bengali refugees making most of the growth opportunities.

Either way, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has a huge challenge on its hands. Block the off-shoots of resentment or do away with the root altogether.