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Militants in conversion confession

Militants in conversion confession

Author:
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: February 23 2001

The outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura has admitted that its policy of forced conversion of Hindu tribals to Christianity had backfired. The outfit also blamed a former advisor for its religious policy.

The admission came in the form of a statement faxed to a local daily, which said religious insurgency had created rumblings of dissent among NLFT cadre. This also resulted in "senior commander" Nayanbasi Jamatya deserting the outfit along with a few followers.

In the statement issued yesterday, NLFT's "information secretary" M.R. Tuijang blamed its political secretary and advisor, Joshua alias Jogendra Debbarma, for the religious mission.

He said Joshua had left the outfit after Nayanbasi and captive Bru National Liberation Front leader Suryamoni escaped from the outfit's hide-out early this month. "Dif! ferences with Joshua over the issue of religious policy reached a flashpoint and led to a clash in which 'lance corporal' V. Mukul was killed...," the statement read.

The outfit held Nayanbasi Jamatya responsible for Mukul's killing. The statement added that NLFT rebels - at the instance of Joshua -made the abortive bid on the life of Jamatya hoda okra (head priest) Bikram Bahadur Jamatya last year. Apart from converting Hindu tribals at gunpoint, Joshua had also planned to attack Roman Catholic Christian minorities. Regarding Nayanbasi's announcement that all the four RSS pracharaks had been executed, the NLFT said it was "false and we have nothing to do with it".

However, it is well known that the four pracharaks were kidnapped by the NLFT and taken across the border to the outfit's base camp at Thangnan in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.

The outfit also charged Nayanbasi Jamatya with "womanising" and said his wife and children have not been ! taken hostage by the outfit. The family would be handed over to him or his representatives at any time.

The outfit described Joshua as "politically over-ambitious". He had joined the outfit after being denied nomination by the Tripura Upajati Juba Samity (TUJS), a tribal political party, it added.

TUJS sources confirmed that Joshua had served the party for a brief spell. "We had to part ways because of his schizophrenic ways," a party source added.

Police sources said the NLFT's tell-tale missive was a form of "nervous reaction" and added that if the RSS activists were indeed dead, the NLFT "cannot plead ignorance".

Sources said a string of police operations and the "firm stand" taken by Jamatya leader Bikram Bahadur Jamatya had cornered the outfit.
 


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