Militants must be handled with an iron hand
The new blood bath spilled by the militants, supposedly belonging to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) NDFB(S), killing 14 people in the district of Kokrajhar, must be handled with an iron hand. The uncompromising fight of the Government against terrorism should continue whether it is in Assam, Jammu & Kashmir or anywhere else. The group should not be allowed to disrupt the new plans and programmes of the BJP-led Government of Sarbananda Sonowal. In the meantime, Sonowal's resolve not to bow down to any pressure while tackling terrorist groups and zero tolerance to any threat coming from any group whosoever it may be, will definitely boost the morale of the security and intelligence forces who are fighting decades long war against the insurgents in the State. Also, his statement coming at a time, when the entire State is badly plunging into a devilish flood, will bring respite to the people of the militancy-hit district of Kokrajhar particularly. While Songbijit, the self-proclaimed leader of the suspected militant group is believed to be hiding in Myanmar, the attack on an open market place by three militants in the broad day light seems to be an unplanned one. Despite knowing the fact that the assailants will be killed by the security forces easily before they make major disasters, unless they are suicide bombers, this sudden attempt to kill innocent civilians can well-be regarded as just showing their presence and launched to spark terror.
The NDFB(S) is one of the few radical outfits of the Bodos, an indigenous tribe of Assam, which is demanding a separate ‘Bodoland State' out of the existing physical boundary of the State. The group carried out a major attack on Muslim migrants in May and December 2014 resulted in several deaths that brought a grave sense of insecurity to the entire State. Since then the insurgent group was more or less dormant thanks to the presence of large para-military forces deployed around the lok Sabha elections, numbering 36 companies in the district. Security experts feel that as the Government has withdrawn 27 companies of paramilitary forces, this may have emboldened the terror group to resume its savage campaign. On the other hand, the attack may be an attempt to divert the attention of the security forces that are currently launching a joint operation of both the police and the army along the India-Bhutan border in the Assam sector to nab the key leaders of the group. This mindless violence may be a kind of retaliation to the killing of a leader of the faction last month by the armed forces as reckoned by the intelligence agencies. The NDFB(S) is against any talk with the Government and therefore an uncompromising attitude towards the outfit will put pressure on the leadership to come over ground. This will make the much awaited atmosphere of talk and negotiation possible.