The National Liberation Front of Tripura (

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

NLFT) is a Tripuri nationalist militant organisation based in

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It has an estimated 550 to 850 members. The NLFT seeks to

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

from India and establish an independent

Tripuri Tripuri refer to: *Tripuri people, an ethnic group in India and Bangladesh, also known as Tipra people **Tripuri language **Tripuri nationalism **Tripuri calendar **Tripuri culture **Tripuri cuisine **Tripuri dances **Tripuri dress **Tripuri games ...

state and is an active participant in the

Insurgency in Northeast India The Insurgency in Northeast India involves multiple armed separatist factions operating in some of India's Northeast India, northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as ...

. The NLFT is currently designated as a

terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

in India.

History

With the increased immigration of Bengalis from the Bangladesh and West Bengal in the aftermath of one of the worst ethnic riots, the NLFT was born in 1989 with the backing of the Baptist Church of Tripura. Since then, the NLFT has been advancing its cause through armed rebellion. In its constitution, the organization claims to represent the indigenous population which it claims has been marginalized by "the subjugation policy of imperialist Hindustani (India)"; its constitution makes no mention of any specific religion and claims to extend membership to "any person irrespective of caste, sex or creed". However, some people who have left the NLFT, including former area commander Nayanbashi Jamatia, include animists who are Hindu and animists personal religions and faiths. The NLFT has been described as engaging in terrorist violence motivated by their. The NLFT is listed as a terrorist organization in the

Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by the Parliament of India in 2002, with the objective of strengthening anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted due to several terrorist attacks that were being carried out ...

. The state government contends that the Baptist's of Tripura supplies arms and gives financial support to the NLFT. In April 2000, according to the state government, the secretary of the Noapara Freedom Front in Tripura, Nagmanlal Halam, was arrested with explosives and confessed that for two years he had been buying explosives for the NLFT. In 2000, the NLFT threatened to kill Hindus celebrating the religious festival of

Durga Puja Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...

. At least 20 in Tripura have been killed in two years for resisting forced conversion back to Christianity. A leader of the Jamatia tribe, Rampada Jamatia, said that armed NLFT militants were forcibly making tribal villagers to terrorist activities which he said was a serious threat to peace These forcible conversions back to Christianity sometimes including the use of "rape as a means of intimidation," were noted by academics outside of India in 2007. In accordance with its stated goal of turning Tripura into the "land of Tripura free of Bengalis", the NLFT has told tribal communities to do act cleansing Tripura from Bengalis. This has caused the Bengali, Jamatia tribesmen and the predominantly animist Reangs to oppose the NLFT. On August 7, 1998, 4 senior leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were kidnapped by the NLFT, and all 4 of them are now said to be dead. In early 2000, 16

Bengali Hindus Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Beng ...

were killed by the NLFT at Gourangatilla. On 20 May 2000, the NLFT killed 25 Bengali Hindus at the Bagber refugee camp. In August 2000, a tribal Hindu spiritual leader, Shanti Kali, was shot dead by about ten NLFT guerrillas who said it wanted to convert all people in the state to Christianity. In December 2000, Labh Kumar Jamatia, a religious leader of the state's second largest Hindu group, was kidnapped by the NLFT, and found dead in a forest in Dalak village in southern Tripura. According to police, rebels from the NLFT wanted Jamatia to convert to Christianity, but he refused. A local Marxist tribal leader, Kishore Debbarma, was clubbed to death in Tripura's Sadar by militants from the Biswamohan faction of the NLFT in May 2005. In 2001, there were 826 reported terrorist attacks in

, in which 405 people lost their lives and 481 kidnappings were made by the NLFT and related organizations such as the Christian All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTP). Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested for and confessed, under torture from police, to providing

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

and financial aid to the NLFT from 1998 until 2000. The BBC reported in 2005 that independent investigations as well as confessions from surrendered members showed that the NLFT had been making and selling pornography to finance their activities. This includes

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

s of pornographic films made by the group with tribal men and women kidnapped and forced to participate in sex acts while being filmed. The movies are dubbed into various languages and sold illegally throughout the region for a profit. Statements from former members and one report state that the NLFT has a history of sexually abusing tribal women. Though there are doubts arising as it was a paid propaganda. According to the Institute for Conflict Management, approximately 90% of the NLFT's attacks were against Bengali's.

Factions

The NLFT was originally started by Dhananjoy Reang in March of 1989. Reang was removed from his position by a coup in 1993. After the coup, the group was briefly led by Nayanbasi Jamatiya, and then Biswamohan Debbarma took command, but some continued to follow Nayanbasi. Cited causes of internal conflicts include the reluctance of Biswamohan Debbarma's Central Executive Committee to nominate Joshua Debbarma as the King of ‘Tripura Kingdom’;

misappropriation In law, misappropriation is the unauthorized use of another's name, likeness, identity, property, discoveries, inventions, etc without that person's permission, resulting in harm to that person. Another use of the word refers to intentional a ...

of funds by senior leaders; lavish lifestyles led by the senior leadership; and forcible conversion of tribal cadres/civilians to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Other leaders of the original NLFT included ‘Vice President’ Kamini Debbarma, ‘Publicity Secretary’ Binoy Debbarma, ‘Chief of Army’ Dhanu Koloi, and ‘Finance Secretary’ Bishnu Prasad Jamatiya.

Biswamohan faction

The Biswamohan faction (NLFT/BM) is earlier headed by

Biswamohan Debbarma Biswamohan Debbarma declared himself as a chairman of the National Liberation Front of Tripura of his own faction. In May 2017 in a meeting at an undisclosed location, selected Subir Debbarma alias Yamorok (45), as the new 'president' of the o ...

. In May 2017 In a meeting at an undisclosed location, selected Subir Debbarma alias Yamorok (45), as the new 'president' of the organization renaming it as the NLFT SD. It later signed a memorandum of Settlement with

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

to abide by

The Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

& join the mainstream on 10 August 2019. Upon the surrender of Mantu Koloi, second in command, he requested that Biswamohan Debbarma and

Ranjit Debbarma Ranjit Debbarma is the current commander general of the All Tripura Tiger Force. He is wanted by Interpol for criminal conspiracy and weapons trafficking. Upon the surrender of Mantu Koloi, second in command of one of the National Liberation ...

engage in talks with the

to resolve the crisis. This was sparked by the Bangladeshi government’s crackdown on hostile groups. The government there were able to do this by extensively searching the Sacherri jungles where the organization had many of its hideouts. However, both leaders vowed to fight on.

Nayanbasi faction

The Nayanbasi faction has approximately 50 sophisticated weapons, 50 persons in collaboration with the group, and 150 cadres in active duty. In January 2004, the Nayanbasi faction group sent a message to the Additional Director of General Police (ADG) with the intention to start peace talks. These meetings ultimately were not successful. Later that year it peacefully entered into a Memorandum of Settlement with India.

Location

The group has been banned from the Indian government since the Unlawful Activities Act of 1967. Therefore, the group operates from its headquarters in Khagrachari, a district in Bangladesh around 45 km from Simanapur. The National Liberation Front of Tripura has the ability to utilize this 856 km of the border that is unfenced and susceptible to invasion.

Attacks

The National Liberation Front of Tripura has conducted 81 attacks on various locations in South Asia and specifically in Tripura. Of these 81 attacks, handguns and firearms have been the most common weapon. During the period 1992–2001 total of 764 civilians and 184 members of the security forces were killed in NLFT attacks, which also demanded lives of 124 members of the organization. Later, during the period 2005–2015, NLFT has been responsible for 317 incidents in which 28 security forces and 62 civilians lost their lives. There have not been any attacks since 2016.

Objectives/Ideologies

A common ideology within the NLFT is Tripuri Nationalism. This has two components: a Tripura state that is for only the native citizens, and the Bengalis that inhabit Tripura have no political rights or power. Among the leadership and followers of the NLFT, there are a few common objectives that come to the surface when doing analysis on this group. # To liberate Tripura from the union of India # To deport all Indians and Bangladeshis who entered into Tripura after 1947. # To restore alienated tribal lands

Peace Accord

Tripura Peace Accord is the tripartite accord signed-in on 10 August 2019 by the

Government of Tripura The Government of Tripura, also known as the State Government of Tripura, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Tripura and its 8 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor ...

and the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) to end the insurgency. The tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed by Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary (Northeast) of Ministry of Home Affairs, Kumar Alok, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Tripura and Sabir Kumar Debbarma and Kajal Debbarma of NLFT.

Flag

The NLFT has its own flag which consists of three colors: green, white, and red. The green portion of the flag symbolizes sovereignty over Tripura, the land to which they lay claim. The white portion of the flag signifies the peace they desire to. The color red represents the revolution and the blood that has been shed in the name of their revolution. The final part of the flag is the star which acts as the guiding light for the Borok during this struggle.

References

{{Terror outfits 1989 establishments in Tripura Christian terrorism in Asia Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Insurgency in Northeast India Paramilitary organisations based in India National liberation movements Organisations designated as terrorist by India Organisations based in Tripura Tripuri nationalism Religiously motivated violence in India Separatism in India Secessionist organizations in Asia Rebel groups in India Kidnappers