The Adivasi Cobra Force (

abbreviated An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

ACF), also known as the Adivasi Cobra Militant Force (abbreviated ACMF), was a militant insurgent group in

Lower Assam Lower Assam division is one of the 5 administrative divisions of Assam in India. It was formed in 1874, consisting of the undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam, undivided Darrang and Nagaon districts of Central Assam and Khasi & Jainti ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, with the claimed objective of protecting the

Adivasi The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

people through armed combat.

Formation

In the late 1990s, Assam was beset by various ethnic riots between

Bodos The Boro (बर'/बड़ो ), also called Bodo, are a Tibeto-Burman speaking ethnolinguistic group native to the state of Assam in India. They are a part of the greater Bodo-Kachari family of ethnolinguistic groups and are spread across ...

and

Santhals The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam a ...

. The Bodos began joining groups such as the

National Democratic Front of Bodoland The National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) was an armed separatist outfit which sought to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Bodo people. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Government of India. NDFB traces its origin ...

and the

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force The Bodo Liberation Tigers Force (Abbreviation, abbreviated BLTF), also known as the Bodo Liberation Tigers (abbreviated BLT), was an armed militant group that operated in the Bodo people, Bodo-dominated regions of Assam, India. The BLTF was f ...

. In early 1996, over 100 people from both communities were killed in riots. In response, the Santals, claiming threats to their interests formed many groups with other

Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions ** Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong River ** Naga, another name for Bakunawa, an ...

tribes in the area and the ACF was formed on 7 July 1996.

Ideology

The ACF did not espouse any political ideology nor is it separatist like many other groups in the

Seven Sister States Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

. It claimed to be an outlet to protect the tribals from alleged

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

during the 1996 riots from

Bodo Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, also called ''Bodo'', an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Boro people Culture an ...

terrorist organizations. They demanded reparations for the

Santals The Santal (or Santhal) are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam ...

displaced by and killed in the riots and demanded that "

adivasis The Adivasi (also transliterated as Adibasi) are heterogeneous tribal groups across the Indian subcontinent. The term is a recent invention from the 20th century and is now widely used as a self-designation by groups classified as Scheduled Tr ...

" be recognized as a protected people by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

Organization

Estimates of the number of operatives in the organization ranged from 100 to 350. The group operated out of

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous territory in Assam, one of the Northeast India, North Eastern states of India. History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan From the ...

and

Bongaigaon Bongaigaon () is an industrial town in the Indian state of Assam. Its urban area spans across Bongaigaon and Chirang district. It also acts as the district headquarters of Bongaigaon district and commercial and industrial hub of the west par ...

districts. The commander of the organization was Durga Minz and the chairman was Xabrias Khakha. The other main leader was Kandu Murmu.

Activities

The organization had a large training program in

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

. In 2000,

Indian Security Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Armed Forces are suppor ...

destroyed an ACF camp in

. In 2001, they completed a large-scale extortion drive in

and

Dhubri Dhubri is a city and the administrative centre of Dhubri district in the Indian state of Assam. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra River, with historical significance. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a municipal board un ...

to fund the terror camp in Bhutan. Their attacks mainly targeted the

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

ese government and

militants. On 9 September 2001, the group signed a cease-fire with the

which was to last until January 2002. The ceasefire held until 2004 and was then extended by the

on 1 July 2004. In 2005, chairman Xabrias Khakha said that the ACF was considering becoming a legitimate political party to contest

elections in Assam Elections in Assam are conducted since 1952 to elect the members of Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state ...

References

{{Reflist Terrorism in India Terrorism in Assam Santhal Rebel groups in India Military units and formations established in 1996