Guwahati, January 20
Four insurgent groups active in the North East - the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF) and Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF) - have given a joint call for boycott of ‘Indian Republic Day’ and general strike on the same day in protest against continued ‘Indian colonial occupation of the region.’
In a joint statement signed by the fugitive chairman of the ULFA, Arabindo Rajkhowa, and e-mailed to the media here, the four insurgent groups while calling for ‘general strike’ from 1 am to 6 pm on January 26, appealed to the ‘revolutionary people of the region’ to prevent celebrations of ‘Indian Republic Day’.
The insurgent groups also made an appeal to other insurgent groups in the region which are now either in truce or engaged in peace talks with Government of India, to come back to the path of revolution for the sake of greater regional unity.
The joint statement said, “We are pained to note that the liberation forces in the region remain divided into two lines - those in ‘ceasefire’ and ‘peace talk’ process with India on one line, and those actively continuing armed struggle against India on the other.”
“India’s two-pronged strategy is to suppress the armed struggles through use of massive military force on the one hand and to destroy the revolutionary character and organisational capability of those under ‘ceasefire’ and ‘peace talk process’ by corrupting them with money and comfort. This is the ‘Indian solution’ to the conflict situation in the region. But we are confident that liberation forces of the region will ultimately emerge victorious.”
“We call upon our brothers now in ‘ceasefire’ or ‘peace talks’ with India to return to the path of armed struggle, the only path to our freedom and independence. At the same time, we would reiterate our stand for a satisfactory political and peaceful resolution of the conflicts with India,” the joint statement said.
