Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Guwahati, August 11 2010:
There have been high alerts in all the North Eastern state capitals and other sensitive areas of the region as the militants in the North East have given a joint call for boycott of Independence Day celebrations on August 15 .
The North East region have been under tight security scrutiny in the run-up to the Independence Day celebrations on August 15 .
In Meghalaya, the banned Meghalaya based militant outfit Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) has announced to call a 36-hour Meghalaya bandh to boycott the Independence Day celebrations effective from 6 pm August 14 and ends at 6 am August 16 .
In militants based in the region including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People's Liberation Front (MPLF), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), Tripura Peoples Democratic Front (TPDF) and United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) urged people to boycott the day "as a mark of solidarity against Indian colonial occupation and military repression" and "observe a general strike".
These militant groups in a joint statement said, "From a historical perspective, our national liberation struggles are moving in the right direction towards a united struggle against the common enemy, though many stiff hurdles remain to be crossed�India's massive military effort and divide and rule policy may have achieved some tactical victories here and there, but on the whole their attempt to suppress the legitimate aspirations of our peoples to become free and independent have not succeeded, will never succeed".
While claiming that the geo-political environment around the region is perceivably changing in their favour, the underground organisations said they had been emboldened by the intensification of the Kashmiri people's liberation struggle.
These North East based underground organisations consider the Maoist movement as the most significant development to have taken place in recent times.
In the joint statement these organisations said, "The wide reach of the armed struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoists), encompassing almost 30% of the Indian landmass and representing over 75% of the population, has alarmed the Indian government to the extent of categorising it as one of the three most dangerous threats to their regime � the others being terrorism and insurgency" .
The militant organisations appealed to the international community, particularly the people of neighbouring countries, for their support to 'our national liberation struggle'.
The MPLF, NDFB, KLO, ULFA, TPDF and NLFT in the joint communique said, "We earnestly hope that their respective government's bilateral relations with India do not become directed against our struggle in their enthusiasm to fight together against terrorism, etc".