Maoist influx in Assam tea estates feared

IANS

Guwahati : There are fears that tea plantations across northeastern India's Assam state may have been infiltrated by Maoist rebels with trade union leaders sounding the alarm and asking state authorities to focus their attention on the threat.

"Such a possibility of penetration by Maoist elements is not unlikely, considering the fact that the situation in the tea garden areas is very fluid now," Madhusudan Khandait, general secretary of the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS), told IANS Wednesday.

The Sangha is the apex trade union body representing about one million tea garden workers in Assam. The state accounts for nearly 55 percent of India's total tea production of 900 million kg a year.

The workers in Assam's 800-odd tea plantations are tribals who had migrated to the state nearly 200 years ago from what are now Jharkhand, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh states.

Tea community leaders from the ruling Congress' Tea Cell and the ACMS called on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi this week and told him of their apprehension.

"The state government should address various grievances of the tea communities immediately so as to nip such threats in the bud," Khandait said.

Tea garden areas across the state are restive with the tribal immigrants intensifying their demand for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST).

The Assam government favours the move and is already considering setting up a development council for the tea tribes independent of whether or not the communities are included in the ST list.

The possibility of Maoist rebels infiltrating into tea garden areas in Assam has increased with the emergence of a shadowy tribal insurgent group in Assam with definite links with some of northeastern India's frontline separatist groups and a possible nexus with the Maoists.

The All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), formed in 2004 to push the interest of the tribal or tea plantation workers' community across the state, has shot into the limelight after the group claimed responsibility for the Dec 13, 2007 bomb attack on a New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in eastern Assam that killed five passengers and injured nine others.

"The AANLA has a written agreement with the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) for possible joint operations against the security forces and of not carrying out extortion in each others' areas of influence without prior notice," an Assam Police official told IANS.

The AANLA is trying to capitalise on the tribal sentiments after the community's agitation for ST status has gained momentum after the rally in state capital Guwahati Nov 24 last year that turned violent after protesters clashed with local residents.

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Tea cell rings Maoist alarm
- Team advises CM to cleanse gardens
A STAFF REPORTER

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080213/jsp/northeast/story_8894590.jsp

Guwahati, Feb. 12: The Congress’s tea cell and the apex tea labour union of the Brahmaputra Valley today confirmed what police had feared: tea estates in Assam are turning into Maoist breeding grounds.

Leaders of the PCC’s tea cell and the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha called on chief minister Tarun Gogoi last night to apprise him of their apprehensions about Maoist militants infiltrating the tea estates and instigating the Adivasi community.

The delegation said the state’s security would be threatened if the trend was not immediately checked.

The chairman of the tea cell, Bhagirat Karan, said his organisation had received information about Maoist elements sneaking into the plantations dotting the state to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere.

The police suspect a link between Maoists and the Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA), which has become active of late.

Karan said the chief minister assured the delegation of steps to rid the tea belt of Maoist influence.

The Congress leader said Gogoi also hinted at tabling a bill to create a development council for the tea tribes during the budget session of the Assembly next month.

“The chief minister is very keen to get the bill passed in the budget session and expedite the process of forming the council for the development of the community. Economic development is a tool to curb the menace of militancy,” Karan added.

The tea tribes — inclusive of the nomenclature “Adivasis” — have been restive over Delhi’s indecision on granting them Scheduled Tribe status. The ANLA, which claims to represent Adivasi aspirations, has added a dose of violence to the ST campaign since the November 24 incident in Beltola when a protest rally went out of control and a mob of residents retaliated in an unprecedented manner.

Karan said the government was in agreement with organisations of the tea tribes about lack of potable water, healthcare, education and self-employment opportunities being the core problems that need immediate attention. “The chief minister assured us that these problems would be taken care of.”

He quoted Gogoi as saying that the state government would also continue to pressure Delhi to grant ST status to the tea tribes. “The chief minister supported our idea of sending a delegation of tea organisations to New Delhi soon to put pressure on the central leadership to accord ST status to the tea community.”

The tea cell and the ACMS received praise from the Congress high command and the state leadership for playing a role in the party’s impressive performance in the panchayat polls.

The delegation urged the chief minister to reserve at least three posts of zila parishad presidents for elected representatives of the tea tribes.