Half Yearly Assessment

2011

The year started with inter-tribal clashes in the state on the very first day of 2011. On that day, clashes erupted between the Garo and Rabha tribes in the Assam-Meghalaya border. It all started when the Rabhas attacked a wedding party of the Garos and targeted a Garo pastor. The ensuing clashes claimed the life of at least 10 persons and displaced about 50,000 people from the East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya and the Goalpara district of Assam. Hands of some militant groups were suspected behind the clashes. On January 10, 2011, Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary (North East), Union Ministry of Home Affairs, stated that the clashes appeared "well-planned" and did not rule out the hand of "underground groups."

The significant incidents in 2011 included:

January 1: Clashes between the Garo and Rabha tribes erupted when the Rabhas attacked a wedding party of the Garos and target a Garo pastor.

January 5: Four persons were killed in two separate incidents in the Bajengdoba section in the ethnic turmoil between the Garos and the Rabhas.

January 9: Two people were killed and 12 injured in violence in riot-hit areas of Meghalaya-Assam border. Several houses and trucks carrying supplies to the riot-hit areas in Meghalaya were also torched at Paikan area on the inter-state border.

April 5: Suspected militants belonging to the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) raided a depot belonging to one of the biggest coal exporters of Garo Hills and shot dead five of its labourers and injured one seriously in the interior of South Garo Hills district.

June 4: Suspected GNLA militants killed three police personnel and injured two others in an ambush at Thapadarenchi village in East Garo Hills district.

The GNLA was involved in most of the insurgency-related incidents in the state during the first six months of 2011. On April 5, 2011, GNLA militants raided a depot belonging to one of the biggest coal exporters of Garo Hills and shot dead five of its labourers and injured one seriously in the interior of South Garo Hills district in retaliation for the exporter’s failure to submit to its extortion demands. Again on April 14, 2011, GNLA militants attacked a gas station by lobbying a crude bomb in the heart of Mendipather town. On June 4, 2011, suspected GNLA militants killed three police personnel and injured two others in an ambush at Thapadarenchi village in East Garo Hills district. On February 4, 2011, they abducted the proprietor of a Reliance petrol depot from South Garo Hills district's Gasuapara area near the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya. On March 21, 2011, GNLA militants laid an ambush on the convoy of the SDO of Resubelpara in East Garo Hills. The militants opened indiscriminate fire inside a jungle road across the Simsang river of Williamnagar town. The encounter lasted close to 15 minutes in which neither side suffered any casualty as the militants managed to escape.

The security forces managed to achieve success in the counter-insurgency operations in the state. They were able to arrest many cadres of the militant outfits of the state as well as from the neighbouring states. All together 27 militants, including 5 anti-talk faction militants of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), were arrested in the first six months of 2011. The security forces also busted two militant camps belonging to GNLA in East Garo Hills district.

The ceasefire with the militant group Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC), which is in ceasefire with the government since 2004, was extended for three months on June 30, 2011. The outfit was, however, concerned over the slow pace of political negotiation for the creation of an autonomous council, due to political instability in the state. They are demanding for the creation of a Garoland Autonomous Council (GAC) in line with the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam.

The insurgency in Meghalaya is yet to completely finish off. The emergence of the GNLA has heavily impacted the law and order situation in the state. The security forces need to bring this outfit under control soon, so as to end the era of insurgency in the state.

Yearly Assessment

2010

Meghalaya displayed a reverse trend compared to that of the other states in the Northeast, with an increase in the number of insurgency-related casualties in the year 2010. As compared to 2009, when 5 fatalities were reported in insurgency-related incidents, the year 2010 registered 20 fatalities. Also the number of insurgency-related incidents increased from 50 in 2009 to 73 in 2010. Out of the seven districts of Meghalaya, insurgency-related incidents were reported from six districts.

The significant incidents of 2010 were:

January 16: Two activists of Liberation Achik Elite Force (LAEF) were killed and another injured in a gunfight with security forces in Songsak area bordering South Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.

June 26: Two top leaders of the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) were shot dead by a combined force of the Army and the East Garo Hills District Police during an encounter in Kharkutta area in East Garo Hills district bordering Assam.

October 9: At least eight people were injured in a bomb blast triggered in a shopping place at Tura in West Garo Hills district. The blast was suspected to be the handiwork of the GNLA.

November 17: Suspected GNLA militants killed two coal miners and attacked a petrol pump in South Garo Hills district.

December 2: Garo Hills Police gunned down Nikseng G Momin, chief of the LAEF inside the Darugre Reserve Forest in Rongjeng area, close to remote West Khasi Hills district.

December 10: Four militants of the breakaway faction of the GNLA, including its leader, Jokin Momin, were killed during an encounter with Police in East Garo Hills district. Five militants were arrested while at least one managed to escape with a bullet injury in the encounter.

Security forces achieved significant success against the insurgents in 2010. On December 2, 2010, Garo Hills Police gunned down Nikseng G Momin, chief of the LAEF inside the Darugre Reserve Forest in Rongjeng area, close to remote West Khasi Hills district. Again on December 10, 2010, security forces killed four militants of the breakaway faction of the GNLA, including its leader, Jokin Momin. Two top leaders of the GNLA were also killed on June 26, 2010 during an encounter in Kharkutta area in East Garo Hills district.

The security forces were also able to arrest a few top leaders of the militant outfits in the state. On January 13, 2010, security forces arrested Shembhalang Dkhar and Roy Kupar Marbaniang, the 'commander-in-chief' and 'chairman', respectively of the newly formed militant group Hynniewtrep Liberation Front (HLF) from Shillong. On May 15, 2010, the ‘general secretary’ of GNLA, Novembirth Ch. Marak, was arrested from New Jalpaiguri railway station in West Bengal. On the same day, the security forces arrested GNLA’s ‘finance secretaries’, Solte Marak and Martin from Williamnagar in East Garo Hills District. The continued counter-insurgency operations also resulted in surrenders. 17 militants, including the LAEF ‘chairman’, Dimrim N Sangma alias Ramen, surrendered to the security forces in 2010.

The major insurgent groups in the state have weakened over the years. Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) is now a shadow of its former self. Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) is in ceasefire with the government since 2004, with the ceasefire periodically renewed. However the emergence of a few new insurgent groups has become a cause of concern. The GNLA, formed in 2009, has become quite active in the state, getting involved in killing, abduction, extortion and attacks on security forces. On November 17, 2010, suspected GNLA militants killed two coal miners and attacked a petrol pump in South Garo Hills district. On October 9, 2010, GNLA militants triggered a bomb blast in a shopping place at Tura in West Garo Hills district injuring at least eight people. The outfit also runs a wide extortion network in its areas of influence. Two more new outfits, Hynniewtrep Liberation Front (HLF), formed in 2009, and Hynniewtrep Tiger National Front (HTNF), formed in May 2010, are also trying to extend their influence in the state.

Meghalaya continues to be the meeting point for the insurgent groups of the Northeast. The state capital, Shillong, is still the favourite place for arms dealers of the region as well as from Myanmar. The state is also used by the insurgent groups of the region, such as ULFA and NDFB, to move to and fro from their base camps in Bangladesh.

Meghalaya is one of the peaceful states in the Northeast. But with the birth of a few new insurgent groups in the state, the situation may not remain so. The political instability in the state has also worsened the problems. Unless the political atmosphere in the state is stable and the new insurgent groups in the state are nipped in the bud, the state may enter into a vicious cycle of insurgency.