Faced with an Indian ultimatum, Myanmar army dismantles insurgent bases on its soil, forcing the ultras to talk with Delhi.
The entire northeast heaved a sigh of relief on February 13 when the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die, causing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to lapse. The region was in turmoil after the Lok Sabha cleared the bill on January 8. Even most of the BJP chief ministers from the northeast—N. Biren Singh of Manipur, Pema Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh and Sarbananda Sonowal of Assam—were against the controversial bill.
The protests against the bill took place at a time when the Myanmar army was engaged in an operation to flush out northeast insurgents operating from its soil. The border regions of Myanmar have been a safe haven for several northeast militant groups. The Bangladesh-Myanmar border, for instance, has been a base for the United Liberation Front of Assam (Independence), while Naga militants are present in large numbers near the border with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. On the Mizoram border, there has been a massive concentration of anti-Rohingya militants.
The Myanmar army intensified the operation after India issued a stern warning last October. India toughened its stance after ULFA struck in Tinsukia in Assam, killing six Bengali workers and abducting dozens. India was also worried about Assamese and Naga youth joining insurgent groups such as ULFA and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang). "After the attacks in Tinsukia, India warned Myanmar that it would act and finish off the terrorist camps," said Pallav Bhattacharya, who retired recently as director-general of intelligence, Assam Police. "ULFA camps were heavily concentrated near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as Assam did not share a border with Myanmar. So, it was difficult for India to dismantle all of them. After our warning, Myanmar finally acted." Had the warning went unheeded, Bhattacharya claimed India would have launched surgical strikes like it did four years ago.
Denne historien er fra March 03, 2019-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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