The Hindu : The Siliguri Corridor threatened

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 18, 2002

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The Siliguri Corridor threatened
By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI, FEB. 17. The Siliguri Corridor, a narrow strip of land also called the eastern chicken's neck, which has several vital installations around it and connects the mainland with the outlying border States of the Northeast, has come in handy for clandestine activities of ISI agents and saboteurs. It faces threat from the pattern of free movement of personnel and goods through the border areas.

Several militant organisations including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) have been using the corridor for their movement for a long time. The recent emergence of another insurgent outfit, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) in North Bengal, is adding to the worries of security forces.

``Of late, the KLO and the ULFA have started an extortion drive targeting local tea gardens. They are most active in Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Siliguri sub-divisions of Darjeeling,'' cautions the latest volume of Faultlines, a quarterly publication edited by K.P.S. Gill and Ajai Sahni.

ULFA cadre has been using North Bengal as a transit point to go from Bhutan to Bangladesh and vice versa while some militants have also crossed over to Nepal through this area, says

Pinaki Bhattacharya in his write-up `The Siliguri Corridor' featuring in Faultlines.

Reports suggest that the ISI was supplying a large quantity of arms and ammunition to various Northeast terrorist outfits from the stockpiles of the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia after its defeat. These were picked up from the markets of Thailand and were transported to Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh, eventually to be used on the Indian soil. The arms were shipped from Thai ports to Cox's Bazaar and were then carried on headloads for rest of the way. The recipients were NSCN(IM), ULFA and Bodo groups.

Siliguri town is a gateway to Guwahati in Assam, Gangtok in Sikkim and Kishengunj in Bihar. It also shares borders with three countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The cosmopolitan character of the town makes it easier for outsiders to get assimilated into the local populace, and this provides perfect cover to the subversives.

Quoting intelligence sources, the writer says that Tabligh-e-Jamaat, yet another outfit, has also become active around the Siliguri Corridor. It holds regular meetings in Champasari and Bardhaman Road, and is also said to be in contact with the Harkat-ul-Ansar in Nepal. Although the activity of the organisation is discreet, it reportedly includes anti-India propaganda and raising funds for the ``Islamic cause''.

Infiltration

Referring to infiltration into India, Mr. Bhattacharya says that Bangladeshis have hit upon a novel way of `legalising' their immigration. The relatives who are in India reportedly get the names of those across the border included in the voters' list during enumeration. As their names finally appear in the list, messages are then sent across to them to cross over. It is this population that reportedly creates a buffer of non-combatants for the militants who use them as a perfect cover.

Analysts also perceive eastern Nepal, bordering the Siliguri corridor, to be the springboard for Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in the Northeast. Nepal's proximity to this passage assumes significance because of its strategic importance. Bound by Nepal and Bangladesh in the south, the use of this passage for transferring small arms and contraband from both the countries is now well-established. Yakoob Memon, one of the accused in the 1993 Mumbai blast case, was traced in Nepal, and the IC-814 Indian Airlines flight was hijacked from Katmandu.

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