Fang of terror dig hard in the borders of Northeast

Ratnadeep Choudhury

The terror link is spreading its wings to the northeast. Tripura, the tiny frontier state of northeast has been hitting the national headlines over the past one decade due to prolonged insurgency. While the proximity with Bangladesh has always acted at a damping factor in anti insurgency operations, of late, with hundreds of ultras coming over ground and vertical splits among under ground outfits, the insurgency menace has been on back foot. Defence experts also attribute this de-escalation in militancy to the erection of barbed wired fence along the 856 km border that the state shares with Bangladesh. But, now an even bigger threat looms large. Intelligence reports were already there that jihadis and Islamic Fundamentalists were using the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura. This month, nearly 20 odd ‘Islamic Preachers’ were ‘picked up for interrogation’ by Tripura Police from different border villages on suspicion that they were ‘Jihadi’. This incident occurred soon after the 7/11 series bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai. Tripura soon found itself once again in the national headlines, the TV channels making the chaos dour, airing the ‘suspected Tripura terror link’ story in the prime time. After, a week long investigations, which included a special team from Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Mumbai police, Cops have stated that those ‘suspicious’ Muslim youths were not ‘Jihadis’, yet this incident has raised many eyebrows and an array of issues stills remains uninvestigated, which may pose as a concern for internal security of the country, in the days to come. Tripura Police arrested 11 Maharastrian Muslim youths attached to Tabligh-I-Jamaat, an organization engaged in preaching Islam. These youths were picked up by cops from a mosque, in Malaya village, barely 500 meters away from the porous Indo-Bangla border in Kamalpur subdivision of Dhalai district. Their movement was apparently ‘suspicious’. Recent central intelligence reports hints to the fact that, Islamic Fundamentalist are using the borders of Northeast as a corridor to pass into Bangladesh, which of late, has become the hub of Jihadi activities. Considering the youths’ backgrounds there was a probability of their trying to create a cross border terror network. “ Is was a queer mix of people from different strata, the group had at least three engineers, among them one Muhammad Sheikh (33), was from Thane. He studied and worked in US, was with Microsoft, later floated his own company in Washington. Leaving US, he changed his base to Hyderabad, now you find him in a border village of Tripura, where he hardly knows the local language, then how can he preach religion here? These questions have raised doubt.,” says GM Srivastava, DGP of Tripura Police. According to state intelligence sleuths, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of Muslim youths visiting the border villages of Tripura over past one year; this also corresponds with the rise in Islamic militancy in Bangladesh, significantly during last one year. Few days, after the 11 Maharastrians were picked up by police, another group of 8 Muslim youths hailing from Gujrat, were picked up by cops from a mosque in Udaipur,in South tripura district. They also appeared to be ‘highly suspicious’ to police. Although they claimed to be part of Tabligh-I-.
, but presence of these youths from far off places like Godhra, Bharauch and Ankeleshwar, raised alarms. Later, after confirmation from ATS that these youths were not involved in7/11, they were let off, but the threat remains for Northeast. “ ISI and SIMI is arranging for movement of fresh recruits and hardcore Islamic militant across the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura. Many Madrassas in Bangladesh have turned into training camps, we have confirm reports.” Says an IB sleuth on condition of anonymity. A Tripura Police official said at least three of the 11 arrested were hard core members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) during their college days.During investigation it was further revealed that most of the youths who are visiting Northeast as apart of Tabligh-I-Jammaat have close connection with SIMI. “"We cannot jump into conclusions and so we are ascertaining if those interrogated are telling truth or not, but they had some link with SIMI and the link might still persist” says one of the ATS officers. People living near the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura have witnessed an influx of so called ‘religious preachers’ in their locality, a fact that even BSF also agrees. “ We are keeping a close eye on people having close link with fundamentalist organization of Bangladesh, they might try to sneak through the Indo-Bangla border “, opined A.K Mitra, DG of BSF during his last visit to the Tripura frontier. Defence experts have observed that ISI linked terror organizations are not carring out any ‘direct operation’ in Northeast, rather they provide monetary and logistic supports to the militants of Northeast, and silently using the borders of the region to slip into the neighboring countries.

Foreigners hit the web with centenary edition

Birth centenary celebrations of Sachin Dev Burman have turned into a global affair with fans across the globe paying him e-tribute, Ratnadeep Choudhury reports…

Standing on the birth centenary year of Sachin Dev Burman, the late singer-composer who charmed the Indian sub-continent for more than four decades by thoughtfully mixing folk strains and Hindustani classical music, the entire nation is celebrating the event, may be sporadically. Though the great maestro has passed away in 1975, on his birth centenary year, his legacy still thrives. Here, in him homeland of Tripura, people are not only celebrating the birth centenary Sachin Karta, they are actually showcasing a verdant display of the legacy that Tripura has inherited from the maestro. From small entrepreneur to the State Government, every one has chipped in with a series of events to mark the birth centenary year. But his ardent fans have a grumble that the legend has not been ‘remembered’ with great ‘hype’. Well, perhaps the opinion may be true but three foreigners have again proved the fact that Sachin Dev Burman was a global figure. H.Q Chowdhury, Maajid Maqbool and Ritu Chandra, all residing in foreign soil, gave their ‘Burman Da’ a tribute by launching a website in his memory in 2003, and now, these foreigners have hit the web with centenary edition of their website www.sdburman.net.
It was on October 31,2003, the 28th death anniversary, that three, of his millions of fan across the world, came together to float a website in his reminiscence, perhaps on the best way to remember the legend in this age of Nanotechnology. www.sdburman.net is an online reservoir of life and work the mystic musician. The credit behind the creation of this website goes to H.Q Chowdhury of Dhaka, Maajid Maqbool of Rawalpindi in Pakistan and a NRI Ritu Chanda who now stays in New Jersey, US. To commemorate the centenary celebrations a special ‘Centenary Celebration Edition’ of the website has been hosted, it has now become a must log on for Sachin maniacs. The Centenary edition has nearly every thing, from Banshi Sune Kaaj Nai Re to Piya to se Naina Lage Re, all the everlasting tracks that one can relate to Sachin Karta. The website has a complete listing of S.D Burman’s film songs by Firoze Rangoonwalla. The site has database of the creation of Sachin Karta that has been name as Burman Da Ka Pitara. The site has photo album that showcases some of the lighter moments of maestro’s life. The ‘tribute’ section of the website is also worth a visit.
“ From his birth place Commilla (in Bangladesh) to Mumbai, Sachin Karta traveled a long distance to attain such a global acclaim, and it hearty to see that people from distant places not only love him like us, but in the website they have given such varied information which even we Indians don’t know.” Says S.M Sen, an octogenarian. The centenary Edition offers to even download SD’s early works. One can listen online to various sound tracks created by him. “ The youths will find it interesting to know more about Sachin Karta in this form”, reacts Subham chakraborty, a Tripura University Student.
In 1906, when Sachin was born it was personal moment of joy for the Royal family, today in 2006, the entire world has ‘webbed’ to log an e-tribute to the legend on his birth centenary.

Across the Indo-Bangla border…. Just for 10 rupees.

Ratnadeep Choudhury

They were all of same age, around 10 years old, their tenderness was imminent in their every move, yet one had to believe that they illegally crossed into India from Bangladesh ferrying cartons of eggs, that too for just 10 rupees. “This is the second time that we crossed into the Indian side illegally. We know that its risky, but then we were paid Rs.10 for every carton we peddled.”, says Shaheen, who hails from Umedpur, adjacent to the Akhuara International Border check post, near Agartala,the capital of the tiny Northeastern State of Tripura. While Shaheen narrates the tale why he took to smuggling at an age when he should have been learning his lessons in School, his two sisters, Bobita and Rakhi, were sobbing. Shaheen, Bobita and Rakhi were nabbed by BSF after they illegally crossed into India from Bangladesh. The were peddling three cartons of egg. The consignment belonged to one Akram, who fled away while these tiny tots were grilled by BSF.
“ Akram used to pay Rs.10 for each carton. We were carrying three cartons, which would have yielded Rs.30, which mean a lot for us.” Shaheen added.
According to BSF sources, the trans border petty smugglers have taken a new ploy of using minor children as peddlers of illegal goods across the border. BSF has increased the border vigil. While it is easier for children to snick through the loopholes in border vigil, the larger reason of using them is that they are cheap labour. “ While one needs to pay a youth Rs.30 for one carton of egg, there is a larger risk of getting caught. On the other hand, a child does the same work with Rs.15 or Rs.10.It is a good deals for us in petty trafficking.” says a smuggler at Lankamura villages on the Indo-Bangla Border, on condition of anonymity. Most of the Bangladeshi villages along the Akhuara border are economically very feeble. Before the erection of barbed border fencing, these villagers used to snick into Agartala through the porous border in search of livelihood. Now this infiltration is a bit less, though one can easily find hundreds of Bangladeshis inflowing here at the dawn, and again crossing back to homeland at the dusk. “ There are hundreds of families on the other side whose livelihood depend on the works they do in Agartala.The entire family is engaged in cross border movement of smuggled goods. The parents force their children to the risky job. “ Opined Salim Mia, a resident of Akhura in Bangladesh.BSF has also taken a note of their abrupt rise in the use of children in petty smuggling across the Indo-Bangla border. “ Recently we have tightened our vigil and caught many smugglers. But, it’s alarming that we are frequently coming across such children. We are pushing them back on humanitarian grounds.”, BSF Official says. BSF now faces a great trouble since each time these children are caught, the Bangladeshi counterpart,BDR denies accepting them. These children are largely scared of BDR. “ If we are handed over to BDR, they will not leave us until they take bribe from our parents. “ alleges Shaheen. These children are caught in a tyranny. They desperately want to return home, but they know their father would again send them to the border next morning, all of 10 bucks, which mean a lot to a family where earning two square meals in like a moonwalk.

This World Cup... Brazil fans beeping SMS ... in Tripura

By: Ratnadeep Choudhury

The soccer fever has engulfed the tiny northeast state of Tripura and a SMS puzzle on world cup has made football fanatics go crazy with their I.Q.
Soccer fans of Tripura are largely divided into Brazil and Argentina when it comes to world cup favorites. Argentine flags have outnumbered the Brazilian one, on the streets of Agartala, but a tricky SMS beeping around has raised hopes. It is not one of those common jokes that makes around among friends through SMS. This one being forwarded at rampant among mobile users here, is a numerical magic distributed to hold all Brazilian fans here up on their toes.
“Here it is… Brazil won World Cup in 1970 and 1994, add them you get 3,694. Again Brazil won in 1962 and 2002, add the figure 3,964 is the answer.
Germany won in 1974 and in 1990, add them its again 3,964. Argentina lifted the cup in 1978 and 1986, add and it’s the same… 3,964. Brazil again won in 1958 and add 2006 to it, the sum is all impressive 3964. So, this year, Brazil fans can hope for their dream coming true.”,says Indranil Bhaumik, a Numerologist.
But, there is another take to it, as Indranil explains….

“But Numerology did not work on many occasions in World Cup, England won it in 1966, it was supposed to win in 1998, since 1966 added to 1998 makes 3964, but France won it in 1998, so fans of other countries too have a chance.”
Now its 2006, and the passionate Brazil fans here are keeping their fingers crossed that Brazil will lift up the cup, riding on the ‘3,964 factor’.
"Many SMS go around on rampant, but this one is special, we, Brazil fans of Tripura believe that this Numeric magic would work wonder and Brazil will lift the cup, so I am forwarding it to my friends.”. opined Saurav Gupta,a diehard Brazil fan.
Football has always been a passionate game here… and…. Women football has also got impetus, courtesy the World cup fiesta. School kids have also joined the fans wagon, in their own way.
“ I love Brazil. I love Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, kaka… I have painted my football in yellow and green, since it is the Brazilian jersey colours… in our state a SMS is going around… I saw it in my father’s mobile, I did not understand it, but I have forwarded to friends since it’s in support of Brazil.”, adds Angshuman Bhaumik,a schoolgoer.

If Brazil goes to win the World Cup then Numerologist would have to explain what Brazil fans have here started calling ‘3964 factor’.