NE India under high alert

FE Team | Published: January 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

KOLKATA,  Jan 23 (bdnews24.com): The entire North-eastern region of India has been put on high alert after rebel groups announced a boycott of the Jan 26 Republic Day celebrations, a senior Home Ministry official has said.
"We have asked security forces to stay on high alert because the rebels may try to disrupt the Republic Day celebrations," Shambhu Singh, joint secretary (Northeast) in the home ministry, said on Thursday.
The northeast shares long borders with a number of neighbouring countries including Bangladesh and Myanmar, China and Bhutan.
Security along the border with these countries has been beefed following a special security drill ahead of the Republic Day.
Six frontline separatist groups in the region have called for a boycott of the Republic Day and also a general strike from 1am to 5pm on Sunday (Jan 26) as a mark of resistance against what it termed "Indian occupation of the region".
The call has been given by the United Liberation Front of Asom- Independent (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council, the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation, the National Liberation Front of TWIPRA (NLFT), the Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF) and Coordination Committee (CorCom) - an umbrella of seven major separatist outfits - fighting for an independent state for the majority Metei community in Manipur.
These groups are active in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura.
The six rebel groups announced their boycott on Monday through a joint statement e-mailed to several media houses.
"India's Republic Day which is celebrated on 26 January every year is the day Indian constitution was imposed on the Peoples of Western South East Asia (India's North Eastern States) so as to legalise their colonial occupation of the region," CorCom Spokesman, H. Poirei said.