10.00.00 Tea Assam The traditional - and idyllic - image of Assam. Lush, tranquil and productive. But it hides a troubled history:
Tea as well as oil have helped to make this a wealthy state but they’ve also fueled a bitter battle about sovereignty.
00.17 Bhutan CampNatsot Guns Handled Fighters muster on the border. Guerrillas of the United Liberation Front of Assam, ULFA, prepare to escort a camera team to their bases inside Bhutan: the first time they’ve allowed their operations to come under scrutiny.
00.36 Camp Life There are three thousand fighters, battling against the Indian AND Assam authorities. Assam was an independent kingdom for centuries until the early eighteen hundreds when it was absorbed into British India. It fought and won the struggle to stay within India rather than be assimilated into east Pakistan.
But the people feel as close to south-east Asia as India, and isolated from the Centre of power in Delhi.
00.59 Camp Sequence The fifty ULFA camps inside Bhutan are a persistent irritant to the Indian Army, against whom they launch attacks with weapons from former eastern Europe. Since January, the army’s responded with increasing ferocity.
01.10 Interview. Bening Rava, ULFA Commander For several centuries, India has robbed our tribe of its riches, and we’ve been oppressed, and that’s why we began waging this armed struggle. We’ll preserve Assam.
01.31 Interview. Bijou Deka, ULFA Lieutenant We don’t hate the Indian people, firstly. Secondly, we do hate Indian Army soldiers, those who treat us as an enemy, and hurt our women. We hate those who’re trying to finish off the culture of Assam, and so we’ve been forced to take up arms against these people.
01.53 Woman commander ordering lineup The cause attracts both men and women, both in the ranks and in command. The movement began as a political one in the late seventies, but the present organisation, ULFA, took up arms in the mid eighties. The conflict’s claimed fifteen thousand lives so far.
02.13 Unnamed Woman fighter Whoever we kill, they’re our enemies. After killing an enemy in battle, we feel happy.
02.23 ULFA say there are more Assamese wanting to join than they can clothe or equip... and recruits aren’t put off by what they see as army propaganda.
02.29 NATSOT Shouted Orders
02.38 Unnamed Potential Recruit Up till now, everything we’ve seen ULFA doing is good, and the public support what we’re doing. The Indian Army and Assam Government are publishing propaganda about ULFA which we have no reason to believe is true. And the Indian Army are the terrorists, not ULFA.
02.54 ULFA into battle They do engage the Indian Army in gunfights when they make sorties across the border into Assam.
NATSOT Noisy Firing For several months, the army has intensified its pursuit.
03.06 NATSOT Noisy Firing by ULFA ULFA has been a proscribed organisation since 1990. ULFA say they only carry on because they have the support of local people. The other side to their campaign includes guerrilla attacks on industrial installations, military convoys and political assassinations.
03.31 Dancing The Front has a series of grievances: Assamese culture is under threat, according to the Liberation Front. Not only are their aspirations to independence being crushed, but they oppose immigration from Bangladesh which they say undermines the traditional majority in Assam.
03.48 Oil Towers above fields ULFA complains that oil revenues have long been siphoned off by the central government in Delhi. The Assam Government says it receives royalties, and the proportion is fair.
03.58 Tea PlantationsOutside and inside factory Tea from the famous Assam plantations makes up twenty percent of the world’s crop, but the major tea houses operate from Calcutta, in Bengal, and ULFA says the income doesn’t benefit Assam. The manager of this business wholeheartledly supported ULFA once, and he has no love for the Indian army, but he believes the Front has lost its way and is losing support.
04.26 Interview: Tea Manager, Sameer Barua There is a lot of extortion going on. There is a lot of terrorist activities in and around Assam and as we’ve noted it’s badly affected and they’ve made tea a target for extortion of money, kidnapping by blackmailing and there are many ways.
04.50 Inside Tea Factory The government used the extortion complaints by tea companies as the spur to relaunch an offensive against ULFA seven years ago. But the Front protests its targets are legitimate.
05.02 Interview: Soso Chaudhury, ULFA Foreign Secretary Those who have done nothing for the peoples of Assam, for the development of Assam, we appeal to them to donate money to us. It is our right. That they must donate for the struggle of the Assamese people. Not any other cause. We try to struggle for the life and death of the Assamese nation so they must donate to us.
05.22 Rural Farm Above all, the Front is angry about army brutality. The Indian Army makes frequent patrols through rural areas. This farm was raided and six youths were taken away as terrorist suspects. Local people say the army is brutal and indiscriminate.
05.35 Interview: Unnamed Woman They’ve ruined me and destroyed my life totally.
05.48 SOT: Woman with nose ring This woman, a mother of ten, described how one of her sons was tortured, then taken away to jail.
05.58 SOT: Old Man This man described how HIS son was beaten by soldiers, and then shot in the back. They said he was trying to run away.
06.08 His father said he was on the ground, injured.
Human rights monitors believe the army tactic is a common one.
06.13 Interview: Lachit Bordoloi, “Mass” Human Rights Group The police they want people who were picked up by army and after two days his bullet injured body was handed over to police and the army always issued one excuse that he tried to escape.
06.34 City GVs The conflict isn’t confined to the rural areas. Cities, and the capital, Guwahati, are also affected. But the Assam Government disputes allegations that the army is doing anything other than defending the people.
06.51 Interview: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Assam Chief Minister The extremist groups, they took arms in their hand, and they killed the people, innocent people. They extort the money from the people and they kidnap the people and therefore to prevent them the army was deployed.
07.08 A. Barbura, Lawyer Normally it is the job of the army persons, their job is basically ,well, there is an extremist, there is an insurgent, he’s well equipped, well armed, get hold of him, disarm him, then hand him over to the police. It is none of your (the army’s) business to take him and to punish him. The remaining part is for the law.
07.29 It’s not only the army which is accused of abuses.
Inspector with paper This Inspector showed a letter threatening him with death if he continued to expose police brutality. Instances like the failure to prosecute an officer who raped a colleague’s wife finally triggered his resignation.
Inspector translating letter Beware, the day you come back from Delhi, you will be made naked and given a public bashing up, and if you are still prepared.... COME.
07.50 Interview: A.K. Shahu, Indian Police Service No action was taken. That is what is hurting me you know. We, senior officers, are supposed to protect human rights, we violate human rights of the family members of our own employees, then what justice can we contribute to this society.
08.12 ULFA fighting and hiding in the jungle The United Liberation Front of Assam thrives on such discontent. ULFA’s popularity is growing. It presents a burgeoning threat to the authorities.
08.29 Interview: Bijou Deka, ULFA Lieutenant We know our limitations. We’re a revolutionary group. In military terms, we’re in a much weaker position than the Indian Army, but whatever they or the government think, it’s well known in international circles, that revolutionaries are always ready to die.
08.50 Set Up UncleFounding member of ULFA And one of the six founders of the organization reiterated ULFA’s strength and appeal.
SOT Uncle ULFA is not a terrorist organisation. ULFA is the saviour son of a freedom fighter.
09.07 Interview: Bhim Buragohain - known as ‘Uncle’ I am for the Liberation. By any means I want Liberation.
09.14 Interview: Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, I appeal to the people to convince the extremist groups to give up the violence and come to the negotiating table.
09.24 GVs Guwahati But responsibility for peace talks has been passed out of Assam, to central government in Delhi. Neither side looks ready to compromise, and as India prepares to commemorate fifty years of independence from Britain, the conflict generated by another fight for independence will cast a wide shadow on the celebrations.
09.47 ENDS
Tea as well as oil have helped to make this a wealthy state but they’ve also fueled a bitter battle about sovereignty.
00.17 Bhutan CampNatsot Guns Handled Fighters muster on the border. Guerrillas of the United Liberation Front of Assam, ULFA, prepare to escort a camera team to their bases inside Bhutan: the first time they’ve allowed their operations to come under scrutiny.
00.36 Camp Life There are three thousand fighters, battling against the Indian AND Assam authorities. Assam was an independent kingdom for centuries until the early eighteen hundreds when it was absorbed into British India. It fought and won the struggle to stay within India rather than be assimilated into east Pakistan.
But the people feel as close to south-east Asia as India, and isolated from the Centre of power in Delhi.
00.59 Camp Sequence The fifty ULFA camps inside Bhutan are a persistent irritant to the Indian Army, against whom they launch attacks with weapons from former eastern Europe. Since January, the army’s responded with increasing ferocity.
01.10 Interview. Bening Rava, ULFA Commander For several centuries, India has robbed our tribe of its riches, and we’ve been oppressed, and that’s why we began waging this armed struggle. We’ll preserve Assam.
01.31 Interview. Bijou Deka, ULFA Lieutenant We don’t hate the Indian people, firstly. Secondly, we do hate Indian Army soldiers, those who treat us as an enemy, and hurt our women. We hate those who’re trying to finish off the culture of Assam, and so we’ve been forced to take up arms against these people.
01.53 Woman commander ordering lineup The cause attracts both men and women, both in the ranks and in command. The movement began as a political one in the late seventies, but the present organisation, ULFA, took up arms in the mid eighties. The conflict’s claimed fifteen thousand lives so far.
02.13 Unnamed Woman fighter Whoever we kill, they’re our enemies. After killing an enemy in battle, we feel happy.
02.23 ULFA say there are more Assamese wanting to join than they can clothe or equip... and recruits aren’t put off by what they see as army propaganda.
02.29 NATSOT Shouted Orders
02.38 Unnamed Potential Recruit Up till now, everything we’ve seen ULFA doing is good, and the public support what we’re doing. The Indian Army and Assam Government are publishing propaganda about ULFA which we have no reason to believe is true. And the Indian Army are the terrorists, not ULFA.
02.54 ULFA into battle They do engage the Indian Army in gunfights when they make sorties across the border into Assam.
NATSOT Noisy Firing For several months, the army has intensified its pursuit.
03.06 NATSOT Noisy Firing by ULFA ULFA has been a proscribed organisation since 1990. ULFA say they only carry on because they have the support of local people. The other side to their campaign includes guerrilla attacks on industrial installations, military convoys and political assassinations.
03.31 Dancing The Front has a series of grievances: Assamese culture is under threat, according to the Liberation Front. Not only are their aspirations to independence being crushed, but they oppose immigration from Bangladesh which they say undermines the traditional majority in Assam.
03.48 Oil Towers above fields ULFA complains that oil revenues have long been siphoned off by the central government in Delhi. The Assam Government says it receives royalties, and the proportion is fair.
03.58 Tea PlantationsOutside and inside factory Tea from the famous Assam plantations makes up twenty percent of the world’s crop, but the major tea houses operate from Calcutta, in Bengal, and ULFA says the income doesn’t benefit Assam. The manager of this business wholeheartledly supported ULFA once, and he has no love for the Indian army, but he believes the Front has lost its way and is losing support.
04.26 Interview: Tea Manager, Sameer Barua There is a lot of extortion going on. There is a lot of terrorist activities in and around Assam and as we’ve noted it’s badly affected and they’ve made tea a target for extortion of money, kidnapping by blackmailing and there are many ways.
04.50 Inside Tea Factory The government used the extortion complaints by tea companies as the spur to relaunch an offensive against ULFA seven years ago. But the Front protests its targets are legitimate.
05.02 Interview: Soso Chaudhury, ULFA Foreign Secretary Those who have done nothing for the peoples of Assam, for the development of Assam, we appeal to them to donate money to us. It is our right. That they must donate for the struggle of the Assamese people. Not any other cause. We try to struggle for the life and death of the Assamese nation so they must donate to us.
05.22 Rural Farm Above all, the Front is angry about army brutality. The Indian Army makes frequent patrols through rural areas. This farm was raided and six youths were taken away as terrorist suspects. Local people say the army is brutal and indiscriminate.
05.35 Interview: Unnamed Woman They’ve ruined me and destroyed my life totally.
05.48 SOT: Woman with nose ring This woman, a mother of ten, described how one of her sons was tortured, then taken away to jail.
05.58 SOT: Old Man This man described how HIS son was beaten by soldiers, and then shot in the back. They said he was trying to run away.
06.08 His father said he was on the ground, injured.
Human rights monitors believe the army tactic is a common one.
06.13 Interview: Lachit Bordoloi, “Mass” Human Rights Group The police they want people who were picked up by army and after two days his bullet injured body was handed over to police and the army always issued one excuse that he tried to escape.
06.34 City GVs The conflict isn’t confined to the rural areas. Cities, and the capital, Guwahati, are also affected. But the Assam Government disputes allegations that the army is doing anything other than defending the people.
06.51 Interview: Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, Assam Chief Minister The extremist groups, they took arms in their hand, and they killed the people, innocent people. They extort the money from the people and they kidnap the people and therefore to prevent them the army was deployed.
07.08 A. Barbura, Lawyer Normally it is the job of the army persons, their job is basically ,well, there is an extremist, there is an insurgent, he’s well equipped, well armed, get hold of him, disarm him, then hand him over to the police. It is none of your (the army’s) business to take him and to punish him. The remaining part is for the law.
07.29 It’s not only the army which is accused of abuses.
Inspector with paper This Inspector showed a letter threatening him with death if he continued to expose police brutality. Instances like the failure to prosecute an officer who raped a colleague’s wife finally triggered his resignation.
Inspector translating letter Beware, the day you come back from Delhi, you will be made naked and given a public bashing up, and if you are still prepared.... COME.
07.50 Interview: A.K. Shahu, Indian Police Service No action was taken. That is what is hurting me you know. We, senior officers, are supposed to protect human rights, we violate human rights of the family members of our own employees, then what justice can we contribute to this society.
08.12 ULFA fighting and hiding in the jungle The United Liberation Front of Assam thrives on such discontent. ULFA’s popularity is growing. It presents a burgeoning threat to the authorities.
08.29 Interview: Bijou Deka, ULFA Lieutenant We know our limitations. We’re a revolutionary group. In military terms, we’re in a much weaker position than the Indian Army, but whatever they or the government think, it’s well known in international circles, that revolutionaries are always ready to die.
08.50 Set Up UncleFounding member of ULFA And one of the six founders of the organization reiterated ULFA’s strength and appeal.
SOT Uncle ULFA is not a terrorist organisation. ULFA is the saviour son of a freedom fighter.
09.07 Interview: Bhim Buragohain - known as ‘Uncle’ I am for the Liberation. By any means I want Liberation.
09.14 Interview: Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, I appeal to the people to convince the extremist groups to give up the violence and come to the negotiating table.
09.24 GVs Guwahati But responsibility for peace talks has been passed out of Assam, to central government in Delhi. Neither side looks ready to compromise, and as India prepares to commemorate fifty years of independence from Britain, the conflict generated by another fight for independence will cast a wide shadow on the celebrations.
09.47 ENDS