GUWAHATI, AUG 17: The Bodo movement for a separate state has once again slipped out of the hands of moderates led by the All-Bodo Students' Union (ABSU) and the Bodoland State Movement Committee (BSMC), with two militant groups -- the Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) -- vying with each other for an upper hand.

While the recent acts of disruption of the region's vital surface communications systems were the handiwork of the relatively new BLTF, the the NDFB has not lagged behind either, launching an ethnic cleansing drive.

The BLTF has blown up at least three vital bridges on the National Highways, linking the region with the rest of the country in the past one week, besides virtually bringing to a halt railway transportation in the area.

The NDFB, which was till recently known as the Bodo Security Force (BDSF), on its part, has begun targeting Bengali Hindu settlers in Bodo-dominated areas, killing at least 33 persons since July 1.

It is perhaps for the first time that Bodo militants have chosen Bengali Hindu settlers as their target. Till recently, Muslim migrants and non-tribal Assamese had been at the receiving end.

Last year adivasi settlers had to face Bodo violence, in which at least 100 Santhals and other adivasis were killed, while about one lakh were rendered homeless in Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon districts.

A rough estimate shows that at least 300 non-Bodos have lost their lives at the hands of Bodo extremists since the signing of the Bodo Accord in February 1993, which also includes innocent passengers of the Delhi-bound Brahmaputra Mail, blown up on December 30 last.

The Bodo movement, the origins of which can be traced back to large-scale influx of people from erstwhile East Bengal and present Bangladesh, however, has been mishandled by successive Governments over the decades.

The Congress regime, headed by Hiteswar Saikia, instead of solving the problem, only added fuel to fire by playing petty politics with Bodo leaders.

He played the old Congress game of `divide and rule', which first occurred in Bodo political leadership and then spread to militant groups.

For Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta it is a sorry tale of inheriting all the chaos created and left behind by the Congress. It was exactly when the Government changed hands in the State in May last year that hundreds of adivasi villages in Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon were burnt down and people massacred by the dozen.

Meanwhile, the BLTF, in an attempt to enact one-upmanship over the NDFB, began promoting a group named the Bengali Tiger Force (BTF), which in turn provoked the NDFB to target Bengali Hindus.

Last week's killings -- 12 in Lahapara and Hatimora villages and 13 in Khoirabari and Mechguri -- have been attributed to the NDFB. The police have arrested two militants.

The two groups, meanwhile, have divided among themselves the Bodo territory for carrying on their activities.

While the NDFB is more prominent in Darrang and the northern parts of Nalbari and Kamrup districts, the BLTF dominates the scene in Kokrajhar and parts of Barpeta and Bongaigaon districts.

But intelligence agencies do not rule out clashes between the two groups, with reports indicating that both the groups were on the lookout for expanding their areas of dominance.

The ABSU has been reduced to a silent spectator, though the fact remains that it was this organisation's rejection of the Bodo Accord which contributed to the rise of militant groups.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.