National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) & its Allies in Baptist Church of Tripura

The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed in December 1989 for the purpose of seceding from India in order to create an independent Christian fundamentalist state of Tripura. The group was banned under the Unlawful Activies Prevention Act of 1967.The headquarters of NLFT is located in the Khagrachari district of Bangladesh, about 40-45 km southeast of Simanapur.

Sachin Debbarma,head of NLFT

The NLFT has set up a number of camps in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), in the Sylhet, Maulavi Bazar, Habiganj and Comilla regions. NLFT also has ties with Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).Interestingly, 90% of top leaders of NLFT are chrisitians.The NLFT threatened and forcefully converted the innocent hindus into christianity and this was funded by those who claim themselves as peace loving people but they themselves would not hesitate to use illegal means to convert the hindus.

Indian Government officials have repeatedly accused the Baptist Church of Tripura of supporting their violent campaign, in which 11,000 people have died and 40,000 rendered homeless, by providing funding and arms for NLFT and to related organizations such as the Christian All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTP).

There is clear and concrete evidence which confirms that some international Christian organizations are backing terrorism and separatist movements in India’s North-east. These church backed organizations are providing funds, arms and ammunitions with the aim of creating a separate Christian state.

In April of 2000, Nagmanlal Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was caught providing 50 gelatine sticks, 5 kilograms of potassium and 2 kilograms of sulphur and other ingredients for making explosives to the group. Halam later confessed to buying and supplying explosives to the NLFT for the past two years.The NLFT is accused of forcing Tripura’s indigenous tribes to become Christians and give up Hindu forms of worship in areas under their control.They have issued a ban on the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja.

Shreema, the seven-year-old girl from Tripura, died with bullets pumped into her tender body. Her crime was that she violated the Christian fatwa which prohibited her from celebrating an Indian festival. She was not just a victim of barbaric terrorism but she is also a martyr for Indian culture, a culture that has preserved thousands of tribal customs from barbaric persecution. Yet, she will not make it to the glossy covers of the weekly magazines of English speaking Indian media. Unsubstantiated, fabricated stories of Hindu fundamentalists (an oxymoron) killing Christian priests have been making their headlines. However, these fabrications have their use. They do help in the covering up of such acts of Christian love like killing in cold blood a seven-year-old girl or burning a family to death.

Sources:

NLFT – South Asia Terrorism Portal

Church backs Tripura rebels – BBC South Asis News Service

Tripura Rebels ‘making porn films’ – BBC 

Assessment for Tripuras – The UN Refugee Agency

Chronology for Tripuras – The UN Refugee Agency 

Militancy in Tripura – Tripura Police

Incidents involving NLFT – SATP

Thirteen years of killing in Tripura by the NLFT – Stephen Knapp

Cruel killing of Makara Sankranti celebrators – Rediff News Service

Gunning down jawans in Tripura – The Hindu