Rendezvous with Rebel : Scribe recounts journey to 'no man's land'
Source: The Sangai Express / Ninglun Hanghal

New Delhi, February 23 2015: In his new book " Rendezvous with Rebel" Rajeev Bhattacharyya recounts his three months and 20 days long journey into "no man's land" which he says is an area where no Government had ever been able to establish any authority.

He travelled through 800 Kms long hilly and treacherous terrains to meet North East rebels.

The area is the border of North East India and Myanmar, where Bhattacharyya was on an assignment.

Escorted by ULFA cadres, Rajeev Bhattacharyya stayed in camps of ULFA and NSCN( K) .

Among many others, he met ULFA chief Paresh Baruah and NSCN leader SS Khaplang.

The 250-paged book published by Harper Collins Publishers and priced at 399 INR was released today by GK Pillai former Union Home Secretary, Government of India at Press Club of India, New Delhi.

Release function of the book 'Rendezvous with Rebel' and far right the author

During the rendezvous, Paresh Baruah told Bhattacharyya his plans to form a united front of North East separatist groups.

Baruah was quoted to have stated that nothing is achieved without unity, citing the case of the Nagas, which he said have not yielded any result.

Bhattacharyya's book recounts that ahead of Operation All Clear in Bhutan in 2003 that destroyed all rebel camps, the Bhutan Government had offered to pay Rs 200 crore to ULFA and provide assistance in transferring all its cadres to Myanmar.

Weapons for ULFA were brought to its camps in southern Bhutan in trucks belonging to Royal Bhutan Army.

He also stated that ULFA also got in touch with Pakistan's ISI and arrangements were made for cadres to receive training in the Afpak region .

Further ULFA also supplied arms to CPI Maoist, said Bhattacharyya.

Bhattacharyya's rendezvous also mentioned that a week after the 1975 Shillong accord was inked between NNC and GoI, Chinese officials had a meeting with a faction of the Naga outfits and provided them training.

Those trained included Muivah, Swu and Khole Konyak.

They were advised by the Chinese to set up base in Eastern Nagaland along the lines of the Communist .

The Nagas were assured of assistance and support and were further told to focus on cultivation.

Bhattarchyya's rendezvous found that China had no intention of honoring its commitment that it would stop training NE militants.

On a more idealistic and unrealistic side, Bhattacharyya's rendezvous also discovered that NE militants believed that there would be a war between India and China, provoked by the US, where North East region has the possibility of gaining its own independence from the "war" .

The former Union Home Secretary who spoke extensively on issues facing North East India stated that "business" nexus of North East insurgents has never been talked about including in this book.

While underlining that there are several unanswered questions, he mentioned the need to bring out a sequel to the book saying that a lot has happened and several developments particularly in Eastern Nagaland have taken place in recent times.

Bhattarcharyya also stated that the mass support of the North East insurgent groups in general has tremendously shrunk and that nothing has changed on the ground since his rendezvous when he penned down his journey in 2014 till the present, he told The Sangai Express.

PTI adds from Delhi : Children of top ULFA leader Paresh Baruah can't speak, read or write Assamese and they speak Bengali with East Bengal accent, former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai said today.

Releasing a book 'Rendezvous With Rebels', based on separatist groups of the North East, he said the irony of this rebel group of Assam is that its top leader's children do not know their mother tongue.

"That is why Paresh Baruah does not allow his children to come to Assam.

If they come and speak in Bengali, that day will be the end of his movement," Pillai said.

The book is written by journalist Rajeev Bhattacharyya, who has claimed to have travelled through 800 km treacherous hilly terrain in Myanmar for three months, and interviewed Baruah and Naga rebel leader SS Khaplang besides others.

According to the book, the North East rebel groups have firmed up plans to set up a Government-in-exile sooner than later.

The writer also claimed that ahead of the 'Operation All Clear' in Bhutan in 2003, which eliminated all militant camps in the Himalayan Nation, the Royal Government had allegedly offered to pay Rs 200 crore to ULFA and provide "assistance in transferring all its cadres to Myanmar" .