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Indian Intelligence Involvement In Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Igor Siljanoski - 9/5/2006

Indian intelligence outfit Research & Analysis Wing(RAW) is deeply involved in the problem of Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.Some admissions:

1.The Chakma guerrillas had closely assisted RAW operatives. They were assisted during and after the liberation war of Bangladesh. The Chakmas, after the change of govt in 1975, contacted the RAW. The Chakmas offered to infiltrate among the Mizo rebels and pass on information to the Indian govt in lieu of assylum. This offer was accepted (Inside RAW : The Story of India's Secret Service, Asoka Raina, Vikas Publishers, New Delhi, 1981, pp.86-87).

2.In 1975, the RAW was instructed to assist the Chakma rebels with arms, supplies , bases and training. Training was conducted in the border camps in Tripura but specialized training was imparted at Chakrata near Dehra Doon. Shantu Larma's Shanti Bahini members were flown to Chakrata and then sent back to Tripura to infiltrate into Chittagong Hill Tracts. A RAW office and its operatives at Agartala monitored the progress of the trainees. In 1976, the Shanti Bahini launched its first attack on the Bangladesh force. A new insurgency had been born and India's secret war in the hills of Bangladesh had begun (South Asia's Fractured Frontier, Binalaksmi Nepram, Mittal Publishers, New Delhi, 2002, pp-153).

3.The RAW was involved in training rebels of Chakma tribes and Shanti Bahini to carry out subversive activities in Bangladesh (RAW's role in Furthering India's Foreign Policy, The New Nation, Dhaka, 31 August 1994).

4.The Indian intelligence had collaborated the armed rebels of Chittagong Hill Tracts to destabilise the region ( Indo-Bangladesh Relation, Motiur Rahman, daily Prothom Alo, Dhaka,10 December 2002).