Guwahati/Silchar, June 1: The truce between the Centre and the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) hangs by a thread with the militant outfit accusing security forces of ?provocative actions? against its members and the Hmar community of persecuting the Dimasas.
With only a month left for the six-month ceasefire to end, the DHD is undecided on whether it should extend the term of the agreement.
DHD vice-president Dilip Nunisa said over phone from Haflong, the headquarters of North Cachar Hills, that his outfit was alarmed by the situation in the district and in two minds on the issue of extending the ceasefire.
He assured the Dimasa organisations that have appealed for an extension of the truce that the DHD would not take any step against the interests of the community.
?We have kept in mind the appeals by Dimasa organisations and the plight of thousands of villagers who have been uprooted from their houses by Hmar militants. We will take these factors into account before arriving at any decision on the ceasefire.?
The militant leader?s statement follows a fresh burst of clashes between the Dimasa and Hmar communities in the hill district.
In a pre-dawn strike today, suspected Dimasa tribesmen set fire to 14 huts in Bethal, a Hmar-dominated village located eight km from Haflong.
The attack is believed to have been in retaliation to the killing of two Dimasa farmers by militants suspected to be from the Hmar People?s Convention (Democratic). The incident had taken place at Longreng village, seven km from Haflong, yesterday. The assailants set fire to a dozen huts before leaving the village.
Nunisa said the Tarun Gogoi government had not taken steps to protect Dimasa villagers from Hmar militants. He accused security forces deployed in the district of targeting DHD members instead of concentrating on the task of stopping the ethnic riots;
The militant leader claimed that despite ?provocation? by security forces, members of his outfit had refrained from retaliatory strikes.
?We have strictly adhered to the ground rules of the truce, but the security forces have not done so. I was detained by security forces at Lumding Tinali on April 25 for one-and-a-half hours in gross violation of the ceasefire.? The DHD leader also complained that the army had not returned the 15 weapons that were seized from his outfit at Thapa Basti in Cachar district in April.
While the DHD is demanding a separate state of Dimaraji, the Hmar Students? Association has added a new dimension to the issue by demanding that ?two distinct administrative units? be carved out of North Cachar Hills district.
The association?s president, Lallawmthang, said the tussle between the Dimasa and Hmar communities would continue unless their administrative boundaries were clearly delineated. ?We will formally place the demand before the government after consulting the Hmar Inpi,? he added.
The year had begun well for North Cachar Hills district with the DHD announced a unilateral ceasefire for six months from January 1. Dispur reciprocated immediately, announcing cessation of all operations against the outfit.