Daily Times

The separatist activities of an armed organization known as the Kuki-Chin Army have posed a severe security threat to Bangladesh, India and Myanmar. The ethnic armed organization demanded autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh last year through armed activities. After the operation of the law enforcement agencies in October last year, they Abstained for several months. Recently, news of their terrorist activities is coming repeatedly. However, Bangladesh Army along with all forces including Police-RAB and are working to bring the organization under complete control.

Two Bangladesh Army soldiers were killed and two officers injured in an attack in Bandarban district on May 16. The team was ambushed by the Kuki-Chin National Army, during a raid, using improvised explosive devices and gunfire. Another soldier was killed in an explosion in the Ruma subdistrict of Bandarban district during a raid in a camp of the KNA. The ongoing violence in CHT is taking place during a conflict between Manipur’s majority Meitei community and the tribal Kuki ethnic community. After this incident, a member of the KNA and a journalist were arrested alleged to maintain connection with the KNA.

The CHT, a remote area comprising the 3 districts- Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban, is used as a haven for various separatist and armed organizations. Kuki-Chin is accused of training an Islamic militant group, named Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, in the hilly areas of Bandarban. They used to raise a part of their expense from here to run armed organizations. In October, the RAB arrested 7 alleged members of the group and 3 members of KNA during an operation in the remote areas bordering Bandarban and Rangamati. At least 38 people, who went into hiding from different parts of the country, have been trained with militant skills at several training camps of a separatist group in the Hill Tracts, said the RAB.

The presence of such an armed group in remote areas along the border has posed a threat not only to internal but also regional security. The organization is located in a complex and strategically important area, where the border of Bangladesh, Myanmar and Mizoram is located. Mizoram shares 318 kilometres of border with Bangladesh. There are also several separatist groups in the remote areas of Mizoram. The KNF has linked and received training from armed groups in neighbouring countries. In the beginning, a group of them received guerilla, infantry and commando training from Manipur, Karen and Kachin. The trained members then started training the rest of the members. Currently, at least 3 to 4 thousand trained KNA members are staying in and outside of the country, according to local media.

The KNF, locally known as the ‘Bawm Party’, is composed of 6 small ethnic community members, Bawm, Pangkhua, Lusai, Khumi, Mro and Khiang, belonging to the Kuki-Chin group. The Kuki-Chin is a geographic cluster of several ethnic communities of the Tibeto-Burman language group, who are the majority population of the Chin state of Myanmar and Mizoram of India. They also live in the hilly areas of India’s Assam, Manipur and Nagaland states along with the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Due to ethnic homogeneity, it’s an easy task for the KNF to get support by influencing people across the border. Indian media reported that more than 500 members of the Kuki-Chin tribe crossed the border and took shelter in Mizoram, since the army started an operation in the Hill Tracts on November 11. Meanwhile, ZO Reunification Organization (ZORO), an umbrella body that works for the re-unification of Chin, Kuki and Mizo tribes of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, who share the same ancestry and culture with the Mizos of Mizoram, made a statement that a joint operation by the RAB and the Arakan Army has forced the Kuki-Chin people to `leave’ the country.

Local media says the smuggling of war-like stores in south Mizoram has increased since the influx of Kuki-Chin immigrants from Bangladesh. In a joint operation by Assam Rifles and Mizoram state police, a huge cache of ammunition was recovered and three Kuki-Chin militants were arrested from south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district on June 5. The Indian side recognized that the immigrant Kuki-Chin militants are involved in smuggling war-like stores in Mizoram, posing a threat to internal security. It implies that India’s lack of response on the issue of Kuki-Chin, despite analysts’ repeated emphasis on regional security, made the issue bigger.

Amid the Manipur violence, the possibility of getting support has risen. The Kukis are one of the main counterparts in conflict with the Meitei majority of Manipur. Meanwhile, the Mizoram Chief Minister has also stated in their favour, which has been strongly condemned by the Meitei of Manipur. On the contrary, the attitude of the locals towards a small number of Rohingya refugees living in India is completely different from the attitude towards the refugees of this Chinese state in Mizoram. In February this year, a resolution was passed in the Mizoram Assembly which said that these asylum seekers are Mizos ‘blood related, hence it is the responsibility of the Mizoram state to provide them with food, shelter etc. At the same time, the Mizoram government has requested Delhi not to stop the BSF at the border. In an interview with the BBC, Justifying the support for the Kukis entered from Bangladesh, Mizoram Chief Minister Joramthanga said, “We have blood relations with them, you have to understand that.”

On the other hand, the presence of several rebel groups including the Arakan Army, Chin Defense Force and Chin National Army in the Chin state of Myanmar is a matter of serious concern. Conflicts between these groups and with the government are almost regular in the state. The alarming matter is that the link and cooperation of the Kuki-Chin army with these groups will deteriorate the regional instability.

Consequently, the insurgency of such armed groups inside the country will threaten the internal security of the country. Moreover, if such militant activities develop in this vulnerable and volatile trilateral border, it will disrupt regional security, peace, and stability. Therefore, to prevent such regional armed violence, neighbouring countries have to play an active role along with intensifying the activities of the domestic law enforcement forces and intelligence surveillance.

The writer is a researcher and security analyst.