Excerpt: A journalist journeys to meet India’s most wanted men
9 April 2015 12:16 AM IST
Read an excerpt from the journey with India's most wanted men
Rendezvous With Rebels is the story of a journalist’s covert assignment to reach a rebel base deep inside Myanmar where separatist outfits from India’s Northeast have pitched camp. Rajeev Bhattacharyya trekked through the inhospitable hilly terrain along with his colleague Pradip Gogoi, stayed with the insurgents, and interviewed some of their top leaders before they returned home nearly four months later. Bhattacharyya’s account of what he observed was astonishing. He sent us this extract from the book:
The next day, I was in for a great surprise. I was again woken up in the dead of night to a rhythmic sound, like marching, a nocturnal parade perhaps. But it was only 1 am. Was there an emergency? I stepped out. In the fading moonlight, a group of cadres was walking up the stairs to the huts adjacent to ours; they seemed to be carrying something heavy. As they went in, another group emerged and went down the steps, just as a third bunch came up carrying a similar load. I drew near one of the huts and found Bijoy making an inventory of the items.
‘What’s the matter? I hope everything is fine.’
He looked at me and laughed. ‘Wait,’ he replied, went into the hut and brought out a sleek assault rifle that was different from the Kalashnikov and the M-16. ‘This is Heckler and Koch.’
Heckler and Koch? Why now, when there was an abundant supply of the Kalashnikov assault rifles? Bijoy didn’t know. I picked up a rifle and found it lighter than the others, and with a longer magazine.
‘So is this a new consignment for Ulfa?’ I asked.
‘There are pistols as well. I think Sir (Baruah) will himself show you all these in the morning,’ Bijoy said as he continued counting the rifles, which were being stacked inside.
The exercise went on for over an hour. After the rifles came boxes of magazines and pistols. I wanted to take out the camera but desisted. The topic could be broached, and a request made for photographs, another time.
Later in the morning, however, I was again shaken out of my slumber by the sound of incessant gunshots. From the hut, I saw cadres shooting with their rifles at a spot outside the camp. Their attire confirmed that they were not Ulfa boys. Had they received another consignment too?
Before long, Baruah summoned us downstairs where he was examining a cache of Austrian and Czech Republic 9 mm pistols.
I was certain no photographs would be allowed, but I was wrong. Baruah asked us to bring our cameras. It then struck me that the arrival of the consignment might have been timed to coincide with our stay at the camp. There were rumours back home that Baruah’s faction was running low on guns and ammunition. So, maybe, a different image needed to be portrayed. As I began taking pictures, the guns boomed again from outside the camp. I enquired if I would be able to take a look. Yes, but without the camera.
A small squad of ten cadres belonging to NSCN(K) was trying out the new weapons, the same as the one Bijoy had shown me earlier. Three of them loaded the rifles, fired a few rounds and then passed them on to be cleaned and packed in wooden boxes. Drawing near, I recognized two cadres, including a senior officer to whom I had been introduced some days ago.
We shook hands, and they asked us if we wanted to test the new weapons.
I wanted to, but should I? Is it ethically correct for a journalist to do that? Would it not suggest that I was abetting these activities?
However, the motive is what actually matters and mine was not to encourage them, I reasoned. I am deeply interested in all kinds of small arms. Moreover, no law would be violated in this part of the world if I said yes.
I picked up one of the rifles and pulled the trigger with the barrel aimed at the sky. Three shots fired in quick succession. I squeezed the trigger again for another round. I examined the rifle minutely afterwards: they were second-hand but in good condition, with scratches here and there, perhaps to eliminate traces of their place of production. The officer said it was an HK-33 and had been manufactured in some South- East Asian country.
‘But why Heckler and Koch now?’ I asked.
‘Simply because it’s a good deal that we have got,’ he replied, adding,
‘The primary reason for selecting HK-33 was the economics involved in the scheme. It is cheaper than the AK-81, and its ammunition is low-priced as well, the same as the American M-16 and the Indian INSAS, and they are easily available. And we might be able to get more of this variety in the future.’
The officer revealed that the consignment would have reached the camp much earlier had it not been seized due to non-payment of dues.
But by whom? He did not say.
Obviously, many parties were involved, and there were commissions to be paid.
Yet another functionary said that the weapons had been
routed through
China’s Yunnan
Province. Interesting.
I wanted to probe further for information about the routes and hubs, but stopped as Bijoy approached. There were many questions to be asked, but there would be no answers.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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