National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) -- Rival

Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF), Terrorist Group of Assam

partially financed by extortion and kidnapping

Active from July 18th, 1996 until December 6th, 2003, the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) was founded by Prem Singh Brahma to safeguard the interests of the Bodo people, who account for 1.6 million out of 26 million people living in the province of Assam, India. The BLT primarily targeted infrastructure (railways, bridges, oil pipelines), Indian security personnel, and non-Bodo civilians (mostly Bengali immigrants and other peoples from former East Pakistan) living in what the group considers to be its home territory. Through extortion, kidnapping, intimidation, assassination, and bombings, the BLT hoped to destabilize the region and erode the legitimacy of local authorities, forcing the government to create a new state within India for the Bodo people.<br /><br /><p><br /><br />Unlike its more radical regional rival, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which supports the full secession of an independent "Bodoland" from India, the BLT favored the creation of a "Bodo State", independent from Assam, but under the protection and control of the Indian Constitution. Due to its willingness to negotiate with the Indian government, the BLT was seen by the NDFB to be far too accommodating to Indian interests, and, hence, was itself the victim of terrorist attacks conducted by the NDFB. <br /><br /><p><br /><br />Northwest Assam is known to be a hotbed of terrorism due to its lack of economic development, geographic isolation from India proper, proximity to a state where terrorists can establish bases with relative ease (Bhutan), and substantial populations of semi-nationalist ethnic minorities.<br /><br />

On December 6, 2003, having intermittently complied with cease-fire orders since July 14, 1999, over 2500 BLT cadres surrendered at Kokrajhar, Assam in exchange for the Indian government's official recognition of the Bodo language, a significant economic aid package for Northwest Assam, and, most notably, the creation of a 46-member Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the Indian Constitution's Sixth Schedule, which regulates the administration of tribal areas. The BLT has since agreed to abide by the rule of law and is considered to be fully disbanded. Many former BLT leaders sit on the BTC, including the group's former Chairman and Commander-in-Chief, Hagrama Basumatary, and its Vice-Chairman, Kamal Mushahray. Former BLT guerrillas also make up a portion of India's paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) as part of the Indian government's rehabilitation plan for rebels who have given up arms. <br /><P><br />Due to the abundance of separatist groups in Northern Assam, the BLT's limited goals, its complete disarmament, and an Indian rehabilitation program that stresses the integration of former guerrillas into Assam's administrative structure, it is unlikely that the BLT will reemerge.