'Church
backing Tripura rebels'
By Subir Bhaumik in Calcutta
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_717000/717775.stm
The
government in India's north-eastern state of Tripura says it has evidence that
the state's Baptist Church is involved in backing separatist rebels. Tripura
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said state police had uncovered details of the
alleged link after questioning a church leader.
Nagmanlal
Halam, secretary of the Noapara Baptist Church in Tripura, was arrested late on
Monday with a large quantity of explosives. Mr Sarkar said that allegations
about the close links between the state's Baptist Church and the rebel National
Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have long been made by political parties and
police.
Now
for the first time, he said, hard evidence supporting the allegations had been
found.
Explosives
Mr
Sarkar told the BBC that Mr Halam was found in possession of more than 50
gelatine sticks, 5kg of potassium and 2kg of sulphur and other ingredients for
making explosives. He said that two other junior members of the same church,
arrested last week, had tipped the police off about the explosives which were
meant for the NLFT rebels.
The
chief minister said that Mr Halam confessed to buying and supplying explosives
to the NLFT for the past two years. Another church official, Jatna Koloi, was
arrested in south Tripura last week. Police say Mr Koloi had received training
in guerrilla warfare at an NLFT base last year.
Conversion
Guards
have been placed outside the headquarters of the Baptist Church in Tripura's
capital, Agartala, to prevent possible attacks on it once the news of Mr Halam's
arrest spread. The NLFT is accused of forcing Tripura's indigenous tribes to
become Christians and give up Hindu forms of worship in areas under their
control.
Last
year, they issued a ban on the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja.
The
NLFT manifesto says that they want to expand what they describe as the kingdom
of God and Christ in Tripura. The Baptist Church in Tripura was set up by
missionaries from New Zealand 60 years ago. It won only a few thousand converts
until 1980 when in the aftermath, of the state's worst ethnic riot, the number
of conversions grew.
CHURCH
OFFICIAL ARRESTED FOR AIDING INSURGENTS
The
Pioneer Tuesday, April 18, 2000
Agartala (Agencies) - Secretary of a Baptist Christian Missionary church in
North Tripura District has been arrested by CRPF on charges of aiding insurgents
and
keeping huge explosive materials, official sources said here on Monday.
Acting on a tip-off, CRPF raided a shop at Noagaon on Sunday and arrested its
owner, who is also the secretary of the church at the village, DIG CRPF, I S
Gill told
newsmen.
CRPF recovered five kg of potassium, one kg sulphur, few gelatin sticks and 45
gm of high explosive materials, the DIG
said. He said, CRPF during its special operation in North Tripura District on
Saturday last arrested one NLFT insurgent. On the basis of his statement, the jawans arrested another insurgent and the
church secretary on Sunday, he added.
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