AGARTALA, May 16: The CPM-led Left Front Government, which has been rejecting outright demands to declare Tripura a `disturbed' State and allow securitymen to go all out against tribal insurgents, staged a series of `surrender'' dramas not too long ago as part of an exercise to retain civilian control over counter-insurgency operations and hoodwink the nation into believing that the situation in the State was changing for the better.In their eagerness to cook up figures about insurgents who had laid down arms in exchange for rehabilitation, State officials accepted even wooden clubs and truncheons from villagers who thought this was the best way to start life afresh. No questions were asked since only the number of ``surrenders'' mattered.So last month when Chief Minister Dasarath Deb, during the course of an interview, claimed that a total of 5,371 insurgents had surrendered in four years of Marxist rule, officials of the Central forces here were clearly annoyed.``If the State Government can manage a figure like that on its own, why call us. We may as well go on a picnic. If so many insurgents have actually surrendered, show us the arms that are supposed to have been turned over. After all, surrendered weapons don't disappear,'' an official remarked sarcastically.Central personnel are not the only annoyed lot. Even those who flock to ``surrender'' are disgusted with the deal being offered now. Having run out of resources and promises, State officials have apparently been going around offering a bag of rice to each who cares to ``surrender''.Tripura Home Minister Samar Chowdhury, who in March informed the State Assembly that 29 insurgents and their collaborators had surrendered since January 26, told The Indian Express that his Government did not have enough money to carry on with the rehabilitation work.``We had asked the Centre for Rs 71 crore for rehabilitation of 2,000 people. But Narasimha Rao's Government, which was in power then, provided us only Rs 2.38 crore. As it is, we have spent Rs 9 crore. It is difficult to manage,'' Chowdhury said.However, people in Agartala are not in any manner impressed or reassured by these regular acts of `surrender'. ``This whole business of surrendering in exchange for a better life has become a cottage industry in the State,'' observed a retired State official.``Insurgency be blown, every Tom, Dick and Harry now wants to surrender. All the wrong fellows have been rehabilitated. It is good that there is not enough money left. At least, this farce will end,'' he said.For all that officials may claim, the truth is that insurgency continues to bleed the State which has a porous border on three sides with Bangladesh, stretching along 839 km. Only 19 of the 45 police station areas in the State have been declared disturbed. In short, this means that there are enough safe havens within the State as well.There are no less than 15 active tribal outfits but the two which stand out are the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), an off-shoot of the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) which came overground after the Congress came to power in 1988, and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) which is a breakaway unit of the original CPM-backed All Tripura Tribal Force.The NLFT, which is linked to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac Muivah faction) and has reportedly had access to NSCN arms shipments coming into Chittagong port, is a highly trained outfit which by and large does not harass the commoners and instead chooses its targets selectively.The ATTF, on the other hand, is fiercely opposed to the Bengalis who constitute the majority non-tribal population in the State.
