Ex-NLFB rebels demand separate satellite council for Bengalis in Assam

BHERGAON: The surrendered cadres of the National Liberation Force of Bengalis (NLFB), a disbanded armed outfit of Assam, today demanded immediate attention of the government to fulfill its demand for a separate satellite council for the Bengali people in the state.

Stating that the two factions of the organisation that was disbanded on January 23 last year have reunited in the interest of the Bengali population of the state, the former rebels also demanded immediate solution to the D-voters issue pertaining to the Hindu Bengalis in the state.

“We had submitted a 12-point charter of demands, including setting up a satellite council for the Bengali population of Assam. And, we surrendered only when we were promised those will be fulfilled. However, it has been over a year since we laid down arms, the government has failed to fulfill any of the demands,” said one of the leaders Amarjit Paul.

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“After we reunited in the interest of the Bengali population of the state, we have placed our demands with the authorities concerned in the administration. We are assured that they would look into the issues,” he added.

“There were other militant groups as well. The government has settled their issues and rehabilitated the surrendered cadres. We would expect that the government does not turn out to be indifferent towards us,” Paul further said.

“We entered a ceasefire over three years ago and we laid down arms on January 23 last year. Unfortunately, neither a formal agreement been signed with us, nor our issues are taken up for a solution. Since we were bifurcated, we are always told to unite to address our demands. So, we have set aside our personal differences to reunite in public interest. Our sole motive is to get our demands fulfilled,” said NLFB founder president Ranjan Sarkar.

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He said the biggest problem of the Hindu Bengalis in Assam was that of their citizenship.