Kolkata: An inquiry by the Mamata Banerjee government has claimed that the Border Security Force is training a "people’s militia" that is looking to break away from Bengal, thus sparking another row with the Centre.
The probe report submitted by the DIG, Jalpaiguri Range, to the ADG (Law and Order) at the state secretariat has said that BSF officials in the Mathabhanga area of Cooch Behar in North Bengal imparted training to volunteers of the “Narayani Sena”.
Narayani Sena, raised by the Greater Cooch Behar People’s Association or GCPA, demands a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar on ethnic grounds for the Rajvanshi tribe.
The training, according to the probe report, happened a day after Independence Day without the knowledge of the state administration. The Trinamool Congress said this was an attempt by the BJP-led Centre to spread unrest in the region for narrow political gains.
The Narayani Sena is allegedly being raised as a militia for the GCPA and has reportedly inducted volunteers, men and women, in large numbers. Admitting to BSF’s presence, the organisation’s leader Ananta Ray said the paramilitary forces were only responding to their request, to teach them the right way to give a guard-of-honour to BJP MP and junior Union Minister S S Ahluwalia when he visits the area.
The agitation for a separate state of Greater Cooch Behar was at its ugliest about a decade ago, when violent clashes between the state police and the agitators left five, including three policemen dead. One of the victims was the additional SP of the district.
After a lull of a few years, the demand for separate statehood gathered momentum once again earlier this year when a blockade of railway tracks for five days at a stretch led to the death of two patients inside the waiting trains.
The ruling Trinamool Congress maintains that the BJP — which reached out to the GCPA for votes ahead of state elections this year — is playing with fire and must own up to the unrest in the region.
While the BSF has already denied the charges, it is likely that more drama would be played out on this front in the run-up to the 2019 general elections.
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