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Bloody Tea

submitted by gwaan

1 decade 6 years 11 months 2 weeks ago

Assam is famous for its malty flavoured tea. What is less is well known is that for 28 years a conflict has raged there between the Indian government and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). An estimated 18,000 people have died during the conflict. ULFA, the biggest of 30 different rebel groups, have been fighting for Assam's independence since the late seventies.

Assam, a large state in the north-east of India, produces a quarter of the world's tea, and over half of India's. It is also home to 40 per cent of India's water, and 30 per cent of its oil. Many claim that the money made from these resources benefits the Indian federal government, but not Assam itself. Since the Indian army took up residence in 1989, ULFA have been fighting for an independent Assam, and with it, control of its natural resources.

There has been no new progress since peace talks collapsed, after three rounds, in 2005-6. The Indian National Games, held in Assam's capital, Guwahati, were supposed to herald peace for the duration, but the mayhem continued in the north-east.

People & Power explores the roots of the conflict through interviews with Assam's chief minister, academics, and senior members of ULFA. We meet victims of both the army and the insurgents and take a look at life in the insurgent camps.The Indian government blames the insurgents, and the insurgents blame the government, with neither side looking likely to give in.

While the world continues to enjoy a cup of Assam tea, the conflict is ongoing. People & Power examines the future for the troubled state.

You can watch the second part of this documentary here.

3 Comments

Respectable rebels are authorized by the majority of the people in their territory and issue compelling declarations of their reasons for persuing independence. Where's the Assamese declaration of independence, supported by the people, to give a mandate to these terrorists?

What's so bad about India's democratic government? The only point in trying to withdraw from a democracy is to accomplish some other end that they cannot accomplish from within the democracy. Separateness is not its own reward. In a service/information/technology dominated economy, natural resources don't guarantee economic success, and this video doesn't provide any solid evidence that the Indian government is somehow "robbing" them. Separatists motivated only by ethnic differences are indefensible. Tribalistic nepotism is the most destructive force in the world. It has caused most of the wars in history. It's destroying Israel and Iraq as we speak. Many people in Iraq are voting along religious lines instead of prioritizing candidates with competence and effective governmental policy. These rebels in Assam are probably going to destroy their own economy and blame it on India.

"Separatists motivated only by ethnic differences are indefensible."

I'm no expert on the ULFA, but I believe that their ideology is communist. They are opposed to the capitalist mentality of modern India. They claim to represent "independent minded struggling peoples" irrespective of race, tribe, caste, religion and nationality.

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