Source: Agence France Presse
GUWAHATI, INDIA, December 31, 2002: Hindu villagers in India’s restive northeastern state of Tripura have pledged to fight alleged extortion demands by a Christian separatist group, community leaders said. Militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have served extortion notices to hundreds of Hindu tribals and threatened them with death if they do not pay up. “The demand notes were served only to tribal Hindu villagers with warnings of capital punishment to those who violated their diktat,” said Aswathama Jamatia, head priest of the Jamatia Hoda, an influential tribal Hindu group. Police have confirmed the extortion demands by the NLFT, which is a predominantly Christian group fighting for an independent tribal homeland. Community leaders say the NLFT has demanded three percent of the annual earnings of all government employees as tax, besides charging anything between US$40.00 to $90.00 from farmers and businessmen. Tribal Hindus also accuse the NLFT of converting people to Christianity at gunpoint.