A rebel and a porn filmmaker too

AGARTALA: Tribal separatists in Tripura have been using women cadres as consorts and making pornographic films to raise money to fund their terror campaigns. The police in Tripura said surrendered leaders of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) made the shocking revelations recently.

A senior police official, quoting surrendered NLFT militants, said separatist leaders have been forcing women cadres and some male recruits into acting in pornographic films shot in the jungles.

The films are then sold in various parts of India and other adjoining South Asian countries with the NLFT making a huge profit. The money is used for running an armed guerrilla campaign against the security forces.

Following the sensational disclosure, police have raided several shops selling cassettes and CDs in Tripura and seized a number of pornographic films featuring tribal women.

According to tripurainfo.com, the state's official website, the films are dubbed in Thai, Burmese and other languages. The website claims to have secured a CD titled 'Hamjagoi Tongthoklaima (Our Experiences)'.

Like a feature film, it runs a full cast of 'heroes' and 'heroines'. Initially, it appears to be a love film with boys and girls holding hands and walking past lakes and trees. But soon the video starts featuring close-up shots of the 'actors' undressing and having sex.

Police have been on the trail of those behind this sleaze racket since last month when some women NLFT cadre fled their camps and surrendered before authorities alleging sexual abuse by their male leaders.

A police spokesperson said several women cadres of the outlawed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and the NLFT had fled their jungle hideouts after being subjected to frequent sexual abuse by senior leaders.

"We have reports of at least a dozen female cadre of the ATTF and the NLFT deserting camps on grounds of sexual abuse and harassment by male members of the outfits," a police official said requesting anonymity.

Meenaxi Debbarma and Rajlakshmi Debbarma, both in their early 20s, joined the ATTF four years back with the dream of carving out a tribal homeland through armed struggle. The two tribal girls underwent a three-month arms training and were all ready to join action.

"We were in for a shock when we found our male commanders taking turns in visiting our camps and abusing us sexually," the two renegade ATTF women told the police. The two picked up courage to flee their camps located in Bangladesh and surrendered before Tripura police on Wednesday.

"All the 17 women staying in our camp were subjected to frequent sexual assault by leaders," they said, adding, "Instead of allowing us to go for action, our commanders used us for cooking and other domestic works."