Bertil Linter was born in 1953 in Sweden. He came to Asia in 1975 on the overland route from Europe to Australia. Bertil spent five years on the road in Asia from Istanbul to Bangkok and from Depensar to Tokyo before settling down in Thailand in 1980. Then he became a freelance writer and established himself as an authority over Northern Burma and the insurgent groups there. The epic journey across Northern Burma was reported first in the Far Eastern Economic Review. He now permanently lives at Chiang Mai in Thailand with his Shan wife Hseng Noung Linter who was a rebel herself in her teens before becoming the photographer and then married Bertil. Books of Bertil Linter • Great Leader, Dear Leader: Demystifying North Korea under the Kim Clan • Outrage: Burma's Struggle for Democracy • Blood Brothers: Crime, Business and Politics in Asia • Land of Jade: A Journey from India through Northern Burma to China • Merchants of Madness: The Methamphetamine Explosion in the Golden Triangle • The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) • The Kachin: Lords of Burma's Northern Frontier • Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948 • The Golden Triangle • Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Democracy

He is a journalist by profession. But for almost quarter of a century, he has been a legend himself; the most authoritative voice of militancy in southeast Asia and nobody knows northern Myanmar (Burma) more than him. He is Bertil Linter who walked through Nagaland-Kachin-China in an epic 18-month trek with his wife and a six-week-old baby to understand the nuances of militancy in a region which for rest of the world is more of an enigma.

The Linters travelled by bus from Guwahati to Dimapur, by jeep to Kohima and from there to the border, which they crossed on October 22, 1985. From Longva in Nagaland border, they continued on foot by elephant across northern Burma. They then crossed the border into China on April 19,1987 only to be promptly arrested and deported to Hong Kong.

In that journey they met, stayed with and understood the top leadership of ULFA, NSCN, NNC, KIA, Communist Party of Burma (CPB), Shan State Army (SSA) and Karen National Union (KNU). Nobody had done that and nobody will ever be. The man himself was in Northeast India, 20 years after his first clandestine visit when this author caught him on a busy day. Excerpts of the interview:

Welcome to the Northeast once again after 20 years...

Yeah... it is quite a nostalgic feeling. Most of the Northeast I travelled in that trip was either at night or behind the back of the racketing jeep covered by hood. So, I actually had seen very little of the region.

But you stayed quite a few weeks in Kolkata, Delhi and much longer in Kohima...

Yes that’s true. We were holed up in Delhi, trying to get a Naga contact. We came by bus to Guwahati, then to Dimapur and finally to Kohima where my daughter was born on September 27, 1985. This time I could not locate the house where my daughter was born.

(Bertil’s wife Hseng Noung Linter, a Shan girl gave delivery to a healthy baby in a house in Kohima as Bertil was in hiding waiting for the Naga contacts to arrive from the NSCN headquarters. By the time it arrived, the baby was five weeks old and then they travelled to Mokukchang, re-entered Assam through Amguri and Sonari and entered Nagaland and finally left the Indian territory through Longva to enter Northern Burma on that epic journey.)

Now after visiting Nagaland legitimately for the first time and meeting all those Naga leaders, starting from Phizo to Muivah over the decades, do you think a greater Nagalim is possible?

I asked the same question to Phizo also in London and all the top present leadership of NSCN. The Naga civil society has constantly been doing something for the Naga talk in my own home town Chiang Mai. But considering new geopolitics, a separate independent Nagalim is a hopeless case. I do not think that will take place ever. The same way an independent Assam will never be possible.

When you were in NSCN camp, you met the top leadership of the ULFA also...

They were young and had romantic revolution in their eyes. But frankly speaking, I was confused what they were demanding and even now also, I am confused what their demand is? I was confused with their map when the same territory has also been demanded by Nagalim also. The ULFA leadership tried to impress me with a utopian Assam. But some of their leaders like Paresh Barua were good fighters, while there is similarity between ancient Assamese and mother tongue of my wife who is a Shan.

Where do you think the 12-year-long Naga talk will lead to?

Definitely not for a separate Nagalim. Perhaps the Nagas will achieve some more autonomy and not beyond that and with the changed scenario, the Nagalim cannot expect anything more also.

Do you think militancy of the Northeast will survive and thrive in future also?

To some extent yes, but may not thrive like it did in the past. The Northern Burma is not the Burma when I visited two decades back. There has been an understanding between the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) and the Burmese Junta. So KIA is not going to help much and the arms supply has also been reducing. Although it will remain for some period the intensity and the striking power will be less.

Would you like to make a trip once more?

That was 20 years ago and 20 kg less of me. I do not think I shall be able to make a trip again in that area.

Although your book Land of Jade on this trip has reached an iconic stage, would you like to recall everything in a brief for the benefit of those who could not lay hand on your book.

As it was impossible to penetrate China-Thai border to reach Northern Burma, I took the India route. We were desperate to get a contact with Naga militants and I thought there could be some one in New Delhi. With a loose contact we arrived at Shillong via Guwahati but actually worked our way through Nagaland in the next three months to reach Longva, last time we boarded a motor vehicle before disappearing in the jungles of Northern Burma till reappearing in the Chinese border 18 months later at Sipongpanna of Yunan province.

You had a baby with you and the NSCN camp was attacked by the Burmese army...

There was no way. We could not have gone back to Bangkok empty-handed. When we were about to leave the NSCN camp to KIA camps, the Burmese army attacked the camp. The NSCN might be good at ambushes but they had no protection of their camps. There were no bunkers and no trenches. There was a big cross in the middle of the camp as the Naga had strong belief that Jesus would save them. But in reality it did not work out. They were saved by the team which came from the KIA to escort us. That was a big fight and in fact, Muviah apologized to us personally for the trouble.

I believe that during that period both Muviah and Khaplang were together...

They were together but I could see the problem was coming. It was not late when we heard that both fell apart and it was actually inevitable.

Do you still believe that an honourable solution is possible with NSCN?

This is a tricky question because who will decide what is honourable. They have been talking for the past 12 years and it is not transparent. But one thing is clear that independent Nagalim is a hopeless case. That is not going to be. However, the NSCN has managed to bring the Naga issue to the fore at the international level and that is a big success. Even the Northern Burma-based militant organizations are also not being able to do that.

Mrinal Talukdar