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05/13/2005: "Muivah speech"

13 may 2005 Friday Muivah speech JAHANSHER FIROZE



Students wait at Dimapur airport for Muivah on Tuesday. Picture by Along Longkumer
Dimapur, May 11: A day after Thuingaleng Muivah delivered his short, sombre speech at the airport, reaction to the outcome of the Naga talks has been mixed.
According to some reports, the talks ended on a positive note and all that needed to be sorted out were two or three “substantive” issues. Though those substantive issues were not mentioned, one is expected to be the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas under a single administrative umbrella.
The short speech of the NSCN (I-M) general secretary clearly said relations between the Isak-Muivah group and the Centre had become a little strained and the Naga organisation’s patience was running out. In his speech, Muivah assured those present that the NSCN (I-M) would never betray “earth, heaven, Nagas and the cause”. This assurance clearly rules out a compromise on substantive issues.
Talks between the Centre and the leadership of the Isak-Muivah faction, in Bangkok and Amsterdam, has not been making much headway of late. At one such meeting of both the sides in the Thai capital, it was reported that New Delhi had agreed to the unification of Naga indigenous areas but violent and spontaneous reactions in Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh forced the government to retract.
In Manipur, the capital was the scene of month long violence and arson. For the Centre to concede to the demand of unification of Naga indigenous areas is no easy task as that could lead to civic unrest in a region with more than a score of militant groups. If that were to happen, the situation in the Northeast would be worse than in Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre cannot afford this.
At the same time, to deny Nagas what they believe is their birthright, backed by historical evidence, would be seen as a betrayal, leading to an escalation of violence. That the Centre may be playing for time is obvious, but time appears to be running out as the Naga leaders feel their patience has been tested for too long. For the optimists in Nagaland and among the Naga policymakers of the country, Muivah’s hardboiled, calculated hardline speech yesterday is likely to be perceived as tactical posturing at a stage when talks have entered a decisive phase. This is because only a day earlier his spokesman had emphatically said the last round of talks with New Delhi’s envoy had ended on a high note and now the ball was in Delhi’s court.
Talks on the Rocks Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS Posted: 2005-05-12

As was suspected, the Government of India-NSCN(IM) peace talks seems definitely to be in serious jeopardy. If the talks indeed breaks down, it is as well as saying goodbye to a peaceful settlement of the Naga problem at least for the time being as the NSCN(IM) is today by far the predominant underground organization amongst the Nagas, both militarily as well as politically. But even in the eventuality of this branch of the negotiations with the Nagas breaking down, it is unlikely that the government of India would abandon its other negotiation track with the NSCN(K), but any outcome from this alone would be at best piecemeal if not only token success. This is bad news for the Naga public who are today visibly fatigued beyond limits at the continued turmoil in their society for more than half a century. We do hope something works out so that their misery ends in ways that are acceptable and honorable to them as well as their neighbours and not the very least, India. Like it or not, all these entities are very much a reality and indeed major factors in any prospect of lasting peace. Refusal to acknowledge this would amount to asking for an end to negotiations and beginning of hostility, and this exactly seems to be where things are heading at this juncture. It is our belief that this will also have to be the recipe for success for any negotiated settlement with any of the many underground organizations operating in the region. After all, none of the many communities here live in insulated, water-tight compartments. What one does, profoundly affects the others, and hence peace can be assured only if the aspirations of all are taken into consideration. The solution will have to be hence in terms of shared spaces, both psychological and physical.
But the present seeming dead end in the GOI-NSCN(IM) talks had become evident after the Karan Thappar interview with Th Muivah on BBC’s HardTalk India on April 29. The interview, as we had observed earlier, made the contradictions within the ongoing peace process stark and irreversible. Till then these contradictions were only a matter of speculation but nothing definite so that there was always room for manouvres. The ambiguity made it possible for the talks to carry on even if it was always known that there was a precipice somewhere ahead and perhaps this ambiguity was essential to buy the time to try smooth out creases. The total exposure to the media, that too through an acknowledged ace in the profession, removed all of this ambiguity and brought the negotiators right on the edge of the precipice in full view of everybody. There was no turning back then on from the raw reality. Muivah yesterday, and again today, admitted just as much and has in thinly veiled statements to the local press in Dimapur, called upon the Nagas to prepare for a resumption of protracted hostility with India. There was of course no way he could have avoided repeating in Dimapur what he conceded before the BBC cameras that Nagas can never look for a settlement within India and that he was not willing to negotiate with the Nagas’ neighbours on the issue of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim as the NSCN(IM) has come to term it.
The truth however is, if there is no softening on the twin issues of sovereignty and Greater Nagaland, the chances of success of the ongoing talks are very slim. On the other hand, a hard line approach to any or either of the two issues can only spell untold bloodshed and such an eventuality would be nothing short of disaster for everybody. We do hope nothing like this comes to be the region’s reality. Such a turn of events would also so tragically amount to snatching defeat from the jaws of what could have been a resounding success. It is not too late yet. The situation can be salvaged if an effort at a more comprehensive peace negotiation, involving all actors in this region’s conflict theatre, were to be made. All of them must agree to work out amicable terms with each other. Also it needs consideration that if sovereignty is about dignified living, guarantees of fundamental human rights and basic freedoms for the citizenry, these are eminently negotiable. Shouldn’t all give peace a serious chance

Hard Talking Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS Posted: 2005-05-06

Karan Thappar, former editor/producer of “Eyewitness”, the pre-private channel, pioneering, video news magazine in India, has often been described as cold-blooded. After “Eyewitness” shut shop in the wake of the introduction of a flood of private and government television satellite channels, he cut out a niche for himself in the new but related medium as an interviewer par excellence, having even won a much watched space on the BBC television. Some describe him as India’s answer to Tim Sebastian, and it is no wonder that BBC’s “Hard Talk”, made famous by Sebastian becomes BBC’s “Hard Talk India” when Thappar anchors it. In what arguably must be the most remembered interview in India, Thappar made Kapil Dev cry in front of BBC’s cameras. Those who watched that interview will remember how the man proved his reputation of being cold blooded by sadistically stabbing and wounding the weeping cricket legend with sharp, uncomfortable questions calculated to hurt. Thappar is also known for describing Amitabh Bachan’s acting as foolish. Obviously he likes taking on the big guys.
Last week Thappar took on Thuingaleng Muivah, the leader of the NSCN (IM) in “Hard Talk India”. True to his reputation, the interviewer was again coldly hostile. Perhaps it was a mistake on the part of Muivah to have agreed to the interview. As we know it today, what he was made to admit, or else made to retort in desperate defence, nearly jeopardized the ongoing peace talks. At other times Muivah was made to appear awkward. As for instance, he was made to admit that he was not an Indian, but also that he holds an Indian passport. At another time he was literally forced in such a tight corner that he had to wriggle out of it by a public statement that he would not accept any settlement short of complete sovereignty although earlier on he did seem pretty warm to the idea of a special arrangement for Nagaland within the Indian dispensation. Muivah also ended up saying things that seem so unreasonable like the Indian Army must be made obliged to defend independent Nagaland against external aggression but the Naga Army would not come out to help India in wars that it may fight. The interview also made many demands of the NSCN(IM), like a separate flag, or even the claim of a unique Naga history seem trivial. Muivah was also honest to the point of frustration, when he had to almost with a sigh, admit that there was nothing very much happening at the peace talks. This admission, coming after eight long years of engaging the Indian government in parleys, must indeed have been disheartening for the Naga public yearning for peace. Sometimes, there is wisdom in not exposing these parleys to the media totally.
Thus far, it was just a matter of speculation that peace talks under the present format can bring little. Sovereignty by negotiations was always considered out of the question, and Greater Nagaland or Nagalim, was increasingly becoming an impossible dream. Now we all have an idea how close to the target these speculations were. Perhaps it is time for all the underground organizations in the region who are genuinely in the quest for peace to shift their orientation, and begin thinking in terms of redefining “the thin red line” that divides enemies and allies. Perhaps most relevant at this juncture would be talks between neighbours, especially those which have been pitted in adversarial roles by historical circumstances. Maybe, as in the Hollywood movie by the same name, “the thin red line” exists only in the mind. When the mindset changes, the line too may simply disappear. As the Thappar interview also brought out, perhaps the question of sovereignty is also in the ultimate analysis, about guarantees of rights that can help peoples achieve their aspirations, and with it dignity and pride in their identities, most freely. Maybe in the postmodern definition, sovereignty is not so much a physical condition but one of the mind and spirit. Perhaps serious reflections on these points may throw valuable light to our dark times.

AFSPA Consensus Source: IMPHAL FREE PRESS Posted: 2005-04-21

The review committee for the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, is back in the state on its last leg tour before a recommendation is submitted. The team of five eminent men will be touring Senapati and Churachandpur during their stay in the state, having already got a good taste of the mood in the state capital region during their last visit. If the pulse of the places that the press is familiar with is anything to go by, the feedbacks from the two districts of Manipur is likely to be quite different. In Senapati, it is likely to be an emphatic “no” to the Act, considering the people here have born the brunt of this Act more than perhaps anywhere else in the entire northeast. Residual memories of Oinam atrocities by the security establishment after the underground NSCN(IM) sacked a poorly manned camp of the Assam Rifles killing nine soldiers and decamping with 85 tonnes of weapons and ammunition in 1989, could not have disappeared. The “no” here would also be in consonance with the “no” in the valley districts, other than being an echo of the “no” in Nagaland a month ago. In the Churachandpur district however, the “no” is most likely to be faint if not absent. At least the passion with which the Act is being opposed in most other parts of the state, especially the valley districts, would probably to be conspicuous by the absence. We have not tried to look for statistics, but we would also not be surprised at all if the two southern districts of the state, Churachandpur and Chandel, have contributed the most number of recruits from the state into Army units like the Assam Regiment.
We can also almost guess what the feedbacks were like from the other states of the northeast. In Nagaland we have heard from the panel’s own chairman that the “no” cut across all barriers. From the top functionaries of the government to the man on the street think peace has dawned on the state and the Act is no longer necessary. We wonder how honestly each of them, most specifically the chief minister, Niphiu Rio, believe peace is actually knocking considering the escalation in the murderous faction fights in the state in recent times. In Assam the chief minister Tarun Gogoi in unambiguous terms has said the Act is still relevant and needed. His feeling would probably be shared by a good section of the Assamese society, or to be precise the Guwahati society, but the mood should be much different in districts like Darrang. In Imphal the committee in its meeting with the press was quite confident that the mood was against the Act but not against the Army. In all likelihood, there would also have been considerable mood swings here in the wake of the mayhems that have come to rule in the interval between the two visits of the panel. In Mizoram a good majority would have said there was nothing wrong with the Act. In Tripura and Meghalaya, the response would most likely have bordered between mixed and indifference. If there were oppositions, it would be more academic. That is to say, oppositions on grounds of diluted and clichéd senses of textbook rights and wrongs than any felt need to have the Act stay or go.
Our exercise in this guesstimate is with the purpose of indicating how confounding and awesome the prospect of evolving a consensual picture of how the Act is considered in the northeast as a whole can be, for this precisely is the mission of the review panel. We could be very wrong in our estimation of what is the pulse of the people in the region, but then again, the estimation of the panel are exposed to the same or even worse vulnerabilities. This being the case, some of the academic considerations against the Act should he helpful. The starting point in such a discussion should be that all Acts of the Union must be for the entire Union. This would not only make it non-discriminatory but also subject it to a much more effective check and balance system. Equally important, any Act that leaves room for human rights violation must be treated as fundamentally flawed.

Raipur SOS to Nagaland police ALOKE TIKKU
New Delhi, May 10: They fought insurgency on home turf. Now the home ministry wants policemen from Nagaland and Punjab to take on rebels in Naxalite-affected states. The Union home ministry has asked Nagaland and Punjab to spare nearly 3,000 trained commandos following requests from states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra for more central police forces. The ministry expects other states to come up with similar requests, especially in view of North Block’s decision to exempt Naxalite-affected states from paying for central forces deployed to fight the rebels.But with the Central Reserve Police Force already stretched to the last man, it was getting increasingly difficult for the ministry to juggle security personnel, pulling out forces from one state for deployment in another.
So when Chhattisgarh police made a request for a battalion of Nagaland police to help them conduct operations against the Naxalites, the ministry was quick to forward the proposal to the Nagaland government. Nagaland has 10 armed battalions, including two India Reserve Battalions. Two more IRBs are being raised. Sources said the Centre would ideally like the state government to spare IRB personnel who have undergone a two-year pre-induction training, including a stint with Assam police.
Chhattisgarh prefers Nagaland police as they have the experience of conducting operations in densely populated jungles. Policemen in Chhattisgarh lack this experience as most of them have been trained for urban policing. The state government also plans to set up a school where state policemen can be trained in jungle warfare.
Panel for women demanded in Nagaland From Our Correspondent
DIMAPUR, May 12 – Reacting to the deteriorating law-and-order scenario in Nagaland, more particularly in the State capital Kohima with incidents rape and murder escalating, numerous organizations from throughout the State condemning the “inhuman acts” have urged the law-enforcers to set an example by issuing capital punishments to the culprits. Expressing its anguish at the spate of violence against children and women in the state, Nagaland University Teachers Association has condemned the rape of the seven-year-old girl and rape and murder of two mothers, the latest being a respected member of the teaching fraternity.

“We are ashamed that as the whole world celebrates Mother’s Day, another mother has been brutally defiled and killed here in Nagaland,” the association stated and conveyed to the bereaved family its condolences. Reminding Nagaland government to fulfil its commitment of protecting women and children’s right in the State, the association demanded that the mandatory State Commission for Women be immediately constituted, as that is the only legal body which can protect women’s dignity and rights.
Lungnila Elizabeth’s murderer nabbed NET News Network
Imphal, May 12: The combined team of Thoubal police and Assam Rifles have claimed to make prized catch of a person wanted in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Lungnila Elizabeth. The arrested fugitive is identified as Ningombam Khogen alias Loya alias Meiraba(42) of Ithai village in Bishenpur district. Loya is suspected to be member of an underground group. According to the report, a combined team of Thoubal police along with the troops of 33 Assam Rifles has cornered Loya on May 6 last and since then he was kept at the custody of Thoubal police for interrogation. Arrested Khogen is said to be slated number two position in the list of Special Investigation Team. After his arrest, Khogen was produced at CGM court at Thoubal and has been remanded to police custody till May 16.
Lungnila Elizabeth, daughter of the then GAD minister Francis Ngajokpa, was kidnapped from her School on November 4,2003 and was later found murdered, a week later. It is assumed that the kidnapping was masterminded by one James Kuki who fled from Imphal, after the arrest of some accomplices, and was later arrested by NSCN (IM) from Dimapur. A CBI probe to the murder is on and the investigating agency had even asked for brain test of one of the accused.
Therie
KOHIMA, May 11: There is a unusual political calm in Nagaland following the resignation of Finance Minister Kewekhape Therie of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government. The resignation came after Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio asked Mr Therie to resign from the council of ministers following the recommendation for disciplinary action against Mr Therie for his alleged anti-party and anti-government activities. Top sources in the DAN claimed that the political weather was fine and stability of the ministry was not something to be worried about. The government is giving priority on the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to implement it in letter and spirit, as declared by DAN before the last elections in 2003. Sources said the political activities in the Congress camp in Nagaland was hectic following the resignation. The party leaders were meeting frequently under the leader of the opposition I Imkong for a cautious approach over their next course of action. Sources also informed that Mr Rio also convened hectic parleys with various constituents of the DAN, including the Nagaland Peoples' Front (NPF) leaders, to assess the situation arising out of the resignation. All the constituents of the DAN and the legislators of the NPF, reposed their faith in the chief minister through the media. Mr Therie, who resigned on Sunday, could not be reached and was reportedly busy holding talks with his supporters.-UNI

M.S. PRABHAKARA Objects of history Frontline Volume 20 - Issue 19, September 13 - 26, 2003 India's National Magazine from the publishers of THE HINDU
On the politics of the Naga Students' Federation's warning against any academic research into the Naga people's history without its permission
QUESTIONS about the ownership of a people's history have always exercised the passions and imagination of people, especially those who for various reasons have become objects of history instead of being in control of their history. The description fits the majority of the people. The same is the case with the felt passions too, though these are not always articulated cogently.
In Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. Historically, the Naga people are divided into various tribal communities whose numbers as well as nomenclatures have undergone interesting changes over the years.
Recently, the Naga Students' Federation (NSF), a body whose support to Naga nationalistic aspirations and Naga sovereignty is well known, issued a directive and a warning requiring non-Naga scholars to secure its permission and clearance before undertaking any academic research pertaining to the Naga people, in particular their history. Maintaining that the history of the Naga people had been distorted by such research by non-Naga scholars, the president of the NSF said that `people from outside the Naga community' would not be allowed to undertake any research on Naga history without the organisation's permission. The immediate provocation for this directive is, apparently, the `genome project' that has been undertaken at Nagaland University. The project, initiated by some scholars of the university, both Naga and non-Naga, has been going on for the last two years. Among other things, the project requires the collection of blood samples from every Naga tribe. The purpose of such research, with its obvious bearing on aspects of the physical anthropology of the objects of the research, it was felt, could well be to establish - if there is any need to do so - that the various Naga people of Nagaland (and of neighbouring States) who claim historic memories of being one people and who, as both the cause and consequence of the Naga insurgency, are in the process of constructing themselves into Naga, transcending all tribal divisions, are actually discreet and separate people, not one `nation' that Naga nationalist discourse insists they are. Historically, the Naga people are divided into various tribal communities (the expression tribe and derivatives thereof have not yet become politically incorrect usage in these parts, though they will doubtless become so soon) whose numbers as well as nomenclatures have undergone some interesting changes over the years. Official records of the State government at present identify 14 separate tribal groups; however, there can be no finality about this number. At least one of these, the Zeliang-Kuki, is a self-evidently artificial construct, while another, the Chakesang, is a sort of portmanteau construct whose members were not so long ago categorised under three different denominations. Such a process of deconstruction of communities with seeming internal coherence to reconstruct other identities is not, after all, a unique phenomenon.
The concern about `genome research', such as it is (which is how sceptical scholars in the region view the programme), though perhaps ill-informed, is understandable. Those espousing Naga nationalistic aspirations and Naga sovereignty are at present on a high, having got the Government of India to get off its high horse and engage in talks with the leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) on terms laid down by the latter. So, any research at this stage, whose implications might be to provide legitimacy to what Naga nationalists maintain were `colonialist constructs', the atomisation of the Naga people into mutually antagonistic tribes, is automatically suspect and could well be seen as a setback to the gains made by the Naga nationalists. While such suspicions might appear utterly ahistorical in any dispassionate consideration of the `Naga national question', the fact is that in these harsh times, history has more or less lost any claims - if indeed it had at any time - of being a detached study of a people's past and present.
Other recent NSF directives that are in fact renewals of initiatives undertaken periodically earlier are stricter enforcement of the existing Inner Line Regulations and warnings to non-Naga men residing in the State not to acquire immovable assets or marry Naga women. Interestingly, admonishments against Naga men marrying non-Naga women are seldom issued, consistent with the cultural norms in the rest of the country as well that sees a woman as the custodian of a people's history and heritage and whose `purity' has to be maintained. In the immediate context, however, the injunction against non-Naga men marrying Naga girls is related to the widely held conviction that many illegal migrants in the State, overwhelmingly male, have entered into such marriages of convenience with a view to legitimising their status as permanent residents. On the face of it, such directives that are not enforceable except through coercion appear rather silly. For instance, the growth of Dimapur, the ancient capital of the Dimasa kings and now the largest city in Nagaland where the Inner Line Regulations do not apply, has been influenced by considerations that have little to do with Naga nationalism, non-Naga men marrying Naga girls or things like that. Indeed, the very ownership of the city is contested by Dimasa nationalist organisations fighting for a separate Dimasaland (Dimaraji), whose envisaged territory, as always, has claims across existing State/district boundaries.
But then, this is not the first initiative of its kind by the NSF, or indeed by other self-appointed guardians of a people's history, heritage and culture, terms that can be interpreted elastically. One recalls that during the height of the Assam agitation against foreign nationals, there were calls that Assamese women, in particular students in colleges and universities, should wear only the traditional Assamese dress, strikingly beautiful (and quite expensive) but hardly the most practical kind of dress that a young woman could wear every day to work and study. Again, interestingly, corresponding directives were never issued in respect of the male Assamese youth simply because, as leaders of the anti-foreigner agitation, clad in trousers and safari suits and jeans and such accoutrements, it was they who issued such prescriptions and proscriptions. These norms, and the underlying romanticisation and fear of and anxieties about female sexuality, continue even to this day, evident in any public function where the mandatory opening song is sung by a chorus of boys and girls, the girls all dressed in traditional finery while the boys are more casually dressed. Given its origins, which are deeply rooted in the very beginnings of the Naga nationalist struggle, the NSF clearly considers itself as having rather more legitimacy in claiming the ownership of history and issuing more directives than many other corresponding `student' organisations in the region. Indeed, disapproval of, if not outright ban upon, research by `outsiders' on tribal societies of the northeastern region is becoming the norm.
While structures calling for such an exclusion or outright ban are yet in no position to enforce the proscription, they can certainly be an inhibiting factor. "We will study our societies ourselves, we will not allow outsiders to study them", is now a fairly commonplace sentiment among many tribal groups.
However, while such a self-appointed gatekeeping role in respect of academic research (or modes of social conduct) by student organisations is rather laughable and certainly deserves to be condemned - who gave the authority to the NSF to lay down the law, one may question with all the indignation one can muster - one also has to admit that these new censors have modelled themselves after very respectable and powerful precedents - states and governments with greater legitimacy. One laughs at (or quails over) such diktats depending on the muscle that those who issue such orders muster. But academic gatekeeping as a method to control free intellectual activity has perfectly legitimate precedents. The point hardly needs to be pressed in respect of academic research, or even the much less exalted profession of journalism, the routine reporting and analysis of news and events, in northeast India. Several `sensitive' areas of study and, in some cases, whole physical spaces, have been demarcated as out of bounds, not solely to foreign scholars but to locals as well. Foreign scholars interested in the region are required to submit details of their proposed research before they get a visa to travel to India - not to speak of the further hurdles, like the Restricted Area Permit and the Inner Line Permit, they have to cross if they have to visit the area of their study in the region. Their host institutions in the region too sometimes come under scrutiny.
The rationale for such restrictions and monitoring is that India is now viewed by those in authority as a besieged state; that much of the academic research by foreign scholars and their Indian collaborators relating to the problems in the northeastern region, very broadly issues of ethnicity, insurgency and unresolved national questions though much criminality too masquerades under such high-sounding problematique, is driven not by academic interest or democratic instincts but by more malignant considerations. Perhaps the kind of restrictions imposed by the Indian state is not unique. Even more likely, they are not being strictly implemented, given the huge internal contradictions that affect every aspect of governance in India, including issues of national security. And what has one to make of the reports of stricter monitoring in the United States and other prosperous Western countries of research into `sensitive areas' with a bearing on national security by scholars of the Third World, certainly by Arab and Muslim scholars, following the attack on symbols of American authority and power on September 11, 2001? Indeed, even journalists from the Third World whose passports clearly identify their profession, are finding it hard to get a visa across the counter; applications for visas that would allow one to work, as different from tourist visas, will in many cases have to be cleared by the authorities in the capital of the country that one plans to visit as part of one's work.
In other words, suspicion and disapproval of `foreign' influences on the subjects of history while those tasked with shaping that history revel in absorbing every aspect of that very same pernicious `foreign' culture is a near universal phenomenon. For instance, the `traditional kings and princes' and `traditional leaders' in South Africa, some of whom are among the richest and most Westernised South Africans, nevertheless mobilise their supporters on the most parochial issues, demand the most feudal of loyalties, routinely admonishing them against succumbing to corrupt Western influence, in the process demarcating vast areas as their exclusive fiefdoms where no political challenge is allowed. Coming closer home, those leaders of the freedom movement in India who had the advantages of a Western education and were highly Westernised in their lifestyles routinely pandered to and promoted `traditional' values for their adoring followers, though not for their own progeny. There is no need to press the point about the advantages that such prohibitions and admonitions have brought to the owners of history.
Bodo Council polls today By R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, May 12 – The stage is set for holding of the first elections to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) tomorrow amidst tight security arrangements in view of the sharp differences among the Bodo leaders and their supporters and skirmishes between the supporters of the rival factions. Of the 40 constituencies, candidates in five constituencies have been elected unopposed. Those elected unopposed include the chief of the Interim Council of the BTC, Hagrama Mahilary, and the Deputy Chief, Chandan Brahma. The BTC was created under the provisions of the amended Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India following the signing of the peace accord between the Central and State Governments and – the militant outfit – Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT). The interim council, headed by former Chief of the BLT, Hagrama Mahilary was sworn in December, 2003 in the presence of the then Deputy Prime Minister, LK Advani. Though as per the peace accord, the election to the Council should have been held within six months from the day the interim body assumed office, the entire process was delayed due to various factors like the delay in delimitation of the constituencies, delay in transfer of departments to the council etc.
Of the 40 constituencies, 30 are reserved for tribals and with five candidates being elected unopposed, altogether 253 candidates are now in the fray for 35 constituencies and Thuribari constituency in Chirang district has the highest number of 17 candidates, followed by Fakiragram in Kokrajhar district with 15 candidates. Among the recognised parties, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has fielded candidates in 13 constituencies, the BJP in 16 constituencies, CPI(M) in five and the CPI(ML) has fielded candidate for one constituency. The rest of the candidates are independents. Though the newly formed Bodoland People’s Progressive Front (BPPF) has fielded candidates in all the constituencies, they have been treated as independents as the BPPF is not a recognised party. The campaign trail in the run-up to the polls was marred by serious differences among the senior Bodo leaders. Different Bodo mass organisations got together to form the BPPF on April 12 and the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) took the lead in the formation of the new party, headed by former ABSU president Rabiram Narzary. The former BLT chief was also in the policy-making body of the new party.
However, the party ran into trouble right from the beginning with sharp differences cropping up among the leaders over the selection of candidates for the polls. The differences reached the peak with the filing of nomination papers by Rabiram Narzary from the Bonorgaon constituency, and Mahilary, openly campaigned for the rebel candidate Mono Kumar Bharma alias Jaila – a former BLT man – instead of campaigning for his party leader. In fact, during a visit to the BTAD areas recently, this correspondent witnessed that the photos of Mahilary were displayed prominently in the election posters of several former BLT men, who stood against the official candidates of the BPPF.The Bodo leaders were also involved in heated war of words with Rabiram Narzary and Member of Parliament UG Brahma criticising the Congress for trying to create differences in the Bodo society, while Mahilary and his supporters accused Narzary and Brahma of involving in dirty politics to grab power.
ULFA C-in-C for talks in Assam By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 12 – The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) will prefer to hold talks with the Government of India in Assam, said the commander-in-chief of the outfit Paresh Baruah. Talking to this correspondent over phone from an undisclosed location today, the ULFA leader said, “at one point of time we wanted the talks to be held at a third country. But now we have changed out stand and we would prefer the talks to be held in our motherland.”
Commenting on the prospect of talks, Baruah said that the ULFA has already made its stand clear on the issue and now everything would depend on the sincerity of the Government of India. He asserted that sovereignty of Assam should be the core issue for talks and “if Government of India accepts that, we can talk at any place on any time.”
Replying to a question on the recent war of words between the ULFA and the AASU on the problem of illegal migration of foreigners into Assam, the ULFA leader clarified that the ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa had never targeted the AASU on the issue. He said that the ULFA had only targeted the Government of India for its efforts to “Indianise” Assam and the AASU had no reason to feel agitated. Baruah claimed that the ULFA had never supported the cause of the Bangladeshi nationals. He said, “ in fact we went a step further and demanded that all the foreigners who came to Assam after August 15, 1947 including the Indians should be expelled from Assam.” He said that the ULFA also never objected to sealing of Assam’s borders. He also said that the members of the ULFA have been sacrificing their lives every day for the cause of Assam and the AASU should not teach them patriotism. Meanwhile, Baruah also claimed that in response to the recent killings of ULFA men, the militant outfit killed five personnel of Indian Army last night in Tinsukia district, but the claim was not substantiated by police or other security agencies till the time of filing of this report.
Rehabilitation package for northeast militants Ians Indo-Asian News Service
Guwahati, May 13 (IANS) A three-year vocational training course with food and lodging and a stipend are part of a new rehabilitation policy that the centre offered Friday for separatist guerrillas in the northeast willing to surrender. Home Secretary V.K. Duggal announced the policy for guerrillas in India's troubled northeast, where 30 odd rebel groups are engaged in low intensity conflicts against federal soldiers. "The idea to offer an attractive package and revive the surrender policy is to help young minds shun the path of violence and come forward to join the mainstream," Duggal told journalists in Assam's main city of Guwahati.
"The new surrender policy for the northeast is more attractive than the one in Jammu and Kashmir." Under the package, a surrendered militant will be offered a 36-month long vocational training course in fields like computers, motor driving, mechanised farming, tailoring and fabrications. "During the training period, a surrendered militant will get free food and lodging, besides a monthly stipend of Rs.2,000," Duggal said. Earlier, a surrendered rebel was offered year-long free vocational training. During the past five years, at least 5,000 rebels in the northeast have laid down arms before the authorities.
"We will also give an amount of Rs.150,000 per militant as margin money so that they can use the cash to get loans from banks to start a new business venture once they complete the three year training period," the home secretary said. Meanwhile, New Delhi has offered to hold talks with any northeastern rebel group. "The government of India is always open to holding unconditional talks with any militant group if that could help in bringing in peace to the region," Duggal said. "But at the same we shall continue with our security offensives and there will be leniency on our part in maintaining peace." More than 50,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the northeast since India's independence in 1947.