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05/16/2005: "HURDLES IN THE PEACE PROCESS"

16 may 2005 Monday
HURDLES IN THE PEACE PROCESS Twenty-Twenty / Bharat Bhushan The Telegraph


Return to the jungle
Not much should be read into Thuingaleng Muivah, general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), saying that there could be a return to violence in Nagaland. The Naga peace talks may not succeed immediately — one may not see a dramatic development in terms of an “accord” being signed in a month or two. Yet one cannot say that the talks are heading towards failure or that a return to violence is imminent. Muivah’s conduct at the peace talks has been exemplary and there is no suggestion that he is eager to go back to the jungle. He has behaved with immense patience, explaining, not once but several times over, the position of the NSCN (I-M) and what the organization can accept and what it cannot.
It would be patently unfair to put the burden of success or failure of the talks on the NSCN (I-M) alone. Negotiations should not and cannot mean that the Nagas should come all the way. If that is the expectation, then even if Muivah keeps talking to New Delhi, his supporters will abandon him and the issue will remain unresolved. Leaving aside the difficult issue of integration of Naga areas for the time being, there are several other obstacles to be overcome by the two sides. These are: negotiating a new federal relationship; joint defence; organizing a Naga army; citizenship; organizing an appropriate judicial system; and openness to multi-party democracy. The most difficult of these is of negotiating a new federal relationship. Yet one must understand that this formulation, presented in the NSCN(I-M)’s memorandum of April 1 2004, is a giant leap forward. In their memorandum of September 21, 2001, Nagas only talked of a “close partnership between Nagaland and India” — the two entities were seen as separate. The Nagas came a step closer when Muivah and NSCN(I-M)’s chairman, Isak Swu, came to Delhi in January 2003, and said that India and Nagaland should become “two nations inseparably bound”. Still, Nagaland was seen as a separate nation.
However, India’s oldest and most well organized insurgent organization is now saying that it is willing to explore “an appropriate federal relationship with India, governed by the agreement in such a way that it cannot be changed unilaterally in the future by either side.” This is indeed progress. To expect that the Nagas should come all the way is both unrealistic and insulting to the Naga leaders who have shown great boldness in coming this far. The NSCN(I-M) has proposed that all competencies should vest in the Nagas except defence, foreign affairs, communications and monetary policy, provided that they have a say in the first three wherever Naga interests are involved. Now it is for New Delhi to start discussing the sharing of competencies, how they affect Naga interests and negotiate what is possible.
One should not react too strongly to Muivah’s statement to the BBC that it was not possible for the Nagas to come within the Indian Union or accept the Indian Constitution. It is the political agreement between the two sides that will define the overall relationship — one cannot put the cart before the horse and give the relationship a name before it is negotiated. In the BBC interview, Muivah spoke of “joint defence”... What this means is that in case of an external threat, the Nagas want a joint defence of their borders with the Indian army. What they mean is that they want an army of their own besides a police force. It is this army which would jointly defend Nagaland with the Indian army.
Raising a Naga Security Force or Naga Rifles is not a difficult task. However, Muivah has to be clear that under this guise, he cannot hope to create a party army of the NSCN(I-M). The NSCN(I-M)’s armed wing should not be absorbed and converted into the new security force. To prevent it from becoming a Thangkul or a party army or an army loyal to Muivah and Swu, it would have to be raised separately from across all Naga tribes. This essentially means agreeing to the decommissioning of the NSCN army. An agreement would have to be reached both on the timing of decommissioning of arms and accommodating the army cadre in central police organizations and rehabilitating those who are over-age or unfit in civilian professions. The demand for a Naga army remains a source of apprehension for the Indian negotiators. On the citizenship issue, the two sides can come quite close. The Nagas want to be citizens of both Nagaland and India. One possibility is that they accept Indian passports with a qualification noting that the holder is a citizen of India in Nagaland. How this is achieved is a matter of negotiation.
Two other issues, which have the potential of creating confusion in the negotiations, are the nature of the judicial system to be followed in Nagaland and the leaders’ attitude to multi-party democracy. The NSCN (I-M) wants the Nagas to have their courts and judicial system to follow tribal customs and practices. They say that they do not want to accept any Indian court except the Supreme Court. This is an untenable position. Even if it were possible to let the Nagas implement their customary law and procedure and have their own civil and criminal justice system according to that law, problems would arise in cases involving non-Nagas.
If such cases have to go to the Indian judicial system then they cannot just move directly to the Supreme Court. The Nagas would probably have to allow for two parallel systems of judiciary — Naga customary courts and Indian courts based on Indian civil and criminal law — with clearly demarcated areas of jurisdiction. Crimes (such as rape and murder) which may attract life imprisonment or capital punishment in the rest of India must not be left to customary law in Nagaland — no blood money or compensation for rape can be accepted.
The NSCN(I-M) also needs to come clean on whether or not it believes in multi-party democracy. Given the early Chinese ideological influence on its leaders, they seem inclined towards democratic centralism and a one-party system. No settlement should take away the democratic right of the Naga people to elect their leaders that they have enjoyed up to now. The peace dividend must not take away rights already enjoyed by the Nagas. If there were an agreement, then within a year or two, Muivah and Swu would have to contest elections and prove that they continue to enjoy the mandate of the Naga people. The cure for an imperfect democracy cannot be dictatorship — however avuncular it might be! Lastly, on the issue of integration of Naga areas, Muivah has suggested a way out. He has argued for a two-stage process — India should accept in principle the legitimacy of the Naga aspiration for integration; and then set in motion a time-bound process to achieve that. This process could be the setting up of a second state reorganization commission. This too, is movement forward.
Muivah bowls googly to Delhi - NSCN factions continue to spar on key issues NISHIT DHOLABHAI
Camp Hebron (Dimapur), May 15: Insurgent leader Thuingaleng Muivah added to the confusion over the Naga peace talks by indicating that the NSCN (I-M) would not oppose “reorganisation” of the northeastern states through a constitutionally valid process if it envisaged the integration of all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas of the region.
The NSCN (I-M) general secretary, whose statements since returning to Nagaland a week ago have raised doubts about the progress of the dialogue with Delhi, told The Telegraph that the concept of a state reorganisation commission was not taboo within his organisation despite its insistence on a settlement that “goes beyond the Constitution”.
On whether he realistically believed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would take any such step, Muivah said Delhi must substitute its conservative approach with a bold one. “If the government thinks the Naga issue can be resolved in accordance with the Indian Constitution, we will have reservations about it.” The Naga leader stopped short of insinuating that Delhi was delaying a solution, but said steps needed to be taken at all levels of talks. “The government may see everything from the constitutional perspective, but we do not. We respect the government of India but will not accept imposition of the Constitution.” The “only meeting point” for the two sides, he said, was “a federal relationship” between India and the proposed Nagalim. “When we say federation, we mean it. The terms of agreement arrived at should be the basis of the relationship between the two. So it will be a federation of two parties — India on one side and Nagalim on the other.”
Muivah did not set a deadline for the culmination of the dialogue, but said a settlement should be arrived at “within the shortest possible time”. The insurgent leader’s aggression was balanced by a section of Nagaland’s tribal leadership, who said on Friday that the community was anxious over the delay in reaching a settlement but not inclined to give up trying.
The Ghost of Rs 365 crore By Oken Jeet Sandham
The corruption has today become a culture in our democracy and it has in fact eaten up vitals of our economy. But some people are there fighting consistently to cleanse the polluted system. Therefore, running a Government with transparency is different than the one corrupted. The current tremor within the NPF and subsequent dropping of the Finance Minister K Therie by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio is not unexpected. Many eyebrows were raised when the political development took place which suggests that there is no transparency in the governance. The core issue of Therie’s dropping was reportedly connected with the controversial central grant of Rs 365 crore.
The Opposition Congress led by its outspoken leader I Imkong had been demanding the Rio Ministry inside and outside the Nagaland Assembly to produce the so-called “White Paper” on the utilization of the central grant of Rs 365 crore. But all their attempts were in vain for the last about 2 and ½ years since DAN took over the reign from the Congress. This indifferent attitude on the part of the Finance Minister (now resigns) and Chief Minister’s silence on the issue perhaps provoked the Opposition Congress to take the help of the Central Government. They even warned that they would use the service of the central investigating agencies to unearth the “mismanagement” of the central grant of Rs 365 crore if the DAN Government continues to ignore their demands. Now the matter is more compounded following Therie’s clarification yesterday during the press conference that he had already issued “White Paper” on the utilization of the central grant of Rs 365 crore on August 25 last year. But the Opposition Congress dubbed it as mere statement not the “White Paper.”
The question is why the Chief Minister had asked the Finance Minister to resign from his Council of Ministers if the latter was right. The Chief Minister was, however, allegedly unhappy with the Finance Minister over the controversial issue of the central grant of Rs 365 crore. The DAN Government had inherited empty coffer from the Congress regime but they were fortunate to have a friendly Government at the Center at that point of time. The Vajpayee Government had readily given Rs 365 crore as one time grant specifically to wipe out the State’s accumulated deficit and start with a clean slat. This was possible more so because of the BJP was in the DAN conglomerate. Technically, the Finance Minister is responsible for the finances of the State but in other sense the Cabinets have a collective responsibility for the Governance. It is natural to target the Chief Minister if his Finance Minister fails to respond. Dropping Therie was Rio ’s sole raison d’etre than collapsing with him. Rio did it finally. But Rio should not let the hell loose as the present crisis in his Ministry has the potential to plunge into a political chaos if he does not tread cautiously and diplomatically. He should remember that the NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Government came to power with a slogan of bringing a change with a complete transparency. Accordingly, the people of Nagaland had given them the mandate.
Imkong has been repeatedly cautioning the Rio Ministry that failure to come up with the “White Paper” on the central grant of Rs 365 crore would hound not only the Finance Minister but he ( Rio ) too. The ghost of Rs 365 crore has now really hounded them. When the matter was raised by Imkong on the floor of the House, nobody took it seriously. They took it casual. Now everybody is stunned when the 2nd most powerful Cabinet in the Rio Ministry is dropped. This is not the last lap of Imkong’s journey but certainly, he is laughing up his sleeves today. He stands vindicated. In a democracy, the role of Opposition is paramount and it makes the “Government perfect.” But undermining and ignoring the Opposition can be safely described as immature political game. After all, anything can happen in politics, and in democracy, it looks quite silly when somebody talks big.
NSCN (K) decree on IM session By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 15 : Accusing the NSCN (IM) of so- wing seeds of discord among the Zeliangrongs, NSCN (K) Zeliangrong Region spokesman has today warned the Zeliangrongs not to attend any of the meetings convened by the NSCN (IM) and further warned of taking up stern actions against any individual found violating the diktat of the outfit. Talking to mediaper-sons at Senapati District today, the spokesman said that NSCN (IM) leaders under the pretext of holding national security meeting for the Nagas was providing vital information to the Indian Government about the Zeliangrong people and further said that NSCN (IM) which had been established for pursuing the goal of the Naga people has become informer for the Indian Govt after engaging in peace talks with the Centre.
He also warned that NSCN K) cadres would not spare anyone who extend support or cooperation to Th Muivah, alleging the latter had deviated from the aim and objective of the Naga movement in order to work out an amicable solution with the Indian Govt. Referring to a statement made by NSCN (IM) NP Battalion's commanding officer Chuiniyo during a meeting which stated that Meiteis are the real enemies of the Nagas, the spokesman with said that it would be better for the NSCN (IM) to refrain from taking any sort of help from the Meitei brethren if they consider the Meiteis as the real enemies of the Nagas. He also stated that NSCN (IM)'s narrow min-dedness and classification of the people on community line was responsible for the Naga-Kuki ethnic clashes in the early nineties. Dividing the society on com- munal paramaters will not serve any purpose and instead will act as an obstacle in the freedom movement, said the spokesman adding that the people will continue to suffer as long as the people remain ignorant on the sinister designs of the NSCN (IM). Commenting on the ongoing peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the Indian Govt, the spokesman said that gen secy Th Muivah was trying to work out a solution with the Indian Govt to end the Naga issue without realising the goals of the Naga people. Infact, Muivah is trying to make some personal gain by fooling the Naga people, he charged. Recalling the statement ma-de by Th Muivah at Dimapur recently that Nagas are ready to fight for another 50 to realise their dream, he said that Muivah's statement that he was trying to work out a solution with the Indian Govt without achieving the goals of the Nagas and then trying to put the blame for the failure on the Naga people. Ridiculing NSCN (IM) leader K Chawang for his recent statement that NSCN (IM) cadres would begin operation against NSCN (K) cadres within a short period, the spokesman said that NSCN (K) cadres have already begun operations against the NSCN (IM) cadres and raids are being con- ducted on their camps on a regular basis.
Therie denies Opp charges From Oken Jeet Sandham
KOHIMA, May 15 – The former Finance Minister K Therie on Saturday denied that he hadn’t produced “White Paper” on the utilization of the central grant of Rs 365 crore. He said he had already issued “White Paper” on Rs 365 crore on August 25 last year when the Opposition Congress demanded for the same (White paper). Talking to reporters here at his official residence, the former Finance Minister who had resigned from the Rio Ministry on the issue of controversial one-time Central grant of Rs 365 crore said he had not hidden anything about it. He said he was prepared to face any scrutiny if any agency or committee wanted to.
Therie said copies of the “White Paper” were not only circulated to all the local papers and other media agencies but also to Governor, Chief Minister, Assembly Speaker, Opposition Leader, Parliamentary Secretaries and MLAs of the State last year. Therefore the charges hurled by Opposition that he failed to produce the “White Paper” on the expenses of the Rs 365 crore did not arise. Regretting on the unrealistic allegations of the Opposition, the former Finance Minister said they should not go on blaming somebody by quoting Rs 365 crore just for the sake of being Opposition.
Native land of ULFA rebels cries for peace Syed Zarir Hussain, Indo-Asian News Service
Jeraigaon (Assam), May 16 (IANS) Pulsating beats of drums and foot-tapping music echoed as, after many years, this native village of rebel leaders picked up the courage to celebrate the end of the Assamese New Year - that too with a cry for peace. Jeraigaon, 550 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, is the village that Paresh Baruah, commander-in-chief of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and the rebel group's general secretary Anup Chetia hail from. It was after a long time that people here organised a gala Rongali Bihu carnival that ended late Sunday - although the theme was nothing but peace. "Let us all pray that the mellifluous sound of drumbeats does not fade away...we want peace and an end to the long years of violence and bloodbath," Millika Baruah, the octogenarian mother of the ULFA commander-in-chief, told IANS.

"Let this grand festival usher in a new era of hope and peace to the region."
People in thousands who gathered to take part at the three-day festival joined in a chorus urging both the ULFA and the government to initiate the peace process. "I must say this could be the beginning of a new chapter in Assam. We are trying our best to start peace talks and we urge the ULFA to respond positively to the people's mandate for peace," Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told the mammoth gathering. There was a time not very long ago when people in ULFA's homeland were scared to talk the language of peace. But today, things are beginning to look up with the locals openly advocating an end to strife. "It is a heartening sign to find the people of Jeraigaon taking the lead in building an atmosphere for peace. We should all try and do our best to carry forward the trend from here on," noted Assamese writer Indira Goswami told the Bihu gathering at Jeraigaon.
Goswami is currently mediating for peace talks with New Delhi after being sought by the ULFA to act as an intermediary. "New Delhi and the ULFA must try and understand the feelings of the people. Peace is the catchword and we must all try and respect the sentiments," Goswami said.The ULFA is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland since 1979.
"We hope our brother Paresh Baruah understands our desire for peace and so should New Delhi try and respect our sentiments. Both the parties should walk an extra mile to facilitate the holding of talks," said Ramen Das, a village youth.The musical evening came to an end early Monday with people leaving for their homes amid the fading sounds of drumbeats, but with hearts filled with hope.
“Nagas want peace, notwithstanding their anxiety over the delay in finding a solution to the problem. Whatever solution is found should be through peaceful means,” Rotokha Sumi, president of the Sumi Hoho, said. Zeliangrong leader Dennis Zeliang echoed Sumi, saying that all Naga tribes wanted a solution only through peaceful means. T.L. Merry, a senior leader of the Lotha Hoho, said peace was a prerequisite for an amicable settlement. Muivah had said after reaching Dimapur on Tuesday that Nagas must be prepared for “any eventuality”.
On the alleged hegemony of the Tangkhuls over other Naga tribes, Muivah said this impression was first created by Delhi and then supported by the “traitors among theNagas”.There have been accusations against the outfit, mainly from the Khaplang faction, that the Tangkhuls are calling the shots in the NSCN (I-M). Muivah is a member of the tribe. The NSCN (I-M) general secretary said such views originated from those trying to “dilute the prestige” of those who had proved themselves worthy of leading the campaign for Nagalim. “Those who are against us, you know, they are very fond of saying that the Tangkhuls are this or that. But remember that the Tangkhuls were the last to join the movement. No Tangkhul was in the upper echelons of the leadership. When others were in the lead, we were very happy to follow them. We supported them very much.”
CM leads leaders in inviting ULFA to talks From Ron Duarah
JERAIGAON, May 15 – The Jeraigaon cluster of villages in Dibrugarh district, which sprang into prominence along with the banned ULFA, today witnessed leaders of several hues giving out messages to the proscribed organisation to have a negotiated settlement with the Centre. The area is home to the families of top ULFA leaders like Paresh Baruah and Golap Baruah. The occasion was the silver jubilee celebration of the Jerai Anchalik Rongali Bihu Sanmilan. At the open session held here today, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the ULFA cadres belong to the Assamese society, and as members of a peace-loving community, should respond positively to the Centre’s intent to discuss ULFA’s grievances. He announced a couple of schemes for the development of the area and promised that funds for such work would be released soon. Minister of State for Planning and Development, Himanta Biswa Sarma, backed up his promises. Speaking later, Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami said she is hopeful that her initiatives in trying to take the ULFA leaders to the negotiating table will bear fruit soon. AASU adviser Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharyya said the students too are eagerly looking forward to the much-anticipated talks between ULFA and the Centre. “If the ULFA is insisting on sovereignty as an issue, there should be no problem in discussing this too,” he said.Local MP Sarbananda Sonowal said that as a youth from the greater Jeraigaon area, he wants that Assam should be on the fast lane to peace and prosperity. “If the ULFA imbroglio reaches a negotiated settlement, this would be a very good development,” he said.

NESO demands better security for NE students By A Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 15 – The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has deplored the delay in arresting those found responsible in the rape of a student from the North East, and called for their punishment. In a press statement, the NESO also demanded that better security should be arranged for NE students studying in Delhi.
In this regard, the NESO president Samujjal Bhattacharya and general secretary NSN Lotha have written a letter to the Prime Minister asking for his prompt intervention. The letter mentioned that the students of the North East were aggrieved and concerned over the rape of the student.
From insurgency to resurgence NET News Network
Dimapur, May 10: Nagaland is gearing up to curve a niche in the industrial map of India. The government is pushing hard for the industrialisation of the state. The new spirit is kindled by the ongoing peace initiatives and Nagaland government has prepared a road map for the industrialisation of Nagaland. Nagaland Minister for industries and commerce, Khekiho Zhimomi said that the government has initiated reforms in several fields including law and order, fiscal management, personal polices and institutional structure. It has also initiated steps to right size bureaucracy, widening of tax base and rationalising of the tax structure. Zhimomi further said that with the parleys between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN) (IM) and centre government moving in desired direction the focus of the state government is in trade promotion.
" The mindset that Nagaland is unsafe destination for trade and business is slowly giving away," he said. He said that horticulture is considered to be most suitable farming enterprise in the state." The total area available under horticulture crops is 6299 hectares. Despite having high consumption of meat in the state, the state imports meat from other states. The state government is making efforts setting up of diary and allied products and for processing of hides and skins for leather industry. " Nagaland has a huge reserves of more than 1000 million tonnes of high chemical grade limestone in eastern Nagaland. The Oil and Natural Gas corporation (ONGC) has also forecasted 600 million tonnes of hydrocarbon in the state.
Crime against women: Symptom of a sick society By Oinam Anand Sangai Express
The spate of recent attacks and murder of women in and around the State capital Imphal and the rape of college going girl from the North-east in the National Capital New Delhi mark an extremely distressing trend in our democratic society. Sophia Lourembam Ongbi of Yumnam Leikai, Imphal had to pay with her life because she had a gold chain or necklace around her neck. If the report is true that the cause of her death was due to the some grams of gold around her neck, then it shows the degradation of human values and ails within our society and the need to attend it properly in time.
Within hours of Sophia's killing came the news of the murder of another woman at Lalambung. This time the murder as reported seemed to be the handiwork of a professional killer. The motive behind the killing is yet to be uncovered or may be lost into oblivion but the victims in both he cases are women and such crimes bring forth such questions, 'How safe are our women?'.
Ours is a society where women take leading roles in every sphere of life - social, political, cultural and economical activities. Ours is a society where women are placed in high esteemed position next to god with the word of 'Devi' at the end of their names. Ironically, at the same time ours is a society where women bear most of the blows of domestic violence. Ours is a society where women are tortured, raped and killed in the name of counter insurgency operations. But on the other hand, within this society, with the changing times, the role and activities of women are not confined to the periphery of utensils in the kitchen they have got education, they have known their potential and power and their freedom have enabled them to bring about this change or transformation. Constitutions of almost all the countries of the world except a few guarantee equal rights and opportunities to men and women. Women take active part as men in all human activities. But still, as a gift of God, biologically women are soft, shy, weak and still vulnerable targets whether it is in the east or in the west and so crimes against women such as rape occur everywhere and women are not free from these atrocities.
It is said that a civilized society is the society where women can go scot-free even in the dead of the night. We can not find such type of society anywhere in the entire globe. Even in the United States crimes against women such as rape, assault and robbery are on the rise. This has shown that human civilization is still very far from attaining its zenith morally or in another word spiritually. On the other hand a close look at the history of human society reveals that a society on the rise exhibits that in that society women are respected and on the other hand a society on the decline exhibits violence and crude sexual harassment on women. Then we can draw here an inference that on what direction our society is drifting towards.
Are men only to be blamed for crimes against women? The truth is that women are getting trapped in the fine net of glamour and glitz. Open any newspaper magazines and periodicals, have a look on the advertisement section, whether it is for herbal medicine, hair oil, briefs and bras and other items of daily use the advertisements carry girls in swimsuits and other provocative poses with the brand of the products. Switch on any television channel if you have the facility of cable connection, then you will find woman as an abject object of dancing and dance in the tune of commercial advertisement. In the grab of glamour and glitz she is presented to the male's eyes as a raw and crude gratifier of man's sexual fantasy and desire to molest her and outrage her sexually in their mind's dark chamber. Then media has also played a major role in exploiting the image of women and here lies the need to curb or to censor the excessive exposer of the woman's anatomy in the media. There is a need to expose the other side or the better side of a woman in the media also because the young viewers do not have any other image of women in their minds except what is projected in the media. The basic cause of such wrongs like rape and murder can be removed only through transformation within - having different outlook towards life and a significant change in social behaviour and social norms and media has a big role in it. The recent killings of women can serve as an eye opener to all and it is time for all to pay serious attention to it. While public outrage, protest and demonstrations against these killings are necessary and welcome. There is much more to be done. In our society, at present, when a person dies, protests are made with a bang, with blockades, bandhs etc. but it cools down suddenly when the negotiations on the payments of ex-gratias are made or even on the head of a pig and customary monetary fines as in the case of Saitu killings. The murderers of Sophia as reported believed to be drug addicts. But to my humble opinion the murders are not merely the crime of sick, criminal and addicted minds. These are the symptoms of a sick society.
The present Manipuri society is sick. The social, political, cultural systems are all sick. Our society is getting more and more criminalised with little chance of justice. In spite of material advancement we have had in this age, moral and spiritual values seemed to have slipped away...
Seminar on international humanitarian laws at Tezpur
Scrap draconian AFSPA: Sanajaoba From a Correspondent
TEZPUR, May 15: Explaining the importance of international humanitarian laws in the context of recent development, Prof Naorem Sanajaoba Singh, Head of the Department of Law, Gauhati University and the chairperson of the Centre for International Humanitarian Laws; Studies and Research attached to the postgraduate Department of Law, GU, has stressed the need to scrap ‘draconian’ laws like the Armed Forces Special Power’s Act (AFSPA), 1958. Dr Singh was addressing a seminar on international humanitarian laws at the premises of Tezpur Law College recently. The seminar was organized in collaboration with the Centre for Internatinal Humanitarian Laws, Studies and Research attached to the Post Graduate Department of Law, Gauhati University.
It may be mentioned here that three more eminent resource persons, namely P K Goswami, director in-charge of the Centre and two readers, Dr Subhram Rajkhowa and Dr Ramesh Barpatragohain, also delivered lectures on various aspects of international humanitarian laws.
Dr Dipak Talukdar, principal, Tezpur Law College in his address said that the international humanitarian law is a branch of international law which deals with the humanitarian aspects of armed conflict, both international and non- international. He also stated that the objective of the International Humanitarian Law is not to prohibit war in the globe, but to humanize the war, firstly reducing by limiting the choice of means and methods of warfare and secondly by obliging the belligerents to spare civilians and other persons who do not or no longer participate in hostile actions. Dr S Rajkhowa delivered a lecture on International Criminal Court and disseminated the information regarding the need of the court to try any individual of any country accused of war crime against humanity, genocide and crime of aggression. Dr R Barpatragohain delivered speech on "Geneva conventions". Dr Lakshmi Goswami, Meena Agarwala, Aparana Padmapati and Col Indra Sen Sing were also present during the seminar.
Join ‘liberation movement’: ULFA to AASU By a Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 15: Calling upon the new AASU leadership to adopt a constructive approach towards the suggestions by the ULFA, the proscribed outfit today said that it does not want to engage itself in an unnecessary war-of-words with the student body. In an e-mail to the press today, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said that the AASU may claim itself to be accountable to the cause of Assamese only if it adopts an ‘organizational’ stand against the ‘illegal encroachment’, ‘tyrannical rule’ and ‘exploitation’ by the Government of India. "The AASU should not focus fully on the deportation of the illegal migrants, rather it should come forward (unarmed) in the movement for national liberation," Rajkhowa said.