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07/25/2005: "Northeast ravaged by drugs trade"

Northeast ravaged by drugs trade
MOREH/DIMAPUR, July 24: It is called the Golden Triangle and like Afghanistan's infamous fields of poppy, it is at the centre of the international drugs trade. With India being a major international conduit for drugs cultivated in this region, an entire generation in the northeast region of India are destroying their lives. The war against the drugs in Manipur and Nagaland is being fought not by an army but by a poorly equipped ill-trained and barely funded narcotics department. The ganja and small quantities of heroin seized from here is not from the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia but from little plots and laboratories along the Indo-Myanmar border.
Lethal drug
It's the world's most lethal and costly drug. A kilo of it split up and sold to consumers or junkies fetches $200,000 in the international market. Referred to as Number Four, nobody here even mentions its name. While nobody will speak on camera, narcotics officials say that the low quality of the heroin that they've been seizing rules out a Golden Triangle origin. They claim it could only have been grown locally. The fields of poppy in Afghanistan have been extensively documented. But because of the insurgency in Manipur and Nagaland attempts to reach the growing areas is fraught with danger.

"We don't have free movement. We cannot go whenever we wish and wherever we want due to lack of security. This is further compounded by the lack of some problems that crop up at some place or the other," said an official from Narcotics Advisory Bureau. Dimapur jail is Nagaland's largest with nearly 491 inmates. Some of the inmates are accused of drug peddling.
While these drug-peddlers will talk about SP, an amphetamine and about brown sugar but the very mention of Number 4 or heroin and the conversation is finished. Moreh, a shabby border outpost bordering Myanmar is respected by only the law-abiding. For the customs department, the goal is not to stop smuggling entirely at Moreh but to make sure that it doesn't cross in truckloads. But even here heroin is smuggled across in compartments hollowed out from the logs of teak in trucks crossing the border from Myanmar into India.
Militants-locals-police nexus
Unless the logs are unloaded, it's difficult to tell what is hidden behind, underneath or even inside the wood. The growing areas are protected not just by militant groups but by the local people who earn far more from poppy and ganja than from crops like rice or potatoes. And everyone plays both sides. Militant groups like the NSCN (I-M) run rehabilitation centres and officials say they also run the drug smuggling. While the police man the check posts, drug rehabilitation workers say they are also involved in drug peddling.
"It's very very complicated to speak on this issue. But there are undergrounds who are really stopping also like in Jaloki. The undergrounds have started the rehab centre. They catch hold of addicts but that is also not the right thing to do also," said Aemo Namag, a rehabilitation worker.
"Their way of treatment is not very correct. But on the other side there are many undergrounds who are into drugs. Even the police is into peddling drugs. So it's a very complicated issue," he added.
For now the beginning of local production of heroin is still a smaller problem than the full-blown drugs and AIDS epidemic that is ravaging this region. With international groups crossing the borders at will the law enforcement agencies can do little more than watch as smugglers skip across a boundary and out of their areas. Ajai Shukla

NSCN(K) meets Gen Kulkarni
KOHIMA, July 24: The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) met the chairman of the Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFSB) Gen (Retd) R V Kulkarni at Mon Town yesterday. Official sources here said the meeting, held after a gap of several months, was to hammer out all misunderstandings and differences between the NSCN(K) and Gen Kulkarni. The meeting was reportedly cordial, but failed to sort out several differences. The meeting discussed threadbare issues on violation of truce ground rules, particularly movement of the NSCN(IM) cadres outside their designated camps. The NSCN(K) had been accusing Gen Kulkarni of being hand-in-glove with its rival faction, and had even sent a letter to the Union Home Ministry to replace the General. The meeting, attended by top brass of the NSCN(K) overseeing the ceasefire ground rules implementation, however, failed to finalise the next meeting, sources said.
June 18 should be called Black Day insists Mani Charenamei: ANSAM ‘yes’ to talks, but ‘conducive atmosphere’ required The Imphal Free Press

Dimapur Jul 24: The agitating All Naga Students' Association Manipur, ANSAM has responded to the Manipur government's invitation for talks this afternoon but has again placed certain conditions. A response letter faxed to Binod S. Kispotta who is secretary to the Manipur chief minister signed by ANSAM president Paul Langhu stated that the Naga student body is not adverse to the talks but the Manipur government should create conducive atmosphere first for talks. The fax message made which was made available to Newmai News Network by the ANSAM stated that "in response to your letter number 1/25/2005--@ July-20/2005, I'm to state that ANSAM is not adverse to the talks with the aim to resolve the impasse but it is desirable that the government of Manipur should create a conducive atmosphere to pave the ways for the talks."
The Naga student’s body fax message to the secretary to the Manipur chief minister further stated “the ANSAM will still appreciate that the talks with the government of Manipur should be held outside Imphal or even outside the state of Manipur.”
Meanwhile, ANSAM spokespman Ngachonmi Chamroy added that if the Manipur government is really serious to resolve the issue the government must reciprocate in the same spirit in the greater interest of the people. The spokesman also added that ANSAM would fix the appropriate time if the Manipur government reciprocate to the Naga student body’s response to help solve the sufferring of the people. Our staff reporter adds: The Outer Manipur MP, Mani Charenamei told media persons at a press conference earlier today that ANSAM is likely to give its consent for taking up parleys with the state chief minister to end the ongoing economic blockade along the National Highways.

Speaking to media persons, the MP stated that he had also informed the chief minister in this regard when he called upon the latter earlier today. While reiterating his statement earlier made to the Prime Minister, the MP said that June 18 should be observed as black day instead as state integrity day reasoning it was on this day various government institutions including the Assembly were torched and the Indian flag was humiliated. Indicating that he was a staunch supporter of the Naga integration, Mani Charanemei said that as people’s representative to the Lok Sabha he would not act against the interest of those he represents. The memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister for Naga integration was also signed with his full consent, he said. Earlier, the MP said that attempts to take up the parleys by ANSAM with the government were aborted after unwanted events took place after a tussle with some persons and IRB personnel in Senapati.
Charenamei also disclosed that he was in constant contact with the chief minister and discussed the developing issues due to the ongoing economic blockade. He last met the chief minister along with Cabinet minister Phungzathang Tonsing and P Parijat on July 17 in this regard, he said.
During the meeting he had advised the chief minister to take up negotiations for a peaceful settlement with the students’ body. The chief minister was also optimistic that a negotiated settlement is likely to be brought about in the next few days, the MP said. While coming down heavily on the state government for announcing June 18 as a state holiday, Mani Charenamei lamented that there are many other uprisings the government has not recognised including the mass movement by the Nagas. The existence of UCM and AMUCO and their different views is also confusing the people, he said. Expressing solidarity with the people who are affected by the economic blockade, he said the Centre should intervene to end the crisis.
Commentary - Ck :charangnamei, dont prove that you are coming from deep jungle as everyone already knows it. you dont need to do it.i think you are the leader of highway looter.tou uncivilise dont forget that you are representing manipur not nagaland.
sanaton :MOOD OF THE PEOPLE:
Mood of the people is that they can cope up with the blockade, they can do without those things imported from india. The blockade has been on for a month but nobody is starving and nobody will in the years to come except for those Kacha Naga inhabited areas. Everyone here is against the government giving any kind of concession to the ANSAM. All they want is the proper development of NH-53. If the blockade is lifted, security cover on NH 53 will be withdrawn and we will be force to use the NH-39 again, which nobody here wants. This is what we fear most. So the longer the blockade goes on the better is for the Manipuris. WE HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY
Centre extends Armed Forces Act in Nagaland by another year Nephi Rio Government is against the extension The Hindu Disturbed Areas Act will also automatically be extended Frequent clashes between the factions of NSCN, the primary reason

NEW DELHI: The Centre has extended the term of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland by another year, against the wishes of the Neiphiu Rio Government and organisations seeking its removal on the ground that it is draconian and ``antithetical'' to the ongoing peace process.
The Disturbed Areas Act will also be extended automatically in the North-Eastern State as part of the AFSPA. The Union Home Ministry is understood to have taken note of the frequent clashes between the factions of the NSCN as the primary reason for extending the term of the vexed legislation, which many view as draconian since it encourages excesses by security forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations. The Act was extended on Friday.

``The NSCN factions are still at loggerheads with each other, leading to shootouts at regular intervals. Evidence of outfits from other states operating in the border districts of the State have also been found and the Centre would not like to annul a provision that helps security forces to appropriately deal with such situations,'' official sources said. Many North-Eastern insurgent groups are known to still use Mon district of Nagaland and Changlang in Arunachal Pradesh as corridors to their camps in Myanmar. Delhi has ceasefire agreements with both the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN, but is holding a dialogue with only the former.
The Manmohan Singh Government believes that the situation in Nagaland is not yet conducive to revocation of the AFSPA, though both the Rio Government and the influential Naga Hoho — the apex organisation of the Naga tribes — have been arguing otherwise. Manipur, where the legislation is also in force, witnessed a violent agitation last year in the wake of the killing of Thangjam Manorama Devi by Assam Rifles. The outpouring of anger forced Delhi to constitute a committee headed by retired judge B.P. Jeevan Reddy to examine the AFSPA and suggest amendments.
The sources said Delhi was studying the report. The AFSPA can be imposed both by the Centre and a State government. Apart from Nagaland and Manipur, it is in force in Assam and Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh and areas under the jurisdiction of 26 police stations in Tripura.

Rishang comes under attack from partymen, MP indulging in double-speak, say MLAs The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Jul 24: The internal rifts within the Congress over the endorsement of ‘Greater Nagaland’ by some of the party’s Naga leaders has come to the fore with two Congress MLAs making a frontal attack on the party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Rishang Keishing over his recent statements on the issue.
In a joint statement, Congress MLAs K Ranjit and Nongthongbam Biren Singh accused Rishang Keishing of having sown the seeds of the present turmoil decades back, and blasted him for indulging in double-speak regarding his endorsement of the Greater Nagaland demand. Mincing no words, the two MLAs termed Rishang as this century’s greatest betrayer. For taking a stance detrimental to the state’s integrity after having ruled the state for so long, and while even now representing the entire people of Manipur in the Rajya Sabha, history will never forgive him, the joint statement said.

The statement charged Rishang with having sown the seeds of the present ethnic tensions through his activities in the erstwhile United Naga Integration Council, adding that now that the seed has reached full-growth, Rishang has revealed his true self. Referring to Rishang’s statements at a recent press conference, the two MLAs said his statement that he had endorsed not Greater Nagaland but Naga integrity, has not fooled the people a whit. It would be better for all concerned if Rishang now holds his silence on the issue, Ranjit and Biren stated. The two MLAs went on to say that it was the political leaders from the hill areas who had held power in the state for decades who laid the foundations for the tensions among communities by suppressing development activities in the hill areas. On the present crisis, the joint statement said the majority community must act with magnanimity and pursue the politics of unity.
Blockade prompts bodies to eye NH-53 Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 23: With no signs of ANSAM calling off the indefinite economic blockade imposed on the national highways and unreliability of the Nagaland Government in ensuring smooth passage of vehicles becoming clearer with each passing day, several bodies have highlighted the necessity of developing NH-53 permanently. Continuing their fervent appeals to ANSAM to relax their stand and settle the impasse through dialogue, a large number of social and youth organisations mooted that solely depending on NH-39 to feed the people of Manipur need to be revised in view of the insecurity of truckers along the Nagaland stretch of the NH. Seriously noting that the State Government looks towards NH-53 only when disruptive elements take control of NH-39, All Manipur Meetei Mayek Research and Training Board drew the attention of State authorities on the futility of relying on the Nagaland Government to bail out people of Manipur during any crisis.

Frequent excuses of insufficient security personnel for deployment on the Imphal-Silchar route should be discarded and the security personnel swarming the Imphal-Dimapur road should be utilised to re-inforce security cover on NH-53, contended the Board. Incidents of blockade supporters pelting stones at Manipur-bound vehicles within Nagaland should be the wake-up call for the Government of Manipur to sanitise and maintain NH-53 in a proper manner as most of the goods are loaded at Assam State that shares boundary with Manipur, it explained. Elaborating on necessity of providing fool-proof security cover to truckers who had expressed their desire to procure food stuff through NH-53, the Board said that dislocation of Irang Bridge is a warning that destructive forces can go to any extent to cripple Manipur. Cautioning the Governor against making questionable comments pertaining to the June 18 declaration based on misinformation campaigns by doubtful character/s the Board asserted that determination and conviction of people of Manipur should not be doubted as was evident during the June 2001 movement. Conveying of a meeting convened at the premises of Manipur Rajbari Athletic Club, Guwahati today and attended by representatives of numerous Meitei organisations scattered in Assam State a press release informed of resolving to prevail upon both State Government and ANSAM to settle the economic blockade impasse without further delay.

Taking note of the indefinite blockade affecting daily livelihood of people in both the hills and valley areas of Manipur the meeting also asked NSF to review its conduct and instead contribute in bringing an end to the agitation that had crippled Manipur for over a month. Expressing resentment on silence maintained by the Central Government the meeting also resolved to strive for territorial integrity of Assam and called for, status quo oh existing boundaries of the North East region, said a press release issued by Assam Meitei Apunba Meepham (Convention), Guwahati. The meeting also endorsed constituting a 25 member committee with W Saratchandra as the chief convenor. Urging ANSAM to call of its agitation taking into account common people having to bear the blockade impact Manipurgee Apunba Ngamkhei Kanbada Tengbangba Lup (Wangoo) made a clarion call upon all the communities to contribute their mite in solving the crisis. Observing that making the general public suffer by cutting off the food supply would strain cordial relationships and age old peaceful co-existence amongst various communities the Lup charged the Central Government and NSCN (IM) of creating uneasy situation currently engulfing the State of Manipur.

Besides stock position of essential commodities declining rapidly the blockade is causing severe headache to farmer community as purchase of fertilizers and insecticides had become an uphill task due to low stock and traders hiking prices taking undue advantage of stock shortage, highlighted United Voluntary Organisation for Socio-Economic and Cultural Advancement, Wangoo. Distress of the farmers regarding lack of items indispensable for agricultural activities would have direct repercussion not only upon the immediate families of the agriculturists but the entire State population in the coming months, echoed Wangoo Laipham Women Social Reformers Organisation, Wangoo Laipham Awang Leikai Nupi Chaokhat Lup and Wangoo Thongkhong Tampha Leima Meira Paibi Yaipha Thourang Lup in separate statements. Association for Social Action (Wangjing), Thoubal District Human Rights Organisation, Leimarol Apunba Lup (Singjamei) and DYFI - Manipur State Committee also appealed for ending the blockade. Meanwhile, Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP) highlighting shortages of essential commodities due to the ANSAM agitation appealed to the student organisation to suspend their stir for at least 100 hours so that suffering of the common people could be addressed. Speaking to newspersons at State Guest House today MSCP president M Hemanta iterated that the economic blockade had resulted in rapid decline of medicine stocks, baby foods and other life saving drugs. Flaying administrative inefficiency of Manipur Government in ensuring adequate food stock Hemanta expressed concerned that failure to end the impasse is causing tension amongst section of the society. He also informed of a futile attempt to meet ANSAM leaders to end the crisis as leaders of the student body were not available at Senapati district headquarters yesterday.


Three hardcore rebels surrender in Tripura
Agartala (Tripura), July 25 (ANI): Three militants including a self-styled commander of a banned outfit surrendered before the paramilitary Assam Rifles in Tripura capital Agartala on Sunday. The militants belonged to the banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF). All three were said to have received training at camps in Taraban locality of Chittagong Hill Track in neighbouring Bangladesh. The militants said they gave up, as they were disillusioned with their cause of a separate homeland.
"I was forced to join militancy.The leaders even made false promises to provide various facilities but on realizing that they have fooled us we had surrendered. I took my arms training at Taraban in Bangladesh," Sushen Debbarma said. The militants also surrendered arms and ammunition including one M-20 pistol, one 9mm revolver, 200 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, one Chinese grenade, a US-make wireless set and a mobile phone. Officials said the surrender would help bring peace in the area.
"They were listed in the area and they belong to ATTF group since 2-3 years. We hope that after they surrender, the area will become peaceful," said Inspector R Debbarma, Officer-in-Charge of Khowai police station. New Delhi says dozens of insurgent groups operating in India's northeast take sanctuary in Bangladesh. Dhaka denies the allegations. Most of the hugely porous India- Bangladesh border is land, except for small stretches of river, and runs through jungles, hills and paddy and jute fields, making it easy for insurgents, smugglers and illegal immigrants to cross, say Indian authorities. Tripura, which juts into eastern Bangladesh, sharing an 856-km border with Bangladesh, has been plagued by insurgency linked to tribal feuds or ethnic rights for two decades. (ANI)

Dimasa students join anti-blockade voices The Imphal Free Press
IMPHAL, Jul 24: The All Dimasa Students Union, Cachar circle, adding its voice to those calling for an amicable solution to the ongoing crisis in Manipur, has appealed to the Naga Students Federation, NSF, and the All Naga Students Association, Manipur, ANSAM to call off their indefinite blockade and re-open NH-39 and NH-53 immediately on humanitarian grounds. The Dimasa student body released the appeal through the media following an emergency executive meeting held on Friday at Silchar in connection with the situation in Manipur. The ADSU also called on both the communities involved in the Manipur crisis to resolve their differences through dialogue amicably for maintaining peace and harmony in the region. The student body also criticized the government of India for its failure to solve the problem, noting that it is the duty of the Central government under Article 355 to protect each state against external aggression and internal differences.
Reiterating its call to the NSF and ANSAM to call off their indefinite economic blockade, the ADSU also appealed to them to take up alternative means of protest so that the innocent people of Manipur may be relieved of their suffering. Meanwhile, appealing to all the Mongoloid groups of people inhabiting in the north eastern region of the country to bring unity and fight collectively against forces trying to create trouble in the region, the United Mongoloid has said peace and development in the region can be brought only when people of the region work together and resolve issues confronting the region collectively. Asserting that issues confronting the region can be solved only by holding dialogue amongst people inhabiting in the region, it also appealed to ANSAM to end the ongoing economic blockade as it only create hardships to the people.
Noting that the ANSAM’s economic blockade is being taken up against the backdrop of the Naga unification demand raised by various Naga NGOs, the Thoubal District Demand and Development Committee, in a statement, said the civil society organisations of Manipur belonging to the hills and plains should take a joint stance on the preservation of Manipur’s integrity before the demand for Naga unification is addressed in earnest by the Indian government. In the meantime, strongly condemning sabotaging of the Irang bridge by ANSAM, the Jiri Development Organisation has appealed to all concerned not the indulge in antisocial activities along national highway - 53.

NH-53 traffic expected to resume today The Imphal Free Press

Jiribam, July 24: Reconstruction of the Irang bridge is nearing its completion and if nothing goes wrong normal traffic along NH-53 is likely to resume tomorrow morning. All the loaded and unloaded vehicles stranded at Jiribam are also likely to depart for Imphal tomorrow morning as soon as government officials supervising reconstruction of the bridge gives a green signal. Additional DGP Y Joykumar who is camping in NH-53 to oversee security measures along the route inspected reconstruction of the Irang bridge. More than 80 vehicles, mostly trucks loaded with goods are being stranded at Jiribam as of this evening. The stranded trucks includes 12 HSD (Diesel) tankers, 25 Petrol tankers, one Kerosene tanker and 10 LPG carrier. Two passenger buses plying Imphal-Guwahati route via Dimapur are also among the stranded vehicles.

9 BSF battalions to be shifted to NE by Sept: Mooshahary Assam Tribune
SRINAGAR, July 24 – Altogether nine battalions of the Border Security Force (BSF) were being shifted from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to North East to guard the borders as the deployment there is very thin. This was stated by BSF Director General R S Mooshahary while replyiong to a query on the deinduction of BSF from Srinagar city by that month, reports PTI. However, the BSF DG said too much should not be read into the deinduction process “as it was a normal process of changeover. It did not happen overnight ... It was in process in 2003, which means it will take two years to complete the process,” he said. He added that the BSF will continue its operations in Kashmir valley outside the city as it has headquarters in Baramulla and Srinagar and other units in Kupwara and Pulwama district.

Mooshahary said the services of the BSF in Kashmir valley have been recognised in the form of 70 President's police medals awarded to gallant officers and jawans of the force. Nearly 200 officers and jawans were awared police medals for gallantry from 1990 to 2004, he added. Border Security Force (BSF) during the past 13 years of counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir has seized enough weapons to raise 10 battalions of security forces, BSF Director General R S Mooshahary has said.
"By conservative estimates, the weapons recovered by BSF during operations in Kashmir valley is enough to arm 10 new battalions of the force," Mooshahary told PTI during his two-day visit to the valley recently. BSF has recovered nearly 10,000 AK series rilfes, around 5,000 pistols of various makes and eight lakh rounds of ammunition during the counter-insurgency operation in the state, he said. The recoveries included 11,301 magazines, 251 universal machine guns and light machine guns, 233 wireless sets, 134 binoculars, 109 twelve bore guns and 114 revolvers, he added.
BSF has been instrumental in eliminating the top hierarchy of Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. The force has killed 2,625 militants and apprehended 9,715 ultras till June 2005, the BSF DG said. Among the major successes against militants, BSF eliminated Gazi Baba of Jaish and Mazoor Zahid Choudhry of Lashkar who was the mastermind behind the attack on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat, he said. Mooshahary, however, said the successes had come at a cost as BSF lost 694 personnel while 3,721 were injured in the valley during counter-insurgency operations. A BSF spokesman said the force, while fighting militancy had also adopted a humane touch in their strategy by starting civic action programmes which included 'Bharat Darshan' tours for nearly 330 children from the valley to other parts of the country.
Timber trade going on in NE despite SC ban Assam Tribune
NEW DELHI, July 24 – Despite the Supreme Court ban on timber movement in the forest-rich North-Eastern states, a flourishing trade in wood is going on in the region, a high-level committee appointed by the Court has said in its recent report. Taking serious note of the report, a Bench comprising Justice Y K Sabharwal, Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia has summoned a wood merchant who had approached the Gauhati High Court for release of his timber-laden trucks seized by authorities. What perturbed the Court more was the entertaining of a writ petition filed by the merchant, Indrasen Singh, by the High Court when the apex Court had specifically barred all High Courts from entertaining any petition regarding forest products. Taking into account the plea of amicus Curiae Harish Salve and Ministry of Environment and Forest counsel A D N Rao, the Bench also stayed all proceedings before the High Court. The Bench, wanting to go to the root of the menace of illegal timber mafia operating in the NE states, especially Manipur, summoned Singh to appear before it personally on August 12. The high-powered committee, set up by the apex Court, in its July 15 report detailed the import/smuggling of timber through customs station at Moreh in Manipur, which shared a border with Tumu in Myanmar. "Timber illegally cut from the forests of Myanmar and India by the timber smugglers is purchased by the timber traders at a fraction of the actual market price of the legal timber," it said. "This timber is used and transported by them showing it to have been brought from Myanmar through Moreh gate and that the customs duty will be paid in due course," the report added. Referring to Singh's case, the Committee said 15 trucks were seized in Kohima containing 143 logs of Gurjan timber and measuring 4699 cubic feet and the owner had no proof of payments to the exporters in Myanmar, bill of landing, customs clearance certificate, details of letter of credit. It said that Singh had been repeatedly indulging in transportation of timber in the garb of imported timber in violation of the apex Court order. – PTI

Indian troops poised to enter Myanmar By Sudha Ramachandran
Monday July 25, 2005,BANGALORE: Cooperation between the security forces of India and Myanmar in countering anti-India rebels based in Myanmar is poised to enter bold new phase, with the countries discussing joint counter-insurgency operations inside Myanmar - a move fraught with pitfalls. (Source : Asia Times)The Myanmar military's operations against Indian insurgents in the mountainous region between the Arakan range and the Irrawady have by all accounts reached a dead-end. Apparently, the ill-equipped Myanmar army has not been able to withstand the superior firepower of the insurgents.
According to reports in the India-based Public Affairs Magazine, Myanmar's military ruler General Than Shwe has requested the Indian government for emergency military supplies for his beleaguered troops. Than has reportedly asked for helicopters, helicopter gunships, heavy rockets, navigation equipment and global positioning system devices. While India is willing to supply the equipment, it is concerned that Myanmar's security forces are not trained to use the equipment. India apparently has communicated this concern to Myanmar and, as a way to overcome the problem, suggested that the equipment be deployed in joint operations with the Indian military. Cooperation between India's and Myanmar's security forces in counter-insurgency operations has grown dramatically in recent years, especially since late last year when Than visited Delhi. During that visit he assured Delhi that he would not allow his country to be used by anti-India militant groups active in India's restive northeast, which is a cauldron of ethnic and tribal conflicts and secessionist insurgencies.
About 40 armed insurgent groups with a collective strength of over 15,000 are fighting Indian security forces here. Inter-group bloodletting is sometimes as serious as the fighting against the Indian forces. Several of these insurgent groups, such as the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang faction (NSCN-K) , have set up bases and training camps in neighboring Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan. India has been trying to get its neighbors to close down the camps and flush out the militants from their sanctuaries. In December 2003, under considerable pressure from India, the Royal Bhutan Army launched military operations against camps in southern Bhutan along the India-Bhutan border. Some 30 camps belonging to the ULFA, the NDFB and the Kamtapur Liberation Organization and others were closed down and about 600 insurgents were killed. While the actual operations were carried out by Bhutanese forces, India played a quiet role planning the moves, supplying weaponry, helping transport casualties and so on. India's requests to Bangladesh to deny anti-India militants sanctuary on its soil have evoked no cooperation from the Bangladesh government. India is said to have provided Dhaka with details of the location of 194 training camps, but the latter has simply denied their existence. Myanmar's response to India's requests for action on insurgent camps falls somewhere between that of Bhutan and Bangladesh. It has not denied the existence of anti-India insurgent groups on its soil. But its relations with India are not as warm as those between India and Bhutan, so it has been less willing to accept India's overtures for joint operations.
For decades, insurgent groups like the ULFA, the NSCN-K, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People's Liberation Army and the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak have run their operations from bases and training camps on Myanmar's side of the 1,664-kilometer India-Myanmar border. For many years, the military junta in Myanmar supported these insurgent groups, partly because it saw them as useful to pressure India, which was openly supportive of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement. Besides, there have been accusations in the past that sections in the military have strong interests in the lucrative arms-narcotics trade in the region, and have thus been reluctant to act against the insurgent groups as they are vital parts of the narcotics network.
In the mid-1990s, Delhi, driven by concerns over China's growing influence in Myanmar, began wooing the generals. This was also prompted by a realization that it needed their cooperation to fight the insurgencies in its northeast. It was only after India corrected its tilt towards the pro-democracy movement that the military junta signaled its willingness to address India's concerns. And the junta has made it more than obvious that its help in countering insurgents would depend on the extent to which Delhi moved away from backing the pro-democracy movement. This was evident in the mid-1990s when India and Myanmar launched Operation Golden Bird. Troops from the two countries trapped scores of northeastern insurgents in a pincer movement on the Mizoram border. About that time India conferred the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding on Suu Kyi. An enraged junta struck back quickly. It called a halt to the operations and even released scores of insurgents it had rounded up. Since 2000, relations between the two countries have stabilized, with India extending Myanmar economic carrots in return for cooperation from the junta in dismantling insurgent bases in Myanmar. Counter-insurgency cooperation has grown over the years. It has involved exchange of intelligence on location of insurgents and co-ordination of operations on either side of the border.
"When India launches operations on its soil, it alerts the Myanmar military, which then steps up combing operations in the western hill tracts," an intelligence official based in Imphal told Asia Times Online. "When the Myanmar army smashed ULFA bases long the Chindwin River late last year, India sealed the border in that area. Indian troops in turn have hunted down and evicted hundreds of Myanmar insurgents from Indian territory. Last month, at least 200 rebels of the Chin National Army were flushed out of Mizoram." Now it seems that India-Myanmar counter-insurgency cooperation could shift from coordination to joint operations on Myanmar territory. The shift would come only if the Myanmar military, which has so far resisted getting into a tighter embrace with India over counter-insurgency operations, concedes Delhi's reported demand that the equipment India supplies Myanmar be deployed in joint operations. There is a question, too, of whether India should go in for joint operations inside Myanmar. Unpleasant memories of India's deployment of troops in Sri Lanka (1987-90) continue to cast a long shadow over India's policy towards involvement in conflicts in its neighborhood. There is concern that deploying Indian troops in Myanmar to oversee the use of weaponry could escalate into them doing the fighting, that this could find Indian soldiers fighting not just ULFA and other Indian insurgents, but slowly their allies among Myanmar's warring ethnic and tribal groups. There is a danger of India getting drawn more and more into Myanmar's internal politics and conflicts. India could end up in a quagmire that it could have well avoided.
But this is not something India can avoid at this juncture, say proponents of Indian deployment. "This is not an option any longer," argues a retired Indian army officer, pointing out, "If India wants to quell the insurgency in the northeast, the bases in the neighboring countries have to be shut down, and if Myanmar does not have the equipment and the expertise to do that on its own, then India should step in. Parallels should not be drawn between the situations in Myanmar and Sri Lanka as the circumstances are in no way comparable. In Myanmar, India would be deploying its soldiers to eliminate insurgents who are a direct threat to India's security and territorial integrity," the retired army officer told Asia Times Online. Indeed, in Sri Lanka, Indian security forces went in to do Sri Lanka's dirty work with regard to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In Myanmar, if India goes in, it will be doing so to assist the Myanmar military to do India's dirty work, to do what is in India's security interests. Senior officers in the Indian armed forces say they are confident that they will not be stepping into a bottomless pit in Myanmar. They say that unlike the Sri Lankan situation, where intelligence input was lacking and where deployment was not planned, in Myanmar the entry of Indian forces - should it happen - would be gradual and well calibrated. Meanwhile, India is waiting for the junta's invitation. Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore. (Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us for information on sales, syndication and republishing.)
24 women assaulted by 4th Assam Rifles in Senapati Daniel Dhovee
SENAPATI (MExN): Altogether 24 women from Koide village under Senapati district were injured when they were assaulted and molested by personnel of the 4th Assam Rifles stationed at Mantri Pukri, Imphal. The incident happened yesterday at around 10 a.m. when the women folk of the village came out to enquire into the ransacking of a house located in their village by the security personnel. The victims said that the AR personnel under the command of one B.E.Kumar (learnt from his badge) began to assault the women with rifle butts and even molested several of hem.
Villagers, who were present when the incident happened, also said that apart from the AR personnel there was one masked man in Police uniform, suspected to be an informer.
Most of the injured include married women between the age-group 30 to 50. Amongst them were also five pregnant women. The pregnant women injured in the assault are Hiiniiru w/o Ngale, aged 36; Reinai w/o Lokho, aged 28; Laxmi w/o Reicho, aged 38; Hesha w/o Khole, aged 39 and Saniirou w/o Kaba, aged 56. They were not taken to the district hospital on reasons that transportation of the five was inconvenient due to the advanced nature of their pregnancy. The 19 injured women presently undergoing treatment at the district hospital are Changiru w/o Saluni aged 50, Thairu w/o Jonah aged 35, Dahiiru w/o Pukho, aged 38; Thaisiiru d/o Maikho aged 35;Sheru d/o Thaipi aged 30; Luniiru w/o Raisii,aged 36, Siru w/o Danii,aged 40, Luniiru w/o Rapei, aged 45; Siiheru d/o Poukho aged 30, Naoturu d/o of Kehani, aged 30,Shoru d/o Thaikho, aged 36; Naoturu d/o Kaba,aged 34; Doru w/o Thaisii ,aged 50; Thoheru d/o of Huzii, aged 35; Sarah w/o Lemo, aged 35; Reihiiru d/o Thaikho aged 33; and Thaikhoru w/o Moses ,aged 36. All of them complained of pain around the buttocks, thighs and waists. The Commanding Officer, 14 Assam Rifles, DC Senapati and SP Senapati who visited the injured last night expressed ignorance of the incident. However, it was confirmed later that the personnel were a combined force of the Manipur State Police and the 4th AR stationed at Mantri Pukri. The personnel had come into the area on receiving information about the possession of contraband ganja by a person in the village and had come to carry out a search. Around 2000 kg of ganja were seized by the personnel during the search. Meanwhile, a meeting was held today at the Naga Women Union, Manipur (NWUM)’s office chaired by the Senapati District Women Association (SDWA) to condemn the assault and molestation. The meeting was attended by The Poumai Masou Me (PMM), Poumai Tsiidoumai Me (PTM), Koide Village Authority (KVA), Koide Women Union (KWU) as well as others. The NWUM has strongly condemned the wanton assault, molestation of the women and ransacking of houses by the security personnel. It also demanded compensation for treatment of the injured and also to book the erring personnel under the Naga customary law, immediately. Meanwhile, a combined prayer service of churches in Senapati District, irrespective of denominations, was held today at the Mao Baptist Church here under the aegis of the All Manipur Naga Christian Forum (AMNCF) on the issue. The prayer service focused mainly on bringing about a permanent solution to the Naga problem through peaceful means, the present imbroglio in Manipur as well as for the All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM).

Unresolved political problem, alcoholism, HIV/AIDS core concern for Naga women Morung Express News
The Executive Director of the Nagaland Peace Centre, Lhusi Haralu, has urged upon Naga women from all walks of life to confidently come forward and boldly address the problems that face Naga society today. She asserted that the unresolved political problem, alcoholism in Naga society and the menace of HIV/AIDS were the present challenges that the 21st century Naga woman had to face head on. She recalled the earlier roles played by Naga women in conflict resolution and their efforts to bring about peace in the land. It may be mentioned that the Naga Mothers Association, in its concern for peace, has coined the term “Shed no more blood” as an aphorism for the people of Nagaland to follow.
Referring to the insurgence of HIV/AIDS in the State, she was of the view that parents should bear moral responsibility and disallow infected children from marrying those not infected so as to avoid further transmission of the deadly virus. Where there has been a loud cry for want of women empowerment everywhere, Lhusi shared a different view. “Over emphasis on women empowerment is not necessary”, she said, adding that Naga women are not denied of opportunities. She further remarked that in the social context Naga women have fewer problems as compared to the rest of the country. She also hailed Neidonuo Angami and Zaputuo-u Angami, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and winner of Rajiv Gandhi Manav Sewa Award respectively. “You have done our people proud”, she complimented. “At a time when Naga people kill each other, the duo have sacrificed a lot to care and comfort the people from unwanted situations”, she said.