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08/23/2005: "Q&A: 'Nagas were never part of India'"


Q&A: 'Nagas were never part of India' Times of India
What is Naga Hoho?
Formed in 1998, it is a cultural organisation that is the only common platform of different Naga tribes — 15 each from Nagaland and Manipur and three from Arunachal Pradesh. Each of them sends two representatives on the Hoho that has 16 executive council members elected on a three-year term. Six tribes of Tuensang district of Nagaland and the Konyaks have kept away, but we represent their aspirations as well. What are Hoho’s relations with the two factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) and how does it view their differences that often take violent form?
The NSCN (Isaac-Muivah) and the NSCN (Khaplang) represent the same cause. While Hoho is the umbrella organisation, they are the political arms. Hoho’s orders are not binding on the two. But we do try to intervene when violence between the two exceeds limits. We have succeeded to some extent. Our role is to see that the Nagas of all tribes articulate their views and express them without fear.
The NSCN split mainly because of personal rivalry among its leaders. S S Khaplang, himself a Heimi Naga and Myanmarese, represents the Burmese Nagas, although he has support in Nagaland too. It is really difficult to assess their relative strength. But roughly, it is 60:40 with NSCN(I-M) being the stronger one. Although we tried to reconcile their differences, we have not succeeded. However, violence is much less now. Earlier, they would shoot at sight. Now it erupts only when there is encroachment of turf. I tra-velled to Myanmar in 1999 and met Khaplang. He told me that if Isaac (Chishi Swu) and (Thuinglang) Muivah can bring peace and justice to the Naga people, he would support them.
How do you view the peace process?
There have been positive developments in the last eight years. Our ultimate demand for sovereignty and independence remains, even though it is misunderstood as being secessionist. But Nagas were never part of India. Integration of territory that Nagas inhabit becomes our first target. I would say the peace process is slow; it should be more proactive. There is repetition since a new team of people is talking to us. That it is headed by three Union ministers is a positive sign since, after all, the settlement has to be a political one, acceptable to all parties in Parliament.
India, Naga rebels hold talks to preserve ceasefire 23 Aug 2005 04:45:39 GMT Reuters
Source: Reuters NEW DELHI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Indian officials and Christian separatists from the remote state of Nagaland have held talks to preserve a four-year ceasefire and resolve a deades-old revolt, seen as the key to peace in the country's turbulent northeast.
The talks, held late on Monday, were the first formal dialogue between the government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (S.S. Khaplang), which has observed a truce with Indian forces since 2001. "They discussed the ceasefire and how to continue talks," an Indian home ministry official told Reuters. "The Nagas had some demands about the ceasefire monitoring group and they will be examined."
The two sides would meet again but no dates were set, he added. The Naga tribal rebellion is India's oldest insurgency, and security analysts say peace with the Nagas is crucial to a broader peace in the northeast -- seven states connected to the rest of India by a thin strip of land and home to dozens of insurgent groups. The Khaplang faction of the NSCN is the second most powerful separatist group in Nagaland, a mainly Christian state of two million people on India's far eastern border with Myanmar.
A more powerful group, the NSCN (Issac-Muivah) has held repeated talks with the Indian government since it started a ceasefire in 1997. But there has been little progress over the rebels' central demands -- the unification of Naga-dominated areas in northeast India and ultimately independence.
Both NSCN factions, which split in the late 1980s, have thousands of fighters, and raise money mainly through "taxes". More than 20,000 people have died in the over five-decades-old Naga insurgency. (Additional reporting by Biswajyoti Das in Guwahati)
Slender was the thread at Naga talks Swati Chaturvedi
Ceasefire extension wasn’t easy A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE New Delhi, August 22
The prolonged Amsterdam talks, which have just ended were a nerve-wracking exercise over the extension of the ceasefire in Nagaland. The talks remained hanging by a slender thread. With Mr T.H. Muivah, chief of the NSCN, proving to be recalcitrant at the talks between the government and the NSCN in the Dutch city, the government was forced to hold out the threat of breaking off negotiations and calling off the ceasefire. Mr Muivah initially offered to extend the ceasefire only by a month. The government team, however, retorted by asking whether the NSCN(I/M) was joking, according to reliable sources here. The two-member team of negotiators was led by the interlocutor K. Padmanabhiah. Also available on the sidelines was an undeclared and political emissary, the Union Minister, Mr Oscar Fernandes, who was present in Amsterdam at the behest of the Nagas but who did not join in the negotiations. Mr Fernandes went to Amsterdam on some vague official pretext but, was actually there to back up the government team.
Sources revealed that with the Nagas hanging tough after marathon meetings, which on an average lasted six hours, the wires between the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Amsterdam remained live. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the National Security Adviser, Mr M.K. Narayanan, were at times had to keep awake at night while the negotiations were on. Sources said that the team in Amsterdam was all for calling off the ceasefire. The NSCN(I/M) was upset with the Manipur Government decision to celebrate a “Unity Day’’. Mr Muivah told the government negotiators that there was no point in carrying on and he would have to consult his cadre as well as the Naga Ho-Ho (a Naga consultative body) if further talks were to continue.
With Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh continuing to remain problematical and with the growing Naxal menace, Mr Narayayan was learnt to have directed the team that the seven-year ceasefire must be extended. With this brief the government team went back to the negotiations. This time Mr Muivah offered a three-month extension. Sources said Mr Padmanabhiah, a former Home Secretary, then lost his cool and asked the NSCN not to link the extension of ceasefire with the Mainpur question. Mr Muivah finally relented and offered six months beyond which, he said, he would not budge. The government team wanted a year. Eventually after burning plenty of midnight oil a six-month extension with the provisions for “further extension after mutual negotiations’’, was agreed to. Having secured the extension which ensures peace in the North-Eastern state, the government has to put together a serious package to placate the NSCN.
As reported earlier by The Tribune the eventual package is likely to be a “Kashmir-type settlement’’. Mr Muivah and his top leadership are expected to come to India in a couple of months for what could hopefully be a “breakthrough round of negotiations’’ but, sources said “now it can be told that that peace in the North-East was hanging by a rapidly fraying thread.’’
The ceasefire, held for seven years by now, has been brought about by several rounds of negotiations, some of them as many as eight to nine a year. NSCN leaders Muivah and Issac Chisi Swu have been mostly living abroad, their coming to India for negotiations is regarded important as talks with them might bring about a breakthrough eventually. The actual solution could be based on devolution of powers slightly more than those listed in the Kashmir settlement earlier. The Nagas have almost given up the demand for sovereignty, but in return are insisting that a greater Nagaland be created by including Naga-dominated areas from Manipur. This, however, remains a volatile issue in Manipur and it remains to be seen how the Centre and the NSCN (I/M) group will overcome this hurdle. The Correspondent, who is an anchor with SAB TV, regularly writes for The Tribune
Court hears blockade woes Manipur,
Delhi face notices for not stopping agitation New Delhi/ OUR BUREAU The Telegraph Imphal, Aug. 22: The Supreme Court today issued notices to Delhi and the Manipur government, seeking an explanation for their failure to prevent the 52-day highway blockade by a Naga student organisation. The court’s move was in response to a public interest litigation by Manipur resident Jibon Singh, who contended that the blockade was unconstitutional and impinged on the people’s fundamental rights. The notices, issued by a division bench consisting of Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice C.K. Thakker, are returnable in eight weeks. Singh cited judgments of the apex court and a few high courts to drive home his argument that no individual or organisation has the right to “call or enforce a bandh that interferes with the exercise of the fundamental freedom of other citizens”. He contended that the blockade had caused “national loss in many ways”.
Describing the step taken by the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur as “illegal, unconstitutional and uncalled for”, the petitioner said the blockade choked the state’s supply lines and led to people being denied food, fuel, clothes and life-saving medicines. He pleaded with the apex court to issue a directive to law-enforcing agencies across the country to prevent “economic blockades, bandhs, strikes and other similar actions by any individual through mobilisation of masses or organisation or any body or party or group to ensure the citizens’ right to work, trade and live with dignity”. In Manipur’s case, Singh’s petition said, the blockade by Naga students violated “Article 14 (right to equality), Article 19 (right to trade and commerce and free movement) and Article 21 (right to life)”. The blockade was launched on June 19 in protest against the Okram Ibobi Singh government’s decision to observe the anniversary of the violent uprising in the valley in 2001 as “state integrity day”. The uprising was against Delhi’s attempt to extend its ceasefire with the NSCN (I-M) beyond Nagaland and the Naga community saw the move to legitimise the agitation as a challenge to its goal for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas.
With the spectre of another Naga blockade looming large, Ibobi today said he was keen on fresh negotiations with representatives of the Naga student organisation. “We are trying hard to resume negotiations with the students as soon as possible,” Ibobi told the media after he gave away Rs 2 lakh as ex gratia to the parents of Leishichon Shaiza, the Ukhrul girl who was killed in Mumbai earlier this month. Ibobi’s statement, coming after a threat by the Naga students to resume their agitation, is seen as an attempt to pacify them.
NSCN (IM) condoles death of its cadre at Loktak The Imphal Free Press
Dimapur, Aug 22: The NSCN-IM, Zeliangrong Region, organised a condolence programme on the death of its member Dinkachin who has killed by the NSCN-K in Bishenpur district. The date of the killing is still under dispute as one group said that the NSCN-IM cadre was killed on August 20 while the other group said that it was on August 21 that Dinkachin was killed. In a release, MK Winning, CAO, Zeliangrong Region of the NSCN-IM while condemning the killing of Dinkachin, has termed the action of the NSCN-K, Zeliangrong Region as a dastardly act. It said that the CAO and workers of the outfit observed five minutes silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul at the residence of the outfit`s deputy kilonser Akhuan. In the condolence message, the NSCN-IM, Zeliangrong Region prayed that Dinkahin`s soul rest in peace.The message also consoled the bereaved family members of the deceased and prayed that the Almighty bless them. The message said that "may the merciful God bestow constant blessing and goodwill to the beloved of Dinkachin and that the Zeliangrong region shares the sorrow and grief of the beareaved family with uneasiness in our hearts."
It also stated that the sacrifices and services rendered by Dinkachin shall ever remain as a shining example to his fellow "comrades and his name will find a place in the revolutionary struggle of the Nagas which is a sacred cause." The mesage further stated that Dinkachin was a faithful servant of the Naga "nation" with no records of malicious activities that may be regarded "anti-national". The release then said that " the Khaplang gang had committed gruesome crime upon Dinkachin after he had fallen into the cruel hands of the Khaplang gang."
New Delhi agrees to no crackdowns near NSCN-K camps: new Kerala Kohima: The Indian government has agreed not to carry out security operations near designated camps of a tribal separatist group in the northeastern state of Nagaland, a rebel leader said Tuesday. A three-member team of rebel leaders belonging to the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) held a crucial meeting with home ministry officials in New Delhi Monday to prepare ceasefire ground rules. "It was agreed that security forces would not conduct any operations near our designated camps in the future. It was one of the main changes in the ceasefire ground rules proposed by us," Kughalo Mulatonu, a senior NSCN-K leader who was part of the rebel team, told IANS over the phone from New Delhi. "In the past security forces often harassed our boys on the pretext of launching operations against other groups and so we sought some changes in the ground rules."
Secretary (Internal Security) Anil Choudhury led the home ministry delegation. C. Singson, the self-styled external affairs minister of the NSCN-K, led the rebel team. "The meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere and we are happy at the outcome. We, however, told the home ministry that the NSCN-K would sit for formal peace talks with the government only after negotiations with the other faction (NSCN led by Isak and Muivah) come to an end," Singson said. The NSCN-K also proposed the name of Major General (Retd) D.P. Merchant as chairman of the Ceasefire Supervisory Board. Merchant was earlier inspector general of the Assam Rifles based in Nagaland.
"The home ministry team said our proposal for a new chairman would be taken up with the higher authorities and it is very likely Merchant would be the new government appointed head," Mulatonu said. At present Lt. Gen (retd) Ramesh Kulkarni is the chairman of the Ceasefire Supervisory Board. "We have sought his (Kulkarni's) replacement as he openly supports and backs the NSCN-IM," Mulatonu said. The NSCN-K had entered into a ceasefire with New Delhi in 2001 although the two sides are yet to begin formal peace talks.
The two NSCN factions are waging a bitter turf war for territorial supremacy in Nagaland since their split in 1988.
As for now, 'No reservation for women in Municipal bodies' Kuknalim.com KOHIMA, Aug 22: The Nagaland government has put on the back-burner the mandatory constitutional requirement of reserving 33 per cent seats for women in municipal bodies. The Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government failed to table the Amendment to the Nagaland Municipal Act, 2001, under which elections to municipal bodies were held this year. Elections to 16 town councils and two municipal councils were held in Nagaland this year. Over three days of Assembly proceedings that concluded yesterday, no Amendment was laid on the table though the issue was taken up. The Opposition Congress raised the issue of the allegedly illegal election of a new town council chairman for Chumukedima but remained silent on the apparent illegality of all municipal bodies in Nagaland. Governor Shyamal Datta, in a message on July 21, said the Nagaland Municipal (First Amendment) Bill, 2005 did not address a major lacuna in the parent legislation, “in that it fails to make provision for reservation of seats for women”.
Article 243-T of the Constitution makes it mandatory to incorporate the provision of reserving for women not less than one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every municipality. The state’s Act, on the other hand, provides for only a single woman representative. Noting that municipalities should function better with a fair representation of women, the governor had returned the Nagaland Municipal (First Amendment) Bill, 2005 last month. The parent legislation, now proved faulty, provides for one government-nominated member for every five elected members.

The DAN government increased the number of nominated members to one for every three elected members. The government also provided voting rights to nominated members, violating Article 243-R of the Constitution. Congress leaders skirted the issue even as the government apparently wants the present system to continue. Observers say if a court is to take suo motu notice of the issue, elected local bodies may be struck down as illegal. A government official said legal opinion was being sought on the issue.
Ibobi to hold talks with ANSAM, ZSF NET News Network
Imphal, Aug 22: Talk with the two warring groups of students including ANSAM and Zomi Students Federation with state government on their demand will be held very soon, most probably within two or three days from today. This was stated by chief minister O.Ibobi Singh at his office chamber today. Denying his recent tour to New Delhi as pressure call, the chief minister said he was never summoned by the central leaders for having talks with ANSAM, but it was a routine tour to call on UPA leaders on the present situation at the state. He further said, as the central leaders understand that ANSAM issue is a state subject, he will try to sort out things with ANSAM and ZSF. On the question of ANSAM venue stricture for talks, he said, “ Let us see where we can work out for an appropriate place”. It can be mentioned that, ANSAM has warned to re-impose economic blockades on highways and have asked transporters/agencies whose goods/materials have been confiscated by its supporters during the blockades are asked to collect the same from where they have confiscated within 6pm of August 24. This indication has been seen by many as the likely signal of re-imposition of blockades.
On the other hand the Zomi Students Federation (ZSF) have threatened the state government if condition agreed between ZSF and ministerial team are not fulfilled by August 24, then it will resume agitation much more aggressively than earlier from August 25. The conditions agreed were to stop arrest of ZSF volunteers, invitation from Chief Minister to solve the impasse and judicial probe in connection with August 9 and 19 incidents. Mentioned maybe made that ZSF had been on agitation demanding ex-gratia payment for 11 innocent villagers killed by security personnel and militants at different parts of Churachandpur district, better infrastructure and posting of adequate teachers in all educational institution and development of the district. Pressing their demand, The ZSF had burnt several vehicles including police and imposed bandhs but relent to relax once minister’s team assured to look into the matter.
Nagaland occupies 54,150 hectares of State’s forest land From Upen Dutta
GOLAGHAT, Aug 22– The people of Nagaland have so far occupied 54,150 hectares of forest lands of Assam it was revealed by the forest department sources. In the border areas of Doyang-Merapani within Golaghat district, the Neutral force (CRPF) has been allegedly working- against the non-Naga people. It becomes an open secret that in Merapani the Nagaland government virtually dominates the entire area of Merapani which is situated in the disputed area of Assam Nagaland border.In ‘d’ sector where Merapani is situated no borders magistrate is appointed till now to look after the border activities of the Assam government. The BDO of the Gomariguri block had been assigned duty as border magistrate as additional responsibility. After declaration of the disputed border area the farmers of the Doyang-Merapani area were deprived of getting permanent land pattas by the Assam government while on the other hand, the Nagaland government have started development works and gradually the Nagas were allegedly encouraged to encroach forest lands of Assam. Besides the forest lands of Assam– the lands under revenue department too had been occupied by the Nagaland government, it is alleged. It may be mentioned here that in a letter sent to K K Benugopal, senior advocate, Supreme Court, had mentioned the sources Memo No. BD 129/04/62A dated Dispur the 20th April, 2005. It may be pertinent to say that the NSCN are extending support to the people of Nagaland for inclusion of Merapani area in the greater Nagalim. The seed-farm with 375 hectares of land situated at Doyang belonged to Assam Government. But now the Nagaland government claimed it as their own area within Nagaland. Earlier the Assamese farmers of Doyang were using the seed farm as their cultivated land, but now they have to pay taxes to the Nagaland government. The Nagaland government had formulated several policies regarding the Assamese farmers following which the farmers were to compelled to sign an agreement with the government of Nagaland. Even the farmers of the disputed area have to pay against their products to the Nagaland government.
The people of Doyang under Golaghat LAC have been spending their days with fear psychosis it was expressed by the local people. The population of the whole area consisted of 112 villages, 11 gaon panchayats, and a population of about 1,30,000. But the people here are facing threat now due to lacks of security. Even the police and neutral forces have also failed to work properly. The law and order situation are been looked by the CRPF regularly, but in the name of neutral force they are favouring the Naga people living in Doyang-Merapani area it is alleged by the local people. The unsocial activities like looting taxes from the non-Naga people have been continuing. But the neutral force is doing nothing to stop it. In January 2004 the Nagaland government had installed RCC posts in the Assam soil and when the Assamese people prevented them from installing the posts, they were threatened at gun point, it was alleged by the farmers of Doyang Merapani-Kasomari areas.

In Doyalpur area within Doyang area under Sishupani Panchayat is the border area of Assam-Nagaland where there is a market. The Nagas built several houses for business activities– without getting any permission from the Panchayat. The Nagas have now increased their construction illegally and forcefully. Even the Naga extremist roaming with modern sophisticated rifles same time threatened the Assamese people. When contacted several businessmen, shopkeepers of Doyalpur market told this correspondent that they informed to the police and neutral force against the encroachment of the Naga businessmen and to stop construction of houses but the CRPF and police personnels failed to take proper action against the Nagas. Due to the inactiveness of the neutral force and the police, the Nagaland government have been continuing their-encroachment on the lands of Assam. In Doyang area of Assam a Naga Armed Police (NAP) camp was also installed recently. But no protest note was sent to the Nagaland government by the district administration of Assam. It is quite surprisingly that the Nagaland government had already created three sub-division in the soil of Assam, namely ‘Jizit’, ‘Newland’ and ‘Kohabato’. In 1984-85 the Nagaland government created Tizit sub-division in Avoipur reserved forest. In 1991, the office of the additional Deputy Commissioner, Forest Office, revenue office etc. were also installed in the sub-division.
In 1987 the Nagaland government had created ‘Newland’ sub-division at Harese village within Rengma reserved forest of the Golaghat district. But this area belonged to Assam government and it was mentioned in the topsheet No. 83 of the Survey of India under Central government of India where this area was included in Assam government. In November 28, 1991, the Chief Minister of Nagaland had laid the foundation stone of ‘Kohobota sub-division. This sub-division was founded at a place which was illegally encroached by the Nagaland government from Assam. This sub-division was included at Diphu reserved forest. The Nagaland government had already established high schools, ME schools, block development office provision of supply drinking water, electrification. Meanwhile, the conscious people of the border areas feel that both the Assam government and Nagaland government should solve the longstanding border dispute.
Is India a failed State? By Mohan Guruswamy Tuesday, 23 August , 2005 Sify Column
The term "failed state" entered our lexicon, initially, in the context of Somalia, Afghanistan, and now, increasingly, for Iraq. State authority and power are often confused as being the same. Authority derives from constitutional legitimacy and respect for the institutions such as the judiciary, Parliament, permanent bureaucracy, and the press, whereas power is really the power to coerce and enforce the will of the State. Authority is abstract while power is physical. Discuss: India is not a failed state. Let's focus on the positive for a change!
This is not to say that in a failed state the power to coerce or enforce does not exist. In Somalia, there are more guns in the hands of the various warring clans than a legitimately constituted state would have ever required. Ditto for Afghanistan. Ditto for Iraq. In these countries, the symbols of statehood are much in evidence. There is a currency and people trade with each other. Goods are imported and exported. Services like electricity, water, and transport are still available. Schools and courts function. There is even foreign representation. Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq have embassies in New Delhi.
Yet, we call them failed States because the people who call the shots, or more often fire the shots, are without any constitutional, legal, moral, divine, or civilisational authority. They are in a state in which societies existed before the advent of the modern state. That they are nationalities or even States is not in doubt, but the point is that they have failed to be states where constitutional authority reigns and power does not grow from the barrel of a gun. In mediaeval times, the State mainly existed to enrich the king and the durbar, and increase their power and area of domination. Not so the modern State, implicit in which is that the State is tasked with not only providing order, but also improving living standards and transform society. Thus, while the ability to provide order is important, to judge whether a state has failed or only partially passed, one has to judge it by the other broad parameters. India is certainly not in the Somalia league. It is not even in the Pakistan league, where the internal situation is so appalling that many western observers have taken to calling it a failed State. Yet our own performance is not something we can be proud of. Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and significant parts of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh are anarchic. Even in the states where we consider there is some order, what is the record of the police? Recorded crime in Delhi was up by 55 per cent last year. In Mumbai and Delhi, the police have had to resort to extralegal methods, euphemistically called "encounters", to curb criminals. The press and society, generally, laud this, not realising that such activities have a tendency to go out of hand and start devouring the innocent. Instead of exposing the essential criminality of “encounter specialists”, the media entertains us with stories of their unidirectional close encounters. We never hear of a policeman getting even a scratch in these encounters. Only about a third of major crimes like murder and dacoity are solved, and less than 10 per cent end with convictions. On a more mundane level, not many people stop at red lights anymore. At the half-year point, nearly 800 persons have perished in Delhi from automobile-related accidents. It has been a steep descent from Sardar Patel I to Sardar Patel II, and then some more now. Discuss: India is not a failed state. Let's focus on the positive for a change!
The institutions from which our State should derive authority are in a poor way. The quality of justice, particularly in our lower courts, is suspect. Cases are routinely rigged. There is the case of Sanjay Dutt, a man caught with two AK-47 assault rifles, and he is set to be excused because his late father wanted it. More importantly, Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray wanted it. In Kashmir or Manipur, just the possession of such lethal weapons will invite an "encounter". Not just this, Sanjay Dutt gets to have dinner with former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in New York. Several million cases clog the higher courts, which has had a devastating impact on orderly civil and commercial transactions. Delays in justice routinely lead to broken contracts and agreements. Even the State has joined in exploiting this. Witness the manner in which government departments and companies routinely hang on to properties where the leases have long expired. In fact, it is so accepted a practice that not to do it is to invite suspicion. We have created a system which encourages distrust. It is small wonder, then, that after politics, law is the most lucrative profession. A friend who lives in Haryana was recently relating a harrowing story of how he had to pay an inspector of police to get a case of theft registered. It is not surprising that common people without the wherewithal to get expensive and slow justice seek other avenues. In Mumbai, they go to godfathers like Arun Gawli, Member of the Legislative Assembly; in western UP, they go to the caste panchayat; in Bihar, they go the caste mafia leader; and in Telangana and Bastar, they go to the Peoples War. The supreme irony is that more often the quality of justice delivered by the informal system is considered to be superior to that offered by the Constitutional legal system. Even policemen seem to prefer them. Corruption is so well entrenched and accepted that one is not required to dwell upon it. The phrase "to enjoy power" has acquired an entirely different dimension. The critical thing is that no action of the State, however highly placed the decision-maker, escapes suspicion. Corruption, as Indira Gandhi once self-servingly pointed out, is a worldwide phenomenon. Compared to the scale on which the Suharto, Marcos, and Bhutto families prospered, the activities of Indian political families, real or adopted, were small change. They can even be condoned as inevitable and a small price to pay in a country where sycophancy and flexible notions of morality are inherent cultural traits. But the record of the Indian State in improving the living standards of the majority of its people is abysmal. India languishes among the bottom five of the World Bank's annual Development Report. Discuss: India is not a failed state. Let's focus on the positive for a change!
Almost 70 per cent of the Indian nation lives below a poverty line that would factor in balanced diet, shelter, access to education and healthcare, and basic civic amenities. Nearly 60 per cent of Indians are illiterate. Infant mortality is 137 per 1,000 births. On all infrastructure indices we are well below — forget China — even that failed State, Pakistan! The Central government earmarks less for health and education than the cumulative pay raise the bureaucracy got last year — Rs 9,000 crore. The State spends much more on the bureaucracy — a whopping Rs 170,000 crore for all Central and state government employees each year. That is a good 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and is growing. The service sector is doing so well because public administration is growing at 11 per cent each year. If we remove this growth from the annual growth of 5-6 per cent, about which all our sarkari and pink paper economists crow, you will get a real growth much closer to the “Hindu growth rate” of 3 per cent we used to deride. The bureaucracy has a self-serving methodology to determine poverty — 2,200 and 2,400 calories, respectively, for urban and rural areas. Given the rise in foodgrains production and the State's ability to make much smaller food subsidy investments, every successive regime is able to crow that poverty levels are coming down. In Dr Manmohan Singh's last year as finance minister, the government reported that poverty was down to 19 per cent, and tried to make us believe that its industrial liberalisation policies were percolating down. An Oxfam report and studies by leading economists like Suresh Tendulkar revealed that due to inflation and contraction of the economy in the initial years of "liberalisation", simple economic logic says that poverty levels actually went up. At that time, the BJP said that it would use more parameters to determine poverty. Such a step would have resulted in targeting poverty alleviation differently. Rather than focus on providing foodgrains, the State would also have to focus on education, health, water, work, transport, sewage, and so on. We would see more investments in the rural sector, where the war on poverty has ultimately to be waged. On the basis of this parameter, after 57 years as a modern state and with very clear non-realisation of the Founding Fathers' dreams of a modernised state, we are clearly a failed State. The failures of the first 50 years set out the task for the BJP, India's first truly non-Congress government. When the BJP came to power, the Congress truly symbolised corruption, venality, and an uncaring leadership. Discuss: India is not a failed state. Let's focus on the positive for a change!
But, instead of change, we got five more years of the same, the same monumental corruption, the same concentration of powers, the same uncaring attitudes to the real problems, the same kind of statism. Liberalisation became Suhartoism instead of an all-encompassing reform process. The two United Progressive Alliance budgets have made no significant alteration in the general direction of the previous decade. There is a decline of spending on critical sectors. The Central government spends less on agriculture and irrigation than on civil aviation. About 70 per cent of our people are dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 23 per cent of the Gross National Product, whereas there were only 12 million air-passengers last year. Today, Delhi has the highest level of air pollution in the world. The Ganga is so polluted that health experts say that exposure of even a small wound to it will lead to infection. All urban, human, and industrial wastes flow into waterbodies, and thence into the groundwater or rivers. All over the country, groundwater tables are falling alarmingly as the State has abandoned its responsibilities to provide for water harvesting and irrigation. Forest cover is rapidly dwindling. Felling of forests takes place with the connivance of forest officials and politicians. On a recent visit to the forests around Srisailam, which are part of the biggest tiger reserve in the country, I could not spot a single teak tree in forests that once abounded in them. They have been selectively cut. The tiger population in this reserve has fallen by half in the past four years. Admittedly, there will be some price to pay if we have to develop and advance industrially. But have the people benefited by any of this? Over-centralisation is not without its costs. Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen showed that famines in Communist China have killed more than 20 million people, because the people at the top get to know about what is happening on the ground very late. Having a free media in India should help highlight our plight and compel the regime to react. But what is the media focused on? Less on real people and their issues and more on Paris Hilton. Who is Paris Hilton anyway?
Northeast India puts forces on alert along the border with Bangladesh.
From M Rama Rao - Reporting for Asian Tribune from New Delhi New Delhi, 23 August (Asiantribune.com): India’s northeastern states particularly Assam and Tripura have put the police on high alert along the border with Bangladesh. While Tripura has a ‘volatile border’ with Bangladesh, Assam’s 272-km long land border and 90-km long river border has been relatively peaceful. Official sources here said that the ‘maximum alert’ is a precautionary measure in the wake of serial blasts in 63 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh last week at as many as 400 places. The blasts are attributed to the Islamist terrorists, who, intelligence sources claim are active across Bangladesh with some official patronage. Besides the state police, the India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has also reinforced the border with additional companies to prevent attempts by Islamic militants to enter the northeast.
Almost all vulnerable border entry points have been sealed with troops using night vision devices guarding the area, BSF officials said. On the West Bengal side of the border with Bangladesh, BSF reached a ceasefire with the Bangladesh Rifles after two days of firing in the Malda sector.
The decision was taken at a flag meeting of top officials of the Border Security Force and Bangladesh Rifles. The flare up on Saturday came in the wake of construction of concrete embankment in a disputed river stretch. - Asian Tribune –
(After completing her BA Honors degree in History & MA in International Relations from New York (USA), An Indian Journalist and writer Fatima Choudhury began her career as a freelance writer. She has lived in India, Europe and North America, each unlocking a new world diverse in tradition and culture. The different perspectives and experience has allowed Fatima to better explore and address varied global issues that are important to the human existence. So far, Fatima has been very fortunate to work with good editors and newspapers in India as well as overseas).
The Northeast: Seeking unity in diversity By Fatima Chowdhury The concept of “unity in diversity” has been a great pillar of strength for the Indian philosophy of nationhood, in which every state has a unique culture and tradition of its own yet unifies as a nation. Theoretically, it is an optimistic phrase that simplifies a multifaceted aspect of a nation diverse in culture, tradition and beliefs. However, in reality India embodies a struggle that strives to create a harmonious mosaic of various cultures and traditions bound by a common thread of understanding and a feeling of belonging. The Northeast is a clear example of this where the failure to genuinely integrate has led to serious and damaging consequences by destabilizing the national unity and development. At the end of 2003, we saw escalating violence with a series of bombs and gun attacks in Nagaland and neighbouring state of Assam, which had left as many as 73 people dead and several others injured. The grenade attack in February 2004 by Separatist rebels in a busy marketplace in Assam left one person dead and another six injured. Though the conflict to a large extent has remained confined to the Indian Territory, the Government has sought the help of its neighbours for cross border operations to quell the strength of the rebels. Ironically, some of the groups on basis of ethnicity have found sympathizers across the border in remote areas of Bangladesh, Burma and Bhutan. The new wave of violence in the states of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur is a clear indication for the government to re-evaluate its methods of combating the growing movement and becoming more introspective of its policy for the region. Perhaps, there is a need to go beyond military force and repressive laws to seek peace and stability.
The premise of conflict in the Northeast begins with sense of alienation and almost abandonment. These states have over the years remained impoverished with high unemployment rates, poverty and lack of opportunities. Evidently confining them to the fringe of assimilation and to a large extent disengaged from the rest of the country. Thus, it is not surprising that the social, economic and political fabric of the state has deteriorated, as government funds are misused and corruption becomes rampant at all levels. It is this atmosphere of frustration and political mismanagement that have given rise and support to separatist feelings in Northeastern states of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. This has led to an emergence of separatist groups posing serious challenges for the Indian Government with demands for independent homelands or greater autonomy.
Unfortunately, the response of the government to use military force to weaken the rebellion has only escalated the violence without a viable political solution. There have been some initiatives which have not quiet materialized effectively. For instance, the government is currently in dialogue with many of the separatist groups like The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). However, there is a need for a time-frame and tangible results, where words translate into actions. Of course this does not trivialize the fact that the government has with time tried to ease the rigid attitude with greater flexibility to negotiate with separatist groups in the region. It is important to note that political dialogue must be combined with social and economic upliftment to be effective. It is not about how much effort is being made to bring peace in the Northeast but rather the kind of initiatives being taken to improve the day-to-day life of the people in the area. It is evident that most importantly there is a need to break the barrier of alienation being created in the region, which has made the entire Northeast somehow feel detached from the rest of the country. Thus, until there is a conscious and genuine effort to create better understanding, respect and sense of belonging, the region will continue to be in turmoil. The economic degradation and poor governance has allowed divisive sentiments to emerge and given the separatists the opportunity to take advantage of the prevailing mismanagement. There is no optimism but a sense of helplessness and discontent among the people and separatist groups alike. Therefore the government needs to change that by putting its own house in order and getting its act together by giving importance to the needs of the people in the region. If we are to succeed in defeating separatist forces it is important to have the support and confidence of the people on the side of the Government. The battle lies in wining the hearts and minds of the people by making them feel part of a system rather than outside of it. This can only be done through effective governance which will create better infrastructure to bridge the region with the rest of the country. There is a need to have a better understanding of the ground realities that breed contempt and have an economic planning that yields opportunities to improve the lives of the ordinary people. But the burden lies not with the government alone. Civil society along with greater media coverage of the region must aide the government in its endeavour to make a difference. The extended disregard of the region has led to much discord among the people that must be reconciled through dialogue and interaction. The violence in the Northeast is a response to the existing grim realities that we need to address by changing our perception of the region and giving it much deserved attention.
There has to be greater determination and perseverance to initiate the peace process in the Northeast. We should not let the violence abandon our hopes for peace but strives even harder for unity amidst so much diversity. It is disheartening when the influential separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) rejects an offer for peace talks by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh because the vicious cycle of violence is bound to continue without peace being given half a chance. There is delusion when grenades are thrown and guns are fired. But the path must not be abandoned for there will be challenges along the way and even gaffes that could well have been avoided. At the end we must remember the past is all but gone leaving lessons that we need to keep in mind as we take the next step towards the future. We have inherited a rich and contrasting mosaic of culture and tradition. Its preservation depends on our commitment to be united by our aspirations than divided by our differences. Acharya Rammurti. published in freeindiamedia:
‘India today needs a creative revolution’ By Ajit Patowary Assam Tribune
GUWAHATI, Aug 22 – The existing approach of the rulers to lead the country onto development is a state-oriented one. It is not people-oriented, said noted Gandhian Padmashree Acharya Rammurti, who is now 93. He was speaking to The Assam Tribune here recently while on a visit to the State in connection with a Mahila Shanti Sena function organised by the Tamulpur Anchalik Gramdan Sangha (TAGS). The Mahila Shanti Sena Movement is aimed at making the women the vanguards in uniting the country’s people and creating a new culture for the purpose. The Acharya, regarded to be a living encyclopaedia on Gandhian thoughts, was also critical of a uniform economy for initiating development in the country. “Why should there be uniform economy,” he grumbled in the face of the pointer that the rulers of the country were betraying lack in dexterity in matters of development strategy needed to head out development in the diverse regions. Arguing that the uniform economic approach was harming development, he held that development was basically meant to solve problems not to create them. But today, our development is creating more problems than solving them, he said making his observation on the unrest being confronted by the NE region.

There are diversities. Eastern part of the country is having an agro-industrial economy, the NE part is having an agro-forest economy. These should not be ignored, said the Acharya. Moreover, he said, “Our approach is burdened with the thought of developing the industrial sector alone. It ignores the basic masses. And hence, it is not correct. Lord Buddha used to say— Sammek Ajibika Sehi Sammek Jeevan Banega— right livelihood alone can lead to right life. His view was antithetical to the often-heard brags of the country’s rulers that the country was moving fast towards self-reliance. The Acharya observed that self-reliance could be attained only after meeting the basic needs of the people. The basic needs like food, clothes and shelter. These things should be kept out of competitive market. Otherwise, the poor will be the worst sufferers, he said. “If you don’t give the poor what they need, you ask them to take up arms. And that is a dangerous game any country can afford to play. The test of any economy is the fulfilment of the basic needs of the poor, not the possessions of its rich,” said the Acharya. What is more, about 80 per cent of the country’s foreign investment has been along the western coast from Gujarat to Karnataka, he observed. He has also a criticism against the middle class, which is spreading a wrong notion of technological advancement in the country. “Economist Gailbrath used to say that middle class people were very clever. They present their own self-interest as that of the nation’s. This is what has been happening in our country,” said the Acharya. All such incongruities in the name of development have kept a lot of problems unsolved. And the unsolved problems are now expressing themselves in violence. If people have the problems, give them a chance to solve their problems rather than approaching the ‘experts’ for the solutions, he said. “What we in India need today is a creative revolution,” he said putting forward his thesis for the resolution of the problems facing the country. Elaborating his concept of the creative revolution, the Acharya said, “We need to understand our country better and to rebuild it, redesign our lives in the light of science and traditional wisdom,” he said. On who could bring about this revolution, he said that the people should be trusted. They will have the solutions to the problems facing the country. Besides, he said, Indian women are the most creative social force. They should be trusted and a situation should be created so that they come forward and rebuild the local life.
“We must trust our mothers to look after us. Ask every panchayat to redesign and re-plan its own life and train the women to be the vanguards. If this is done, soon we will see India getting a new face,” said the Acharya, who is also regarded to be the guiding light of the Mahila Shanti Sena Movement.
Bodos have failed to live up to Bineswar’s ideals
5th death anniv of Bineswar Brahma From our Correspondent
KOKRAJHAR, Aug 22: The fifth death anniversary of Subungthini Thandwi Bineswar Brahma, former president of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), was observed with a day-long programme at his burial place Chandmari near Gaurang on August 19. Ms Puspa Rani Brahma, wife of Bineswar Brahma, paid floral tributes on her husband’s portrait while Bodo leaders and intellectuals from BSS, ABSU, ABWWF, ABEF, DUBAA, DUBMA offered flower wreath to the departed leader. A silent procession from the burial place of the former BSS president was flagged off by the president of the ABSU Rwngwra Narzary where BTC chief Kampa Borgoyary, Emannuel Mashahary, Hitesh Basumatary, Derhasat Basumatary, Lwmsrao Daimary, president of BSS Brajendra Kumar Brahma, secretary Gobinda Basumatary and other ABSU and ABWWF leaders, students, guardians, among others took part. BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary inaugurated the function in connection with the memorial lecture on Bineswar Brahma. In his speech, Mohilary said that the late Brahma was the doyen of the Bodo society who devoted all his life trying to unite the Bodo leaders like SK Bwiswmuthiary, Premsingh Brahma, Garlabatha Basumatary and Simbla Basumatary in the greater interest of the Bodos. Mohilary said that late Brahma’s contribution towards Bodo literature and unification of all Bodo races is unparalleled. He rued the fact that such a visionary had to die at the hands of ‘cruel and short-sighted people’. Pradyut Bardoloi of Dainik Asom and Gobinda Basumatary, secretary of BSS presented papers on the life and work of late Brahma. A souvenir Subungthnini Thandwi was released on the occasion by the Deputy Chief of BTC Chandan Brahma while EM of Forest Khamfa Borgoyary inaugurated the programme on plantation of saplings in the compound.



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