[Previous entry: "Naga ethnic wear to go global The Morung Express"] [Next entry: "Brute Force is India’s Subtle Admission of Fear?"]

10/08/2005: "Naga organisations warn Indian Govt. Union Minister rushed to Shillong"

Naga organisations warn Indian Govt. Union Minister rushed to Shillong. Kuknalim.com
DIMAPUR, Oct. 7: Outraged by the killing of five NSCN (I-M) activists on the outskirts of Shillong on Wednesday, Naga civil organisations today warned the Centre not to let the state instruments under its control make a mockery of a ceasefire agreement. The Centre, concerned that the killings would have an adverse impact on the ongoing peace process, reacted by despatching minister of statistics and programme implementation Oscar Fernandez to Shillong on a stock-taking mission after winding up his programme in the Garo hills, adds our New Delhi correspondent.

A public funeral service for the victims was held at the main square of Dimapur after the corteges carrying their mortal remains were brought to the town today. Traffic in the main city square ground to a halt for several hours and shops stayed shut in protest against what many believe to be a conspiracy to murder NSCN (I-M) members and Naga youths despite a ceasefire and the fact that the outfit is no longer banned. Yesterday, a high-level source said the Centre was under pressure to order a probe into the incident as it was bound to crop up in the October 9 parleys in the Thai capital.

Fernandez will lead the Indian delegation that will comprise interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah and home ministry officials. They will leave tomorrow evening for the talks that will be the second round since the Naga leaders left New Delhi in July.Back in Dimapur, in the presence of a large crowd, leaders of several influential Naga civil groups such as the Naga Hoho, Naga Council, NSF and mothers’ organisations warned the Centre not to let the state instruments subservient to it reduce the ceasefire pact into a farce. Condemning the brutal killing by Meghalaya policemen, Naga Council leader Savi Legesie told the gathering that a memorandum would be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to take steps to stop such flagrant violation of human rights and killing of Naga youths by state forces under its control. Pointing out that the letter and spirit of the ongoing truce were being violated with impunity by security forces, president of the NSF, Phushika Aomi, asked the Centre if those body bags of “our fellow brothers” were the fruits of the ceasefire that the Nagas had reached with the Centre.

“If this is what we get in return for the ceasefire, then we don’t want this ceasefire and this is what all those Indian intelligence spies who I know are here must convey to Delhi”, an angry Phushika Aomi said. Another young speaker said Meghalaya police must face charges of crime against humanity and for sponsoring state terror because they not only killed NSCN members and Naga civilians but also butchered its own citizens in the Garo hills. Human rights activists in both Meghalaya and Nagaland had voiced their doubts that the five NSCN(I-M) militants were killed in a gunfight. (J. Firoze)

One more arrested in Aizawl for explosive seizure Kuknalim.com
Kohima | October 08, 2005 11:41:41 AM IST Webindia A team of Nagaland Police, which went to Aizawl in Mizoram in connection with the huge cache of explosives that was seized at Dimapur railway station on October one last, arrested one lady at Aizawl yesterday. According to official sources here today the lady identified as one Chauna (45) is reportedly working with Border Road Organisation(BRO), who had supplied the explosives to the prime accused Lalumpui. Police took the accused to Aizawl, who said that the lady supplied the explosives to him. It may be mentioned here that on October one the Assam Rifles personnel seized 800 detonators, 710 gelatine sticks and six bundles of cordex wire, each ten meter long. Although ,the accused Lalumpui managed to flee from the platform, he was arrested the next day. Police also arrested one former Nagaland police personal Mhontamo Lotha, who had made a deal with Lalumpui by financing him to collect the explosives. With the arrest of the lady ,the total number of arrest rose to three in connection with the explosive deal. Further investigation was on, sources said.

Rio praises Naga laws Kuknalim.com
KOHIMA, Oct. 7: Addressing a seminar on Naga customary law with reference to land holdings, chief minister Neiphiu Rio today reiterated the uniqueness of Naga history and the concept of Naga homeland. He said one of the unique features of Naga history is the land holding system. Sponsored by the North Eastern Council and led by Dr Jeuti Baruah, director of the research agency Law Research Institute (LRI), Guwahati, the seminar brought to light documentation of customary laws, which have till now been oral.
On the occasion, a panel of legal luminaries also voiced the need to separate the judiciary from the executive. Supreme Court judge Justice H.K. Sema said civil and criminal disputes were better left to judicially trained hands. He said Nagaland was losing the opportunity to have a judge in the high court because of this.
Whither moderation? open Forum: The Statesman By Pradip Phanjoubam
The masks have come off the faces of many student organisations in Manipur in the past month. First there was an untidy furore over the kidnapping incident of a leader of the Manipur University Students Union (MUSU), which revealed in the process, even if indirectly, the leanings of many student organisations towards outlawed groups.
Hardly had the dust settled, when another students’ body, the All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM) on its own proclaimed its moral affiliation to the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) in a letter to local newspapers, reacting to criticism of the I-M by Sana Yaima (Meghen), leader of the banned United National Liberation Front of Manipur in an interview to Tehelka.
This is a step further from the MUSU incident as there is no longer even an attempt to be discreet about personal sympathies for organisations outside the law. Call this audacity the courage of conviction or sheer loss of authority of the law, but there are bound to be certain grave implications.
The NSCN(I-M) is engaged in peace talks with the Government of India but despite demands from the NSCN(I-M) and a better section of the Naga public, including the Nagaland chief minister, Nephiu Rio, neither the ban on the NSCN(I-M) nor the draconian counter insurgency law, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958, have been revoked from Naga areas. If the students’ organisation had simply lashed out at the NSCN(I-M)’s bete noire, the UNLF, it would have been within any student bodies’ legitimate reach to do so, as so many others have criticised the NSCN(I-M) in similar fashion, but openly siding with a conflicting party has changed the complexion of the conflict. The trend of student politics in the state today has little remotely to do with academics or academic-related matters anymore. If at all academic issues figure in their agenda at any time, these are incidental. This trend also exposes the entrenched nature of the ethnocentric sectarian divide in Manipur, or for that matter the entire North-east, a phenomenon that has for one thing cut short any scope for problem-solving, democratic discourses.
Dissenting voices are necessary and respect of dissent must form the basis of debates. But dissents in Manipur today are about individuals or blocks of individuals simply deciding their problems are unique and proceeding to build impervious walls around themselves. Worse, these walls always end up being erected around ethnic enclaves. No reconciliation can ever be possible in such a scenario.
There is another huge problem. Those who should be in the debates have by and large chosen to stay away. If silence is the biggest enemy of the democratic system, Manipur, more than any other place should be in a position to have a grip of this cliché. Those who should be speaking up on issues, maintain a deafening silence when their voices are needed the most, while those who would be best appreciated silent make it their mission to scream on any issue. A peculiar pattern has been for students and juveniles to take over politics and statecraft whenever the service of mature leadership and saner counsel are called for.
Small wonder then, that the state has become rife with civil conflicts of all manner and intensity in as many permutations and combinations of the different communities living in it. The doomsday prediction of a Manipuri proverb which says that when children and juveniles play doctor, the graveyard would be full is visiting Manipur in all its horror. Be it in the valley or in the hills, the formal political system and administrative mechanism, have either receded into the background or else totally surrendered its authorities to self-proclaimed civil society bodies and juveniles. For the former, it seems statecraft is all about ministerial berths and handles to the state exchequer. The blame for this degeneration must not go only to the politicians but also to the larger civil society, constituting loosely of the intelligentsia, academia, elders and other formal as well as informal institutions who should have been providing the moderating influences on how the society upholds its dignity and sanity.
They, too, have for long forgotten their unwritten duty to the society to unobtrusively oversee and define what roles are appropriate for children, students, teachers, business and other groups and what behavioural deviations are outside the social parameter of propriety. This lapse is arguably more serious than those of the formal institutions of politics and administration. For, these unwritten and undefined institutions, unlike the formal ones, are not something a society can build overnight.
These have to evolve through ages of negotiating life’s problems, and being internalised into a society’s collective consciousness. The quality and richness of this archetypal would be what distinguishes civilisation from the lack of it. By systematically destroying the codes of this archetypal, Manipur is allowing its own civilisational values to slip. At this rate, Manipur is unlikely to see any semblance of peace for at least another half a century. Issues of conflict here are so complex and multi-layered that it is difficult, if not impossible, to penetrate to the core of any of them. This is a script that has been running over and over again in Manipur. Everybody, except the voices of moderation are heard, and nobody, except the modest and powerless, listen. The result is a maddening cacophony of bans, diktats, sabre-rattling and threats. The faculty of rationality has ceased to be the instrument of consensus. Instead, fear is the key. “You are either with us or against us” is the reigning logic. (The author is editor, The Imphal Free Press)
Tributes paid to slain Nagas Th Morung Express Morung express News October 7

(Left)A woman sending a powerful message during the public funeral.(Right)Coffins of the five persons, killed by the meghalaya police being lowered for the funeral service. (MExPiX)
DIMAPUR: People gathered at the Deluxe Point, Dimapur to pay their tributes to the five persons, three NSCN (IM) cadres and two civilians, who were killed in a police firing in Meghalaya on October 5. The public funeral service was jointly called by frontline Naga organizations, the Naga Hoho, Naga Students Federation, Naga Council Dimapur, Dimapur Naga Students Union and the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights.
The service was attended by a large number of the public apart from representatives from different tribal organizations as well as non-local communities of Dimapur. Short speeches were delivered by leaders of the NPMHR, NSF, Naga council, Naga Mothers Association, GBs union, Naga women Hoho, DNSU as well as tribal Hohos. The speakers condemned the killing, reiterating the urgent need for Nagas to unite and bring the present Naga Political issue to an end. They also condemned the act of the Meghalaya Police for ‘despicable act of torture and subsequently, murdering’ the five Nagas. Later a draft of public resolution condemning the killing was passed at the funeral service.
Nagas resolve against killing Morung Express News
DIMAPUR OCT 7 (MExN): At the Public Funeral service for the five Nagas killed in Meghalaya on October 5, Naga organizations and its represented people resolved in one voice to condemn the killing by the Meghalaya Police "who had subjected them to inhuman torture and gruesome brutality before murdering them". The resolution was passed represented under the signatures of the presidents of five frontal organizations, the Naga Hoho, Naga Council Dimapur, Naga students Federation, Dimapur Naga Students Union and Naga peoples’ Movement for Human Rights. It resolved that the concerned authorities must take adequate measures to ensure that justice was addressed and the perpetrators of the crime be brought to book at the earliest Furthermore, it resolved that at the crucial juncture of the ongoing Indo-Naga peace process, both the Government of India and the Naga leadership engaged in the talks take appropriate care that the dialogue is not sabotaged or jeopardized in any way. In this regard the public gathering resolved to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India for expedient action on the cited resolutions.
Old customary laws need fresh out-look: Justice HK Sema Morung Express News October 7 KOHIMA: Supreme Court Judge HK Sema today pointed out that there were certain grey areas in the customs and usage prevalent in the Naga society which needed a fresh look. He cited the example of Naga women who were not entitled to a share in landed properties. "Let the past experience be added to the knowledge of the present generation to face new challenges in every aspect by rectifying the customs which are opposed to public policy", Justice Sema said while addressing the State Level Seminar on Customary Laws, with special reference to their land holding system, held at the Imagine Nagaland Hall, Administrative Training Institute, Kohima.
He also observed that the system of administering justice was gradually eroding as Nagas with the onslaught of modern culture had now become over materialistic. Despite modern civilization advancing, the moral progress of the Nagas was sliding backwards; he said and called for serious introspection to stem this malaise. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, speaking as the Guest of Honor, pointed out the unique feature of the land holding system in Nagaland. "Land belongs to the people and not the government," Rio said further adding that the government did not claim ownership of any land except those that have been donated by the people or acquired by the government on payment of compensation. Pointing out that the value and utility of land would continue to increase with the growth of population, Rio urgently called for regulating land-use in a more scientific, productive and economically feasible manner.
It may be mentioned that the state government had recently passed a legislation that will enable private lands to be mortgaged against loans taken from banks and financial institutions subject to the condition that such banks and financial institutions shall not transfer the land to those who are not indigenous inhabitants of the state without the prior sanction of the state government. Chief Justice of Guwahati High Court in his keynote speech mentioned that Nagaland was the only State where land holding and customary laws were being studied to be codified. Yitachu, Parliamentary Secretary called for compiling customary laws of various tribes into a single practice for the entire Nagas. Other who spoke included Justice IA Ansari, Director NEC Shillong RP Kharpuri, Justice D. Biswas, Banuo Z Jamir, Commissioner & Secretary.
PCG to meet to work out agenda for talks between ULFA, Centre Morung Express News
Guwahati, Oct 7 (PTI): The ULFA nominated ‘Peoples Consultative Group’ (PCG) would be holding a meeting here late tonight to work out the agenda for the proposed peace talks between the outlawed outfit and the Centre on October 25 and 26 in New Delhi. PCG member Lachit Bordoloi told PTI here today that the meeting would work out the modalities for the formal talks by settling the prevailing confusion between the government and the ULFA on several issues. Asked if the PCG would insist on the ULFA’s ‘core’ issue of sovereignty for Assam at the Delhi meeting, Bordoloi said, "that is out of our agenda. Our purpose is only to bring both the ULFA and government to the negotiation table. For that we will today work out the modalities".
"A definition of sovereignty acceptable to both the ULFA and the government has to be found, particularly when the meaning of sovereignty today has undergone changes from what it was earlier". "Now sovereignty has different meanings...Like shared sovereignty, etc. So all the meanings have to be examined and a decision taken should be on a common acceptable one. An acceptable meaning may also be worked out through a public opinion mechanism", he added. To querries if the PCG would also participate in the formal peace parleys between the government and the proscribed insurgent outfit, Bordoloi said, "We will not be present when the actual discussions take place". Today’s PCG meeting would also discuss the views sent by different sections of people through 3000 letters, faxes, SMS, e-mails with most for discussion on the sovereignty issue, he added.
Globalization or Globalism? Akum Longchari The Morung Express
Globalization was projected as the great leap of human evolution in a linear march from tribes to nations to global markets. Our identities and context were to move from the national to the global and from ‘personal to global.’ Globalization promised recognition and respect of diversity, development and prosperity, peace and security for all through an inclusive process. Unfortunately, globalization has come to mean an exclusive process of monoculture of dominant civilization, global poverty, exploitation and militarization. Thus globalization is no longer globalization where the multitudes of human cultures have come together, but rather, imposition of the dominant forces over others – thereby resulting in ‘Globalism.’ Globalism has exposed its bankruptcy at the philosophical, political, ecological and economic levels. Its ethical contradictions are based on reducing every aspect of our lives to commodities and our identities to mere consumers in the global market. Our capabilities and capacities as producers and makers of our own culture, our inherent identity as members of communities, our duties as custodians of our natural rights and cultural heritage are made to disappear and be destroyed or be usurped by dominant forces in world politics. Instead of acting on conventions of public trust and principles of democratic accountability and participation, governments and corporations have usurped usurping power from the people. Without a human face it lacks any sense of responsibility, accountability and transparency, effectively shrinking our capacity to give and share.
For instance, half the people on earth are not part of the new economy. Half the people on earth live on less than Rupees 90 a day. A billion people, less than a Rupees 45 a day. A billion people go to bed hungry every night and a billion and a half people - one quarter of the people on earth - never get a clean glass of water. One woman dies every minute in childbirth. Whereas, Americans spend eight billion dollars a year on cosmetics – two billion more than it would cost to provide basic education for everyone in the world if these funds were redirected; Europeans spend eleven billion dollars a year purchasing ice cream – yet only nine billion dollars are year would be adequate to assure water and sanitation for all people. So we live in a ‘global economy’ where half the people of the human race are not part of it, what kind of economy leaves half the people behind? Globalism has led to disillusionment and discontentment. Democracy has been eroded, livelihoods destroyed, promises broken, rather liberalizing trade has slowed down process of economic growth. Small farmers and businesses are going bankrupt everywhere and economies in developing worlds are collapsing. The non-sustainability and political bankruptcy of the ruling world order and Globalism is fully evident. The need for alternatives has never been stronger
Plebiscite rejection shortsighted: UNLF The Imphal Free Press
IMPHAL, Oct 7: Responding to the negative reaction of some Indian leaders on its proposal for a plebiscite, the United National Liberation Front, UNLF, has said the blunt rejection of plebiscite by Indian leaders is a shortsighted reaction and a negation of India`s democratic credential. The outfit also maintained that the people of Manipur should assert their fundamental rights to participate directly in resolving the Manipur-India conflict once and for all through a UN supervised plebiscite so that peace and progress may be restored in Manipur. In a statement issued by its senior publicity officer, Ksh Yoiheiba, the UNLF said the government of India has not made any official statement on the issue but the casual remarks and press statements made by some important leaders have sufficiently indicated government of India`s position.

It said India`s defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee was visibly annoyed when the question of holding plebiscite was raised by mediaperson during his recent visit to Imphal adding his annoyance speaks much more than what he actually stated on the issue. It further said UNLF`s proposal for plebiscite has made India not only annoyed but disturbingly uncomfortable as well because the proposal came at a time just when India had successfully shelved the issue of plebiscite in Kashmir. The issue of plebiscite is beginning to haunt India once again with the spread of popular support for plebiscite reverberating in the whole of the north eastern region, the UNLF observed.

The UNLF is not at all daunted by Pranab Mukherjee`s blunt `not possible` remark and the people of Manipur should take the rejection to be step forward towards the final victory, it said. As such the rejection has not only exposed the undemocratic attitude of the Indian leaders towards a democratic proposal but also underscored the militaristic agenda of the government of India towards the north eastern region which was hitherto veiled by the false facade of being the largest democracy of the world. The undemocratic stance and militaristic attitude of the government of India will certainly compromise India`s democratic credential before the world community, it said adding it is India`s loss but gain for the people of Manipur.

Observing that the liberation struggle of the Manipuri people has reached the stage where people are beginning to fight India democratically along with the steadily growing armed struggle, the UNLF said this strategically democratic move has cornered the GOI between two dilemmas - plebiscite or military option.

The UNLF further reiterated that plebiscite is the democratic solution which will end the Manipur-India political conflict once and for all. But the military option will not bring any solution as the experience of the last 50 years has proved. Either way, India cannot win as people of Manipur will not side with their oppressor, the UNLF statement said adding plebiscite will provide GOI the door for a gracious exit while the military option will give India an ignominious defeat. The 50,000 or so Indian troops in Manipur cannot annihilate the 2.4 million people of Manipur, the UNLF asserted. Asserting that the people of Manipur have gone out all out against AFSPA in the first round of democratic struggle, the UNLF statement went on to say that the people should be prepared to go for second round which will test their resilience and determination. Observing that people of Manipur should understand the underlying reason why GOI has ignored the popular voice of the people for total repeal of AFSPA, the statement said even if the draconian law is repealed, the core issue of the Manipur-India conflict - restoration of Manipur`s sovereign independence, will not be resolved. It further said that the second round of the Manipuri people`s struggle needs to be directed against the colonial system responsible for the inhuman military repression, the system that has enacted draconian legislations like AFSPA. The people of Manipur should also assert their fundamental democratic right to participate directly in resolving the Manipur-India political conflict through a UN supervised plebiscite so that peace and progress may be restored in Manipur., it said.

`Plebiscite is the answer to Manipur-India conflict` The Imphal Free Press
IMPHAL, Oct 7: The people of Manipur should be taken into consideration in resolving the conflict between Manipur and India, the insurgent movement in Manipur can be resolved peacefully only through plebiscite and the UN and government of India should be informed about the above resolutions at the earliest. The resolution of a meet under the theme, "Manipur-India conflict wakheibada meeyam yaohanpham thok-ee" organised by UPF, MAFYF, Ideal Club, Tera Bazar, MANGKAL, Tammi Chingmi Apunba Nupi Lup and All Manipur Sinai Lamjing Lup at the courtyard of Ima Ibemma Khunthokhanbi at Thangmeiband has said. The public meeting was organised giving due emphasis to the need for involving people from all sections of the society in deciding the fate of the people

Joy Nongmaithemcha, advisor UPF; Sapamcha Kangleipal, president MAFYF; Th Mangi, president Ideal Club; L Achoubi, president MANGKAL; S Momon Leima, president Tammi Chingmi Apunba Nupi Lup; and N Sorojini Leima, president All Manipur Sinai Lamjing Lup were the presidium members. K Sunil, general secretary NIPCO; Athomthang Chiru, Kangchup village chief; and L Gojendro, lecturer NG College spoke as special invitees in the meeting. Speaking at the meeting, Joy Nongmaithemcha, expressing his concern over the decreasing role of men in all issues, asked how long our mothers are going to fight for justice. Answering his own question on what the men are doing, he said, "Our men are saving Manipur in the hotels by thrusting the responsibility of saving Manipur in the hands of our mothers."

Stressing that Manipur is for all, irrespective of sex, race and religion, he said "that`s why an armed group is entrusting the future of Manipur to the people by proposing plebiscite". Referring to a recent comment made by a former union minister on his visit to Manipur that plebiscite does not figure in our constitution, he said that it is a big embarrassment to India who claims to be the biggest democracy and who is also vying for a seat in the UN`s Security Council. In his speech, Gojendro highlighted that the intention of government of India is to show to the world that the problem in Manipur is an internal problem of lack of development, employment and erratic law and order situation. However, he stated that the truth is that the conflict arises since those who are waging the revolutionary movements want complete independence and go back to the pre-merger status quo. He expressed surprise at the reluctance on the part of the Indian government to hold plebiscite even after the revolutionary group has given assurance that people`s verdict will be respected. Women and school children came out in large number to take part in the meeting.
Carrying condoms mandatory for Assam Rifles soldiers Nagarealm Shillong, October 05 : Facing a new enemy, the Assam Rifles is readying itself for an all-out war against HIV/AIDS with an unprecedented strategy -- it has made mandatory for all its personnel to carry a packet of condoms. With 133 personnel already infected by the killer HIV/AIDS, this unique directive from the Assam Rifles' top brass is aimed at saving its rank and file from further onslaught of the pandemic. Carrying condoms was made compulsory for the northeast-specific force as the region is vulnerable to the killer virus for more than one reasons. With the jawans hailing from all parts of the country and away from their families for long, the protection would save them from getting infected. That the Assam Rifles is combating the menace on a 'war footing' is evident from its Director General Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh's action plan. He minced no words in admitting that more jawans were dying because of AIDS than due to direct military action. "We accept the menace and do not deny it in the force. The trend is increasing as the first case was detected way back in 1992, while the last one only four days back," he said.

Most jawans were infected by sexual contact although drug abuse was also a common problem in the northeast," Singh said adding, many of the jawans acquire it from women who take drugs. The general said since the force was meant for the northeast and would be staying in the region only, the menace would have to be fought at any cost. The 170-year-old paramilitary force created purely to address the security needs of the region, also took upon itself to address health, education and social issues plaguing different states over the years. Notwithstanding the problem at hand, the Assam Rifles authorities did not discharge a single HIV-infected soldier from service. On the contrary, it arranged medical treatment and gave proper counselling, spending Rs 2 crore annually not only on the infected, but also on other jawans to minimise the damage. Lt Gen Singh said besides an awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS among the jawans to help them fight it, the force was also identifying "weak areas" like Dimapur, Tezpur and other transit points and trying to "insulate" these places.
Recently, an underground outfit of the region issued a press release saying it was using some HIV-infected women to "neutralise" the security forces. Describing the menace as a security threat, the DG said the disease posed a threat to the economic, human and even traditional notion of security. The world community has recognised HIV/AIDS as a security issue in the sense that it challenges human security, threatens social, political and economic stability as well as the military. Assam Rifles Wives Welfare Association was not sitting idle either. To contribute to the cause, it chalked out a "slightly different and more challenging path" rather than taking a "conventional route", said its president and DG's spouse Winnie Singh. ARWWA had in April 2005 hosted a 'commitment' talkshow, roadshow, screened AIDS-related movies like My Brother Nikhil and Phir Milenge and flew in Bollywood celebrities like Shilpa Shetty, Deepti Naval among others. It tied up with some non-governmental organisations to get President A P J Abdul Kalam to inaugurate a two-day conclave on the same topic to sensitise the young and the old.

To counter the AIDS threat, the Assam Rifles established an immuno-deficiency centre hospital at Sukhovi and upgraded four 30-bed exisiting unit hospitals to 50-bed nodal centres to function as treatment centres with specialist services for HIV/AIDS cases apart from being referral centres for TB, psychiatric diseases and malaria at Shillong, Lokhra and Silcharar. [Sankar P Ghosh, rediff]
ABSU, ABWWF, BSS, ABEF, DBHA, DBAA wary of BPPF intrigue
Bodo organizations in reunification cry From our Correspondent
KOKRAJHAR, Oct 7: As many as six Bodo organizations — the ABSU, the ABWWF, the BSS, the ABEF, the Dularai Boro Harimu Afat (DBHA) and the Dularai Boro Abadari Afat (DBAA) have expressed their deep concern over the disunity surfacing among the senior Bodo leaders after the BTC election was held in May last. The leaders of the six organizations have also expressed resentment over the formation of a parallel Kokrajhar District BPPF by a faction of the party by violating party discipline. The leaders, in a joint meeting held at Bodofa House here recently under the presidentship of Rwngwra Narzary, president, ABSU, stated that they had been trying to bring senior Bodo leaders back to the same fold for the greater interest of the society, but the formation of parallel Kokrajhar district and Gossaigaon subdivisional committees of the BPPF has created obstacles in the peace initiatives.
President of the ABSU Narzary said that the BPPF was formed by the leaders of the CCBPO and the well-wishers to work for rapid economic development in the region apart from pressurizing both the Central and the State Governments to implement the remaining Clauses of the BTC Accord as per the MoS singed on February 10, 2003 amongst the BLT, the Central Government and the State Government. He said, "We have a lot of work to do for full implementation of the BTC Accord and all-round development of the Bodos". Narzary appealed to all the leaders not to encourage divisive factors dividing the Bodo society and to work together for the cause of the society.
The meeting was attended among others by BSS president Brajendra Kumar Brahma, vice-president Gopinath Borgoyari, president and secretary of the ABWWF Ms Kanan Basumatary and Ms Mithinga Basumatary, president and secretary of the ABSU, Rwngwra Narzary and Gautam Mashahary, presidents of the ABEF, the DBHA and the DBAA Dukeswar Brahma, Rajani Swargiary and Rabilachan Brahma respectively. The joint organizations under the banner of the ABSU also resolved to work together for the society. On the other hand, Ms Kanan Basumatary and Ms Mithinga Basumatary, president and secretary of the ABWWF, in a separate press release said that the Federation did not want division in the party and formation of a parallel BPPF. They urged the senior Bodo leaders to work together by forgiving and forgetting each other’s mistakes.
Hagrama aims to reduce BPPF rift, seeks help of Bodo bodies BTC chief wants BSS, ABWWF, ABSU cooperation From our Correspondent
BHAIRABKUNDA, Oct 7: Hagrama Mohilary, Chief Executive Member, BTC, said that there was no question of rift in the BPPF at this critical juncture. "We have to foresee the future trends of the party for the greater interest of the Bodos and the non-Bodos living in the entire BTAD area," Mohilary, who was addressing gathering organized by the Udalguri district committee of the Bodoland People’s Progressive Front (BPPF) at Udalguri Court Field recently, stated.
He said though some vested forces have sprung up owing to some misconceptions among the party heads in regard to the party's ideology, these differences could be removed through discussions amongst the leaders and the Bodo organizations should come forward to work unitedly for the greater interest of the people as well as for all round development of the BTC. He, further said that the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was an outcome of the decade-long struggle in course of which hundreds of Bodos had shed their blood. Hence, all people must respect this land with honour. "One should not think this Bodoland to be a political arena for playing power politics thereby destroying the unity of the Bodos," he said. No one should create barriers to disturb smooth functioning of the BTC administration, he warned.
Terming the ABSU, the ABWWF and the BSS as liberal organizations, he sought their cooperation to solve the on-going BPPF crisis in Kokrajhar district in view of the Assembly election slated for 2006. While speaking about law and order situation in the BTC area, Mohilary asked the NDFB to refrain from anti-social activities adhering to the ground rules of the ceasefire agreement with the Union Government and to restore tranquillity in the area. He also wished success of the ongoing talks between the Central Government and the NDFB within the framework of the Constitution.