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07/06/2006: "Rio Govt will complete term: Dr Lotha"
Rio Govt will complete term: Dr Lotha Nagaland Post
Kohima, July 5: Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr T. M. Lotha has refuted rumours that the DAN ministry led by Neiphiu Rio is facing instability. Talking to media persons in his chamber on Wednesday, he said the ministry would complete its full term in office. According to him, Rio was doing exceedingly well as chief minister and ad surpassed all other chief ministers the state has seen in developmental activities.
Dr Lotha reiterated BJP's commitment to an early solution of the Naga political issue. This had been proven beyond doubt by for Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, when he invited the collective leaderships of the NSCN(IM) to Delhi to meet the NDA ministers and have freeand frank discussions with the leaders of other political parties. This was done with a view to assuring the support of the other political parties when the matter was tabled in Parliament, he pointed out, regretting that the party failed to return to power. Dr Lotha expressed the hope that BJP would garner increased support in the next elections in the State
Karbi ultras on extortion spree in border areas From Our Correspondent Assam tribune
DERGAON, July 5 – At a time when the ULFA has expressed willingness to discuss its demands with the Centre, extremists of Karbi Anglong are continuing extortions and other militant activities. According to information, Karbi extremists with weapons are continuing their extortion drive in the border areas of Karbi Anglong, Golaghat and Nagaon districts. Following this, the common people of the areas are a terrified lot.
According to sources, at first mediators deliver the letter of demand for money in the name of ‘tax’ and then the ultras collect the money. Threat to kill is used to coerce people into paying up.
From the manager of tea gardens to small businessmen , no one practically has been able to escape the demand dragnet. To cite an example of the extortion drive a gang up 20 extremists came to Dalamara TE, a branch of Methoni TE and asked for the manager as well as employees of the garden. But in the absence of the manager and the employees, the gang handed over their letter of demand and opened fire in the air.
Most of the businessmen have left their places of work while a section of them is continuing their business by paying extremists through their nose. Some others are taking advantage of the situation and raking in extraneous money illegally.
The extremists opened random fire at Dalamara TE when they went there to meet the manager. In the firing, an employee was injured seriously. An amount of Rs ten lakh was demanded from an Oil depot at Bagari in Nagaon district. The owner of Jagadamba TE was kidnapped and later released for a considerable sum of money.
Several persons who earned their livelihood through daily wages were killed by the extremists. The driver and the helper of the truck carrying bamboo to the paper mill were also injured by extremists.
Tentacles Of Violence [PATRICIA MUKHIM, telegraphindia]
With the brutal killing of Menaka Devi, a woman activist, allegedly by a militant outfit, militancy in Manipur has entered a new phase. Menaka Devi was a member of the meira paibi or women’s organisation of her locality.
Every locality has its own meira paibi or women “torchbearers”. Their prime focus is to fight social evils like the sale and consumption of alcohol and related problems. In recent years, the meira paibis have started a vigorous campaign against drug peddling and abuse. Whether the campaign is really successful is hard to say since there is no respite from either alcoholism or drug addiction. Now Manipur is also battling, albeit unsuccessfully, the HIV/AIDS scourge, which has spread mainly through intravenous drug use and sometimes unsafe sex. Since the meira paibis are well organised, they come in handy whenever there is an issue that requires a visible protest. The last time the meira paibis made news was when they stripped naked to protest against the arbitrary Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and demanded that the act be revoked.
It is no secret that the meira paibis have often unwittingly allowed themselves to be used as human shields by various militant outfits. Whenever security forces identify an insurgent’s hideout and come close to nabbing one, the meira paibi would emerge and engage the forces long enough for the combatant to escape and thereby evade arrest. It is hard to blame the meira paibis for their protective and partisan behaviour. The large majority of Manipuri society, including the very educated, articulate and widely-travelled scholars are all indoctrinated to believe that armed rebellion against the Indian state is a necessary evil.
Like most states of the Northeast, Manipur, too, feels it has been rudely integrated into the Indian Union without due recognition of its past status as an integrated princely state whose boundaries extended to the present Myanmar. Manipuris rue the fact that a large chunk of their territory has been unjustly fragmented and bartered away by different actors who came in before 1947. The feeling persists that India did not try hard enough to restore those lost boundaries before integrating the state with the larger Indian sub-continent, post independence. The meira paibis are just one of the many civil society groups of Manipur who have steadfastly held on to the notion that armed militants are actually putting their lives on the line for a greater Manipuri cause and that they, therefore, deserve respect and even adulation. It is a different matter that today people have lost count of the number of militant groups operating in the state. Almost all of these groups have strayed from their ideological moorings.
‘Taxation’ woes
Taking a cue from the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) which is struggling for what they call a “homeland for the Nagas”, militant groups in Manipur also indulge in the worst kind of extortion. There is a brutal competition for economic space among the groups. Extortion under the euphemism of taxation is stoically accepted by all sections of society. Initially this informal taxation was even encouraged because fighting the Indian Union did involve heavy expenditure. But subsequently with so many groups joining the fray, things have backfired.
Manipuri society is today groaning under the burden of extortion from different quarters. At last count, there were about 30 odd militant groups actively engaged in extortion. Needless to say, the turf war between these groups for dwindling resources actually ultimately fleeces the common man.
All goods from groceries to hardware are heavily taxed and this is passed onto the hapless consumer. State and central government employees quietly acquiesce with the demands and regularly pay their taxes to armed groups. Any dissenting voice against this unjust structure is silenced forever. Naturally people have learnt to cope and comply. Yet, outside Manipur and particularly in the precincts of prestigious universities in Delhi and elsewhere, every Manipuri student, scholar and NGO worker is a die-hard ideologue, actively propounding the notion that armed insurgency must be nurtured if Manipur is to reclaim its lost glory. There is not a whiff of protest against the grave violation of the rights of citizens and the loss of freedom of speech, dissent and informed choice.
A dispassionate analysis of the situation suggests that even the intelligentsia are either completely co-opted by one or other militant groups to be their overground advocates or they are not free to air their considered views.
The campaign to remove all repressive laws and curb the behaviour of security forces sounds more like rabble rousing. The campaign lacks credibility because similar brutal acts from armed militants are tolerated without demur. Since even the more learned and experienced polity do not hide their bias it would be wrong to expect other less erudite groups to behave differently. Naturally the conduct of the meira paibis also does not bear close scrutiny. They have imbibed modes of behaviour which militant groups expect from them and that is unquestioning loyalty. One would even go as far as to say that most of these civil society organisations have become the militants’ mouthpiece.
Apart from being very organised, the meira paibi is just as liable to succumb to internal subversions because of the lack of enlightened leadership. From this writer’s interface with a number of meira paibis, the impression gained is that these groups represent the less educated section of society with a sprinkling of elite representation. Such a group is therefore open to manipulation by various forces.
Role of women
Educated, working women say they have no time to come out in the evenings to police the lanes and bylanes. They come home in the evening to their husbands and children and feel obliged to give some quality time to both. Members of the meira paibis are mostly elderly women who have perhaps been relieved of their domestic chores by their daughters and daughters-in-law. With enough free time at their disposal they feel a conviction to serve society in the way they know best, literally as torchbearers.
For the uninitiated, meira paibis include women from the Meitei community only. Despite the misgivings, one cannot undermine the contributions made by this group of women. This is the first time ever that any militant outfit has dared to take on women. Perhaps they have gone too far.
In a situation where senseless violence is the order of the day and individuals with warped mentalities and perverse reasoning rule the roost, several reasons and justifications will be advanced by the killers as to why they had to kill Menaka Devi. But there is never any justification for taking away human life. In fact, the hyperactive human rights groups of Manipur should be up in arms taking up the cause of Menaka Devi’s cruel annihilation.
The yardstick for protests against gross violation of human rights should be the same whether that is committed by security forces or by militants. A human rights groups cannot be squeamish about taking up the cause of someone killed by a militant group. They cannot appear to be partisan. Hence the studied silence on their part sends a rather uneasy signal.
Menaka Devi’s case may be the trendsetter for further violation of the rights of non-combatants and in this case, a woman. It is therefore important for the meira paibi to adopt a more coherent path and enlist the support of the best legal minds while pursuing the truth behind the killing. Since the meira paibis have always risen to the occasion to rescue society from its many fracas, this time round they have the right to rally all civil society groups in seeking justice for Menaka Devi.
