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09/27/2006: "Factional guns boom in Nagaland The Imphal Free Press"
Factional guns boom in Nagaland The Imphal Free Press
Kohima, Sep 25: Reports of fierce gun battles taking place between NSCN(IM) and NSCN(K) in Nagaland`s Zunheboto district have been received with contradictory claims from both the factions. According to NSCN(IM) MIP deputy kilonser Kraibo Chawang, one NSCN(IM) cadre succumbed to excessive bleeding after having had got injured in the leg. But the NSCN (K) claimed to have killed six cadres of the rival NSCN (IM) faction, four in an ambush and another two during clashes in various parts of Zunheboto district. NSCN(IM)`s Kraibo Chawang however informed Newmai News Network tonight that details of the cashes could not be obtained but they were awaiting concrete information regarding today`s clashes.
On the other hand, the NSCN(K)`s supervisor of the Cease Fire Supervisory Board, Kughalu Mulatonu, in a statement stated that the two factions clashed thrice at Iphonumi, three kilometers away from the NSCN(IM)`s designated camp in which three of the rival cadres were killed and a binocular and six rucksacks captured. The second clash occurred at Akuhaito village, some 30 km from Zunheboto district HQ at around 2 pm today. While there were no casualties on the side of the NSCN (K), four NSCN (IM) cadres were killed in an ambush, the statement claimed.
The third clash took place at Khrmtomi at about the same time and high casualty is expected on the rival`s side, the statement added. Meanwhile, the statement also said the NSCN(K) is expecting high number of defections from the rival side after this month.
Oil exploration only with people's consent: NSCN(IM) Zee News
Kohima, Sept 27: Close on the heels of NSCN (K)'s objection to oil exploration by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Nagaland, the NSCN (IM) today said that no company would be allowed to operate without the consent of the Nagas.
In a statement here, information and publicity wing of NSCN (IM) said, "without prior authorisation and approval by appropriate authority no one would be allowed to exploit and use national wealth and properties belonging to the Nagas."
It questioned whether ONGC had sought "authentic authorisation" before venturing into exploration activities and asserted that no company would be allowed to operate unless the Nagas were informed about the terms and conditions. Last week, NSCN (K) had objected when the state government and ONGC were in the process of giving a final shape to the agreements for recommencing operation for crude oil exploration by the company in Mon and Dimapur districts.
It demanded legal action by the centre against NSCN (IM), whom it blamed for withdrawal of ONGC operations in the state in 1994 and destruction of the company's properties.
ONGC, which had withdrawn its operation from Wokha in Nagaland following destruction of rigs and other properties, had struck a fresh agreement with the state last year for recommencing its operations in hydrocarbon fields.
Festive spirit catches on in Nagaland Sougata Mukhopadhyay CNN-IBN
TIME TO CELEBRATE: During the harvest time, nothing can stop Nagas from celebrating.
Mekokchung (Nagaland): The hills of Nagaland are some the remotest regions the state. They are also home to at least 16 major tribes, who are mostly Christians and speak dialects of Tibeto-Burmese language.
Till the other day, these warrior tribes were fighting amongst themselves for regional supremacy. Today, that infighting has given way to violent insurgency.
But despite the political instability, autumn is the harvest time and nothing can stop these Nagas from celebrating.
"During festival time, we wear traditional clothes and we dance," says a student. The village chief adds, "We dance to celebrate the harvest."
The ritualistic festival dance of the Ao tribe of northern Nagaland is performed in front of village chiefs in traditional tribal outfits.
A perfect blend of colour and energy, the festival seems to be the only antidote villagers are left with to counter ethnic violence.
Tradition has remained intact in these hills of the North East. And festivities are gaining ground in these places, where not so long ago ethnic warfare was the order of the day
The FGN and Transit Peace Camp- Nagaland Post
When the Shillong Ac-cord of 1975 was signed between the GOI and the representatives of Underground Organisations, some people moved into the Transit Peace Camp and settled there. Unfortunately, this was the main reason for the split in the NNC/FGN and the emergence of NSCN in 1980. During the past 26 years since partition, thousands and thousands of Nagas were killed by NSCN (IM) using Shillong Accord as the justification up to today. However, the NSCN (IM) never touches nor says a word against the Transit Peace Camp and the inmates. What do the Nagas think in this situation? The Transit, Peace Campers are living in luxury when true Naga National Workers are being killed on daily basis.
The NNC/FGN is free of the Shillong Accord and its Transit Peace Camp. We ever stand and work for Naga Sovereignty. But it is a shame that the Transit Peace Campers continue to claim the authority of NNC/FGN up to date which confuses the Nagas and cause further rift among NNC/FGN workers.
From time to time they give out statements in the name of different persons belonging to different regions. Let them openly declare which regions in Nagaland support the Shillong Accord and Transit Peace Camp. When those Campers are not representatives of their own regions how can they claim national responsibility? Nagas must know this clearly. The Campers also must stop their manipulations which had spanned 31 years since 1975 creating confusion among the Nagas.
They must understand that true Nagas can speak and also do more than what these people claim to have done and go beyond what they claim to have reached and achieved. From now on let them understand that if they again use the name of the NNCIFGN, they shall be doing so at their own-risk. Maj. Khamo Khiamniungan, 2/ic Operation Freedom. Federal Government of Nagaland.
RPF chief calls upon people to join the revolution The Imphal Free Press
IMPHAL, Sep 24: Extending its greetings to the people on the occasion of its 28th Raising Day which the outfit is celebrating on September 25, the underground Revolutionary Peoples Front has asserted that the revolution in Manipur is a justified struggle founded on a true revolutionary movement of the people. The revolution will be successful only when the people support the revolution wholeheartedly and take up the task of a revolutionary, RPF president Irengbam Chaoren said in his message to the people on the occasion.
The RPF leader also called upon the people of Manipur to work with the revolutionaries unitedly as one so as to defeat India and its forces and free Manipur from the yoke of colonial power.
While giving his sincere respect to the people and extending revolutionary salute to all the martyrs who led the revolution from the front and sacrificed their lives for the revolution, the RPF president asserted that the outfit stands for a true democracy of the people in an independent Manipur and establishment of an egalitarian society. Though independence, true democracy and an egalitarian society are interrelated, in revolutionary struggle the primary and most important task in front of us is the independence of Manipur from the Indian colonial yoke, Chaoren said in his message,
The RPF president observed that Manipur can become developed and peaceful country only when she becomes independent. As development and peace cannot be separated from independence of a country, the fruits of progress and development will not reach Manipur so long as she is not independent.
While accepting that the present stage of development in Manipur is incompatible with those of independent countries of the world, the RPF president blamed the Indian rule in Manipur behind this.
The RPF leader also observed that independence of Manipur is the first and foremost requirement for bringing development as an owner of its land and resources.
Touching on the recent bomb blast at Imphal ISKCON temple that left six people killed and several others injured, the RPF president said it was an act of terrorism.
Many people expressed suspicion that the ISKCON bomb blast could be handiwork of the revolutionaries. Instead of pointing the needle of suspicion on the terrorists and religious fanatics for such an act why people have suspected the revolutionaries is question that every revolutionary should ponder on, Chaoren said in the message.
Equating an act of terrorists with an act of the revolutionaries is an evidence of people loosing faith in the revolutionaries and this is why revolutionaries should find the reason why people are loosing faith, he added.
Revolutionaries must make every possible effort to rectify and correct the various wrong doings and mistakes in their functioning as no revolutionary movement can tread the correct path without rectification and correction. Revolutionaries must have the courage and principle to make rectification and correction of the wrong doings and mistakes in order to take the revolution in the correct path, he observed.
There is no reason on the part of the people to take any ideology or action targeting people deliberately as the work of the revolutionaries. To assume that such an act of terrorism will advance the revolution is inappropriate in the present age because people will not accept such an activity as revolutionary. They will stand against it. As such revolutionaries of Manipur should not shed their ideals of a true revolutionary and mix-up their work with terrorist activities so that people do not lose faith in the revolution.
While admitting that some actions of RPF and its armed wing PLA have caused death and grievous injuries to people, the RPF president however maintained that such actions were not targeted at the people deliberately but due to mistakes or carelessness of their cadres.
The RPF and other revolutionaries in the region have been admitting mistakes and apologizing to the people for the mistakes but in contrast the Indian Army never admits its mistakes in the name of fighting revolution. This indicates that Indian Army believe in act of terrorism and they use these acts in their war against revolutionaries, Chaoren said and urged people to understand policies of India government and the character of their army before embracing them.
At present, effort is being made by the Indian army through propaganda to create gap between the revolutionaries and the people. Using all the power and force at their disposal to destroy the important areas under the control of revolutionaries, they made an attempt to blame the revolutionaries for the lack of peaceful atmosphere, Chaoren said.
On the issues relating to revolution, instead of trying to understand what has caused the revolution in Manipur and who is responsible for it, they are trying to throw blame on the revolutionaries. Thereby they are making a deliberate attempt to cover up their wrongs, Chaoren said in the message..
Touching on the peace talk between the government of India and the NSCN(IM), the RPF president said the failure to bring up the issue of Naga sovereignty on the negotiating table by the NSCN in the nine years long talk is because of lack of right revolutionary condition in Nagaland or Nagalim. This clearly shows that any effort made by the revolutionaries to attain sovereignty by negotiating through dialogue with a much stronger ruler before the revolution gain maturity and the strength is doomed to be a failure.
Citing Dalai Lama`s failure to attract international attention to the issue of Tibet even as the spiritual leader made 312 visits to various places of the world for the cause of the people of that country, the RPF president asserts that this is exactly the reason why the outfit is fighting the Indian Army with all might and strength. This fight will expose the ugly face of the Indian government to the international community thereby making all their resources and efforts to keep Manipur under colonial rule fruitless. This will compel them to end colonial rule in Manipur on their own accord, Chaoren said in his message.
While observing that revolutionaries alone cannot defeat India, the RPF president said courage and strength of the people is very much necessary in the fight against the enemy. This is the most important factor to take this fight successfully towards the goal. Unfortunately, at present, the question in Manipur is about how much faith the people have in the revolutionary struggle, Chaoren said adding revolutionaries should make an effort to incorporate the needs and desires of the people in their policies and programme in order to address this question.
The RPF always believed firmly that the movement for independence of Manipur cannot move forward without an armed revolutionary struggle. This is the reason why till now the outfit has been fighting the Indian army and it supporters relentlessly. But revolutionaries in our neighborhood have gone in for talks and negotiations with India to bring about a settlement. We are convinced that such a step instead of taking struggle forward will undermine their revolutionary struggle in the long run, the RPF president said and cited the example of the failure of Mizo National Front in Mizoram to bring soveignty of the Mizos.
Squarely blaming Indian government of the present state of confusion and chaos in Manipur, the RPF president said it is a result of the various policies of the Indian government or because of their insidious insinuations.
The present government of Manipur is unable to do anything in this situation because they are only puppets of the Indian government and there is no reason for the people to take the government in Manipur as the true representatives, Chaoren said.
Manipur government has been merely performing the task of implementing the policies of India as the colonial regime has overarching powers in the governance, he said adding people cannot just remain complacent by having faith in the government in Manipur in matters of national and social importance.
People of Manipur must take interest in issues of national and social importance and take responsibility by participating in various activities of national and social importance, Chaoren said revolutinaries alone cannot deal with various issues of the society successfully without the support of the people.
As such people should participate with responsibility in the various issues starting from protecting the unity and integrity of Manipur to checking influx of foreigners, saving drug addicts, abolition of corruption and the cleansing of the filth in the society thereby giving strength and courage to the revolutionaries, he asserted.
The revolutionaries must also have faith in the power of the people and this must guide all their activities, Chaoren said. The RPF leader also give a firm assurance to the people that the outift will remain steadfast to the principles and ideals of the revolution and will not allow it to be misled by any force under any circumtances.
Centre plans to seal Indo-Bhutan border From Our Correspondent Assam Tribune
NEW DELHI, Sept 26 – With the operations against ULFA gathering steam, the Centre has firmed up plans to seal the Indo-Bhutan border by intensifying vigilance along the 699 km international border to prevent movement of the militants. The Centre has some bad news for outlawed outfits like ULFA, NDFB and KLO, as it is increasing the strengths of SSB charged with guarding the Indo-Bhutan border from five battalions to 10 this year, and another two by next year. The total strength of the SSB battalion is slated to go up to 15.
Similarly, the number of the BOPs along the international borders is being increased from current 35 to 132. Briefing newsmen about the outcome of the secretary-level talks held on September 22-23 at Thimphu in Bhutan, Secretary, Border Management, BS Lalli said that the Royal Government has informed India that there were no ULFA camps in the Himalayan kingdom.
The Royal Government has assured that the Indian insurgents groups won’t be allowed to set up camps in the country. Replying to a question, the secretary said they were assured that no such militant camps existed in the country. The Royal Government had in December 2003 mounted a massive flush out operations against ULFA, NDFB and KLO militants. The Operation All Clear saw the Bhutanese Army demolish the camps operated by the militants. A number of the top militants were killed, while few others landed in the security net. As a quid pro quo, India assured Bhutan that it would not allow Bhutanese Nepali refugees to infiltrate into the Himalayan kingdom. An estimated one lakh Nepali refugees are presently taking shelter in refugee camps in Nepal, while another, 30,000 are in India.
India cautioned Bhutan that there were reports to indicate that there was restlessness among the people in the camps. Lalli said that the patrolling along the border is proposed to be intensified significantly and visibility of the forces was proposed to be increased. However, he ruled out the possibility of joint Indo-Bhutanese operations. He further added that there have been no signs of organised infiltration into Bhutan.
Officials said the proposal was to increase the strength of the SSB to 41 battalions from the 15 battalions. Currently the force has five battalions along the international border in West Bengal sector, three in Asom and two in reserve. SSB apart from guarding the Indo-Bhutan border, also provides escort to Bhutanese goods and passengers. Meanwhile, India has offered to train Bhutan police including variety of courses and training programme.
Paban kumar’s afspa, 1958 bags three awards at ismailia film festival Thingbaijam Dhamen
New Delhi, Sep 26: After having a successful world premiere of his latest 52-minute documentary film A Cry In The Dark at the 31st Toronto International Film Festival 2006 from September 7 to 16, film director Haobam Paban Kumar did not even get time to go back home as he was already on his way to Egypt for the 10th Ismailia International Film Festival 2006 held from September 15 to 22.
"This leading competitive festival for documentary and short films in the Arab world had 39 foreign countries and other Arabic countries competing for the awards", says Paban Kumar who landed here from Egypt on Sunday last.
To Paban Kumar’s surprise his 77-minute documentary film AFSPA, 1958 which was one of India’s two entries in the 10th Ismailia International Film Festival went on to bag three awards. Paban Kumar said, "Winning three awards was a record in the festival’s history.”
The film won the Jury Award in the long documentary category, Special Mention by the Egyptian Cinema Critics Association as an Outstanding Film and ACT (Appropriate Communication Techniques and Developments) Prize for the Best Film that deals with women problems, subjects, concerns and rights.
AFSPA, 1958 which candidly captures a series of realities in the aftermath of the killing of Manorama by Assam Rifles had already bagged two International Awards in the Mumbai International Film Festival of Documentaries, Short and Animation Films organized by the ministry of information and broadcasting, government of India this year and a National Award in the SIGNS 2006-the Festival of Documentaries and Short Films in Video organized by Federation of Film Societies of India, South West Region in Thiruvananthpurum recently.
The film AFSPA, 1958 directed by Paban Kumar is produced by BM Sunzu who himself is also an independent filmmaker. Saikhom Ratan is the cameraman and Sankha is the editor. The director said, "I never expected the awards as the festival had very good films. I had been very touched by the films from the Arab world and the courage of its filmmakers. I was very happy that the film has won not one but three awards."
At the Toronto International Film Festival, Paban Kumar’s latest film A Cry In The Dark had its world premiere. Here also Saikhom Ratan is the cameraman and Sankha is the editor. The film was screened in the Real to Reel Section of the festival. Out of five films selected from India for this prestigious festival, Paban Kumar’s film was the only documentary film from India entered in the festival and the first Manipuri film to have a world premiere outside India. In the festival, the film had three screenings -one for the press and film industry and two screenings for the public. Paban Kumar said, "I thought that nobody would turn up for the film as there was a big Hollywood presence at the festival. But to my surprise the hall was almost full in both the public screenings." There was question and answer session with the audience after every screening, which he said, was extremely exciting as nobody had heard about Manipur before.
Paban Kumar is now busy in the completion of his celluloid venture - a short film based on the story Ngahak Lambida (Along The Way) written by MK Binodini. Shenad Jalan is the cameraman, Prasun Sengupta is the sound recordist and Sankha is the editor. The Satyajit Ray Film and TV Institute, Kolkata is the producer. Kangabam Tomba and Seema are in the cast.
APW to ULFA: Why silent on B’deshis? Paresh has lost mental balance: ULFA kin
“ULFA leaders are wild beasts, and as such they extort the Asomiyas and invest the funds so collected in Bangladesh. Had the ULFA really loved Asom and its people, it would have driven the Bangladeshis out from the State and bailed the Asomiyas out from the ongoing demographic invasion,” said ULFA kin. By a Staff Reporter Sentinel
GUWAHATI, Sept 26: The Assam Public Works (APW), an organization comprising family members of ULFA cadres, went hammer and tongs against United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Baruah, and said that Baruah had lost his mental balance. “Had Paresh Baruah been mentally sound, he would not have demanded tax from Indians staying in the North-east,” APW director Abhijit Sarma said while talking to The Sentinel today.
Reacting to Paresh Baruah’s mother Miliki Baruah’s recent comment that the ULFA leaders are not ‘cocks and ducks’, and that they will come as soon as they are called by the Centre, Abhijit Sarma said: “In fact, ULFA leaders are wild beasts, and as such they extort the Asomiyas and invest the funds so collected in Bangladesh. Had the ULFA really loved Asom and its people, it would have driven the Bangladeshis out from the State and bailed the Asomiyas out from the ongoing demographic invasion.” He also appealed to writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami to engage herself in solving problems afflicting the State like floods and erosion rather than being the ‘spokesperson’ of the rebel group.
The APW also warned the Army of any atrocities on the common people in the name of operations against the rebel group. “We will start a democratic movement against the Army if they are found harassing common people in their operations against the rebel group,” Sarma said.
Meanwhile, the APW has started a signature campaign from today to assess the people’s opinion on ‘who actually does not want direct peace talks to begin — the Centre or the ULFA.’
The PCG and the PCPIA, on the other hand, were silent when the Centre had asked the ULFA to write a letter to the Government expressing its willingness for direct talks with the Centre for the five jailed ULFA leaders to be freed, but the two organizations raised a hue and cry when the Army started its operation against the rebel group. The PCPIA staged a sit-in demonstration in front of Dhighalipukhuri in the city today in protest against the Army operations in the State.
Meanwhile, the Army has intensified its operations in and around the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve Forest but reports of any casualty was yet to ascertained.
