[Previous entry: "'Ignited mind of youth is the most powerful resource on earth': Kalam Kuknalim.com"] [Next entry: "NSCN-K ponders on who made the greatest sacrifice The Morung Express"]

03/19/2007: "Reports of trouble in paradise Karaiba Chawang The Morung Express"

Reports of trouble in paradise Karaiba Chawang The Morung Express
Kohima | Even as the All Zeliangrong Students’ Union (Assam, Manipur and Nagaland) geared up for it’s dharna at Kohima tomorrow to express displeasure on the plight of Intangki National Park, reports of trouble dogging nature’s paradise are trickling in. As per exclusive pictures and first-hand witness obtained by The Morung Express Peren Correspondent, Intangki National Park, which is already under triple jeopardy from the State government’s negligence, undergrounds and ‘land mongers,’ appears to be again looming under another severe threat with casualty of wild animals due to ‘water poisoning’ being reported since last week. Villagers living near the park told the visiting correspondent that they had spotted several casualties of wild boars, stags and barking deers along the periphery of the National Park since last week. They also said that the dead animals did not bear any injury or bullet marks and as such water poisoning could be the probable cause of the casualty. Villagers also disclosed that fishing in Intanki River with chemicals is common, which possibly caused the water poisoning. However, forest official said that they were ignorant about the death of animals inside the park. The exact number of the wildlife casualties inside Intangki also could not be confirmed. On March 16, the Zeliangrong Students’ Union sent its members and undertook a spot-verification of the loggings and illegal encroachment. It was reported that rampant logging was still continuing unabated. There has been heavy felling of trees and camps have been set up by the laborers. About 100-150 settlements have already been established inside the park, said a student leader who was part of the team.
The Zeliangrong people, under the banner of All Zeliangrong Students’ Union (Assam, Manipur and Nagaland) and Zeliangrong Students’ Union Nagaland has called for a sit-in dharna on Monday in the state capital Kohima in front of the MLA hostel to register resentment over the State government’s failure to protect the park from illegal encroachers and loggers.
The students are demanding immediate eviction of all illegal settlements inside the park, and to stop all logging and other activities, which is posing severe threat to survival of the park, as well as eviction from Dhansaripar sub-division and Peren disrict, and to cease all process of recognizing these illegal villages. Last Wednesday (March 14), the State Cabinet met at the CM’s official residence to take stock of the problem faced by the national park, and decided to instate security cover. However, the Cabinet did not spell out any operandi as how this decision will be implemented, stating that it will be worked out only after consulting the forest officials and security officials. A source disclosed that the State government has already issued an eviction order, and the order is likely to take effect within few days time. Even as the Nagaland government takes its own time to protect the park reports said that illegal encroachers are ‘making a heyday’ inside the park. Some years back, the state government had issued a similar eviction order, but it did little to discourage illegal encroachment, logging and hunting. It was only after the intervention of the undergrounds, the settlements could be evicted successfully. However, the latter are back inside the park since last year, source said. This time, the Zeliangrong people, who are the traditional owners of the park, appeared to have taken the matter seriously, and is hell bent on protecting the park under any circumstances. A prominent leader said that they have given the ‘most fertile and copious’ land to the Nagaland government out of sheer generosity and trust, but if the latter fails to live upto its commitment, the people will be forced to take it back, it cautioned. Morung Express News (With inputs from Masangum at Jalukie)
Nothing finalized yet on ONGC: Govt The Morung Express Bonnie Konyak
Dimapur Against the optimism of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to soon start oil exploration and production operations in Nagaland, the battle for the country’s largest crude oil producer may not be over anytime soon. Additional Chief Secretary, Nagaland Lalthara confirmed that officials from ONGC had visited the state last week and the state government had given the corporation a permanent license in place of the temporary one that had been issued earlier. Lalthara said that the project was more or less regularized but nothing had been finalized and so it was very difficult to say exactly when the work is to begin in Champang. The Additional Chief Secretary also added that there were still problems surrounding the oil exploration and production operations especially by the locals who were demanding a royalty of 5 percent. Lalthara explained that out of the State’s share of 20 percent the state government was willing to give the land owners 2 percent and an added one fourth of the additional 2 percent royalty that the Central government had agreed to give to Nagaland. He added that the ONGC might be required to work under security if the work is to start soon.
NSF President, Pushika Awomi, however, strongly condemned the state government’s signing of a petroleum mining lease with the ONGC without first clearing the internal issues of the people of Nagaland. The NSF president said that the government should come out in the open with clear and far-sighted document and not carry out such projects under wraps just to please a few sections of people. Pushika further said that the government should organize an open debate to settle the matter in a transparent manner and any MoUs between the ONGC and the state government should come through the people. Morung Express News
Tikhirs demand separate AC Tikhir Tribal Council’s 10-point Charter The Morung Express
DIMAPUR, MARCH 18 (MExN): The Tikhir Tribal Council, in a representation to the Chief Minister on the Tikhir-Yimchunger imbroglio, demanded immediate recognition of the Tikhir tribe saying that Shamator is purely a Tikhir village and the land for town had been donated by the Shamator villagers for the opening of an administrative headquarter to the state and not to the Yimchungers. The memorandum stated that the jurisdiction maybe solved in a year or two but demanded allotment of a separate assembly constituency to the Tikhirs as per the Indian Election Law for Schedule Tribe. Reinforcing the demand of the Tribal Council, the Tikhir Students’ Union (TSU) submitted a reminder of the appeal to the Chairman of the Delimitation Commission conveying its decision to back the decision of the TTC of a separate Assembly Constituency. The Student highlighted their grievances saying that the Tikhir “tribe” was going through a dark phase where its political rights are being gagged and the civil and human rights of the people were being violated and the only way to redress the grievances was to allot a separate constituency to the “tribe”.
The tribal council also demanded immediate issuing of the Backward Tribe certificate to the Tikhirs and allotment of quotas in the NPSC and other government jobs under backward quota, and also added the there should be additional seats allotted for the discrimination faced for so many years.
The TTC has also demanded immediate sacking of DC Tuensang, SP Tuensang, ADC Shamator and all the Officers and jawans of 3rd NAP and IRB involved in the Shamator issue “since they sided with the Yimchungers and tried their best to wipe out Tikhirs”. The council continued that except for the Assam Rifles of Shamator and Tuensang and scarce visits from a few officials, most officers including DC Tuensang never bothered to visit Shamator until after signing of the ‘ceasefire’ in January 9, 2007.
Some other demands that have been mentioned in the 10 points charter submitted by the TTC are immediate financial aid to all Tikhir victims, investigation into the death of an NAP jawan, by neutral investigation agencies, creation of VG posts at Kuisam Area with arms and henceforth for the deployment of security forces in law and order situation along tribal lines only after screening the tribe of the forces. The council has also cautioned that the failure to immediately fulfill the demands of the TTC would lead to the abolishment of the ‘ceasefire’ and resume the ‘civil war’ adding a request to the government to withdraw all the security forces so as to enable the Tikhirs and Yimchungers to wage a “fair civil war”.
NSCN-K reaffirms ‘Quit Notice’ The Morung Express

DIMAPUR, MARCH 18 (MExN): Pointing out that all its regional units operating in Nagaland had already issued ‘Quit Notices’ to the Tangkhuls as also reaffirmed by the GPRN, the Council of Kilonsers NSCN (K) has in an emergency meeting held on March 18, Sunday, unanimously resolved that any NGOs with the participation of Tangkhuls or with an agenda to speak on behalf of the Tangkhuls vis-à-vis Quit Notice will not be entertained or interviewed, stated a press communiqué issued by the NSCN (K) Cabinet Secretary. In this connection, the NSCN (K) cautioned Serino Chopi, President of Pukhreila (Tangkhul women married to other tribes) not to interfere in the ‘Naga national politics,’ unless and until she herself joins in the national movement. The NSCN (K) further asked the Pukhreila Union to dissolve itself immediately or shift to Ukhrul in order to avoid ‘unnecessary misunderstandings.’ “They should not proclaim that God is answering their prayers, rather they should keep in mind that God is very much against the Tangkhuls for their excesses and high handedness in shedding innocent blood”, the NSCN (K) communiqué stated.
“Henceforth, any person or group of persons speaking about or against the ‘Quit Notice’ issued to Tangkhuls will be taken as a national offence by the NSCN/GPRN, and will deal with the offenders accordingly”, it stated.
Pointing out that it was now almost a year since the issuing of quit notice, the NSCN (K) stated that not a single Tangkhul or group of Tangkhuls have pleaded to the Nagas for forgiveness. “Instead, they are openly challenging the Nagas and the GPRN/NSCN through different media which are being seriously noted down by the Nagas,” the NSCN (K) stated.

Factions clash in Medziphema Nagarealm.com
DIMAPUR, MAR18 [NPN] : Exchange of fire between the two rival NSCN factions was reported Sunday morning at a place in near Khaibung and Sirhi Angami villages under Medziphema Police Station. According to Medziphema police, the clash started around 5.30 a.m and lasted till 7 a.m.

However, there was no report of casualty on either side. By the time Medziphema police along with IRB and Army personnel reached the site of the clash, the firing had stopped and both factions had vacated the area. Police recovered more then eighty empty cases of bullets from the site. It may be mentioned, Medziphema and its adjoining areas have recently witnessed a spurt in factional clashes between the two NSCNs

Border vigil along Bhutan to be heightened By IANS
Guwahati, March 19 (IANS) India has decided to heighten security along its border with Bhutan by deploying 3,000 additional paramilitary personnel and both countries have stressed greater vigil along the unfenced boundary to check movement of separatists.
An Indian home ministry official said Monday that three more battalions of the paramilitary Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) would be deployed along the 643-km border India shares with Bhutan in addition to the nine battalions currently guarding the frontier.
'The decision to raise the strength of SSB along Bhutan was taken after Indian officials met the king of Bhutan, the country's prime minister, the home minister and other senior officials over the weekend in Thimpu,' the official told IANS.
The announcement follows fresh reports of separatists from India's northeast and West Bengal trying to set up bases in the Himalayan kingdom.
The Bhutanese military in December 2003 launched an eviction drive smashing up to 30 rebel camps and claimed to have ousted the militants from their territory.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), both active in Assam, and the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) from West Bengal had operated out of well-entrenched bases in Bhutan prior to the crackdown.
'We discussed all issues pertaining to border security. Both sides agreed to do our best to ensure border peace and maintain vigil so that no untoward movement takes place into Bhutan,' a senior Indian official has been quoted as saying by Bhutan's national newspaper Kuensel.
The Indian officials' four-day visit to Bhutan concludes Tuesday.
The two countries have also agreed to set up a mechanism to share intelligence inputs.
'In case any unwarranted movement is noticed, we will have this system in place which will allow us to exchange the information instantly rather than after a period of time,' the official said.
Indian intelligence officials say ULFA was again eyeing setting up bases in Bhutan. 'There is pressure mounting on ULFA in Myanmar. With our military conducting operations in Assam and adjoining states, the militants might again try to sneak into Bhutan,' the intelligence official said.
Meeting the grassroots challenge Nagarealm.com
Before one gets into the issue of how to ensure more funds—be it rural infrastructure or any other investment—one needs to fundamentally question if shortage of funds is the cause of our problems; if yes, would it really make a big difference if funding alone is increased; and how do we determine that “value for money” is achieved in the programmes and projects that are taken up.

Today, that is a severe gap in the actual vs desirable infrastructure that exists in rural areas. It is also quite clear by now to whoever has seen the rural situation from close quarters that “service” related to basic necessities is abysmal in almost all essential areas, be they relating to water, sanitation, health or education. Though a lot of money has been spent on rural infrastructure in the past, and continues to be spent even today, its actual effectiveness has been far from optimal. We do not need more surveys to come to such obvious conclusions.

However, where we continue to have major differences is in strategies to solve all these issues. There is one set of people, mostly in government departments including those that build this infrastructure (the PHEDs and PWDs, for example), who insist that a lot more funding is all that is needed. They are happy to create more infrastructure even as the existing one keeps breaking down due to disuse and poor maintenance. And then there is the other set of people, mostly central planners and think tanks, who insist that institutional improvements with more decentralisation and local ownership will solve all problems.

The correct strategy is something that combines the two: building not more but better infrastructure, better suited to the local context and one that is decided largely by local people. Furthermore, that we bring about significant structural changes in the ownership, management and maintenance of such infrastructure.

We also then need to look at who funds these investments. And in the context of large requirements, many more questions are raised. For example, can one tap funding from the private sector like we are attempting in highways and ports? Are these rural infrastructure programmes attractive enough for private capital to come in? Will rural services end up becoming expensive if private capital is brought in? Will people be able to afford it? Will government have to subsidise them heavily? Is this a sustainable model?

Clearly there are no easy answers. But a broad directional answer would be to say that bringing in private sector management expertise with local or community ownership is a good first step. If innovatively thought through, costs can be kept under control and willingness to pay for a good service exists even among the relatively poor. The problem is more of “willingness to charge” rather than willingness to pay. Several good pieces of fieldwork have repeatedly shown this very conclusively. If anyone does not believe this, they should see the wonderful rural water service in the poor desert areas of Churu district in Rajasthan where 24-hour supply of fully paid for water is a reality. Or visit the hills of Nagaland where communities wonderfully manage rural elementary education. Or Karnataka’s rural roads experiment where communities and NGOs are involved in monitoring quality.

The other important initiative that we all can take is to facilitate the creation of a “demand” for appropriate levels of funding as also a demand for appropriate “application” of that funding into rural priorities. For too long, and even now, we continue to push centrally sponsored schemes with large outlays which are often too thinly spread to make any difference. Everything in such schemes is centralised and therefore by definition irrelevant to local needs. Funds trickle down determined by bureaucratic hurdles and the “utilisation certificate” becomes a bottleneck.

Facilitation of demand from the grassroots is a challenge. It requires very patient and intensive efforts at building capacities that can lead up to demand. It needs an active NGO sector that needs to be trusted. It needs changing the mindset of field-level functionaries of government departments. And it needs an enlightened bureaucracy. Each of these is a challenge in itself and in combination almost looks impossible to achieve. But it is worth it, and it is something that all of us should actively ensure.

If we facilitate communities and local people to choose the most appropriate technology, if we let them decide what levels of services they desire and are ready to pay for, if we do not come in the way of rural people accessing the best private management expertise that is available in the country and if they are given the same levels of financial assistance as urban people get, we won’t really have any serious funding issues to talk about. The hurdles, therefore, for funding rural infrastructure are not really the shortage of funds but all these soft challenges which are hard to implement. [AMRIT PANDURANGI, FE]

Army to conduct enquiry into alleged rape, proposed bandh called off The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Mar 18: The proposed 24-hour Manipur bandh by three students bodies was suspended as army authorities agreed to conduct a "staff enquiry" into the alleged rape of 18-year old school girl by a jawan of the 38 Assam Rifles at Kotlien and complete it within 15 days counting from Sunday (March 18).
The army further assured to cooperate in the police investigation into the charge. Earlier, three students bodies planned to undertake various types of agitations against the alleged rape of the student. However, the students bodies put a condition that the process of any enquiry related to the Kotlein incident should be outside the army camp in the presence of Kuki Mothers Association/Kuki Women`s Union members.

The victim girl also desired that the enquiry be conducted at the residence of the village chief of Veitum Khullen, the students said. They had earlier planned to launch a 24-hour bandh on Monday to be followed by economic blockade on the national highways if the state government failed to terminate the jawan of 38 Assam Rifles who allegedly raped the Kuki school girl on March 13 and take action on the subsequent assault upon protestors and mediapersons.

An understanding was reached during a trilateral talk between the state government led by state chief secretary and DGP, inspector general of Assam Rifles (South) and representatives of the three tribal students` bodies, the All Tribal Students` Union Manipur, ATSUM, Kuki Students` organization, KSO and All Naga Students Association, Manipur, a statement issued by KSO said Sunday. Several officials of both police and army also participated in the talks which was held at the chief minister`s bungalow today.
During the talk an understanding was reached to institute staff enquiry alongside police investigation within a period of 15 days from today, the statement stated. "Bearing on the line of the understanding, the proposed agitation stands temporarily suspended, in order to swiften the passage of law for evolving justice for one and all," the organizations stated.

A 18-year old girl, daughter of one Thehmang Haokip of Beitun Khullen located on nh-53 was allegedly raped by a personnel of the 38 Assam Rifles posted at Kotlien on March 13. Reports said that she was raped by the AR jawan while washing clothes at the village stream.

Sapermeina police have registered a case and medical examination of the girl, who suffered head injuries as the alleged rapist reportedly bashed her head against a stone while struggling with her.

The army authorities have been claiming that the alleged rapist was a deserter who had absconded his post. They had also pledged disciplinary action against him. Several women of the village also sustained injuries when they attacked the 38 AR post at Kotlien to demand immediate booking and punishment of the ar personnel involved, on the following day.

A team of journalists from Imphal which had rushed to the spot were also detained and assaulted by the AR troops at the post who accused them of instigating the mob. In the meantime, statements of condemnation of the alleged rape incident, and the events that followed continue to pour in from several organisations. The Joint Administrative Council, amgeo and amtuc, strongly condemning the alleged rape, said it was deplorable that the security forces which are tasked with defending the country were indulging in such despicable acts against their own citizens.

While calling for exemplary punishment against the personnel involved, the JAC also deplored the assault upon mediapersons who were covering public protests over the incident. The jac further called upon those responsible for the abduction of the SE, power department, Laishram Priyokumar to release him unharmed at the earliest on humanitarian grounds. It also appealed to all sections for cooperation so that state government employees can go about their jobs peacefully and without interference. Meanwhile, the All Manipur Nupi Lup in a statement said a team of delegates visited Veitun Khullen today and met the rape victim`s mother as well as local villagers. Stating that it was surprisng that the culprit has not been punished till date, the organisation said the delay in administering punishment was unreasonable, and expressed fear that the authorities concerned were trying to suppress the matter. It warned further delay would only provoke public unrest.
The Momnu Eerikkhombi Lup, while condemning the incident, blamed the state government, asserting that the government`s indifference to the many previous such incidents of rape and molestation involving the security forces has encouraged the latter to continue committing such crimes with impunity. The organisation demanded swift punishments for the culprit involved, and also condemned the assault upon journalists in the wake of the incident.