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04/20/2007: "Rio plea for ceasefire extension The telegraph"

Rio plea for ceasefire extension The telegraph
OUR CORRESPONDENT Kohima, April 19: The Nagaland government has appealed to the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) to extend their ceasefire, which expires on April 28.
The consultative committee for peace of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government asserted that the people desire peace in the state. Extension of ceasefire with the NSCN factions would be able to deliver peace and progress, it added.
The committee also observed that factional clashes in the state were occurring because the Naga separatist groups were not staying in their respective designated camps.
The committee wanted such designated camps identified immediately and the militants asked to stay in their respective camps. It requested the Centre to prepare an implementing mechanism without delay so that the truce ground rules could be implemented in letter and spirit.
“The committee observes that though there is a monitoring mechanism for ceasefire ground rules, there is no such implementing mechanism for the same,” the committee headed by chief minister Neiphiu Rio stated.
The committee strongly condemned the fratricidal killings, appealing to the underground groups to stop all forms of violence. The committee also strongly protested all forms of extortion, illegal tax collection and abduction and other such activities and asked the people to condemn such activities.
Lauding the efforts being made by civil society, the Church, NGOs, the administration, police and paramilitary forces in maintaining law and order, the committee appealed to one and all to do their utmost towards maintaining peace and tranquillity in the state so that the peace process in the state does not get hampered in any way.
The Kuki Movement for Human Rights, in a letter to Union home minister Shivraj Patil today, made an appeal, stating, “Please save hundreds of human lives of Molvom and Bungsang villages from the NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K) factional battles.”
The letter, issued by NGO chairman T. Lunkim, said the two Naga factions had been fighting in the Kuki-inhabited villages for the past few years.
These include recent battles in Bungsang and Serima Kuki villages on April 11 and 16 respectively, in which two civilians were injured and seven houses razed.
He said a large number of activists from both the factions in Serima, Molvom and Bungsang villages were fully prepared for a showdown.
Claiming that some of the villagers had fled while others were being held hostage, he criticised the security forces for remaining silent on the matter.
The Kuki Movement for Human Rights appealed to the Centre to immediately intervene to save thousands of innocent lives and property of the villagers.

JOINT STATEMENT OF PEOPLES COMMITTEE FOR PEACE INITIATIVES IN ASSAM (PCPIA) AND THE NAGA PEOPLES' MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (NPMHR)

The Peoples Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) had a joint consultative meeting at the Sahid Niyash Conference Hall, Guwahati on the 20th of April 2007, to foster understanding and strengthen amity between the people of Assam and Nagaland.

The PCPIA will send a delegation to Nagaland to further interact with other democratic organizations and civil society towards the end of May 2007 in an effort to facilitate peace and harmony in the region. Further, the PCPIA and the NPMHR decided to initiate a re-establishment of traditional ties of friendship between the peoples of Assam and the Nagas. This initiative will be launched in the areas along the common boundary.

The consultative meeting also decided to work in close partnership with each other to promote peoples to peoples dialogue in the region so as to facilitate the attainment of peoples hope and aspiration. Peoples Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) express solidarity and support for the Peace Process of Assam and Nagaland. NPMHR pledged support and solidarity to the on-going Hunger Strike by six wives of "missing ULFA leaders" and members of the PCPIA.

Peoples Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) call upon the Government of India to
demonstrate humane attitude and show its sincerity by immediately listening to the voices of the people as expressed through the hunger strike.

Sd.(Dr. N.Venuh) Sd.(Lachit Bordoloi) Secretary General, Chief Co-Ordinator, NPMHR PCPIA.
The wizard of Tezpur The Telegraph
He eats live lizards and snails for the main course, snacks on tree leaves and jumps from highrises for his daily workout — all this to earn a place in the Limca Book of Records Meet Uttam Das, a 28-year-old “stunt artiste” who lives and breathes for his dream to make it to one of the record books some day. Das developed a fascination for the “world of thrills” when he was working at a private nursing home in Tezpur.
“I ran away from my home in Biswanath Chariali after my father abused me for failing in the matriculation examination in 1993,” he said. At 15, the AXN fan jumped from the three-storeyed building of the nursing home “without suffering any bruises”. “Then I consumed a lizard and remained unconscious for 24 hours.” After recovering, he began “practising” eating various poisonous creatures to “develop a taste for them. “I can live on 7 kg of earth for two days and tree leaves for a whole week,” he said.
His “18-course menu” includes live lizards, frogs, earthworms, snails, cockroaches, rats, millipedes, centipedes, caterpillars, poisonous snakes, bricks, blades, glass, soaps and a few other “unconventional” items. Now, he is waiting for a call from Zee TV’s popular reality show, Shabaash India. “I have already sent video recordings of my eating feats for this purpose,” he said. On his “unique selling point”, Das said he has 21 “tricks” up his sleeve.
“In addition to eating a variety of things, I can lift a 60-kg weight with my teeth, jump from great heights, keep myself afire for 42 seconds and even ride a motorcycle blindfolded.”
Das’s one-and-a-half-year-old baby Monalisa also eats tree leaves. “In fact, she has been living on leaves and milk alone,” said the proud father. “Even the doctors who have examined me have marvelled at my digestive powers,” he said. “They have certified me and my daughter as totally no-rmal and healthy otherwise.”
How does he manage to pull off these “wild” feats? “With tremendous courage,” is his confident reply. And this Tezpur youth is ready to stop at nothing till he gets recognition for his courage. “I shall strive for a place in the record books even if it takes me another 20 years to do so,” Das said.
Music awards
There is good news for modern Manipuri song artistes. A group formed by veteran singers and lyricists in Imphal has announced annual cash awards for the best singers in as well as outside Manipur.
“We have decided to give Rs 50,000 as awards to the best singers of modern Manipuri songs, especially those who are promoting the art in Manipur and in other parts of the country,” said singer Hamom Naba Singh, who is also the chairman of the award committee. The award has been instituted by Apunba Manipur Matam Eshei Kanglup (Amik), an organisation founded by late Nongmaithem Pahari Singh, better known as the “king of modern Manipuri songs”.
Folklore meet
It is said that the essence of any culture lies in its folklore. Handed down orally from one generation to the other, it is also a tradition that is fast vanishing from most societies.
In a bid to save this rich heritage from extinction, a two-day workshop on Northeast folklore was organised recently at the Balmukund Development Government Music College, Imphal. Experts from Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram took part in the conclave. Bendang Nangshi, a noted Ao writer from Nagaland’s Mokokchung district, spoke on the folklore of his tribe, whereas Ruth Lalremruati from Mizoram University presented a paper on Mizo myths and folktales.

Ulfa tells govt to back fast - There’s little we can do: CM The Telegraph A STAFF REPORTER
Guwahati, April 19: The banned Ulfa today made a veiled threat to politicians and political parties, asking them to back the fasting wives of six missing militant leaders or face the “consequences” if the women come to any harm.
The Ulfa statement comes on a day when the women completed a month of fasting, meant to pressure the government into revealing the whereabouts of their husbands. Several Ulfa members went missing in Bhutan during the military flushout operation in that country in December 2003.
It is suspected that the “missing” militants were captured and turned over to India.
“We call upon all the politicians of Asom to be united and uphold this mass demand and compel India to take firm steps. Otherwise, if something unwell (sic) happens to the people observing fast, these politicians and their parties will have to face the consequences,” Ulfa said in the latest edition of its bulletin Freedom, a copy of which was emailed to The Telegraph.
Pursued by the army in Assam and beyond — after Arunachal Pradesh, the focus has shifted to militant bases in Nagaland — Ulfa has been trying hard to gain attention and public sympathy by highlighting the fast by the six women.
“The politicians of Asom must not drag their feet on the issue. It is better to take prompt action so that the situation does not worsen....We appeal to international human rights commissions and democratic masses to pressure the government of India for restoration of peace and let the people of Asom live,” Ulfa said.
The fasting women are in preventive custody at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital. They have been charged with attempted suicide.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said there was little his government could do if the wives of Ulfa militants refused to end their fast.
On why the government was hiding information, if available, about the Ulfa militants who are missing, Gogoi said, “Whatever information we have pertaining to the allegations about certain Ulfa members going missing after the operation in Bhutan, we have given to Gauhati High Court. What more information can I give when the government does not have any more information?”