10/20/2007: "IM claims Naga people’s trust Newmai News Network"

IM claims Naga people’s trust Newmai News Network

Dimapur, Oct 19: Calling the NSCN-K and the FGN as reactionary forces raising their ugly heads on certain matters, the NSCN-IM to-day said that the two rival groups are getting more alarmed to the changing inclination of the Nagas.

The NSCN-IM claimed that in the given situation where the world community has developed more curiosity in the Nagas’ political struggle vis-à-vis the domineering Indian Government, the aspiring Nagas across Nagalim professing to be national workers are desperate to join the national struggle under the banner of NSCN-IM, “as this is the only Naga organization that has gained international acceptability that is identified with the Naga political struggle and presently engaged in peace talks with the Government of India.”.
Ironically, the reactionary forces are getting more alarmed to the changing inclination of the Nagas, added the outfit. The NSCN-IM further stated that in every region in “Nagalim” shifting of allegiance towards the mainstream movement is being witnessed steadily.
“Only mercenary-minded and visionless persons are choosing to identify themselves with the reactionary forces that are raising its ugly heads in the form of Khaplang group and FGN. What is happening in Lotha Region is an indication of the gradual but inevitable incident waiting to happen anytime. It is human nature to be influenced by the inner voice of conscience vis-à-vis the struggle to defend ones national identity. Who can stop the rising tide of Nagas’ conscience to align themselves with the forces whose credentials as the true crusader of the Nagas’ political right evoke no second question?,” asked the NSCN-IM statement. It also alleged that the recent “demeaning statement of Khaplang group and FGN” on the Indigenous identity of the Nagas is one indication where these two groups stand saying that it was a suicidal confusion as their arguments found no logical acceptance. “A rhetoric attack on NSCN that boomeranged as the whole Nagas was stunned to observe as to how low these reactionary forces are willing to stoop just for the heck of standing on the opposite side of NSCN,” asserted the outfit’s statement. While accusing the rival group, the NSCN-IM stated that “the fact that the couple has placed the Khaplang group in different level despite the much-hyped declaration of ceasefire with the Government of India way back in 2001 is also not without reason”, adding, “and for the same reason the Khaplang group have expressed its displeasure to the center of the Indian Government for side-lining them”. The outfit also claimed that the national media across India has been on the track to study the impact of the ceasefire between Government of India and “Khaplang group vis-à-vis the mainstream NSCN”. What is reported therefore carries strong political logic, asserted the NSCN-IM while adding, “these are but few glaring developments that are worth provoking the conscience of the Nagas”.

NSCN (IM) dictated 2003 elections: Jami The Morung Express
Dimapur, October 20 (MExN): With barely a few months for the state general elections to be held, senior NSCN (K) kilonser, AZ Jami today revealed that the 2003 State general election was dictated by the NSCN (IM). This was effected after a decision by the NSCN (IM) Joint Council which directed all NSCN (IM) cadres to campaign against the Congress party in the last election so that it would not form the government in Nagaland.
A press statement issued by the NSCN (K) Kilonser, AZ Jami, who has been a high ranking official of the NSCN (IM) before he defected to the NSCN (K) a few years back, disclosed that during the last state election, he being a senior leader of the NSCN (IM) and one of the senior most from Nagaland, played a major role in defeating the Congress candidates in that election.
However, the revelation of the NSCN (K) Kilonser about NSCN (IM) involvement in the last election might not come as a big surprise, since a lot of allegations about the factions’ involvement in the election had been raised from various quarters. “Not only in my home district, Wokha, alone, but I actually exerted my influence throughout Nagaland state, wherever possible. There is nothing to be hid. It is an open secret,” confessed Jami. Jami disclosed that he was a member of the ‘decision making group’ of the NSCN (IM), who, long before the 2003 election declared, had meetings and prepared strategies on how to defeat the Congress party in the state. Jami also disclosed that the leaders of the then opposition political group convened crucial meetings where ideas and opinions were shared as to how they would proceed, besides the opposition group leaders solicited the NSCN (IM) support during the election, he said.
“In one of the meetings, the discouraged and disgruntled group leader said, ‘If you NSCN (IM) cannot give us all-out support in the election, we will not make an attempt’,” said Jami and added that the NSCN (IM) side asked the opposition leaders not to be discouraged but start working for the election. “We made the opposition groups to win the election,” said AZ Jami, former NSCN (IM) official and now senior kilonser of NSCN (K).
‘Rio, worst-ever CM’ Jami also took a dig at State Chief Minister and termed Rio as the worst ever Chief Minister of Nagaland ‘who has sold out the future generation of the Nagas.’ Jami wondered how Neiphiu Rio could become the Chief Minister of Nagaland, while other senior politicians like Surhuzelie, Z Obed, Huska, TA Ngullie and others, who have tasted the ‘Naga political problem or underground peoples’ problem’ were there.
Jami said that he stayed away from the formation of the present state government after the 2003 election; however, he wondered how Rio ‘was known by the concerned persons’. “Neiphiu Rio, youngster, obstinate and having an inordinate ambition for wealth and power had completely destroyed Nagaland and its people with his policy of so-called ‘equi-closeness’ and in the name of development,” said Jami and asserted that Rio has sold out future generation of the Nagas by relying on his “satanic dreams”.
He said that though some are showering praises on Neiphiu Rio at present, ‘their children will throw ashes on their faces.’ “Neiphiu Rio is the worst ever Chief Minister of Nagaland and his hypocritic acts will go down as black and dirty acts in the annals of the Nagas,” said Jami.
Playing the blame game Commodore Md Khurshed Alam, ndc, psc BN (Retd)The Daily Star

Policy of blaming Bangladesh for every terrorist attacks in India are doing more harm than good. At least 42 people have been killed and 50 injured in two explosions at a crowded park and a popular eatery in Hyderabad on 25th August '07, three months after the Mecca Masjid blasts. Soon after the incident, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal had said, "Some of our neighbours are jealous of India's progress and they keep hatching conspiracies to disrupt harmony in the country." Indian newspapers are blaming it on weak-kneed and bumbling response to terror attacks, both in preventing them and in bringing the merchants of death to book and the failure of the governments to deal more firmly with the scourge of terrorism. What we have observed is that a familiar drill follows every terror attack in India - visits to the spot by some high-level dignitaries and then announcement of compensation and finger pointing across the border towards Pakistan and Bangladesh. We in Bangladesh have always condemned any forms of terror as our people are peace loving and strongly believe that peace can not co-exist with attacks on any community or class of people, whether they are communal, caste or ethnic killings. Everything we do to prevent and punish acts of terror must flow from the basic premise that not only do these take away innocent lives but also divide the country, society, create mistrust among the people and leave scars that can take decades to heal in any country. It is known that terrorism is worse than an act of war against any nation. Rather, it's worse than war, because terror acts are executed stealthily against civil society targeting schools, suburban trains at peak hour, crowded markets as well as places of congregation.

Many Indians now feel, according to some newspapers that their anger as a whole should not only be directed towards those who commit such acts, but equally towards those who plan and finance them. Extreme views are arguing that India should take the war on terror even across the border, a very dangerous move and must be a cause of concern for the neighbours. We in South Asia should desperately pursue to achieve the economical sovereignty for our teeming millions putting aside our egos, turf wars and differences, and act as one. Security establishments including some politicians of the region have not yet felt the pang of conscience and looked beyond short-term gains before maligning others. Before we analyze the usual blame game on Bangladesh, let us just delve more into the continuous terrorist attacks happening within the borders of India. The long simmering Ayodhya crisis finally culminated in a terrorist attack on the site of the 16th century Babri Massif -Ram Janmabhoomi Hindu temple in Ayodhya on July 5, 2005. Three explosions went off in the Indian capital of New Delhi on October 29, 2005 which killed more than 70 people and injured at least 200 others. A series of blasts occurred across the Hindu holy city of Varanasi on 7 March 2006. 21 people were reported to have been killed and as many as 101 others were injured.

In Sep 2006, at least 37 people were killed and 125 injured in a series of bomb blasts in the vicinity of a mosque in Malegaon, Maharashtra and in May 2007, 13 people were killed, including 4 killed by the Indian police in the rioting that followed in the bombing at Mecca Masjid, Hyderabad. India has hundreds of thousands of miles of railway track, and over 14,000 trains crisscross the country every day. These are tempting targets for many of the terrorist groups operating within India and attack on trains, whether direct assaults, bombings or deliberate derailing through sabotage are common. Andhra Pradesh is one of the few southern states affected by terrorism and it stems from the People's War Group (PWG), popularly known as Naxalites which has been operating in India for over a few decades. The group is also active in Orissa and Bihar. PWG is a Maoist terrorist organization and labor rights are one of its primary goals. The group targets Indian Police, multinational companies, landlords and other influential institutions in the name of the rights of landless labor.

Lashkar e-Toiba, Jaish -e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat-ulMujahideen, Farzandan-eMillat and United Jihad Council are also operating in Kashmir and carrying out attacks against the security forces since long. Perhaps the most significant insurgency started in Nagaland from the early 1950s. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) demanded an independent Nagaland and has carried out a number of attacks on soldiers, government targets and public property. Although a cease-fire agreement was signed between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM, yet Manipur, the neighbouring state, apprehended that the National Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) would continue insurgent activities in the state of Manipur and demanded that the government in New Delhi scrap the ceasefire deal and renew military action. Bodos in the state demanded for a separate Bodo land and the government in Delhi gave special administrative autonomy much to the chagrin of the Bodos and consequently led to clash between the Bengalis, the Bodos and the Indian military resulting in hundreds of deaths. Bodo Liberation Tigers and National Democratic Front of Bodoland were involved in number of fatal attacks. Then also the United Liberation Front of Asam (ULFA) formed in 1971 demanded the independence of Assam and the establishment of a socialist government. The ULFA has carried out over hundred attacks in the region targeting the Indian military, political opponents, police, railroad tracks, and other infrastructure facilities.

Then suddenly it started blaming Bangladesh for every terrorist's activities in India knowing fully well that the root cause of most of them were social injustice and economic deprivation. This has also something to do with the BJP when it started all this as xenophobia against the Muslims in India and the so-called issue of large-scale migration from Bangladesh. Security establishments in India are finding an easy excuse for the blame game that some Bangladeshis are being used by the ISI for carrying out subversive activities in India. Although so far, no solid proof has yet been provided by India. Bangladesh failed to estimate the impact of such unfounded blame game and the power of the electronic and print media of India and now with every incident, Indian public as well have started believing that in addition to Pakistan, Bangladesh based militant outfits are also involved in these attacks. And the efforts of our diplomatic channel in denying any involvement in such incidents have not helped at all in removing the blame game mindset. We are happy to see that India is the biggest democracy, already a regional power and has recorded rapid progress on the economic side but we strongly feel that such rhetoric of blame does incalculable harm by putting a premium on complacency and masks the feeble response to the challenge. We are, however, lucky that Indian security establishments have not blamed Bangladesh for nearly three decades of reign of terror unleashed by the dreaded sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan, in the sprawling forests of Tamil Nadu and also for the loss of the Noble medal of Rabindranath Tagore from Shantiniketon, investigation about whom has recently been suspended by the Indian CBI. Bangladesh must understand that what has gone into the minds of Indian security establishments can hardly be eliminated over night and we must initiate appropriate corrective actions to remove such accusation through establishing second track channel and people to people contact with the Indian political think tank and hierarchy so that such blame games are stopped and we can move ahead with our economic emancipation along with India. We feel that war against terrorism is too important to be left to governments and their agencies only, rather every one of us must make concerted effort in removing the root causes and act as a combatant and committed to securing a safe future for our children and the nation and only then terrorists should know that we mean business. The author is a freelancer.
Valley rebels shed mines from arsenal Kashmir can hope to be free of death traps. the Telegraph RAINA MUZAFFAR
Srinagar, An umbrella group of militants has pledged not to use anti-personnel mines. The United Jehad Council will also “avoid grenades or other explosives in public places”. Both devices, among the most frequently used, claim countless civilian lives other than those they are targeted at. The pledge is binding on five outfits, including the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which enjoy the status of observers within the council.
The decision was taken on October 16, a day after the three-day Id ceasefire called by the militants ended, but the statement was released today by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the winner of the Peace Nobel in 1997. Such a ban is rare in the country, where only some insurgent groups in the Northeast like the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) have vowed not to use landmines.
Council chairman Syed Salahuddin said the use of anti-personnel mines was equivalent to blind terror, prohibited under Islam. “We shall conduct our struggle for self-determination guided by the rules of the Geneva Convention of 1949 for the protection of victims of armed conflicts and the 1977 additional protocol on victims of international armed conflicts.” In its statement, the council said its members would not use any “anti-personnel mines or other victims activated explosive devices that can be triggered by the proximity, activity or contact of a human being or animal”. Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, a member of the global anti-landmine organisation, confirmed the council had pledged to abide by the norms of the Geneva convention. “It (the ban) implies that they would not use grenades or other explosives in public places,” Moser-Puangsuwan told The Telegraph over the phone from Delhi. Moser-Puangsuwan said members of the council had made “limited use of anti-personnel mines in the past”.
“The Indian Army reported seizures of these mines in the past but stopped making such claims three years back,” he said, suggesting that the death traps were less used now. But today’s announcement has not ended fears because many pockets on both sides of the Line of Control are heavily mined. Since India and Pakistan have not signed the global anti-mine treaty, many fear the traps will still lurk. The pledge is part of efforts by the council to shed its “terror” organisation image and project itself as a group that is on the path to reconciliation. The softening has been caused by pressure on terror outfits after the 9/11 attacks and, more recently, by a lull in infiltration by Pakistani militants.There are other reasons, too. The Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest group in the council, has seen its ranks depleted by the offensive launched by security forces.
Lost Opportunities. 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-East and India's Response by S P Sinha Nagarealm.com
A good 60 years after independence, India's politicians have failed to satisfy the aspirations of its ethnically distinct northeastern region. Policymakers in Delhi agonize over the incessant insurgencies on this embattled frontier, where 99% of the external boundary synchronizes with India's international border. Counter-productively, alienation and rebellion in this strategic area are exacerbated by bias and insensitivity of agents of the Indian government. Divisive strategies of political parties and an entrenched nexus among politicians, bureaucrats and contractors contribute to the mess. In Lost Opportunities, S P Sinha, a scholar from the Indian army, presents a one-stop compilation of the insurrections in all the northeast "Seven Sister" states. His core argument is that events beyond India's borders, rather than ethnic impulses, are more potent influences on the area's fate. He highlights the multiple linkages between insurgencies on both sides of the India-Myanmar border, where a "Christian cordon" exists among the Nagas, Mizos, Kachins and Chins. However, overlooking the pernicious involvement of the Myanmar military junta in drug trafficking and guerrilla-fanning, the author clings to the illusion that it is "practical" for Delhi to cooperate with Myanmar.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan and current-day Bangladesh have hosted nearly all the insurgent groups of India's northeast. The rise of Islamist terrorism in Assam and Tripura is a direct consequence of massive illegal immigration from Bangladesh into these states. As of 1996, some 15 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants had infiltrated into India, with upwards of 4 million settling in Assam and 1 million in Tripura.
Sinha pinpoints the changing demographic profile of the area as the "heart of the problem". (p 27) Since 1937, the Muslim League ministry of Mohammad Saadulla encouraged migration of Bengali Muslims into Assam with the aim of claiming it as a part of the hoped-for Pakistan. After India's independence, the malaise was allowed to fester due to "misplaced ideas of secularism and vote bank politics". (p 31) The prophecy of former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger that "Bangladesh would over the years accentuate India's centrifugal tendencies and carve out new Muslim states" is an ever-creeping reality.

When the British quit India in 1947, extremist Naga leader A Z Phizo voiced demands for separation. As secessionists went on the rampage in the 1950s, pro-India moderates like A K Sakhrie were tortured and murdered by the militants. Coerced taxation, forcible recruitment of cadres, and arms procurement from East Pakistan were part of the mix. The hostile conduct of Michael Scott, a British missionary close to the rebels, undid chances of any negotiated settlement. The spread of Christianity accentuated the Nagas' sense of separateness. Across the northeast, missionaries "widened the barrier and conflict between the hills and the plains". (p 229)
From 1967 to 1974, Naga youths picked for guerrilla training trekked to China, which even opened a school for northeastern insurgents in East Pakistan. The 1975 Shillong Accord, which promised peace, was rejected by some rebel factions under Chinese sway. Splits and internecine feuds between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the Naga National Council played havoc with the lives of innocent civilians. A ceasefire has held since 1997, but killings and extortion by the underground go on. NSCN's revival of the Chinese connection and the visit of its top guns to Pakistan in 2000 raise doubts about any final settlement. Most Mizos did not press for separation from India in 1947. Unlike Nagaland, the Church in Mizo areas opposed secession and violence from the beginning. Perceived discrimination by the central government during the 1959 famine triggered militancy by the Mizo National Front (MNF), which was welcomed in East Pakistan. Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war with India deprived MNF of a reliable ally, but it regrouped with Chinese aid and Burmese havens. Factionalism in the MNF weaned away splinters to join the Indian "mainstream". The MNF supremo threw in the towel on being co-opted as Chief Minister of Mizoram in 1987. Peace lasts in this state owing to the presence of "an influential political class favoring autonomy within India". (p 101)

In Manipur, the genesis of insurgency lay in discontent that the majority Meiteis and their language were neglected by Delhi in its bid to woo Naga militants. Once Pakistan's assistance dried up after 1971, a China-trained People's Liberation Army (PLA) unit was formed to perform urban terrorist acts. In the 1990s, the PLA forged links with the armies of Pakistan and Bangladesh. In this decade, the distinction between above ground and underground politics blurred. Clashes between Nagas and Kukis, the two minority tribes of Manipur, were possibly instigated by Indian intelligence agencies and bankrolled by Manipuri politicians. Violent demonstrations by Meiteis against bifurcating Manipur to meet the NSCN's demands are now adding to the fracas. In Tripura, the large influx of refugees from East Pakistan and the unlawful transfer of tribal lands incited anti-Bengali militancy. Sporadic riots against Bengalis resuscitated insurgency from time to time. Bangladesh succored the Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) through the MNF, but it later backed off, fearing Indian reprisals in the form of support for Chakma militants. Breakaway cliques of TNV rebels that enjoyed the patronage of Tripura's political parties and operated through the porous border with Bangladesh robbed the 1988 accord of its peace dividend.

In Assam, feelings of the evil step-mother-like treatment by the central government in economic development, along with the dismemberment of the state in 1972, built up a reservoir of resentment. Capitalizing on anti-immigrant sentiment, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) arose in the mid-1980s with the support of the then-Assam state government. Bodo tribals seeking a new state out of Assam (within the Indian republic) took to insurgency in 1988, allegedly with the blessings of Indian intelligence, to counter ULFA. Sinha considers training camps in Bangladesh and espionage work for Pakistan to be the two lifelines of ULFA. Myopically, he avoids mentioning the complicity of the Myanmar junta as the third buoy.

Riding piggyback on the flood of Bangladeshi immigrants, numerous jihadi outfits have cropped up in Assam with the goal of creating "Greater Bangladesh". They might replace ethnic militant movements like those of Kamtapur and Karbi-Dimasa as the locus of future insurgency. Sinha believes that ULFA's ongoing purge of non-Assamese Indians is a stratagem to dig out "working space for Bangladeshi Muslims". (p 308) Taking the cue from Assam, Meghalaya underwent a number of violent riots since 1979 against non-tribal Indians, Bangladeshis and Nepalese. Leveraging the high rates of unemployment and drug addiction in the state, ULFA has spawned front organizations such as the Achik National Volunteer Council to facilitate safe passage for its cadres to and from Bangladesh.

Thanks to the foresight of consultants like Verrier Elwin, Arunachal Pradesh avoided the trademark violence. However, the settlement of Chakma refugees from East Pakistan sparked worries and spawned fledgling militant groups like United Liberation Army of Arunachal. Trade in illicit narcotics keeps many northeast insurgencies going. Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, which share a common border with Burma, together account for the smuggling of an estimated 20 kilograms of heroin daily. Naga and Manipuri underground organizations derive a major portion of their revenues from drug trafficking. The NSCN is known to collect 20% tariffs on the value of drugs passing through its territory. It is also the lynchpin of gunrunning in the northeast to Southeast Asia's clandestine arms market.

India's counter-insurgency strategy in the troubled region graduated from military solutions to "winning the hearts and minds" of disaffected tribes. To isolate rebels in Nagaland and Mizoram, the Indian army grouped villages that caused hardship for civilians. Policies like "area domination", cordon-and-search and curfew along the international border could not be avoided even though they restricted the freedom of communities. To the Indian army's credit, '"civic action" (social welfare) that touched people's lives at the grassroots was implemented in letter and spirit. The spoilers are politicians and bureaucrats who are suspicious of any enhancement of the army's public image as an instrument of social and economic change. Poor relations between the army and local police also hamper intelligence gathering. As part of psychological operations, the Indian army disseminates pamphlets detailing the amoral life and debauchery of rebel leaders. Wherever possible, it erects armed militia units called "village guards" to take on the despised rebels. In Sinha's opinion, the security forces still lack tactical doctrines to confront insurgents in crowded urban centers. To breathe easier in the northeast, India has to ensure more efficient administrators, infuse employment-generating investment, and curb illegal immigration. Sinha advocates improved relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar, but omits a deeper examination of regime shenanigans of these two countries. To save the northeast, India needs to be sterner with fundamentalist regimes in Dhaka and militarist regimes in Myanmar. [Sreeram Chaulia, Asiatimes] Lost Opportunities. 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-East and India's Responseby SP Sinha. Lancer Publishers, New Delhi, 2007. ISBN: 81-7062-162-3. Price: US$ 24. 357 pages
Imkong replies to Dr Shurhozelie’s “ism” charges North East Press Service

Kohima, Oct 19 (NEPS): Leader of Opposition and CLP Leader I Imkong said he was never against the “capital development” but only against the “misuse of fund in the name of capital development.”

In a statement issued here on Friday, the Leader of Opposition expressed surprise the way Urban Development Minister Dr Shurhozelie took his statement made during a meeting at Mangkolemba as “being ‘ism’ color” when he pointed out about the “discriminatory allocation of developmental funds to Mokokchung district which is represented by 10 MLAs comparing to the allocation of funds to the Northern Angami I and II.” Thanking Dr Shurhozelie for taking courage to come out with various figures of amount spent in Mokokchung district, Imkong however made it clear that all those figures were mostly on “papers” except for the car parking cum shopping complex, which was also yet to take off construction.

“As a senior Minister he is responsible to explain to the satisfaction of my statement,” Imkong further stated. But instead of performing his responsible duties, the Minister tried to bring “communal color” saying Kohima was not for a particular tribe but for all. Terming it as “very unfortunate,” the Leader of Opposition made it clear that he was not against the “capital development” but “against the misuse of fund in the name of capital development.”
Imkong also alleged that nearly 100 crores of rupees worth of land had been purchased at exorbitant rate, citing an example of a “steep area not fit for human habitation” being acquired at an amount of Rs 60 lakh. “I am prepared to come out with more details if he wants to know about the land purchase scams and he should not try to educate me about the works program because most of the works programs are only on papers which were laid on the floor of the House,” the Leader of Opposition pointed out. “I want to know how much money spent in purchase of land for Capital Development Project (CDP).”

Inviting Dr Shurhozelie to come to Mokokchung and satisfy himself with works being undertaken---many of them were yet to see the light of the day, Imkong also asserted that he didn’t believe in propaganda as he only believed in truth and factual position, and further reminded him (Shurhozelie) that he would be the last man to “think, to talk and do things on ‘ism.”

OLD CONNECTIONS - India’s Look East policy should include a revival of cultural ties Sunanda K. Datta-Ray The Telegraph
The chanting still resonates in my ears. As, indeed, it should, for what could be more exotic than an Assamese Muslim reciting from a medieval Sanskrit poem to the glory of a king of now distant but once familiar “Cambuj-desa”, Cambodia, while refusing to join me for tea because of “Holy Eid”? That was Guwahati State Museum's director, Saharuddin Ahmed.
Pranab Mukherjee and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, giving a new twist to P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Look East policy only a few kilometres away in the Ashok Brahmaputra hotel, should have witnessed the phenomenon. It would have told them that building bridges with eastern Asia is primarily a question of reviving ancient ties of people and culture, not of playing footsie with repressive army generals. They should also have been at Guwahati’s Assam Administrative Staff College the previous day when, gazing at the assembled officers, I could have sworn I was back in southeast Asia. The same pale complexions, high cheekbones, flattened noses and narrowed eyes. Here and there, a darker skin or sharper features spoke of other itinerant strains — Bengali, Rajput or Mughal. Shankar Nandy, who runs the college, is of Bengali descent. The light eyes of another member of his service, K.J. Hilaly, betrays his west or central Asian roots. Subrata Rajkumar is ethnically Manipuri and a Vaishnav. According to Jishnu Barua, a commissioner in the state government, 10 or 12 ethnic groups were represented in that room. Barua’s great-grandfather, Chandrakant Singh, in his time head of the Ahom royal family, was presented to George V and Queen Mary at the 1912 Delhi Durbar.
One of the officers at the Administrative Staff College had a question. Apparently, Mukerjee had urged his audience at the three-day seminar on “India’s Look East Policy: Challenges for Sub-Regional Cooperation” to travel to southeast Asia by road, air and sea. One version had it that he had called on locals to walk, fly and swim. However he may have phrased the advice, the official wanted to know how people of landlocked Assam could go anywhere by water. Someone else asked if the Moreh gateway between Manipur and Myanmar did not encourage the entry of AIDS. Or of political unrest. A more serious concern was that even if the new Look East policy develops trade and tourism between India and southeast Asia, the northeast may not benefit. The advantages would overfly the region, bringing no advantage to the people of the Seven Sisters, eight including Sikkim.
The questions reflected the isolation in which the region has been sealed. Verrier Elwin’s philosophy for the former North-East Frontier Agency (now Arunachal Pradesh) influenced Jawaharlal Nehru’s thinking on the entire northeast. Believing it to be lost in 1962 made things worse. But I am not sure if retaining the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873 in the form of the Inner Line Permit travel restrictions even for Indian citizens for Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram has saved indigenous lifestyles from corruption or protected indigenous people from exploitation. True, other states are clamouring for protection. Manipur feels it was hard done by in 1950, when a chief commissioner abolished the Inner Line Permit system introduced in 1931. The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad fears that Assam will be overrun by outsiders, including, most notoriously, those from the continuing illegal influx from Bangladesh, without such protection. When the Marxists were in power in Agartala, they demanded similar safeguards for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council regions.
These demands are inspired partly by the illusion of legal protection and partly by the attractive opportunities offered by any preventive law. A ban on passports means brisk trade in “jungle passports”. Benami transactions make a mockery of legal stipulations. Matrimony is an infallible loophole. It’s more important to prevent well laid-out towns from degenerating into urban slums, as is happening in places like Guwahati, Shillong and Imphal. As for people, Tibeto-Burman tribes that have made the journey over time and space can find their own ways of absorbing demographic challenges. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) group decided recently that Gurkhas, ex-soldiers whom the British resettled in the region as a first line of defence, are a part of the Naga community. Assamese Muslims, Saharuddin Ahmed’s community, are seeking constitutional recognition as an ethnic, not religious, minority. Marwari businessmen are a formidable presence in Assam.
And so it goes on. Mixing and separating, forming new entities, then fragmenting into many units in the melting pot of races. There must be 30 or 40 groups in Assam alone, newly arrived communities still locked in the impregnable bastion of their alien tongue. But the overall trend is towards assimilation. If the old Hyderabad state boasted a “composite” culture, Assam gave India the legend of unity in diversity.
In the early Nineties, Harendranath Das, then Assam’s chief secretary, neatly summed up the state’s relations with southeast Asia with a classical European parallel. Rome conquered Greece, he quoted, Greece conquered Rome. So, too, did these Mongoloid peoples, some originally from the Chinese province of Yunnan, succumb over the years to the ethos of the land they had occupied — conquered is probably too strong a word — and made their own. It’s only to the outsider that the variety seems surprising. Those who belong don’t bat an eyelid. If anything, they grieve for the even greater diversity of a time when Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram were in Assam. Burma was also once a presence, raiding and ravaging.
As has been said before by many, including Narasimha Rao, India has absorbed all outsiders except European colonists. Wave upon wave of Mongoloid tribes fall into that category. Most may have lost their language but many customs remain. Barua says his wedding was celebrated not with slokas and Brahmins but with the 106 earthen lamps of Ahom usage. Custom can be linked with other societies, especially in Thailand and Laos. Language can be revived. There was a plan in Das’s time to import a language teacher from Laos. I don’t know what came of it. Ahmed mentions a proposal now to add a southeast Asia wing to the Guwahati Museum, which boasts a rich and surprisingly well-organized collection of Assam’s artefacts. I hope it will soon be realized in order to highlight the greater unity of the Tai-Kadai language family of which Thai, Lao and Ahom are members. That’s what makes Ahmed’s erudition so valuable. Of course, it’s great for national integration that an observant Muslim in modest circumstances should as a child have learnt Persian and Arabic in the mornings and mastered Sanskrit and Pali at an old-fashioned tol in the evenings. What is even more remarkable in the present context is that he should recite verses to the greater glory of a southeast Asian kingdom. The software of connectivity is at least as important as the weapons India sells Myanmar.
Barua has hilarious tales of travelling with his wife, also Ahom, in eastern Asia. The Japanese took her for one of themselves. A Bangkok hotel demanded the identification card that local women must produce before they can check in. Myanmar’s airport authorities demurred when she followed her husband on the VIP route.
The past that lives on, sublimally perhaps, deserves to be nurtured, not in India alone but throughout southeast Asia with museums, language instruction, research centres and educational tours and exchanges. An Association of Southeast Asian Nations project perhaps, financed by the Asian Development Bank, to trace, establish and strengthen cultural links between the Asean and Asean’s most important dialogue partner. Why has the Asean car rally not been followed up? Bangkok’s recent Investment Week was another missed opportunity. The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Project can also embrace the Irrawady and the Brahmaputra. China’s soft power is making huge inroads in Cambodia while India neglects a golden opportunity. Is Pranab Mukherjee listening? sunanda.dattaray@gmail.com
Officials launch protest against kidnapping by KRA Newmai News Network
Imphal In the backdrop of attacking and abducting spree meted out to the government officials in Manipur for various alleged derelictions by the militants operating in Manipur and also for ransom, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sought detail reports on the series of abductions and shooting of officials of the Education department from the Manipur home department at earliest. The latest of such a case has been the abduction of Manipur's Public Health and Education Department (PHED) engineers since October 12 for a ransom at a whopping Rs.1 crore by suspected Kuki Revolution Army (KRA).
Following this development the members of the PHED Workers and Employees Organisation (PHED-WEO) today began an indefinite sit-in-protest agitation demanding the safe release of the three abducted engineers. While protesting the abduction, the PHED-WEO maintained that its agitation will not hamper the fighting of flood related problems in the state since most of their staffs/workers are in the flood affected areas as part of their duties.
The three abducted officials of PHED are Executive Enigineer (EE), L. Ibomcha of Kwakeithel, Assistant Engineer (AE), O. Meino Meitei of Okram Chuthek and Section Officer (SO) N. Opendro fo Bashikhong. According to spokesperson of the PHED employee body, Kh. Ingotombi, the three engineers have been abducted for the ransom of Rs.1 crore on October 12 afternoon, from Moirangpurel area under Imphal East district, while they were on official duty.
He disclosed that altogether six persons were abducted on the fateful day but the three employees holding four-grades job were released on the day itself with the message of ransom while other three officials are still in the militants' custody. The PHED spokesperson also said that the department could not arrange the huge amount for ransom purpose; hence they had already referred the matter to the concerned PHED minister for taking up further steps.
Mentioned may be made that some days ago, the Kangla Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) under the Operation of New Kangleipak (ONK) pulled up some officialsf rom Manipur Education Department on the charges of alleged corruption and miss-used of power while in office. The militants awarded the officials with different penalty, some with "bullets on the legs" while some got "stern warning" and then released. Presently, the Education department seems to have been plagued with several fake teachers' appointment cases as the militants had released data along with other details on the matter. On the other hand, the Imphal based daily (Imphal Free Press) reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs through the director of North East region, AK Goyal sought reports from the Manipur Home department over the cases where militants' pulling up corrupt officials, right from the incident when the then Vice-Chancellor of Manipur University, Ng. Bijoy Singh in 2004 who was shot in the leg as punishment for committing corrupt practice, upto the incident of the abduction of Board of Secondary Education, Manipur (BSEM) secretary on September 28 this year.
Arms haul in Karbi Anlgong Sushanta Talukdar The Hindu Guwahati: Police recovered a huge cache of arms belonging to the militant outfit Black Widow — the anti-talks faction of the Dima Halam Daogah — from a sugarcane field at Nepali Basti in Karbi Anlgong district on Friday. Guided by arrested militants, a team from the North Cachar Hills district recovered 10 AK-47s, 640 rounds of ammunition, one lethode gun and a stengun. Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Karbi Anglong) L.R. Bisnoi told The Hindu that the recovery was made at the Nepali Basti, about 6 km off Jirikinding under the Hamren police station.
Cash recovered On Thursday, the police also recovered Rs.18 lakh in cash from Black Widow militants. The recovery came close on the heels of the arrest of hardcore cadres of the Black Widow, including the third most important leader of the anti-talks outfit, Action Dimasa.
Assam Governor Lt.Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh said the Action Dimasa was the main accused in the assassination of the Chief Executive Member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Council Purnendu Langthasa in June this year.
Mizoram urges India to pressure Burmese junta Mizzima News
Mungpi - Singed by the heat of the political turmoil in neigbouring Burma, people in India 's northeastern state of Mizoram today appealed to the government of India to use its influence to pressurise the Burmese junta to implement changes in the country. The Mizoram Committee for Democracy in Burma (MCDB), formed with several civil societies, human rights activists, intellectuals, and concerned citizens of Mizoram at a press conference today reiterated the need for India's intervention in Burma's political crisis.
"We want democracy in Burma and India, being the largest democracy in the world and a neighboring country, should play a vital role in promoting democracy in Burma," Muanpuia, member of the MCDB, said. Mizoram, which borders Burma's northwestern Chin state, hosts over 60,000 Burmese refugees, particularly ethnic Chins living across its eastern border. With a porous border stretch of over 200 kilometers, Burmese refugees since 1962 have been crossing over to Mizoram for better living conditions and to escape persecution by the Burmese junta. "With a democratic government in Burma, the refugee problem will be solved in the first place," Muanpuia added. Besides the influx of refugees and migrants, there have been reports of illicit drug smuggling from Burma to Mizoram similar to other Indian northeastern states that shares common borders with Burma.
"We call on the Indian government to use its influence to pressure the Burmese military regime for changes in the country," said Muanpuia, adding that the committee, with its appeal for supporting democracy in Burma, will submit a memorandum to the President of India on Monday. The Committee's press conference in Aizawl is the second such activity that the people of Mizoram have taken in support of the Burmese democracy struggle following the monk-led protests in Burma that was brutally crushed by the ruling junta.
A Burmese journalist in Aizawl said, since last month's protests in Burma, there has been increasing awareness about the Burmese peoples' struggle for democracy among the people in the northeastern region. "We have seen that there has been an increase in awareness about Burma and the people here are more sympathetic towards the Burmese people," said the journalist.
Meanwhile, New Delhi is maintaining its distance in dealing with the Burmese political crisis. In what critics said is a balancing act, India while maintaining a good relationship with the Burmese generals is also joining the international community's call for democratic changes in Burma by issuing a few statements that are carefully worded to avoid alienating the generals. The New Delhi UN information centre has said, the UN Secretary General's special adviser on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, who is currently on a six-nation tour in Asia to engage and consult regional countries on Burma, will arrive in the capital on Sunday.

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