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12/25/2007: "Guns rob Nagas of X’mas spirit OUR CORRESPONDENT The telegraph"

Guns rob Nagas of X’mas spirit OUR CORRESPONDENT The telegraph

Kohima, Dec. 24: Guns are booming in Kangtsung village of Nagaland while carols herald Christmas in the rest of the state. The village, the biggest under Tuli Assembly constituency, has resembled a battle zone since Saturday evening because of clashes between supporters of two aspirants for tickets to the Assembly polls, scheduled for February.
Talinungsang Ao, a former minister, and Imti Jamir, both from the village, are aspiring for the Congress ticket.
Ao was a minister in the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government and had recently defected from the Nagaland People’s Front, a partner in the ruling coalition. Jamir, a Congress worker, was recommended as the candidate for the Tuli seat by the party’s Mokokchung unit.
A resident of Tuli sub-division, some 350km from here in Mokokchung district, told The Telegraph over phone that there has been heavy firing between the two groups over the past two days. Sources said both the groups are heavily armed and intermittent firing is still on. No deaths have been reported, but supporters of both sides have been injured. The number of the wounded could not be ascertained as no outsider was allowed to enter the village. At least three vehicles have been set on fire.
District administration officials could not be contacted as offices are closed for Christmas and the New Year. The sources said no official from the administration had visited the village and there were very few police personnel in the vicinity of the village.
The sources said the villagers’ patience was running out, as they were unable to celebrate Christmas. The constituency has the worst record in the history of Nagaland elections.
It has witnessed similar situations in all the past elections. At least five persons were killed and a woman was raped in election-related incidents in the village this year.
Cabinet defers decision on President's rule in Nagaland Earth Times London



New Delhi, Dec 24 - The union cabinet Monday discussed the issue of imposing President's rule in Nagaland following political instability in the northeastern state, but failed to arrive at any decision.
The subject of imposing President's rule came up during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Well-placed government sources told IANS that the issue was discussed briefly during the meeting but a decision was deferred to a later date as it was felt that imposing President's rule at this juncture will not benefit the Congress.
The political stability of the Nagaland government has come under a cloud with two Nagaland People's Front (NPF) legislators deserting the party to join the newly-formed Congress-led Nagaland Progressive Alliance (NPA).
The NPF is a major ally of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN). With two of its legislators defecting to the Congress-led alliance it has reduced Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio's government to a minority.
Following the defections, the Congress on Dec 13 moved a no-confidence motion against the Rio government, but the speaker had ruled favouring the government and said that the votes of defected legislators could not be counted.
In support of his ruling, the speaker also submitted reports of some legal experts to assert that his ruling was perfectly legal.
Following dismissal of the no-confidence motion, the Congress legislators met President Pratibha Patil, seeking imposition of President's rule while Chief Minister Rio met union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, opposing the move.

ENPO endorses unification of all Nagas The Morung Express
Dimapur, December 24 (MExN): All the underground workers from the NSCN-IM, NSCN-K and FGN/NNC (non-accordists) in the “eastern” areas, endorses unification of all Nagas regardless of ‘territorial demarcation.’ This declaration was made on December 18 in a ‘summit’ held under the initiative of the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organization (ENPO), Tuensang, where several resolutions were undertaken. The resolutions are to be implemented ‘sincerely’, adhered to and upheld in the common interest and commitment to the unity of Nagas, a copy of the resolutions stated.
“In principle,” the ENPO, the “Eastern Naga National Workers Union” of the NSCN-IM, “Eastern Naga National Workers Association” of the NSCN-K and the NNC/FGN (non-accordists) from the ‘eastern’ areas under the ENPO’s jurisdiction resolved to “support” unification of all Nagas regardless of “territorial demarcation.”
There should be no bloodshed, threat, intimidation or any form of violence within the ENPO’s jurisdiction, inclusive of Naga territories in Myanmar, the copy stated. “The ENPO shall not extend any public cooperation to any factions/group for non-compliance of the above and ENPO shall also question the same” the organizations stated. The same appeal is made to all Nagas.
Further consultative meetings among the said underground groups as well as the ENPO in the “eastern” areas will resolve to be held as and when the need arises. “We solemnly affirm and pledge to implement, abide and uphold the above resolutions in good spirit and faith” the copy stated. The ‘summit’ made a prayerful appeal to all Naga undergrounds from “eastern” Nagaland to earnestly deliberate on the issue of Naga unification and other related issues and to this effect, independently share views, opinions and endeavor towards the same.
No Delhi rule in Nagaland OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT |The Telegraph
New Delhi, Dec. 24: The Union cabinet today failed to reach a consensus on the proposal to impose President’s rule in Nagaland.
“The reference to impose President’s rule in Nagaland was considered and rejected by the cabinet,” a highly-placed source said.
Congress leaders from the state have been trying for the past week to convince the central leadership to dismiss the Neiphiu Rio-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government.
They held meetings with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union home minister Shivraj Patil, claiming that the state government had been reduced to a minority.
Sources said the cabinet members were so divided on the issue that the proposal was summarily rejected. A majority of the cabinet was of the opinion that it would be pointless to impose President’s rule in a state that was going to have Assembly polls in a couple of months.
The political crisis in Nagaland began after the DAN government survived a no-confidence motion on December 13.
The Congress that had moved the motion has since been contesting Speaker Kiyanielie Peseyie’s ruling in favour of the government.
The party, which recently formed the Nagaland Progressive Alliance (NPA) with some disgruntled legislators of the Nagaland People’s Front, the Janata Dal (United) and three Independents, claimed to have majority support in the Assembly.
As the NPA leaders started lobbying in Delhi for imposition of President’s rule in the state, the BJP, which is part of the DAN, charged the Congress with playing the toppling game in Nagaland just months before the elections with a “sinister design”.
BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy alleged that the Congress had a “sinister design” to misuse the government machinery.
Rio also warned that any attempt to impose central rule in the state would derail the ongoing Naga peace process. “Any attempt to dislodge a democratically-elected government will have serious ramifications on the ongoing peace process,” he said recently.
Militant outfits defy truce norms By R Dutta Choudhury Assam tribune
GUWAHATI, Dec 24 – The failure of the Central and State Governments to strictly enforce the ground rules of the ceasefire agreements signed with militant groups, which have come forward for talks with the Government for political solution of their problems, has created fresh law and order problem for Assam. Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that the slow progress of the peace talks is one of the reasons for the fresh problems faced by Assam as members of the militant outfits under ceasefire agreements with the Government are allegedly indulging in anti-social activities. As per the ground rules of the ceasefire agreements, the concerned State Governments can take action as per law against any member of the militant groups under ceasefire agreement if he is involved in any illegal activity, but the same is not followed strictly.

Sources pointed out that the NSCN (I-M) signed a ceasefire agreement with the Government of India more than ten years back, but the members of the outfit are still extending helping hand to the militant groups active in the neighbouring States. Sources pointed out that the Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA), formed in 2004, received a big boost after it started receiving support from the NSCN. According to information available with the security agencies, the ANLA and NSCN came into an agreement last year, which gave a big boost to the Adivasi outfit. On the other hand, security agencies are of the view that the NSCN is still extending a helping hand to the DHD(J), commonly known as the Black Widow group, which is very active in the North Cachar Hills and it is believed that cadres of the NSCN also took part in a few major operations of the Black Widow group.

Sources said that the NSCN has been extending help to the smaller militant groups of Assam in an attempt to extend its cases for the creation of greater Nagalim and security agencies suspect that from time to time, leaders of these groups are given shelter in the designated camps of the NSCN. Sources revealed that the issue was raised by Government in the meetings with the NSCN from time to time and the leaders of the outfit simply deny the same. The Assam Government has also taken up the issue with the Centre, but that failed to prevent the Naga group from helping newly formed outfits.

Similarly, the ceasefire agreement with the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) is also facing hurdles because of the slow progress of the peace talks and there have been allegations of members of the outfit indulging in unlawful activities like extortions. Sources said that though more than two years have passed since the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the Government and the NDFB, the talks on political issues are yet to begin and the Government has claimed that the failure on the part of the militant group to submit the charter of demands is the reason for the delay.

Security sources said that after the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 2004, the NDFB submitted a list of more than a thousand cadres and though as per the ground rules of the agreement, all the cadres should stay in the designated camps, majority of the cadres are still outside, which created problems and it is impossible to prevent them from indulging in any unlawful activity. The NDFB now has only three designated camps and it is not possible to keep all the cadres there. Sources said that the Government of India released funds to the State Government for construction of designated camps to keep all cadres of the NDFB as per the list submitted by the outfit, but the State has not yet been able to complete the camps, because of which majority of the members of the outfit are still outside the camps.

Same is the case with the DHD and UPDS as the members of the outfit were allegedly involved in several cases of unlawful activities in recent past and they were also involved in violent gun battle in the district of Karbi Anglong last year, which forced thousands of villagers to escape from their homes.

Sources admitted that the slow progress of the peace talks is the main reason for the present situation. “The suspension of operations is only the means for starting political talks, but it is not the end and the problems will persist till political solution to the problems is arrived at,” sources added. Security sources also admitted that the slow progress of the talks with DHD and UPDS also helped groups like the Black Widow and KLNLF to strengthen their bases in the districts of NC Hills and Karbi Anglong.
Peace prayers and celebrations in Northeast Hindustan Times
Thousands of Christians in India's northeast joined a midnight mass in churches across the region to pray for peace and well being of the human race.
With church bells echoing across the hills and dales of the region, and throngs of people packing churches to join in the festive prayer and song in celebration of Jesus' birth, the northeast was drowned in yuletide passion.
"Christmas is the day when people tend to forgive and forget everything and simply rejoice. This is also the day when people pray for peace and prosperity of the state, the nation, and for the entire human race at large," Thomas Menamparampil, Archbishop of Guwahati, told IANS.
Worshippers across the region lit candles, sang carols and organised festive feasts to celebrate Christmas. "We organised a small Christmas breakfast for the less fortunate, the homeless, distressed and lonely, for whom the festive season would otherwise be miserable," said Rumi Baruah, a college teacher in Guwahati.
Christmas across the seven northeastern states has always been different from the rest of the country with people from all faiths joining the celebrations, thereby strengthening the bond of mutual respect.
The states of Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland are predominantly Christian.
Christians accounts for about 15 per cent of the 40 million people in the northeast.
"We always make it a point to visit our Christian friends on Christmas day. We also join them in the festivities," said Harish Bhargav, a businessman in Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland. Christmas was also celebrated with gusto at camps of separatist guerrilla groups in the region - the northeast is home to 30-odd rebel armies. "We prayed for peace. Our cadres had a hearty Christmas eve dinner and they all were in very jubilant mood," a senior leader of a Naga separatist group said. Almost all churches in the region held special peace prayers with the northeast ravaged by decades of violent insurgency.
"People cannot rejoice unless there is peace. We hope our prayers are answered. We want an end to all forms of bloodshed and killings," Reverend N Pau, a Baptist church leader in Guwahati, said.
Blockade by tribal protestors hits Assam oil production The Morung Express
Guwahati, December 24 (Agencies): A tribal group in the northeastern state of Assam has held state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) to ransom with production of crude oil and natural gas being hit Monday following an oil blockade, the third this month, officials said. The 36-hour oil blockade by the All Assam Muttock Yuba Chatra Sanmelan (AAMYCS), which began 6 a.m. Sunday, has also seen acts of vandalism with protestors damaging two OIL vehicles, besides other stray incidents during the past 36 hours, a police spokesman said. AAMYCS has been pressing OIL to announce a Rs.10-billion ($253 million) economic package for the Muttock ethnic group, who dominate certain areas where the company operates in eastern Assam. 'Oil production has been hit and several operational sites were forced to shut down as we were unable to send our workers due to the strike,' Phanindra Dev Choudhury, an OIL spokesman, told IANS over telephone. 'We are yet to assess the production loss. It would be quite substantial,' Choudhury said.
The same group had resorted to a similar 36-hour oil blockade from the morning of Dec 9, forcing OIL authorities to shut down an oil collecting centre at Dikom, besides restricting movement of operation-related vehicles and machinery in drilling sites in eastern Assam's Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. On Dec 6, the AAMYCS had its first oil blockade this year when miscreants had set an OIL vehicle ablaze, damaged several oil tankers and assaulted three officials working for the oil major.
The police had arrested eight youths on that occasion belonging to the minority Muttock community in connection with the vandalism. Public sector companies in industry-starved Assam have always been under pressure from local groups for jobs and contracts, but it is for the first time that a local organisation has come up with a demand for an economic package for a particular community.
'We are bent on pushing ahead with our demand,' AAMYCS general secretary Mintu Borpatra said. India produces about 30 million tonnes of crude oil annually, with Assam accounting for about 5 million tonnes. OIL produces about 3.5 million tonnes of crude in Assam annually.
28 Meitei passengers held hostage by Kuki ultras, freed Assam Tribune
IMPHAL, Dec 24 – Armed militants of Kuki National Front-President (KNF-P) took 28 Meitei tribals, including students, hostage for some hours before releasing them in Senapati district of Manipur following a feud with another rebel group, official sources said today, reports PTI. Sources said the militants abducted the passengers from two Guwahati-bound buses at Kangpokpi area, about 25 kms north of here on National Highway 39 yesterday, and took them to an isolated place.

The incident occured after a gunfight between KNF-P and banned People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the wee hours of yesterday in Thoubal district in which two PLA insurgents were killed, sources said. Reports said the Kuki militants held the passengers captive for some hours following reports that three KNF-P militants were picked up and in the custody of PLA insurgents who were mostly Meiteis.

The militants then released the passengers after getting information that the three KNF-P were freed by the PLA. Police rescued the passengers from an isolated area near Kangpokpi, sources said.Some of the passengers, who were freed last evening, told reporters that the KNF-P militants had threatened to kill them if three of their activists were not freed by PLA.

While PLA, armed wing of the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), has been waging an armed struggle for an ‘Independent Manipur’ for over four decades, KNF-P has been fighting for disintegration of Manipur on ethnic lines. Official sources said security measures around Kangpokpi area were intensified to prevent recurrence of abduction of passengers by armed militants.

Assamese, tribal leaders condemn violence By ANI Peter Alex Todd
Guwahati, Dec 25 (ANI): Opposition is building up against violence perpetrated by various militant groups in the State. The tribals, for whose cause the violence is ostensibly taking place, feel that the incidents only results in alienating them from the rest of the country, and realise that violence is not helping in furthering their cause.
The bomb blasts that occur in Railway trains, they feel, only distance them from the rest of the country and not helping them to get the desired Scheduled Tribe status.
The blast on the train in Dibrugarh on December 12 only earned them a bad name. It is suspected that the powerful blast on the Dibrugarh-Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani Express in which five people were killed and nine others injured was the handiwork of the All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA). Md. Islam, a taxi driver, said: "Whichever party has done it, has done a very wrong thing. These things would not benefit the nation. It would be a loss for all of us."
Phanenmo Rengma, a lecturer, said: "All of us are against it (violence). We are responsible citizens and should see that these incidents don't happen." Nihan Anglong Youth Association Secretary Benting Tero has appealed the AANLA to leave the path of violence and return to the negotiating table.Tribal leaders have condemned the violent acts.
All Assam Tribal Sangh Dhiren Ingti Joint Secretary said: "Violence is not the solution to any problem. Violence always has opposite reaction, which is nothing but violence."
The residents want that the Central Government to grant the promised Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the tribals in Assam. One of the main demands of the tribal groups in Assam is giving them the ST status, which they feel has been denied to them in 1951, while other tribal groups in the country were given that status.
Debeshwar Sonowal, a resident, said "Government is not doing right. It has said that it will provide the status to them and now they are not taking any step."
Union Tribal Affairs Minister PR Kyndia, recently, met tribal leaders from Assam on this issue and assured that the government will approach the issue with an open mind. Six tribal groups were invited for talks but only two turned up. They were critical of the Rajdhani train blast.
Tai-Ahom group Working President Nava Phukan said: "We are against all kinds of violence. Violence can't solve any problem. There has to be a dialogue process."
Koch Rajbongshi President Abhijit Talukdar said: "We don't have faith on violence. But everyone has a limit to tolerate. We condemn this incident and we believe that in future that they will remain away from these types of incidents."
The Assam government is thinking of banning the violent adivasi group very soon. Analysts feel that an outfit like, AANLA, which does not have strength of more than 100 cadres, should be dealt with firmly.
"These small groups can establish network with the bigger groups and emerge as bigger outfit," said Bibhou Prasad Routary, an analyst at the Institute of Conflict Management. Routary said that violence is the result of indifferent attitude towards these outfits since they have been formed. He suggested that the ceasefire method adopted for peace in the region must not end with the agreement, but should end the insurgent movement.
"You cannot have ceasefire and let these outfits carry out their operation as what has happened in Nagaland. We have ten-year-old ceasefire with NSCN-IM and six year with NSCN-K, but close to 150 deaths occur in Nagaland every year due to internal conflicts," said Routary. (ANI)
Do They Know It's Christmas? Nagarealm.com

For Christians--and many Muslims--the main reason to celebrate this Christmas is, of course, Jesus' birth. But there are also trends in the church worldwide that make this Advent season at once a time of especial hope and a time of great suffering and darkness.

In China, despite ongoing repression (in early December, 270 house-church pastors were arrested in the city of Linyi alone), Christianity is expanding at a rate that has few parallels in history. Estimates placing the total number at over 80 million are no longer considered outlandish. Similar growth has taken place in Africa, which is now majority Christian and is likely soon to have more Christians than any other continent.

In purely numerical terms, Christianity is the world's fastest growing religion. Two-thirds of Christians and four-fifths of active Christians live outside the West, so Christianity now may well be the world's largest non-Western religion.

But for probably hundreds of millions, Christmas is shadowed by pain and fear, since this is usually the peak season for anti-Christian attacks in Pakistan, India, Sudan, Nigeria, and beyond. It is also a time when the Chinese and Vietnamese governments are prone to arrest their unregistered believers. Violence continues in Nigeria, where tens of thousands have died in conflicts around the spread of Islamic law. Nigerian Christians are also often the victims when others produce allegedly blasphemous drawings. During the 2006 "Danish cartoon riots," Muslims rioting in Borno State killed 65 and destroyed 57 churches and 250 businesses. Persecution continues in Laos, India, Iraq, Turkey,
Ethiopia, Sudan, Belarus, and elsewhere. Some Christian leaders in Gaza have been murdered while others have had to flee. Even in Britain, newspapers are reporting threats to Muslim converts to Christianity: Many remain in hiding, and one has had to move 45 times.

Other examples could be given, but two of the worst, Burma and Eritrea, receive scant attention because their repressions do not fit any wider international political agendas, hence their victims are among the world's most forgotten people.

Burma made international news this year when, in August and September, thousands of courageous Buddhist monks led peaceful demonstrations against the military regime, which responded with mass killings, beatings, and arrests of monks. Equally brave democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest, still gains some attention. But the regime's destruction of its ethnic and religious minorities seldom receives coverage, though it rivals that in Darfur.

The government's program of "Burmanization" includes not only privileges for ethnic Burmans but also promotion of Buddhism in the name of "national solidarity." The Religious Affairs Ministry is on the grounds of the World Peace Pagoda (Kaba Aye) in Rangoon, the residence for senior Buddhist monks. As shown by the Buddhist-led demonstrations this fall, this campaign is not conducted by true Buddhist leaders: They too are monitored and repressed. In a country where almost everyone is persecuted, however, the religious minorities are more so.

The minority ethnic groups have significant Christian, Muslim, and animist communities. The Chin, Kachin, and Karenni are about 90 percent Christian. The Naga have significant numbers of Christians, and the Karen are about 40 percent Christian. The government's ethnic and religious cleansing of these groups verges on the genocidal, including destruction of villages, land confiscation, forced labor, use of human minesweepers, and rape and torture--especially in the Karen, Shan, and Mon states. More than 150,000 people, predominantly Karen and Karennis, are in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. A further 200,000 Shan refugees are thought to be in Thailand without recognition or camp facilities. At least 1,000,000 people are internally displaced. Since 1996, the army has destroyed over 3,000 villages in eastern Burma.

This repression has specific religious elements. Mosque and church construction is forbidden. Christians are forced to engage in destruction of churches, and Muslims of mosques. On pain of death they are conscripted into forced labor, including building pagodas and monasteries. There is forced conversion. In Chin State unmarried Buddhist government soldiers have been encouraged, with offers of higher rank and privileges, to marry and convert Christian Chin women. Torture is widespread, with reports this fall of prisoners being roasted over fires.

A rival to Burma's brutality is Eritrea which, since its 1993 independence from Ethiopia, has maintained itself as a militarily mobilized national security state. Only four religious groups--Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Orthodox Christianity, and Sunni Islam--are allowed. Adherents of other faiths are viciously attacked, especially Pentecostals and other evangelicals. In compulsory military service, Bible reading and prayer are banned. Violators may be imprisoned and required to sign statements renouncing their belief as a condition of release. In one instance parents were asked to sign a document stating that their children would be liable to execution if taking part in forbidden religious activities. Unauthorized meetings of more than seven are forbidden: Entire wedding parties have been arrested.

The number of imprisoned evangelicals is probably over 2,000, some 10 percent of the country's total. Incarceration is brutal, with underground cells or metal shipping containers serving as especially severe punishment cells. The Bada detention center is more than 200 feet below sea level and can have temperatures over 130 degrees. People die or go insane. In
one incident in 2003, 57 teenagers found with Bibles at a summer military camp were held jailed in metal containers to force them to abandon their faith, and all but six died. In 2005, 161 young people were killed attempting to flee the harsh conditions.

Torture is commonplace, especially tying prisoners in painfully contorted positions for hours or days at a time. In October 2006, two Christians, Immanuel Andegergesh and Kibrom Firemichel, were tortured to death in a military camp. In February of this year, Magos Solomon Semere died under torture at the Adi-Nefase Military Confinement facility outside Assab. On September 5, a 33-year-old woman, Nigisti Haile, was tortured to death at the Wi'a Military Training Center for refusing to recant her Christian faith.

For those who celebrate Christmas and those who do not, this season is an excellent time to remember these and other forgotten people of the world. And New Year's is a good time to resolve that they shall be less forgotten. Paul Marshall is senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom. His World Survey of Religious Freedom will be published by Rowman and Littlefield in January. [Paul Marshall , weeklystandard]

BJP on a comeback trail: Advani (Agencies)

New Delhi, December 23: “BJP is on a comeback trail”, is what the party`s senior leader LK Advani had to say at the news of BJP’s triumph in Gujarat. Giving credit to Modi’s development policies, he said that Modi has disapproved the theory that “elections can’t be won on development plank”. “People have voted for his leadership,” he said.
However, surprisingly BJP’s first official response to the party’s stupendous win in the Gujarat assembly elections came not from the Man of the Moment, Narendra Modi, but from party chief Rajnath Singh.
Speaking at a hastily convened press conference Singh said, “I thank the people and the party’s cadre for working towards this victory. It’s the fourth time we have won and I believe our ideology has won and the leadership of Modi.”
Allaying fears that Modi would become too big a leader for the comfort of the central leadership Singh said, “There is no fear in BJP over Modi’s rise. Nobody is bigger than the party. He has done well in making Gujarat a model state in terms of development.”
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad while addressing the media termed the victory as the new milestone in country’s politics. “Our model of all inclusive growth has worked. The political ramifications of the win go much beyond Gujarat.”
Moreover, high on its success despite the dissidence in the party, BJP has decided to crack its whip on the rebels. Independent reports have suggested that senior party leader Keshubahi Patel and Kashiram Rana, who had been issued notices, would have to go if found guilty of anti-party work.
Predictably feeling proud over Modi’s achievement in Gujarat, the state in-charge and Modi’s chief spin doctor, Arun Jaitley said, “Modi has gained in stature, and it’s not just his charisma that’s at work but more importantly his immense credibility.”
On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy analyzed the win by saying that Modi’s return has proved that development coupled with nationalist agenda works.
BJP terms Gogoi as ‘biggest failure’ By our Staff Reporter Sentinel
GUWAHATI, Dec 24: Jubilant over its overwhelming victory in Gujarat, the Asom Pradesh BJP has rated Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as the ‘biggest failure’ as a Chief Minister in the country and described him as the “merchant of corruption.” BJP State president Ramen Deka, while addressing the press here today to mark his party’s Gujarat victory, said the performance of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Asom counterpart is beyond comparison.
“Modi wins against all odds and pseudo-secularist campaign, by providing corruption-free good governance and development in Gujarat,” he said. This is a positive mandate in favour of the BJP’s ideology, cultural nationalism and positive secularism, he claimed. He was flanked by former State president of the party Indramoni Bora among others.
Terming Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s remark describing Modi as the “merchant of death,” Deka said such a comment about a elected Chief Minister is unfortunate. He thinks the only objective of the Congress president was to appease the Muslims by passing such cheap comments.
Referring to the election result in the NC Hills election, the BJP State president claimed that a popularity wave in favour of his party is sweeping from the eastern part of the country to the west and it certainly will have an impact in the ensuing panchayat poll. “In the ensuing poll we will definitely do well and the BJP has decided to make corruption and price hike its main poll plank,” he declared.
He assures good governance and corruption free panchayat system if the party is came to power. Dismissing the Congress claim of economic development in the State, Deka said the Chief Minister has so far failed to provide any proper figure of the GDP growth in the State. On the other hand, demanding CBI inquiry into the economic offences like the Golaghat PDS scam and police battalion scam to unearth the culprits is yet to be addressed by Dispur, he said.
The State Government has also failed to prevent repeated ethnic clashes in the State, he said. However, he appealed to the organizations, which have given a boycott call to the panchayat election, for not to repeat the 1983 situation, which will only benefited the Congress, he clarified. The Congress has managed to form a “illegal Government” at Dispur that year uncontested, he added.
However, the BJP president, expressing satisfaction on his recent election tour to the tea belt in upper Asom, claimed that the party has made inroads among the tea tribe community, which was once considered as the traditional support base of the Congress.