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04/08/2008: "Cadre abductions continue morungexpress"

Cadre abductions continue morungexpress

Dimapur, April 5 (MExN): Abduction of rival factional cadres continues, with the NSCN-IM today lamenting that one of its cadres, a “sgt. major” James was abducted from his residence at Burma Camp in Dimapur on April 4 by the GPRN/NSCN Unification group. An MIP note said the cadre was forcibly taken away in front of his wife.
The MIP also informed of reports that the said group is also checking all suspected houses of the NSCN-IM in the Burma Camp area “taking maximum advantage of the NSCN not going for any counter-action.” It also listed out a number of instances of open confrontation through abduction, snatching of arms and vehicles belonging to NSCN-IM functionaries. The MIP said that on April 1, one Tatar Khriinuh Angami's house was raided in his absence, and his pistol taken away. The same day Dy Kilonser V Markritsii Angami’s house was raided and his vehicle was forcibly seized. On April 4 another Tatar KV Paulus was confronted in his house by the Unification group and after assaulting him, they took away an AK and a Sten-Carbine. The same day one Shomy Sharon, “SO” and one T. Shangreingam “ASO” were abducted from super Market, the MIP stated.
The NSCN-IM says its priority has always been to “respect the public appeals” to give peace a chance no matter what provocation, but “it is now left to Naga civil societies to interpret this direct confrontation in a very perspective manner because an unprecedented show of provocation is deliberately enact with the active collusion of certain forces out to change the course of the Indo-Naga political peace process.”
The NSCN-IM lamented that there is a “strong indication” that the newly formed 'Reconciliation Forum' with Rev Dr. Wati Aier as the convener bears no meaning to those who are determined to wreck any prospect of peace in Nagalim.” The voice and conscience of the public when not given the value it deserves is just one symptom of the destructive mindset, it added.
Cadre abductions continue morungexpress
Dimapur, April 5 (MExN): Abduction of rival factional cadres continues, with the NSCN-IM today lamenting that one of its cadres, a “sgt. major” James was abducted from his residence at Burma Camp in Dimapur on April 4 by the GPRN/NSCN Unification group. An MIP note said the cadre was forcibly taken away in front of his wife.
The MIP also informed of reports that the said group is also checking all suspected houses of the NSCN-IM in the Burma Camp area “taking maximum advantage of the NSCN not going for any counter-action.” It also listed out a number of instances of open confrontation through abduction, snatching of arms and vehicles belonging to NSCN-IM functionaries. The MIP said that on April 1, one Tatar Khriinuh Angami's house was raided in his absence, and his pistol taken away. The same day Dy Kilonser V Markritsii Angami’s house was raided and his vehicle was forcibly seized. On April 4 another Tatar KV Paulus was confronted in his house by the Unification group and after assaulting him, they took away an AK and a Sten-Carbine. The same day one Shomy Sharon, “SO” and one T. Shangreingam “ASO” were abducted from super Market, the MIP stated.
The NSCN-IM says its priority has always been to “respect the public appeals” to give peace a chance no matter what provocation, but “it is now left to Naga civil societies to interpret this direct confrontation in a very perspective manner because an unprecedented show of provocation is deliberately enact with the active collusion of certain forces out to change the course of the Indo-Naga political peace process.”
The NSCN-IM lamented that there is a “strong indication” that the newly formed 'Reconciliation Forum' with Rev Dr. Wati Aier as the convener bears no meaning to those who are determined to wreck any prospect of peace in Nagalim.” The voice and conscience of the public when not given the value it deserves is just one symptom of the destructive mindset, it added.
FGN flays actions of dismissed cadres morungexpress
Dimapur, April 7 (MExN): The FGN, while stating that when the Naga people are pressurizing the sectarian leaders to stop killing among the Nagas, Zhopra Vero and Thepuneyi group who recently joined the ‘so-called unification camp’, started to fight against the NNC/FGN on April 3 at Phek town, Chakhesang Region.
The group stated that Zhopra and Thepuneyi were dismissed from the NNC/FGN, the Naga national service in 2003 as the duo were found involved in the Indian elections in February 2003. “They involved in the Indian elections in this year too, and then, they claim themselves as non-accordist,” stated K Thihu, assistant secretary, FGN, in a press note.
It also stated that “Mr Khaplang rejected the leadership of Isak and Muivah in 1988 and agreed to have peace with the NNC/FGN on January 10, 1991. Since then no armed clash took place among us in the interest of Naga people at large. But when the unification camp broke away from the NSCN-IM, after four months old, they are joining hands with Zhopra group to fight against the NNC/FGN. This is deplorable by all peace loving Naga people.”

Naga Hoho, ENPO issues call for Unity morungexpress

Dimapur, April 7 (MExN): The Naga Hoho and the eastern Nagaland Peoples' Organization today took a resolution to support and "cooperate" toward broad-based unification of the Nagas. The two further appealed to all sections, groups and factions to stop all forms of violence and bloodshed immediately. A joint press note appended by Naga Hoho general secretary Neingulo Krome and ENPO (A) president Tongthan Khiam, stated that the apex Naga body and the ENPO met on April 7 at Dimapur and resolved to support broad-based unification "without territorial demarcation."

ENPO and Sumi Hoho Peace rally on April 9
In a separate note, the ENPO also invited all its members and the Nagas irrespective of tribe or territory, within or outside Nagaland, to participate in a unification and peace rally at Dimapur on April 9. The rally would be at Dimapur City Tower at 9:00 am. The ENPO stated that the rally is in affirmation of last year's December 18 summit resolution at Tuensang. The summit resolution was jointly undertaken with "eastern" civil society, the NSCN-IM and the NSCN-K, FGN ("non-accordist") from the region. The resolution called for broad-based unification of all Nagas irrespective of "territorial demarcation" as well as to put stop to bloodshed.
The coordination committee of the ENPO and Sumi Hoho also informed of the rally. The "peaceful rally" is in support of unification of all Nagas "aiming at the participation at people's voice in the indo-Naga dialogue in one voice" a note from the committee stated. Civil society and leaders of the church, the Naga Hoho, the NSF, NMA, "NCD," "DNHM" and DNSU and all Nagas, are requested to attend the rally compulsorily.

NSCN (I-M) flayed for killings, abductions- Nagaland Post
Now that the situation has come to such a state, it has become all the more obvious as to the real identity of antagonist and protagonist of Naga unification.
The Hebron camp should rather feel accredited, since the on-going unification is made possible owing to "peace and reconciliation" proclamation of their Chairman Isak Chishi Swu also mandated by Chairman SS.Khaplang.
It is however regrettable and unfortunate that adverse elements within the Hebron Camp has as usual conspired to discredit the very integrity and office of their Chairman no sooner did his proclamation began yielding positive results.
If the on-going unification process and its initiators are to be dubbed anti-Naga, it is also very true that IM group is always responsible for scuttling any unity efforts of the Nagas.
The same day,following the proclamation of Isak Swu, Hebron members murdered two innocent Konyak youths at Kohima district and one innocent Angami youth at Seluphe village, further three NSCN workers from Ao community were killed by IM at Mokokchung after the cease fire agreement was signed between the NSCN, NNC and Hebron campers at Kohima on the 7th of Jan. 2008 under the aegis of Nagaland DB's and GB's joint forum.
It was followed by killing of two NSCN members at 6th mile Dimapur in the month of February 2008 and abduction of three sumi national workers and one innocent Sumi public on March 2008. The innocent public was later hacked to death while the three were later released with the intervention of "reconciliation forum" but after prolonged third degree torture.
With all these destructive factors at work, the NSCN were forced to demonstrate its resentment and this led to the arrest of some of their members. Unlike the Hebron camp, the detainees were provided with the best available amenities and later released unconditionally as a sign of our good-will gesture.
It is once again acknowledged that Naga unification efforts owes it's credit to Isak Chishi Swu, SS Khaplang, Brig. (Rtd.) Singya etc. while the rest of the Naga national workers from across different groups including Azheto Chophy is only striving to carry ahead the task of unification at the biddings of Naga leaders.
The unconditional step taken by Azheto Chophy and the Naga people is to overcome the past failed dictated terms of unification as may be referred from the previous betrayal by Th.Muivah and VS.Atem. In Jan. 2004, while the joint efforts of Konyak Union and Sumi Hoho to unite the Nagas were in earnest, VS.Atem at the directive of Th.Muivah forged Isak Swu's signature and diabolically conveyed letter to Gen.Kholi with full anticipation of its counter-productive outcome. The full text of the letter presented here-
Dear Kholi,
We are hereby sending our invitation to you to come over and join us immediately. We will work together again with a clean slate setting the past behind us as the old has been replaced by the new year. Please comply with this historic call. You should admit your mistakes of the past and seize this opportunity.
With Love and prayer.
Sincerely Yours,
(Isak Chishi Swu) (Th.Muivah)
Chairman, NSCN General Secretary,NSCN.
With all these killings and destructions spree, the IM still claims to be maintaining maximum restraint under their emblem of their peace, reconciliation and unity proclamations. It is nothing beyond speculations as to the outcome in the event of their offensive approach.
Besides the issue of identity lies the struggle for sovereignty which is not governed by mere presumptions and perceptions. The ongoing Naga unification is above any gimmickry and we guarantee the Nagas cost what may, this unification would be attained.
It’s time to stop briefing the Nagas with ire of self-descriptions and know fully well the issue of the Nagas. The NSCN has also concluded that despicable act of forging the signature of Isak Swu to malign the integrity of a gentleman leader is punishable as in accordance to the NSCN Yezabo and the law of the land.
The Naga's struggle for sovereignty is a sacred common cause and cannot be subjected to be plundered for the sake of survival of an individual, tribe or community.
Publicity Cell, GPRN/NSCN
North East of what? Maloy Krishna Dhar started life off as a junior reporter for Amrita Bazaar Patrika in Calcutta and a part-time lecturer. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1964 and was permanently seconded to the Intelligence Bureau.
During his long stint in the Bureau, Dhar saw action in almost all Northeastern States, Sikkim, Punjab and Kashmir. He also handled delicate internal political and several counterintelligence assignments. After retiring in 1996 as joint director, he took to freelance journalism and writing books. Titles credited to him are Open Secrets-India's Intelligence Unveiled, Fulcrum of Evil — ISI, CIA, al-Qaeda Nexus, and Mission to Pakistan. Maloy is considered a top security analyst and a social scientist who tries to portray Indian society through his writings.
It is rather difficult to define the geographical, political, ethnic, linguistic, cultural and economic parameters of the region we call the Northeast.
North East of what? Is it North East of geophysical India, of the Indian mindset, or is it something outside India?
One cannot challenge the geophysical map of India, which exhibits the North East as a continuation of the landmass from West Bengal along the “chicken neck” to Asom (Assam) and the former kingdom of Manipur. We have on the map ethno-political entities called Mizoram (Lushai Hills), Meghalaya (Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills) and Arunachal Pradesh (earlier know as the North East Frontier Area, or NEFA), and the former princely state of Tripura.
These “outer” parts of India, except Asom, were special territories administered by the British under different political, administrative and military dispensations.
A guided tour of 'outer' India: Part I
The chequered history of these “outer Indian territories” is very complicated and scholars ranging from Verrier Elwyn to B. G. Verghese to Sanjay Hazarika and your humble author cannot do justice to in a single volume, leave alone in a short article like this.
In fact, Indian historians - and politicians - have not applied adequate attention to these “outer” areas, and have not worked out a roadmap for their total integration with the rest of the country. We have a geophysical and political map, but there is no road map for emotional integration.
In Manipur, outsiders are called ‘mayang’, in Asom ‘bahiragoto’, in Mizoram ‘bhai.’ Till some years ago, the general Nagas contemptuously described mainland Indians as ‘Indian dogs.” The situation has not changed much since than. Mainland Indians are looked upon as imperial exploiters, and they in turn still treat the people of these “outer areas” as “naked junglees.”
We forget that Asom is also known as ‘Pragjyotishpura’- a territory that existed from time immemorial.
We have forgotten that a daughter of Manipur had defeated the Pandavas and she later married an Aryan, Arjuna.
We feign ignorance that Bhima the second Pandava had married the Kachari-Dima princes Hidimba. Who is to be blamed for this? Look within yourself for the answer.
If you are not acquainted with names of places like Hidimbapura, Jatinga, Ghaspani and Nungkao, you lack knowledge about some of the most interesting places in your own country.
Hidimbapura was the capital of the Dima-Kachari kingdom, whose princess Hidimba was married to the second Pandava, Bhima.
If you’ve visited Manali, you may have noticed or even prayed at the only Indian temple constructed in memory of the Kachari princess. It is said that while on a mahaprasthan yatra to the Himalayas, Bhima had fallen at Manali. Before dying, he had constructed the temple in memory of his wife, the only woman he was married to besides Draupadi. Perhaps you can now link the cultural connectivity.
Present day Dimapur in Nagaland still has some stone relics from the Hidimba period. But the Christian state does not publicise linkages of Dimapur with Hidimba, whose son Ghatothgaja had saved vital battles for the Pandavas against the Kauravas.
Jatinga is a fascinating village, now approachable by jeep, in the North Cachar Hills district (Karbi Anglong) of Asom. At the end of monsoon, on moonless foggy nights, hundreds of birds like pond herons, kingfishers, little egrets and others take kamikaze-type dives on the fields, and are then transported to the cooking pots of the villagers. Several foreign and indigenous researchers, as well as this author, visited the village to understand the mystery. Forget the contradictory theories. Jatinga is the only place in the world to witness such avian harakiri but fails to attract Indian tourists to the enchanting North Cachar Hills.
I would not request you to take a tour of the NC Hills now, as the area is more ruled by armed rebel groups like Dima Halam Daogah, Karbi National Volunteer Force, Hmar People’s Convention, Karbi People's Front, ULFA and NSCN (I-M) instead of the constitutional governments at the district headquarters at Diphu and the state capital Guwahati.
Before you hit Ghaspani, I would like to lead you to a small village Nungkao, in Tamenglong district of Manipur, near the Peren areas of Nagaland.
In this historic village was born a Hindu Naga lady, Rani Gaidinlieu to her Rongmei (a tribe) parents. She had revolted against proselytizing activities and territorial incursion of the British at the age of 13, was imprisoned in 1932 and finally freed in 1947.
She was honoured with a Padma Award in 1993, after plenty of haggling with the “inner India” masters in Delhi. Her tribe is now mostly converted to Christianity, though a few hundred Rongmei and Zelaing Nagas still stick to Hindu practices.
Most Hindu organisations were discouraged by Delhi and Kohima from venturing into the area. The minorities had the rights to be converted to Christianity, but had no access to mainland Hindu organisations to preserve their original religion and culture.
The endearing name Ghaspani (grass and water) was given by the by the British to a foothills village in Naga Hills which connects railhead at Dimapur with the administrative centre at Kohima in the Angami Naga tract.
The British masters, the Assamese, Bengali and Naga guides and their ponies rested at Ghaspani, collected fodder, water and rations before starting the arduous climb along the Zubza valley to Bara Basti Kohima.
PM asks people to speed up pace of growth in NE
A garrison qasba, Ghaspani still gives one a nostalgic feeling of the march of an alien civilisation to the heartland of the Naga people.
You may like to spend a night at Dimapur, look up the relics of Hidimbapura and take a car to Ghaspani before entering the gates of Kohima.
I can accompany you to the lovely town, though there are chances that you would be stopped at a couple of places by army pickets and pickets manned by uniformed and armed soldiers of the NSCN (I-M), in spite of the uneasy ceasefire.
I do not intend to take you on an arduous tour of the misty Naga Hills, but would recommend climbing the snow laden Japfu peak in winters.
The famous Valley of Flower of the East “Dzukou Valley” is no less attractive than the Himalayan Valley of Flower in Uttarakhand. The added charm is over 142 varieties of orchids in the state that can rival imported orchids from Thailand, if properly exploited and marketed. Naga orchids have not been exploited the way Sikkim has done it. At Dzukou, you shouldn’t miss the multi-coloured largest Indian Rhododendrons. I have not seen such a lush growth of Rhododendrons anywhere else in the Himalayan heights.
Please accompany me to the rural areas to witness the Hornbill Dance and enchanting Naga dances like Serkrayi, Tulani, Tokhu Emong etc, which are as vigorous and enchanting as mainland Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak are.
The villagers do not dance to order. You have to please and often tease the belles and lads to don their colourful gear and dance like vibrant animals prancing at the Intaki sanctuary on Myanmar border or at the Fakim sanctuary.
But though most of them are enchantingly beautiful, I would not advocate making advances to any Naga belle. The urban women are globally oriented, and the rural beauties are as mysterious as the mountain mists around them.
Here, I must confess a hidden dream. Had I not been married to my most beautiful wife and not been expecting my second son, by the time we reached Nagaland, I would have preferred a scintillating Chakesang beauty as my life partner.
But some dreams better remain in the realm of fantasy.
With no offence to other tribal belles, I noticed a mysterious Pacific touch in the Chakesang people. You have to believe me or accompany me to Pfutsero or nearby Chizami and Cheswezumi. I have often wondered where the belles borrowed the natural rouge hue on their cheeks!
Since Nagaland is itself a vibrant paradise I would not stress on visiting any particular tribal area- the Angami, Chakesang, Ao, Sema etc territories. However, you must accompany me to Sampure on the Myanmar border along the course of Dhansiri River, and witness the mysteries of the snowclad Saramati Hills. Bang on Myanmar border, the beautiful peak invites many climbers. However, you would require special permission to visit the border areas as there are chances of your getting caught in crossfire-of the NSCN factions and Indian army.
Your visit to the Naga Hills would remain incomplete if you did not step into the interiors of a traditional village home. Away from the concrete jungles of Kohima and Mokokchung, I would like to lead you to Wakching village in Mon Naga territory.
Don’t be afraid, there is a motorable road from Nagainimara in Asom to the dirt road-head leading to the hill-top village. A peculiar high profile frontage may greet you, adorned with bleached Mithun horns and human skulls. The Mons and Konyaks were little late in abandoning the headhunting practice. Some gaonburas (village elders) still take pride in showing their forefather’s collection of human skulls from neighbouring tribal villages.
The central fireplace (wood fired) keeps the entire house warm. You are welcome to the first chamber only, where you are cordially seated and served madhu and ruhi. The inner chambers are reserved for family use.
One advice; never finish your glass. Your hostess would keep on pouring slightly smelly intoxicants into it, just like the Japanese Geisha does as soon her guest finishes sipping his tea.
Sip slowly and enjoy the smoked dried meat and cocktail of vegetables and pork boiled in wild ginger. The innocent grin on rural Naga faces would transcend you beyond the contorted stone buildings at Kohima and the inscrutable eyes of its people.
Do not be carried away by the sneering Indian remark that the Nagas eat everything that move in the air and on the earth. I have had the pleasure of tasting roasted or fried bee-larva, raw grasshopper, lizards and of course cat, dog, monkey (no offence to Lord Hanuman worshippers) and other animal meat.
Do not shriek. You might have seen such fried and roasted winged and crawling animals hawked in the roadside vends in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other countries in South East Asia. After all, meat is meat, whether it is crab or cobra meat (with apology to vegetarians).
Oh, yes. If you are an honoured guest, the villagers might even slaughter a Mithun (Yak-Bull family) for you. Mithun was, once upon a time, like the Aryan Cow, a symbol of prosperity and authority.
I would not request you examine the diarchic rule headed by the elected government and grassroots level administration controlled by the machineries of the NSCN Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions.
These are complicated issues that fox even the seasoned mandarins in Delhi and state politicians and officers, who pay taxes both to the state exchequer and the coffers of Isak, Muivah and Khaplang.
Your enchanting journey is fraught with certain palpable dangers. The Khaplang and Isak-Muivah factions of the NSCN rule the countryside from their fortified and deadly armed camps. The ceasefire agreement does not stop additional arms flow through Bangladesh and the expansion of NSCN territorial influence in neighbouring Manipur, Assam and other tribal pockets in Nagaland.
The Naga tract is conveniently divided between the Indian Army, Underground armed insurgents and some semblance of state administration.
Delhi suffers from perpetual amnesia and occasionally wakes up to resume peace talks and declares a ceasefire. What else can you do with a part of “outer India?”
Constitutionally, geophysically and geopolitically these are parts of India. But our minds have not met; our cultures and mutual feelings have not been exchanged. We live like isolated islands in a sea of undefined and vague constitutional oneness. This illusion is both real and unreal.
The dominant Isak-Muivah faction, like the ULFA of Asom, is the father figure of all insurgent groups in the North East, numbering about 114, including nearly a dozen Muslim rebel outfits. The NSCN firepower is increasing by the day and their influence has started taking a Pan-Naga character. The dream of Nagalim- a greater Nagaland comprising Assam, Manipur Naga inhabited areas is considered as a fait accompli.
Behind the veil of the misty hills, a severe fission is in progress. Deft political handling with strict army vigil and corruption free administration are the keys to cooling down the fission process. But a corruption free India is as illusory as the gates to heaven or hell, whichever you prefer to enter.
It is the mainland Indians who must take initiative in drawing these “remote peoples” nearer to their homes and hearts.
The North East of India is not only in the northeast of India’s geophysical and geopolitical map. It is, in fact, in the remotest corner of East by North East of our national consciousness. Most us take it for granted that it exists, because the printed map says so.
In reality, it does not exist in our map of mind.
India’s Relations with Myanmar, Bangladesh What Price Democracy? by Amitava Mukherjee
Although democracy has been restored in Pakistan, it is yet to be seen whether India has taken any lesson out of it. New Delhi’s handling of military dictatorships in the subcontinent during the last thirty years does not really arouse much hope and it will not be an overstatement to say that India’s meek and unimaginative response to the Army dictatorship of Myanmar has served neither our own interests nor has it been able to do justice to the bigger cause of democracy.
To what extent Burma is really important so far as Indian foreign policy is concerned? The first point in this connection is Burma’s tacit support to the various militant secessionist insurgent groups in the North-Eastern part of our country. The second aspect is the vexed question of natural gas supply to India. Burma has an immense reserve of gas and for a long time it has been tantalising India with the prospect of gas supplies, a thing which has never materialised.
India, though outwitted and outsmarted by the Burmese military junta on several occasions, is still pinning hopes on the ‘pious wishes’ of General Than Shwe, the unquestioned supremo of the junta there. For a long time it has jettisoned the ideal and cause propagated and championed by Aung San Suu Kyi, although this Noble Laureate enjoys credentials which should make her more acceptable to the Indian political leadership than the junta of Myanmar.
Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San, the Commander of the Burma Independence Army which was reared and trained by Japan during the Second World War to fight the British Army. But Aung San was farsighted enough to see through the fascist character of the Japanese and helped the British in ousting the latter. In 1947 he negotiated Burma’s independence but was assassinated in the same year. Suu Kyi was only two years old when her father died. She was brought up by her mother, Daw Khin Kyi, a diplomat, who later became Burma’s ambassador to India in 1960. Naturally Suu Kyi has also spent several years in India and has many friends in vital positions here.
It is undeniable that Aung San Suu Kyi happens to be one of the most prominent political prisoners in South Asia. Till 1993 India had extended support to her National League for Democracy (NLD). But a succession of weak Prime Ministers like Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh and an unimaginative one like Atal Behari Vajpayee deflected New Delhi’s foreign policy from the right course.
Burma, or Myanmar as it has been christened recently, remained under the dictatorship of General Ne Win for a long time. Towards the end of the 1980s popular discontent against totalitarian rule reached its crescendo. Another coup took place and General Than Shwe usurped power as the head of a military junta. This military government later came to be known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). At that time Aung San Suu Kyi was in Burma to attend to her ailing mother. Popular movements against Army rule continued and Suu Kyi was asked to lead the nation in this hour of crisis. The lady agreed and as a result the National League for Democracy (NLD) came into being. The military misjudged the Opposition as fractured and went for elections. The NLD under Suu Kyi’s leadership swept the polls. But the junta refused to hand over power. By this time Suu Kyi was already under house arrest. Out of the last 18 years, she has spent 12 years in virtual detention.
WHAT is the record of the Burmese military junta with which India is cooperating? What roles have other South Asian nations played in this sordid tale of brutal repression of human rights? The recent inhuman tortures on the demonstrating Buddhist monks by the SPDC are still fresh in public memory. Their only “crime” was that the military government suspected them to be sympathetic to Suu Kyi. A large number of people are still languishing inside various jails of Myanmar for their love for democracy. In 2002 Suu Kyi was released from jail under intense United Nations pressure. She resumed political activities but was attacked by a junta inspired mob at a place called Depayin. But the Army laid the blame for the mob violence, which resulted in deaths and severe injuries to many NLD activists, at her door and imprisoned Suu Kyi once again.
She was married to Michael Aris, a British national and an expert on Tibetology who died in 1999 due to prostate cancer. Before his death his last wish was to come to Burma and meet his wife for the last time. But the junta refused him visa. Instead it wanted Suu Kyi to go to London and meet her husband there. The junta’s intention was clear. It would not have allowed the courageous lady to re-enter Burma again. Suu Kyi saw through the game and refused. Her husband died separated from his wife. Their two sons still live in London. They have not seen their mother for a long time.
Of late the affairs in Burma have become important in the international, particularly South Asian, diplomatic chessboard. Ibrahim Gambhari, the United Nations envoy on Burma, has talked to Suu Kyi recently although General Than Shwe refused to meet the envoy. However, the task for the United Nations is quite complex here as the junta has the backing of India, China and other ASEAN nations.
It can be said with a fair amount of certainty that New Delhi has considerably drifted from its time-tested, cardinal principles of foreign policy. India’s Burma policy also points to a myopic ineptitude that the country has been exhibiting for a long time so far as relations with military dictatorships are concerned. This rudderlessness first came to the fore after the murder of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh. It is now an open secret that Indira Gandhi was all for a decisive intervention as the news of Mujib’s death reached Delhi. But quite a few of her Cabinet colleagues, led by Jagjivan Ram, opposed any kind of activism on India’s part. As a result India lost the advantage in the days of successive coups and counter-coups that gripped Bangladesh immediately after Mujib’s killing although at least two of such coups leaders were openly pro-Indian and they had sought India’s help. The result was that Ziaur Rahman consolidated his position. And this was the point wherefrom a back-slide in foreign policy started.
In Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman turned the clock back. The idea of secularism, enshrined in the Constitution, was banished. Even during the days of the Bangladesh liberation war when he used to come to Calcutta off and on, Zia was looked upon by the Indian intelligence agencies as a man who was basically anti-Indian. Various Indian insurgent groups first set up their bases in Bangladesh during Zia’s tenure. This policy was later continued by H.M. Ershad and Khaleda Zia. Ershad made Islam the state religion. Bangladesh gradually became a centre of Islamic fundamentalism due to the policy its political and military leaders followed. But India continued to sit idle and turned its back on the developments in Bangladesh even if its own interests were undermined.
The similarity of approach in New Delhi’s dealings with Yangon and Dhaka is striking. For decades India is following a policy of appeasement to both Bangladesh and Myanmar in the hope that these two countries would extend their helping hands in combating the North-Eastern Indian ultras and fundamentalist Islamic lobbies and also agree to supply natural gas. On both counts India has been befooled. There is a lobby in South Block as well as in the Indian Army which, due to its poor understanding of the ground realities, still advocates such a meaningless approach.
LET us look at the record of the Burmese junta in this context. In 1995 a joint operation by the Indo-Burmese Army intercepted quite a large number of armed Indian ultras. A good number of them were killed. Still a large number, including Sasha Chaudhury, the ULFA’s Foreign Secretary, were arrested. Strangely the Indian Army let its Myanmar counterpart to take all the prisoners although, logically, they should have been handed over to the Indian forces. Nearly two weeks later Myanmar allowed all those prisoners to walk away with all their sophisticated arms.
Secondly, in 2000 another large group of Manipuri insurgents, including R.K. Megh------en and Jiban Singh, undisputed leaders of the United National Liberation Front and People’s Liberation Army respectively, fell into the hands of the Burmese Army. The news reached New Delhi immediately but the government here sat idle and made practically no worthwhile attempt to gain custody of those dreaded guerrillas. It is alleged that the two aforementioned Meitei ultras were released by the Western Command of the Burmese Army on paying a huge bribe.
Thirdly, throughout 2005 India spent valuable time and energy to confabulate with the General Than Shwe-led junta for striking a deal for supply of natural gas. It was really a pathetic sight of a wholly unprofessional and puerile Indian establishment trying to keep Than Shwe in good humour for the elusive natural gas. For a substantial length of time Than Shwe played tricks with India and ultimately signed the deal with China thereby promising the communist country to supply 6.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. In spite of his sordid record of human rights violations, it must be admitted that Than Shwe is a seasoned man and he knows how to achieve his goals, a quality Indian politicians as well as bureaucrats do not have. He has been able to get Myanmar into the ASEAN taking advantage of the latter’s soft underbelly—furthering only trade relations and paying very little attention to the domestic and external policies of the member nations. Consequently Thailand, the Philipines, Malaysia and even countries from the European Union have made heavy investments in Myanmar, enabling Than Shwe to come out of the isolation that his country had experienced from the days of Ne Win, and earning international respectability to be followed by peace agreements with the majority of tribal insurgent groups of his country.
India has an unfavourable balance of trade with Burma but that has not deterred the magnanimous governments of our country to take up highly capital intensive rail, road and telecommunication projects. Given the cooperation that the Burmese junta is getting from the ASEAN, China, India and some EU countries, it is only too natural that the economic sanctions imposed by the United States will not be effective and Burma has been able to tide over the sanctions. Blockade of exports to the United States has been compensated by increasing volumes of the same to friendly countries in Asia and Europe. The Burmese authority has reciprocated by chopping off the famed teak plantations and supplying the wood for furniture making purposes of the burgeoning middle and upper middle classes of various ASEAN countries. In place of teak, the government is presently carrying out large scale rubber plantations. Latex from the rubber trees will be duly exported for the fast growing automobile industry of China.
Indian policy-makers would have to do serious soul-searching now. It is understandable that one of their principal concerns is to see to it that China is checkmated in the race for one-upmanship. But the ground reality gives Beijing an advantage. It is axiomatic that the military junta will find itself more comfortable in the company of the totalitarian Communist Government of China rather than India’s live-wire democracy. Therefore it will be myopic to enter into a race with China in matters of supply of military hardwares to Burma, a thing South Block authorities are believed to be contemplating as can be gleaned from the establishment of an Army-to-Army relationship between India and Burma.
Some international cross-currents also warrant a thorough overhaul of India’s Burma policy. Observers talk of a China-Pakistan-Burma axis. Whether it is true or not, some uncomfortable questions remain. The aforementioned secret release of top North-East Indian ultras followed a diplomatic rumour that two top Pakistani nuclear scientists, allegedly having Al-Qaeda backing, were in Burma. China’s connections with the Taliban are too well known. Some other indications that Burma is fast becoming a hot spot for India should not be overlooked.
THE release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the participation of the NLD under her leadership in any future election hold the keys to the solution of many problems India faces now. Apart from openly leaning towards China, both politically and economically, Than Shwe has done precious little to thwart the operations of the North-East Indian militants from Burmese soil. He has taken some steps against the Khaplang faction of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) but has not disturbed the more powerful Issac-Muivah group. But India had on many occasions gone overboard in placating and keeping in good humour the Burmese junta chief. Sometime back permissions were refused to conventions, sought to be organised for declaring support to the NLD and to demand the release of Suu Kyi, only because Than Shwe was slated to visit India shortly. Ultimately the Burmese strong man was given a red-carpet reception.
Not that nothing positive is happening in the Myanmar front. Under intense United Nations pressure, the Burmese junta has considered it prudent to warm up slightly towards Suu Kyi. On her part the Nobel Laureate has made it clear that she does not consider all sections of the Army unpatriotic. The appointment of a moderate as the government’s interlocutor in future talks with Suu Kyi is an indication that the junta’s vast elbow room has somewhat shortened. The proposed constitutional convention in May has assumed importance. Some Western powers would like to see it under the watchful eyes of international observers which the junta is refusing on the ground of the sovereign rights of the Burmese people to decide their own future. India is remaining taciturn at this crucial juncture. Ironically, the Left is also not raising its voice so far as New Delhi’s Burma gaffe is concerned. Or is it not sufficiently informed about the matter? Whatever may be the fact, India is holding a good number of Burmese prisoners, who have fought the junta there, in different jails of court country. Why are our honourable and knowledgable MPs not raising questions about them inside Parliament? Our lawmakers can be assured about one thing: thereby hangs another tale. That is related to the role of India’s government machinery.
ULFA reiterates demand for plebiscite Staff Reporter Assam \tribune
GUWAHATI, April 7 – The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) today reiterated the demand for a plebiscite on the issue of sovereignty of Assam and said that both the Government of India and the ULFA should be ready to accept the result of the same. In a statement released to the media through e-mail on the occasion of the foundation day of the ULFA, the Chairman of the outfit, Arabinda Rajkhowa said that there are two ways of resolving the conflict and one of those is a plebiscite and the second is holding of political dialogues on the issue of sovereignty of Assam.

The ULFA chairman alleged that the Government of India was not keen on solving the conflict through talks. He alleged that member of People’s Consultative Group (PCG), Lachit Bordoloi was arrested on “baseless and false charges” to derail the peace process because the Government of India was not keen on political solution of the problem.

Rajkhowa said that 29 years have passed since the ULFA started the movement to liberate Assam from the “colonial rule” and paid homage to those who laid down their lives during the struggle. He also expressed his gratitude to the other armed groups of the region, which have been extending support to the ULFA over the years.

Strongly reacting to the Delhi Declaration of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, in which the Sabha demanded that photo identity cards should be provided to all those living in the State, the ULFA chairman alleged that it was an attempt to alienate the members of the ULFA. He pointed out that the members of the ULFA would never be able to come forward to take identity cards as they are constantly haunted by the military and police and they would be deprived of accepting identity cards.

Continuing the attack on the Government of India, Rajkhowa said that the British rulers had adopted “divide and rule” policy, while, the Government of India has gone a step further and adopted “divide and destroy” policy.

Rajkhowa further called upon international human rights organisations to put pressure on the Government of India to declare the whereabouts of 16 ULFA men including Robin Neog, Benning Rabha and Ashanta Baghphukan, who have been missing since the operations by the Government of Bhutan in 2003.

Meanwhile, the ULFA foundation day passed off peacefully and no report of any untoward incident has been reported from any part of the State till this evening. However, our correspondents from Tinsukia, Patacharkuchi, Mangaldoi, Golaghat, Sonari, Udalguri and Bongaigaon have reported that ULFA flags were hoisted in different parts of those districts last night.