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05/04/2008: "Economic independence key to Nagas: MC Konyak (NEPS) Morungexpress"

Economic independence key to Nagas: MC Konyak (NEPS) Morungexpress

Kohima: Looking at the present global trend where interdependence becomes key, the question of sovereignty by any group is untenable. So also the idea of separating from the mainland India is practically not tenable as far as the present global trend is concerned, MC Konyak, Minister for Forest and Environment told NEPS here today. He, however, pointed that the core issue what the people should thrust was for "economic development."

Konyak said no matter the size of the country was, they were concerned for their economic independence. Although they could not undo what the Naga underground leaders had done in the past, the Minister further opined that a "total sovereignty" for the Naga people was not viable when the economic freedom was taking a "center-stage" everywhere in the world.

He, however, regretted that present senior Congress MLA Chingwang Konyak when the latter was minister-in-charge of Tuensang and Mon in the Hokishe Sema ministry in early seventies failed to intervene when the "boundary pillar" was erected during that time. He (Chinwang Konyak) should have done something but no record was there whether it was justice or injustice, he added.

Supporting chief minister Neiphiu Rio's idea of supporting Nagas in Myanmar , Konyak was of the view that such a move was nothing wrong. For Konyak people, though educationally and economically lagging far behind than their counterparts, they were still concerned for the well-being of those fellow Konyaks and other Nagas as well living in Myanmar , he stated.

He also disclosed that Konyak dialect was spoken up to Chinwind in Myanmar and the Konyak bibles were also used there. Even Nagamese have become a lingua franca in that place, he said. Yet it was simply unimaginable to think about the pathetic living condition of their fellow Nagas in Myanmar if one compared with that of Nagas in Indian side.
"It is not possible for the Nagas living in Indian side to help improve the conditions of those in Myanmar side unless such matter was diplomatically initiated by the leadership of India ," Konyak said. "And Rio as chief minister coming out openly to initiate toward this direction is a positive move."

The minister also highlighted that there were various international agencies that could play important role for the development of the Nagas living in Myanmar . This could be done on "humanitarian ground and economic point of vie," he said adding, in this way, they could build up understanding with the government of Myanmar too.

Factions asked to leave Kohima. Nagarealm.com
KOHIMA, MAY02 [NPN] : Kohima district administration Friday announced through Public Address (PA) system, asking all underground factions to vacate the town and adjoining areas.

The announcement also cautioned that the administration and police would conduct raids in any area or hideouts if they receive specific information about shelter being given to "undesirable elements". Deputy commissioner Kohima also convened a consultative meeting in connection with the law and order situation in and around Kohima town on friday at the DC's conference Hall.

The half-hour long meeting was attented among others, by SP Kohima, ADC Kohima, representatives from Kohima Municipal Council, DBGBS Joint Forum, colony GB's and panchayat chairman. During discussions in the meeting, it was suggested that house owners should cautituosly verify the identity of the tenants before renting out apartments or houses and to keep strict vigil on the tenants so that no weapons were kept in the house.

Some members also suggested that vehicles owners should select their drivers carefully with proper identification so that the drivers do not use the vehicles for criminal activities. All present in the meeting were of the opinion that consultative meetings should be convened regularly to review the latest situation and take recautionary measures and most importantly, such consultants would be provided close understanding and cooperation among the district administartion, police and the various colonies.

Later talking to Nagaland Post, SP Kohima RP Kikon said police were conducting regular frisking and checking of vehicles to thwart any untoward incident. Kikon said the precautionary measures were taken for protection and safety of peace loving citizens of Kohima town. Meanwhile, PRO, IGAR (N), Maj Pallab Choudhury told Nagaland Post that the Assam Rifles forces were maintaining a state of high alert and round the clock vigil in all built up areas, to prevent armed cadres from vitigating peace in the area, thereby causing harrassment to the local population.

It may be mentioned on April 24 last, the District Levele Ceasefire Monitoring Group (DLCMG) during a coordinating meeting, decided to direct all underground armed cadres to vacate public inhabited areas under Kohima districtwith immediate effect, failing which a joint operation would be carried to fluch out the armed cadres from the populated areas. DC Kohima and Chairman DLCMG, Sachopra Vero, who presided over the meeting said the precautionary measures would be taken to stop free movement of armed underground cadres belonging to various factions. SP Kohima was requested to arrange regular patrolling and deploy adequate security in and around Kohima town. The meeting further decided that civil societies and NGOs should mobilize public not to allow armed underground cadres to stay in their houses.

2 NSCN (IM) cadres killed (Page News Service)

DIMAPUR, MAY 3: Two NSCN (IM) officials were gunned down Friday night allegedly by the rival faction and their bodies were thrown near T K Service towards Aoyimti.
According to police, the victims have been identified as Man-i Konyak of Langkai village, CAO of Konyak Region, NSCN (IM) and "lance" "cpl" Shangti of Naga Army, NSCN (IM). Police sources said that their bodies were recovered today at around 5.30 a.m.
According to police, they were blindfolded and shot dead elsewhere and their bodies were dumped near Aoyimti.
Meanwhile, the NSCN (IM) today said that the senseless killing of Konyak Region CAO and his security guard has shocked the Konyak people in particular and the Naga people in general.
"The cruelty and jungle law applied by Unification group will only go beyond alienating the Naga people from such unruly organization and no such organization should exercise any moral authority to attempt bringing people's based unification," the MIP/GPRN stated in a release.
It further called upon Naga Civil Societies, including the Church bodies to rein on this "rogue organization" by getting more vocal, adding Unification process should not be criminalized and unification group's wildest dream of brining unification by force is against human rights, bereft of any moral rights and virtue.
Meghalaya's uranium crucial for India's nuclear plans Raju Das Assam Tribune
SHILLONG, May 2 – India's nuclear power project would be adversely affected without Meghalaya's contribution in supply of uranium from its vast reserve, Union Minister of State for Power, Jairam Ramesh said today.

The Union Minister said, nuclear fuel was the key to the country's future power need, but most of the nuclear reactors were running short of the fuel by 50 per cent.

"It's a life and death issue for India…the country's power projects would not expand without Meghalaya's contribution," he said, adding, "the Indo-US nuclear deal was being taken forward because of fuel shortage," the Union Minister said. Meghalaya has a vast reserve of Uranium in West Khasi Hills district. The resource has not been mined due to opposition from both poltical as well as apolitical groups, citing health risk from such projects.

The Uranium Corporation of India wants to mine the ore. The Department of Atomic Energy has formulated a detailed mining plan and forwarded it to the State Government and awaiting its consent. Ramesh said, he would try to convince Deputy Chief Minister Hopingstone Lyngdoh, a staunch opponent of Uranium mining in Meghalaya, to change his stand.

"Mining would be carried out with the people's consent and would be done in an environmentally responsible manner," the Union Minister assured.
Businessman's son abducted for ransom, released unharmed(Page News Service)

DIMAPUR, MAY 3: Even as the business community in Dimapur continues to be under constant threat from different Naga National organization for varied reasons, a new development in the 'threat perception' has put the business community here in a predicament.
In what could be termed as a complete deviation from their earlier "regular practices", cadres of a Naga National group on Saturday abducted a Class-12 student of Delhi Public School Dimapur, the son of a well-known businessman here.
Reliable sources informed that the student was abducted by unidentified persons in the afternoon right after school but was later released at around 10.30 p.m. Saturday night.
Earlier the targets of the Naga National groups were the owners of business houses in Dimapur. They had so far desist from kidnapping or abducting children of businessmen.
When contacted Dimapur police sources confirmed the abduction of the DPS student.
A senior police official said that information was received that a boy went missing with the vehicle he was traveling in right after his school broke at around 2.10 p.m. Immediately, Dimapur police launched a search operation for the abducted boy at suspected locations, but they could recover only the vehicle (WagonR) at around 4.30 p.m., the police official informed.
Till late evening, police personnel continued the search for the missing boy but at around 10.30 p.m., they were informed that the boy had been released by the abductors.
Whether any ransom was paid in the matter or not, could not be confirmed.
It may be mentioned here that more than 50 businessmen have been abducted in the last 6 months and the Opposition Congress has raised the same issue in the state Assembly several times. However, nothing has been done so far by the state Government to curb down extortion and abductions, which has been rampant in the commercial hub of the state.
Sources revealed that in the past at least one businessman was killed for failing to pay the ransom amount while several businessmen have been subjected to mental and physical torture. Dimapur Police, on the other hand, has always tried to seek cooperation from the general public, but the victim or their families seldom report to police about such cases.
Uncertainty Editorial morungexpress
Growing restlessness and lingering lethargy enveloping the Naga skyline is causing an uneasy sense of acute cynicism and unfocused anger, just churning restlessly for its release. The internal and external conditions that has a cause-effect relationship with this contradicting restless lethargic cynicism has potential to do more harm than good, unless constructive and positive interventions with painstakingly thought-out strategic processes are made. Knee-jerk reactions to the problem would only prove counter-productive.
Unmet needs to satisfy the human yearning for some semblance of a dignified life and the human desire to have some basic knowledge of where their future is headed towards, has created an air of uncertainty. The acute sense of uncertainty has resulted in an indulging rush for the exclusive survival of the fittest. The questions around uncertainty has in part been responsible for a climate of fear; a climate that is being manipulated by the ‘powers that be’ with detrimental effectiveness.
The vicious cycle of the fear of uncertainty has the knack of causing and conditioning insular thinking and attitude. It makes a society stagnant, dogmatic and virtual prisoners of their past. The society ceases to be open towards new ideas and becomes resistant to any forms of change and is guided by emotions and subjective feelings. In essence, the ownership to determine its own future is usurped by the powers that be. Hence, the society draws more inward and exclusive. Insecurity compels it to rally around families, clans, villages, tribes and any other forms of human association where there is a perceived sense of security.
As uncertainty grows and vulnerability sets in, fear is expressed in different forms. For instance, differences between individuals suddenly become clan or village conflict and issues are personalized; the social safety-net weakens; growing tendency to exert more power and control rather than seeking the path of dialogue and understanding; historical and social narratives are distorted and there is an acute lack of space to deliberate about the future and to imagine a better world. All discourses begin and end with the past. With no room for imagination, hope is missing. Hence, the past is relived over and over again; and the future becomes a prisoner of the past.
When faced with the questions of uncertainty and insecurity, it becomes quite convenient to seek a paranoid viewpoint which involves denial of internal destruction, while simultaneously projecting it on others. It involves engaging in depressive self-blame and the society becomes unforgiving and punitive, with a sense of hopelessness and passivity. Furthermore, while feeling vulnerable, it also shows signs of being accustomed to being in control while also believing that its ownership is being usurped by others. It has a perceived sense of dichotomized emotion of feeling power and yet, powerless.
In this defining moment in history, Nagas need to muster moral courage and political will to decisively refuse to be paralyzed by fear and despair. Nagas must face up to reality, acknowledge one’s own self-destructiveness and proactively act to contain its consequences, guided by a vision for the future. Through political action, Nagas have to begin the difficult process of transforming negative energy into a constructive force that builds bridges within and without, by creating value-based alternatives.
In perilous times such as these, Nagas have no other option but to transcend the past and the present and to confront with the realities of the future to create a society that is truly worth living in. History will judge whether the Nagas of today are willing to cast aside their fears and insecurity and to decisively live in a world of reality, of ambiguity and turmoil, but also a world of hope and life. Perhaps it could begin by setting free the prophetic imagination!

Nuke eye on Meghalaya A STAFF REPORTER The telegraph
Guwahati, May 3: With its rich reserves of uranium, Meghalaya could well be the next venue for a nuclear power plant in the country.
Union minister of state for power Jairam Ramesh today said the department of atomic energy would set up a study group to examine the techno-economic feasibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in the Northeast.
The minister’s announcement came following his meeting with Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar (who joined in via a teleconference) and other officials in Shillong last evening.
“Meghalaya has proven reserves of uranium. Most of our nuclear power plants are running at 50 per cent capacity and the setting up of a nuclear power plant here could well solve the shortage problem,” Ramesh told reporters today.
He said uranium mining in Meghalaya was important for the country’s nuclear programme. The department of atomic energy will prepare a detailed white paper on uranium mining in Meghalaya by the end of this month to put all apprehensions to rest. The paper will be tabled in the Assembly and discussed in public, he added.
The department will also facilitate a visit of Meghalaya legislators to Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh where a uranium-mining project is being set up.
The minister, however, said the Centre would not go against the Meghalaya government on uranium mining.
Ramesh also attended the inaugural ceremony of the civil work at the 750-MW NTPC thermal power plant in Bongaigaon. He was accompanied by Assam power minister Pradyut Bordoloi and transport minister Chandan Brahma. The coal for the power plant will come from Rani coalfields in Bihar and Margherita in Assam.
“This will be the first power plant in the country where desulpherisation technology will be used to make coal free of sulphur,” Ramesh added.
Bordoloi, however, expressed his displeasure over the engagement of migrant labourers for the plant, our correspondent from Kokrajhar adds. He demanded the engagement of locals for the project. Ramesh had held a review meeting on the power situation of the Northeast in Shillong yesterday.
‘Women, children worst sufferers of militancy’ From a Correspondent Sentinel
JORHAT, May 3: A seminar on Peace Development in North-east India: A Gender perspective, organized by the Tai Study Centre, Moranhat, under the sponsorship of the National Commission for Women (NCW), recently discussed the victimization of women and children during war and militant conflicts in a region.
The seminar also praised the role of Naga Mothers’ Association in maintaining peace in Nagaland.
Dolly Phukan, in her presentation, pointed out that militant outfits not only orphaned children and widowed women,, but women were also sexually abused by them. Phukan added that an interview with an ULFA rebel had revealed that the militants after a gruelling training session were allowed to do “soft jobs”, which included women abuse.
Among those who delivered lectures were Prof Tura Padu from Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, Ibo Singh from Manipur University, Dr Akhil Ranjan Dutta from the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Dr Madhumita Goswami from Tezpur University and SR Narayanan from Minnesota University, USA.