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08/09/2008: "Factional clashes take toll on N-E business hub Economic Times"

Factional clashes take toll on N-E business hub Economic Times

DIMAPUR-NAGALAND: With continuing clashes between secessionist groups and fresh taxes, both legal and illegal, plus the added weight of taxes and extortions, business establishments in this commercial hub of northeastern India are being squeezed dry. The closely packed Hongkong Market, which earlier used to attract shoppers and traders not only from all over Nagaland but also from Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, now wears a desolate look. Customers are scared to venture out.

Hongkong Market alone used to attract over 15 percent of all shoppers Nagaland. But now, shopkeepers in Hongkong Market say that sales have fallen 30-40 percent due to the volatile situation in the state, particularly in Dimapur. With business prospects looking bleak, some Tibetan traders have already left town. There used to be over 100 Tibetan families living and doing business in Dimapur.

The number has come down to about 60. S Dorjee, president, Tibetan Association Hongkong Market, agreed that some families have left Dimapur. However, he said the reason was “heavy market competition and slowing down of business” rather than the security situation, extortion or intimidation.
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“People feel Hongkong Market belongs to Tibetans, but we are actually a minority here. There is stiff market competition here now and business has become bleak. So, some traders have left for greener pastures,” he said.
But shopkeepers say three to four underground secessionist groups are collecting “taxes” from business establishments in Dimapur, though collections in the form of donations to various unions or associations have gone down due to strict checks by the district administration and student bodies.

The overall security situation has deteriorated due to the fighting between various secessionist groups. The official death toll in clashes between various National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) factions in the last six months has crossed 70. This includes one Nagaland Armed Police constable and seven civilians.
AWO questions factions’ diktats By NPN | Nagaland Post
Dimapur09/08/2008 Taking serious note of the factional clashes and killings, extortions, threats, banning of civil organizations and serving of quit notices by underground factions, the Angami Women Organisation (AWO) has questioned the factions whether autocratic diktat’s, atrocities and generally terrorizing Naga civilians, which had been the domain of the Indian army and her soldier’s, had crept into the attitude and vocabulary of the factions and their leaders.
AWO in a press release issued by its president Medovino Dolie and vice president Thinuokhrieü Tseikhanuo termed such seeming “courage” as “hubris, an act against God that could not succeed or last.” “In the name of our nation you profess to fight our cause, we do not question how much or less, nor do we ask how true or false the claim. Yet when your deeds and means endanger the intrinsic fibre and values of our tribes, which was the genesis for our statement of belief for independence, then what culture and cause is there left to defend or fight for?” AWO asked.
AWO also pointed out that in the present trying times when the people of Nagaland were governed by an Indian interpretation of democracy where, five percent of the population who are employed consume eighty percent of the fund, the least the public deserved from an “underground movement for liberation is a just governance and the safe-guarding of every man, woman and child.”
NSCN asked to lift ban on Sumi Hohos CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph
Kohima, Aug. 8: Several organisations have appealed to the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) to withdraw the ban it has imposed on the Sumi Hoho and Western Sumi Hoho, accusing them to be in cahoots with its rival, the Khaplang faction.
Naga Hoho, Ao Senden (Hoho), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Konyak Hoho, Tangkhul Hoho, Angami Public Organisation and Chakhesang Public Organisations have separately appealed to the NSCN (I-M) to withdraw the ban in the larger interest of Nagas and accelerate the ongoing reconciliation and unity process.
The ban, which could lead to a confrontation between a section of the Sumi community loyal to the Hoho and the NSCN (I-M), will affect the ongoing efforts to unite various Naga militant groups.
Since Sumi Hoho is an influential organisation, the NSCN (I-M) will not have the Sumi tribe’s support.
It could even mean more of a bloodbath.
The Naga Hoho said differences should be sorted out through dialogue.
“Both Sumi Hohos and the NSCN (I-M) should sit across the table and resolve the differences.”
Ao Senden and the NSF also echoed the same views urging the NSCN (I-M) to concede to the appeals of the Naga people.
Several other Naga tribal Hohos and organisations expressed regret over the ban and appealed for its immediate revocation.
The outfit said this ban would continue indefinitely till members of the two Hohos mend their ways.
But Sumi Hoho president Hokishe Yepthomi said the Sumi organisations were trying to be neutral and the NSCN (I-M)’s accusation was regrettable.
He said the unification process initiated and propagated by the Sumi Hoho and Western Sumi Hoho is inclusive of all Nagas.
Though Yepthomi believed in broad-based unification irrespective of artificial boundaries, the NSCN (I-M) said the two organisations, in nexus with the NSCN (K), were against integration of Naga contiguous areas.
The Sumi Hoho said it would not attend the third Naga reconciliation summit at Chiang Mai from August 17.
The Peace Affairs Committee of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) has also appealed to the outfit to revoke the ban.
The chairman of committee, T.M. Lotha, appealed to the outfit to carry forward the ongoing reconciliation and unification process.
The Chakhesang Public Organisation said at this juncture when all organisations and Hohos are working for peace, unity and reconciliation for the “Naga national interest”, banning or sidelining certain sections cannot be conducive to achieving “our goal”.
“We cannot build a nation with a divided house, what we need now is unity, tolerance, forgiveness and dialogue, which are the cornerstones of a united, civilised society,” the organisation said.
For peace in Nagaland, dialogue among Nagas must succeed’ Sanjoy Hazarika Sentinel
For months, the fragile peace in the Naga Hills has been shattered by internecine conflict. This is ironical because the ceasefires between the Government of India and its armed forces, including the paramilitary, and the two factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (or Nagaland) -- the group led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah and that headed by S.S. Khaplang -- remain in place.
These represent in fact among the oldest ceasefires anywhere in South Asia between armed groups, purportedly fighting for “sovereignty”, and a national Government. Yet, these peace pacts with the government have not translated to a real calm in the villages and towns of Nagaland. The reasons are mired in a complex history that embraces ethnicity, demands and concepts of nationality as well as deep divisions along tribal and factional lines.
Violence is not new to Nagaland - it was here that the Japanese invasion of World War II was stalled and then turned back, on the tennis courts of the Kohima Deputy Commissioner, as is historically known. Those courts are one of the most frequently visited sites of the northeast with relatives of the fallen, retired soldiers and ordinary visitors coming to pay homage to those who laid down their lives, their sacrifice marked by a low tombstone with the name of the fighter; there are some who remain unknown till this day.
Violence erupted again in the 1950s with the uprising for independence led by A.Z. Phizo and his Naga National Council, which brought the full force of the Indian State against the movement. Soon after fighting erupted, parliament passed the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in 1958 which remains the legal sword arm and shield of the security forces in battling insurgency as well as dominating and intimidating the lives of people in many parts of the region - after all it no longer applies only to Nagaland (which was carved out of Assam in 1963) but to at least three other states of the region: Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
There were two ceasefires beyond the current one - one in the 1960s and then another which followed the Shillong Accord of 1975 which brought one group of Naga fighters into the system. But Muivah and Swu stood firm along with Khaplang, their comrade in western Burma (Myanmar), and forced a split in the NNC, one which gave birth to the NSCN. This group split again in 1988 with Swu and Muivah on one side and Khaplang on the other. Both groups have remained embittered foes for 20 years, with cadres from either hunting down members and supporters of the other.
In between, the Nagas established connections and training facilities as well as arms supplies with China and Pakistan. The relationship with China came to an end in 1976 although an informal arrangement appeared to have continued well into the 1990s.
In 1996, a fresh ceasefire came into place between New Delhi and the I-M group (Isak-Muivah) while another separate one followed with Khaplang’s organisation, much derided by the former as a cat's paw of Indian intelligence agencies. Such was the bitterness between the two that the I-M has consistently held that it would break off negotiations with the Government of India should the latter begin formal talks with the Khaplang group.
But the standstill agreement between the Indian armed forces and the two factions has not translated into peace in the field, as was widely hoped. The guns did not fall silent because Naga fighters turned on each other, seeking to establish supremacy. For several years, it appeared that the K group was getting the worst of the exchanges but from the end of last year, amid charges of central involvement, a new factor emerged: the Unification faction, which had broken away from the parent group, the I-M, and allied with the K. Pitched gun battles followed in the district headquarters and the largest urban centre of Nagaland, Dimapur, and its surrounding areas were the scene of some protracted and bitter fighting; in one incident, an outraged mob ransacked and torched an entire colony where many Tangkhuls, members of Muivah's tribe, lived.
Till date, no fewer than 70 fighters from either side have died in the clashes. For much of the time, the central forces have been either passive onlookers, reluctant to be involved in peacekeeping between the factions, or simply have looked the other way. The head of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG), which was to review the peace between the Indian state and the I-M, was forced to quit amid bitter charges that he was on the side of Muivah’s men. His replacement by the centre was rejected by the I-M leadership, saying they had not been consulted.
All this time, civil society groups and especially church leaders counselled not just restraint but also reconciliation between the factions and the tribes. Why the latter? Because the Naga tribes - there are 16 of them in the State alone and another 20-odd in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam not to speak of Myanmar - have been long divided along factional lines, with ethnic splits often dominating and indeed defining approaches and strategy as well as issues themselves.
As this went on, a group of well wishers from abroad, especially from the Quaker movement of the UK and the Baptist church of the US, enabled what were regarded as path breaking meetings in Chiang Mai, the hill town in Thailand, between the two major factions. A new organisation, the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) under the leadership of the Rev Wati Aier, one of the State’s most respected church leaders and theologians, took the lead here. By this time, the Unification wing had morphed into the Khaplang faction although some members later returned to the I-M.
There was a Chiang Mai declaration that called for reconciliation. Yet, even as it was issued, bloody gunfights and clashes erupted between the factions, belying both hope and opportunity. The ground reality characterised by bitterness and mutual suspicion was far too deep to be resolved by idealism and even gestures of goodwill.
The struggle for power dominates. In one incident, an entire camp of the Khaplang group was stormed by I-M soldiers. The I-M even “banned” two Sumi (Sema) tribe organisations, prompting the FNR to declare that the “common cause of reconciliation” should be safeguarded and that “violence, threats, notices, bans, however justified”, needed to be stopped. But even that carries little weight with the I-M: it has declared that no civil societies should consider themselves “greater” than the “national freedom organisation, which has carried the national burden for more than 50 years”.
As the conflict continues to escalate, the principal actor, New Delhi, is sitting smugly in the wings, waiting for the next round of talks with the I-M and watching the rival factions battle it out. Yet, it is unacceptable that security forces continue to largely twiddle their thumbs in the face of a visible breakdown of law and order in the state. What is required is far more robust peacekeeping by government forces. This must not be confused with the peace seekers, the civil society groups and the church, who must continue to press for a just and durable peace. Yet violations of the law, by whichever group, should be met with the force of existing laws within the domain.
The Centre’s approach underlines two grim political realities: one, that to “democratic” India, the Naga issue and much of the problems of the North-east, barring possibly that of illegal migration from Bangladesh, represent irritants at best; they may cost lives but are not threatening the stability of the State. The second is that numbers or size count. The population of the entire state of Nagaland could easily fit into a small district of Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. There is just one Naga MP from the State out of 542.
Thus, the persistent pressure that Pakistan exerts on Kashmir and the LoC, the battle to win the nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group before moving it through the US Senate are, to India, far more significant issues, not to speak of winning the parliamentary confidence vote.
Frustration over the lack of progress in the talks is growing on the Naga side. However, they have probably also realised that sovereignty is not in the picture nor is the ideal of a larger Naga territory, sliced from three neighbouring States, getting any closer because of the political backlash it invites from Manipur, Assam and Arunachal. Perhaps it is better to think of an interim settlement that allows, as India suggested to China in the case of Arunachal, existing settlements to continue undisturbed. In the meantime, an all-party committee, with representation from the Naga side (both government and the armed groups) as well as the three states to look at claims and counter-claims, headed by a jurist with knowledge of the area could be important.
However, before all this can take off, the Naga groups need to develop a working relationship that would ensure equality but also promote cooperation through transparency. For political dialogues to succeed with New Delhi, dialogue among the Nagas must first succeed.AR accused of thrashing civilians By Our Staff Reporter Sangai Express
IMPHAL, Aug 9: On the charge of having relations with the proscribed PREPAK, three youths from Thoubal were reportedly picked up by troops of 34 Assam Rifles. The three youths were beaten severe-ly by the AR personnel and were released later.
Not only that, the AR personnel reportedly told the three youths that some more people would also be picked up.
On learning the AR’s intention, the local people have been caught in a panicky situation.
Disturbed and apprehensive as they are, the local people of Thoubal submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister O Ibobi demanding to book the miscreants who provided false in- formation to security forces within five days.
Akoijam Sonek (27) s/o Madhumangol of Thoubal Mayai Leikai and his te-nents––Naorem Premku- mar (24) and Y Santakumar (24) who did carpentary works there were pulled up by troops of 34 AR at aabout 1.30 am of August 4.
Talking to media persons, Sonek said that there was one masked man who spoke Manipuri among the AR personnel. The masked man reportedly said to him, “Aren’t you a cadre of the PREPAK ? Why you are behaving in haughty manner in the locality?”, recounted Sonek.
Premkumar and Santaku-mar belong to Kakching Mayai Leikai. Staying at the rented rooms of Sonek, they were working in the carpen-tary shop run by one W Ingocha at Thoubal Keithel.
In connection with the arrest of the three youths, a public meeting was held at Thoubal Keithel on August 7 during which several resolutions were adopted.
Submission of complaint letters to the DC and SP on picking up and thrashing in-nocent people by Assam Rifles, expulsion of the individual from the locality in case the three youths were pulled up on false information he fed to Assam Rifles and prohibiting stay of unidentified persons in the locality were some of the resolutions adopted in the meeting.
On the other hand, condemning the Assam Rifles alleged act of picking up and thrashing innocent youths, a protest sitting was staged at Thoubal Sekpi Khongnang Khong today.
KYKL-UNLF on Heirok Sangai Expres
IMPHAL, Aug 9: The proscribed KYKL and UNLF have announced that there would be no further re-laxation regarding restric- tions imposed on move-ment of people of Heirok after the first two rounds of relaxation owing to appeal by womenfolk of Heirok.
In a joint statement, secretary of publicity and re- search of KYKL Langamba Mangang and deputy se-cretary organisation of UNLF N Ibochou explained that the decision has been taken as the people of Hei-rok have not been able to stop the move being made to set up SPO by the Ibobi-led Government in conni- vance with some vested interest people and some of the JAC members who were earlier opposed to SPO have started adopting anti-people stand on the issue after Ibobi charmed them with offer of Rs 3-4 crores for construction of barrack for the SPOs.
Reimposition of the restriction with immediate effect has become inevitable to stop what is going on in Heirok, the joint statement declared.
Accordingly, the state-ment maintained, none of the villagers including students should venture out of Heirok, go to work in paddy field or gather fire woods from the hills located out-side Heirok.
It further said that no student from Heirok should study in schools/college/university located outside Heirok and the authorities concerned should ensure they are denied such facili-ties. None of the residents of Heirok including stude-nts be allowed to stay in rented room or hostel in any part of the
North eastern region, outsiders should not go to Heirok, people from Heirok working elsewhere should come back to Heirok, employees from other places posting in Heirok should return back and there should not be any socio-religious interaction between the people of Heirok and other places, the joint statement said, adding that anybody who defy these restrictions should be targeted without any clemency.
Innocence : A crime in Manipur?
By N Arunkumar
Random killings, vendetta killings, fratricidal killings, killings for this, killings for that and where are the killing fields? It seems like killing has now become a passion among the peace loving people of our land. Can anything be more ironical than that? We are shouting at the top of our vocal chords, that we are peace loving, but not a day passes by without some or the other form of murder in our midst. We have killed even peace in the process of trying to push forward the delusion of being a peace loving race of people. If the devil won’t get you, the angel will? Each passing day is becoming thornier to live, for us. To make matters worse, in the name of counter insurgency operations, the administration also seems to be at its wit end to define the boundary between the rogue and the innocent.
Mostly however, it is the innocents who are being targeted by the assassins in uniform and being put to sleep. Whistle blowers are then threatened with dire consequences if they dare to rake up an issue of such encounter killings too. The commando units have lost the trust of the people and there is no more faith in the administration either. In such a scenario, it is highly unlikely that Manipur will achieve any of its goals that it dreams of. We are doomed and stare down perpetual devastation, which will perhaps end in our own annihilation.
I am constrained to make such gloomy predictions based on a recent story I heard from the rumor mill. A teacher in a reputed English medium private school here in Imphal, was picked up by a commando in plain clothes, from his residence. He was staying far away from home, in a rented house on account of his duties at a school. The commando first took him away in his motorcycle and enquired about his activities and his family background, while being given a free joy ride, albeit under stress.
Now, this is a procedure that is utterly deplorable in any system of law enforcement and yet, it was done. He was taken to unknown locations by the commando and my friend was startled that the commando asked him questions about his work and personal life, besides other irrelevant ones. He seemed to be aware of all his personal details also. It obviously frightened him intensely. He sensed that he was being given an opportunity to run away from the commando, who would then perhaps shoot him on the grounds that he was trying to run away from the law.
It would be closed as an encounter between the law and a criminal. The conclusion is indeed too terrifying to even think of, but everyone here knows that this is how it happens. However, the commando did not get an opportunity to do that, since my friend had the common sense to understand that if he did try to run, he might be eliminated on those grounds, and so he stayed put with the commando. At last, after many hours of such sauntering around at strange locations, he was brought back to his rented house.
Here, the commando was almost simultaneously joined by his counterparts in uniform and they again beat him up for no apparent rhyme or reason. He was then taken away to the police station, where he was put into a cell with other hardcore criminals, it seems. Inside the cell, he was subjected to further humiliation at the hands of seasoned criminals who beat him up when he declared that he was not associated with any organisation or group. The policemen silently watched the thrashing binge inside the cell and did not interfere or try to prevent it. The young man was well and truly made to suffer mental trauma due to all these illegal and criminal activities that he was being exposed to.
The truth is that there is no law or justice in this land of ours at the moment. Anyone and everyone can undergo such an experience immaterial of status or position in our society today. It looks like the law enforcement agencies are also speculating and not investigating matters, like they should be doing. The upshot of such state of affairs is undeniably very disheartening to say the least. However, to the great good fortune of this young man, he was released by the commando unit once he was identified and pursued by friends and family members, the next morning. But by then, due to the ordeal, he was badly battered, is still in shock, and wondering what had he done wrong to be at the receiving end of such severe reprimand from the law.
He had never done anything wrong, is antiviolence to the core, a law abiding citizen, and working diligently in imparting knowledge to the students of his school, it is reported. There was no reason for him to become a target like this. The obvious answer is that he is being set up in a deeper conspiracy on some feeble grounds by some vested interests around him or by those who have a grudge against him. Matters can be cooked up of course. In fact, it is so in his case now, evidently. There are many others like him, some not as lucky as him nevertheless, who are also being harassed like this today in our State.
We seem doomed to suffer our violent fate and anyone is likely to face its tune sooner or later in such state of affairs. Better look after our own skins, however we can. It has boiled down to that. In the meantime, I don’t know how long we will continue to hear such deplorable stories about our own self-destruction course, which is certainly not leaving a good impression about ourselves as an advanced race, in the history of the world. The great paradox for us right now is that even our innocence is a fault and not a virtue. Like Hitler’s Germany, a time will come when we will find it difficult to wash away the sins of our past, which will even turn out to be a benchmark for oppression, depression, anarchy and laissez faire. The heads of our future generations will droop down in embarrassment.
Where is peace? How can peace be ushered in? The guarantees to life and limb are not to be taken for granted it seems and each one of might even be forced to carry weapons to protect ourselves from the law and the criminals. Does it augur well for a civilized society to come to that? Who is listening? Law and order is broken down by the law enforcers themselves. Who can help us out of such darkness now? Not even God, let me tell you.

KCP(MC) denies any link to alleged kidnappers The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Aug 8: The KCP(MC) has once again reiterated its earlier stance that it is against the kidnapping of children to be made into child soldiers saying its position on the matter remains unchanged an inch.

A release by Lanheiba Meitei said the KCP(MC) fully appreciates the manner in which the public of Nambol Khabi Mamang Leikai and Konthoujam Khaidam capturing and beating up five men for allegedly attempting to kidnap school children, and then handing them over to the police.

The release said these men have nothing to do with the KCP(MC) and they were merely parading as ravens in peacock feather.

It requested the public to help root out these gangsters parading as revolutionaries. It even suggested the concerned villages to not only banish these men but also burn their homes.

The persons caught by the public today were: (1), SS Sgt.Major Thangjangam Haokip, son of Nehakham Haokip, Leipham Kotlel, (2), Touthang Haokip, son of Lethang Haokip, Leipham Henglep, (3), Laishram Samananda Singh, son of L. Chengel Singh, Leipham Phumlou Mamang Leikai, (4), Ningthoujam Thomas Singh, son of N. Mangi Singh, Leipham Nungei Mamang Leikai Sugunu, and (5), Tongbram Nilakamal Singh, son of T. Norel Singh, Leipham Khumbong Kakha Leikai.

Forced recruitment of children which is not valid in the world is done by only the gangs or Mafia groups and a group think themselves to be a revolutionary then they should not conduct such uncivilized method of forced recruitment of children, Lanheiba said.

While giving on the apparent ill-treatment to the Monika, the statement said that only the people of this land think that they are Indian but India`s mainland people never treated them as Indian. They look separately.

This can be known well when one cross Assam and witnessed the gulf of differences on the way of habits of the people.

The people of this mainland could not look the people of this region equally and wanted to suppressed has been indicated by the misfortune befell to Monika.

Now, Monika experience it and who will be the next one, it asked observing that the only way to relief from such ill-treatment by the people of the mainland is escape from the clutch of "Indian" rule.

The statement finally asked the people not to participate in the 15th August ceremony of India`s Independence day. If any body attempted to participate and arrange any function related with the Independent Day of India, the council will severely treated them for violating the ban imposed on this day, the statement said.