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01/02/2009: "NNC on Isak Swu’s background morungexpress"

NNC on Isak Swu’s background morungexpress

Tokiho The Naga peoples’ Convention (NPC) was formed in 1957 and under which Tribal Councils were formed in each and every tribe of Naga people. In Sema Tribal Council, Isak Swu was appointed as President of the Sema Tribal Council and Kuhovi Zhimomi was appointed as Secretary under the banner of the NPC.
In January 1960, Isak Swu and Kuhovi Zhimomi came to contact and consult with the Sema leaders, Scato Swu, the then President of the FGN, Kughato Sukhai, Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) of FGN and General Kaito Naga Army on the matter of their demand for statehood under the Indian Union. The Naga Army however forcefully took them to serve the Naga nation. Isak and Kohovi were therefore, compelled to join the Naga national service in January 1960. After one year, Isak was appointed as Foreign Secretary of the Federal Government of Nagaland (FGN). As foreign Secretary, Isak had participated peace talk in Delhi with the Prime Minister of India in 1966-1967.
In 1971, Isak was appointed as Chaplee Kilonser (Finance Minister) of the FGN and took part in Alee (foreign) Mission in 1974. It was unfortunate for Isak that he defected from the NNC/FGN and formed the so-called National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in January 1980. Then after, carried out military operation against his own Naga people. For such treacherous act, the NNC and FGN expelled Isak along with Th. Muivah from the Naga national service (NNC/FGN) on 1st September 1980.
From 1980, under the leadership of Isak Swu, some Nagas have been fighting against their own Naga brothers, which are still unabated and made the Nagas lost of precious lives as well as properties. Therefore, from 1980, Isak’s service cannot be counted as national service in the Naga national history but only as treacherous act against the Naga nation. Golden Jubilee celebration of Isak’s service by I-M group Hebron Campers is therefore a mockery and ridiculous in itself. Even if his service is counted from 1960, it is only 48 years.
Tokiho, President, Sumi Regional Council, NNC.
The Timeliness in the History of the Nagas Forum for Naga Reconciliation
Standing at the threshold of the year 2009, we are in what might be called a “Post-Ambivalent” year in the life of the Nagas. The bygone cynicism and skepticism toward “Naga solidarity” will simply be a sad chapter of our national saga. Naga-Land today is no longer characterized by the past mind-set of cultural and political exclucivism. From all the Naga communities, as witnessed and attested on September 25, 2008, by 37 Naga tribes and other apex bodies, at the Sumi Baptist Church, Dimapur, the commanding mood of the Naga nation is created by the people. Coupled with this is the affirmation to Naga reconciliation by all the “Naga groups” and its leaders. This is historical. There is no turning back! Indeed, “The Timeliness in the History of the Nagas” is our newest song.
One important point should be written as our foot note: the FNR couldn’t agree more with the critics that soccer matches played, hoisting of white flags in homes, using car stickers, voluntarily, the United National Choir singing in churches, etc. have not deterred nor sealed violence. FNR has taken up the activities knowing fully that these are only means towards strengthening the reconciliation process in the Journey of Common Hope. To be sure, reconciliation is a process requiring tireless planning, executing, energizing and much more. The FNR is clear about this one thing: that the “FNR is not the only entity working for Naga reconciliation and as such we do not have a monopoly on reconciliation. FNR acknowledges the various individuals, Hohos, organizations and the Church for their undiminished commitment to the Naga reconciliation, unity and peace.”
Moving away from the footnote, we now move out into where violence and tears, and sweat, and screams, and curses, and bitterness, and suspicions, and anger are still real. There is no way on earth that the element of our personal reconciliation with God, our prayers and piety can be the exclusive quality of being a Christian.
A sign of demise of theology in our contemporary context is, Christians often cringe and withdraw. Can the “Queen of Sciences” (During the Middle Ages theology was given the highest honor in the world of academia) live up to its honor by knowing and living that the good news of Christ’s message must sometimes be made in agony, in the circles of hardships, danger, blood and death; and in being with the “rebels,” and the tax collectors, outcasts and sinners? Are we forgetting the Cross of Christ for ‘one’s respectability’ through our silence? Have we ever pondered that our “politeness” to safeguard the purity of the Gospel from “meddling in politics” may well be the greatest pro status quo political statement ever made?
In recent history, Nagas have been deeply wounded by the conflicts. Many people have become apathetic, while some are caught up in the vicious cycle of hatred, anger, and revenge, many simply walk away. Still, some say, “all efforts towards Naga reconciliation are futile.” During the Guatemalan conflict in South America, a priest wrote these lines: “I can deal with persecution by the military and the state. But the fact that some of my fellow people are against me hurts me more deeply than anything else.”
The most painful hurts always come from within. Jesus suffered that despair also. In the darkness of the grave He embraced the despair that existed among His own followers, and among His own people, in His own body. We are tempted to run away and say, “I don’t want to be connected with that body because it is still broken and it’s too much to deal with.”
But we are called to be a community in solidarity. We are called to be together, in a fellowship of the wounded and broken to proclaim the “acceptable year of the Lord.”
The year 2009 must renew the people living in Naga-Land. The Cross of Christ is a powerful reminder to us that from a place of despair God speaks to us about hope. From the place of disappointments, of broken relationships, of hopelessness, Jesus emerges to accompany us as we journey on. Even though we are often downcast, Jesus always speaks of hope. And this hope is different from optimism. Optimism arranges reality in a way that enables us to say things will get better based on chances. The hope for the Nagas is built upon the promise that whatever happens, God will stay with us at all times, in all places. God is the God of life. We are called to be a people of hope. Together, we can face our despairs. Together too, we can find the Risen Lord, emerged from the tomb of despair, ready once again to love us first. In embracing us, Jesus gives us hope we need to live the life He has given us, in this world of ours. Let the year 2009 be for us to share and experience this hope.

Rift in NDFB widens, Daimary expelled Assam Tribune
GUWAHATI, Jan 1 – Differences within the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) widened with the outfit today expelling former Chief Ranjan Daimary alias DR Nabla and his “associates”. In a release here today, president of the NDFB, B Sungthagra said that the outfit would have no link with Nabla and his accomplices. He pointed out that the recent arrest of one Ajai Basumatary and his confessional statements proved that the former NDFB chairman was involved in the serial blasts on October 30. He said that the killings were acts of terrorism and could never be parts of revolutionary struggle.

The new president of the NDFB said that the outfit was committed to peace process and would continue its talks with the Government of India on the basis of the memorandum submitted on September 29. He also appealed to all the Bodo organizations as well as the people of the State to support the peace process.

It may be mentioned here that the NDFB formally split recently with the general assembly of the outfit removing Ranjan Daimary from his post, while, on his part, Daimary asserted that he was still the chairman of the outfit. Meanwhile, the term of the cease-fire agreement between the Government and the NDFB expired yesterday and the Central and State Governments are likely to take the final decision on whether to extend the term of the agreement or not after the Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram reviews the security scenario in a meeting with the Unified Command tomorrow.

Five killed, 50 injured in three blasts in Guwahati PTI
Fire at the site of blast at Bhangagarh in Guwahati on Thursday. Three blasts rocked Birubari, Bhootnath and Bhangagarh areas of the city.
Five people were killed and over 50 injured in three blasts set off by insurgent outfit ULFA in Assam on Thursday hours before Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's visit to review law and order situation in the state rocked by deadly blasts that left 88 dead two months ago. Three people were killed and 35 injured, including four women, when a bomb planted in front of a closed sweet shop exploded near upmarket Bhangagarh flyover on the busy Guwahati-Shillong road at around 5:45 pm. Two persons died on way to hospital while another succumbed to his injuries at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital, DGP G M Srivastava said. Two of the dead were identified as Amal Das and Kahil Sheikh.
A bomb kept in a bicycle exploded at a market in the Bhootnath area, the route which Chidambaram was to take on his way from the airport, under Baralumukh police station around 5.30 pm in which two persons were killed and 12 others injured, official sources said. An Improvised Explosive Devise (IED) kept in a Gauhati Municipal Corporation (GMC) dustbin went off at around 3.30 pm injuring three persons in Birubari Tiniali area. The blasts came a day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's arrival here tomorrow enroute Shillong to inaugurate the Indian Science Congress there on January three.
Chidmabaram arrived at the Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi international airport on a two-day visit to the state to review Assam's law and order situation and attend a meeting of the Unified Command headed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
The DGP said it was ULFA which carried out the blasts, at least one of them. "We know who were behind the blast but we won't divulge the names at this stage," he said.
Srivastava said the police had intelligence inputs that ULFA would carry out blasts as the group usually indulged in such activities either on December 31 or January one and specially when union ministers were in the city. He said that of the three blasts two were of low intensity and the one at Boothnath was serious. He said kerosene was found in a stove which burst near the sweet shop during the explosion, which set off fire but there was no casualty.
Two months after Assam blasts NDTV
Guwahati : It's been two months after the serial blast hit Assam. And the families of the victims are still trying to cope with their tragedies. On October 30, 2008, a day after Diwali, Dulal Mandal was shopping with his wife in a Guwahati market when an explosion hit them. His wife died instantly and Mandal was injured. Two months later, he may be back at work at his own fabrication unit but he is still nursing an injury.
"It's difficult to express through words what I feel. The only person I could have shared this grief with is no more. So I keep it to myself," he said. Sunita lost her husband and five-year-old daughter, who was returning from school, in the same explosion. She now works as a domestic help to run the family but is still numbed by the tragedy. Dinesh Das's wife stares blankly. Her husband was a greengrocer and now she has two daughters and a son to look after.
"Every night I wait for dad to come. It still hasn't seeped in. But life goes on," said Dinesh's daughter. More than two months have passed since the Assam serial blast, which killed more than 90 people. While the physical damage is being repaired, the emotional damage, the personal loss, loss of livelihood and the trauma probably can never be compensated by ex-gratia or memorial services. The day will continue to haunt the thousands affected by the attack.

Ominous start to New Year Peace prayers torn to shreds The Telegraph


People gather a few metres from the blast spot in Birubari on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Guwahati, Jan. 1: Guwahati left behind a year pockmarked with bombs but simply stepped into another which appeared to be littered with the same explosives.
As three explosions ripped through the city one after another on the first day of the New Year, Guwahati was once again left with a sense of foreboding, of danger lurking just around the corner.
Rajat Kalita, for one, was convinced that the New Year would be no different from 2008.
“On October 30, I had rushed to Ganeshguri when the bomb went off under the flyover just to see what had happened. Today, I almost died as I crossed the blast site just a few minutes ago on my way back home from the market,” said Kalita, 34, who stays in a rented house at Srimantapur, close to the blast site in Bhangagarh. Suddenly, the scene from Ganeshguri on October 30 appeared to have been juxtaposed at Bhangagarh — terror shifting from one flyover to another — though perhaps not on that scale. Bhangagarh is around 2km from Ganeshguri. From Bhangagarh to Bhootnath, the site of the second blast, the distance is around 10km.
While the Bhangagarh explosion occurred at a paan kiosk on the footpath, in Bhootnath the bomb went off at a roadside vegetable market. All the death and destruction occurred in these two blasts. The first blast, in a metal garbage bin at Birubari, did not cause much damage. At Bhangagarh and Bhootnath, the scenes were eerily similar to the October 30 horror of blood-streaked vegetables scattered on the road, blood coagulating on lampposts and the wails of the injured.
The fire that erupted at the kiosk in Bhangagarh brought back memories of the towering flames at Ganeshguri just a few months ago. “When I saw the fire, I simply ran. All I could think was: Oh no, is this going to be that bad?” Akhilesh Sharma, an executive of a private firm, said. He had just parked his vehicle and was walking towards a shop with his wife and son.
Bhootnath, close to the Brahmaputra, is also the place where a crematorium is located. Not very far away stands Sukreswar Temple where many had offered prayers all through the first day of the New Year, seeking peace in the state. Between 5.15pm and 5.40pm, the prayers and hopes lay in tatters at Bhootnath and Bhangagarh.
At the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, doctors and nurses were jolted out of their celebratory mood as they were called in to treat the injured. “On the first day of the year we generally receive persons injured in accidents during picnics. We had never before received blast victims on January1,” a doctor said.
GMCH superintendent K.K. Saikia said the incident was quite unexpected on the first day of the year. “The hospital authorities had to send an SOS to all the doctors and nurses to join emergency duty to treat the blast victims.” Zabbar Ali, a daily wage earner who sustained injuries on his right leg at Bhangagarh, said, “I was on my way to the Bhangagarh market near the GMCH to buy fish when the blast took place. I suddenly heard a big sound and fell down near a small drain. I became unconscious and was brought here.”
Ram Bachchan, 45, who sustained head injuries in the Bhootnath market blast, was crying at GMCH. “My family members went out to celebrate the New Year. So I came to chat with some friends at Bhootnath market. I do not know whether my family members are aware that I am injured and in the hospital,” he said. Mainul Hussain, a resident of Bhangagarh, said his sons had gone out. “My wife started crying but both my sons called to say that they were safe.”
Cops had inputs, but failed to act A STAFF REPORTER The Telegraph


A policeman keeps vigil near Guwahati railway station on Thursday. (Fotocorp)
Guwahati, Jan. 1: Two months after the October 30 serial blasts ripped through the state, security forces today found themselves in a deja vu: of having known about militant plans but failing to prevent them.
Three blasts rocked the capital this afternoon leaving five dead and over 60 people injured.
Police today said they had information about Ulfa militants out to trigger explosions and accordingly, an intensive vigil was mounted in certain areas.
After the October 30 blasts, too, security forces had told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that they had information about possible attacks.
Last month, the Unified Command structure said it had inputs about “subversive activities” during the festive months of December and January. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who visited the blast site at Bhangagarh, admitted that it was a failure on the part of security forces. He said the police force and the intelligence agencies needed to be modernised to deal with such attacks. The police force will be strengthened with more manpower and high-tech gadgets, he added.
“We are also thinking of forming small committees in marketplaces so that they can work in close co-ordination with the police. These committees could be a great help,” Gogoi said. A senior police official said there was information about a group of Ulfa militants trying to plant bombs in the city.
“Security was tightened in the past few days. We had information about militants trying to plant a bomb in the Birubari area. So we engaged nearly 15 police patrols to keep strong vigil in the area,” he said.
It was because of the tightened vigil that the militants were forced to dump the bomb in a dustbin at Birubari Tiniali, he said. Regarding the other two bombs, he said it was very difficult to receive specific information about the exact location where the rebels would plant a bomb.
“Who would suspect that a simple bicycle with a bag hanging from it at a daily market has a bomb in it? Bicycles are very common in a small market. Even petty shopkeepers use these to ferry goods,” he said. Echoing the police official, Gogoi said it was really difficult to think that someone could plant a bomb in a small shop. “All we have to do now is improve our intelligence network and for this we will need the support of the people,” he said.
Sources in the home department said the chief minister had already taken note of the fact that the police had not been able to prevent the blasts although they claimed to have been aware of such a plan. “The blasts have come as a big embarrassment given that Union home minister P. Chidambaram is visiting the state and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also stopping over briefly tomorrow en route to Shillong,” a source said.
The police could not take any credit regarding knowledge about plans of subversion because they failed to do anything about it.
Decision on NDFB truce after CBI report, says PC
From our Correspondent Sentinel
NEW DELHI, Dec 31: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has today said that the Centre is yet to take any decision on the extension of ceasefire with the NDFB, and the government will take a decision in this regard only after getting the report of the CBI investigation into the serial blasts in Asom.
Talking to newsmen here today, Chidambaram questioned: “If the NDFB doesn’t shun violence, how can the government go for suspension of operation with the outfit? The CBI is now investigating the serial blasts in Asom. Let the investigating agency submit its report first.” Chidambaram said some of Home Ministry officials have been keeping in touch with NDFB leaders in Delhi.
The Home Minister further said: “I intend to visit Asom on January 2 to meet Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and the Unified Command Structure to review the security situation there. Works of the ongoing national projects and border fencing will also be reviewed during the visit.”
Chidambaram said that the proposed Chief Ministers’ meeting on January 6 on the security scenario in the country after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks would be followed by another meeting the next day when a select group of Chief Ministers would discuss the menace of extremists.
Meanwhile, North East Congress Coordination Committee (NECC) general secretary Sharif U Laskar also met Chidambaram and discussed various issues relating to insurgency in the Northeast. He urged the Home Minister to provide adequate security for completion of Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion work.
Insurgents operating from Bangladesh, Myanmar The Hindu News
December 18, 2008: New Delhi, Many Indian insurgent groups are operating from Bangladesh and Myanmar and India is putting pressure on its neighbours through diplomatic channels to stop such activities. It is also focussing on completing the fencing of the border with Bangladesh to check illegal immigration and infiltration.
India has been putting pressure on these nations to stop such activities
This was stated by Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
He said several anti-India groups were finding Bangladesh and Myanmar as safe havens, though both nations denied it. There were reports that insurgent groups from the northeast have links with terrorist organisations, including Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, which in turn is reported to have links with Pakistan-based terror groups and the Inter-Services Intelligence.
Terror groups such as HuJI and Lashkar-e-Taiba were using Bangladesh for infiltration and carrying out terror activities in India. We are not happy with the situation. This issue has been discussed with Bangladesh and will be taken up again when a democratic government is elected by the end of this month.
Mr. Chidambaram said he was not satisfied with the progress in the fencing of the India-Bangladesh border. He had asked the authorities concerned to “quicken the process.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has instructed that the fencing should be completed on schedule. It is a difficult terrain where normal fencing may not work. We have asked the authorities to take whatever additional measures are required to complete the job.
On Samajwadi Party member Amar Singh’s question that whether the government was aware that terror camps were operating at Dhubri and Bongaigaon in Assam, Mr. Chidambaram said: “Neither can I confirm nor deny that such camps are there. This government will take note of the matter seriously; and if there are any camps, the Centre and the State government would dismantle them immediately.
The Minister pointed out that there were gaps in the intelligence apparatus. “The problem is being addressed expeditiously to prevent recurrence of terror attacks. We are focussing on better gathering and sharing of information between intelligence and security agencies. All States have been asked to raise special anti-terror squads.
Regional hubs of the National Security Guards would be set up soon and coastal security was also being beefed up. A ‘Coastal Command’ with a mandate to protect the India’s coastline would be put before the Cabinet for approval soon.