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03/11/2009: "NSCN perspective on Naga Politics, Unity and Peace Process in the Naga Rh. Raising,Secretary Steering Committee, NSCN."

NSCN perspective on Naga Politics, Unity and Peace Process in the Naga Rh. Raising,Secretary Steering Committee, NSCN.

We thank and praise God, the Author of all nations who has inspired and guided the Nagas thus far in their long march for their cherished goal. Empire rises and falls because they are perishable political unit but nations are indestructible natural entity. To cite a few examples - Roman and British Empires rose and fell but they are outlived by all nations under them. However big it may be, Indian state has no power to destroy the Naga nation. Nagas are undoubtedly a nation among nations.
To be a nation alone is not enough unless it carries with it a political message. A people without politics is a sum total of individuals who happen to exist without any motive force. A people become a force to be reckoned with only when they become political. It is politics that moves a people from one historical stage to another. We know all the nation-states are the creations of politics. Nagas are also a nation with deeply rooted political concept and vision. Our socio-political system is the product of that political concept and consequently our culture and social values are the outcome of that system. In order to safeguard and preserve our foundation and future, formation of political organization is a matter of necessity, not choice. After the failures of all others, NSCN was finally formed to uphold our foundations. We have also to thank the leadership of both NSCN and GOI who brought peace in our war-riddened Nagalim through the ceasefire agreement. The
Ceasefire arrived at between the two parties under the three terms is a landmark in the history of the Nagas, which deserves appreciation from all quarters. And that the credit of this achievement will go to all of us, not only to a few. Yes, peace is made a reality through the tireless efforts and total dedication of those revolutionary patriots in the field on the one hand, the unflinching political and prayer support of our people who have suffered beyond words on the other.
Mention may be made of those friends of the Nagas who stood by us in all weather for materializing peace in Nagalim.
We know peace is the language of heaven and it is the will of the good Lord that there should be peace here in Nagalim too. But the reality is that peace does not exist by itself. It always goes along with freedom, truth and justice, in the absence of which, preaching of peace, as we understand, is meaningless. Our stand is therefore, peace in Nagalim should be founded on a firm foundation. It has been the culture of the Nagas that they used to settle their differences, disputes and problems in the Morung (Public house). Confronting parties are made to reconcile through the good offices of the village elders. Sharing smoke-pipe, food and drink after the settlement of disputes are widely practiced. Reconciliation between two warring clans or villages through the mediation of Pukhareila (Woman mediator) has also been the practice in Naga country since time immemorial.
Every one of us is fond of talking of unity, but no one talks of its basis and the science of how it is concretized. The edifice of unity should be built firmly on a solid ground. It cannot be built in the air or in the water. If we are to translate unity into a reality we are required to identify those uniting and dividing points and roadblocks. If and when the diagnosis is found we must have the courage to speak what is what and who is who. NSCN has been maintaining their stand on principle-based unity and issue-based unity. Unity is not a new agenda for NSCN. In tune with the declared stand, our honorable Yaruiwo (President) has officially proclaimed, “Unity through reconciliation and forgiveness.” And therefore, we will always abide by that proclamation. It would not be wrong to say that we are the mover of the agenda.
We can proudly say that we have achieved more in the twelve years peace time than in fifty years armed confrontation. Government of India has also admitted and recognized the fact that politics of the Nagas is rooted in the rock of unique history. History will ever speak that at no point of time, the Nagas have ever been subjugated by any power either by conquest or consent. Yes, our politics is built upon that living history. The case of the Nagas is a national resistance movement against the aggressor States pure and simple. Therefore, there arises no question of secession either from India or Myanmar. Nagas are neither a party to the Union of India nor that of Myanmar. We praise the Indian authorities who acknowledged that the Indo-Naga issue is political that demands political solution. The current peace process has turned situation in Nagalim from military to political, from bush warfare to political warfare and from confrontation to negotiation. It has raised the issue to the highest level – talks at the Prime Ministerial level, without conditions and in third countries as two entities. NSCN has earned the legal recognition by the GOI and sympathizer countries. On top of that, it has also obtained acknowledgement by the international community that it is the legitimate political organization of the Naga people. All these are marked achievements of the Naga people during the period of peace process.
Talks are being focused on the issues of relations between India and Nagalim and their interests. We have been trying to work out the best possible solution without forgoing the principle. And we have made our position very clear that any accord or agreement that does not guarantee the future of the Nagas would not be acceptable to the Nagas. It has also been told to the Indian negotiating team that any political move which does not take the aspiration and right of the Nagas into account would be a futile political exercise. As the Scripture says, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” so also if and when our foundations are destroyed everything falls and nothing stands. Our national resistance movement is therefore, oriented to defending our foundations. The parime objective of our negotiation is also to defend and preserve them. Thus, our national unity should also speak of this truth.
The Nagas do not and should not take the Indians as their enemy and I hope the Indians too view us in the same way. We should rather be partners in all fields, particularly partners of peace and progress. We must live together as different kinds of flower bloom together in the same garden. We have also expressed that since no nation is an island and interdependence of people and nations is the law of existence, Nagas and Indians are also indispensably interrelated. And that this reality should be borne in mind when arriving at the final settlement. Kuknalim!
Conflict resolution stalemate The Hindu
BEYOND COUNTER-INSURGENCY — Breaking the Impasse in Northeast India: Edited by Sanjib Baruah, Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs.825.
M. S. Prabhakara
Reviewing a volume of essays by different authors is never an easy task. The review necessarily lacks a focal point. Even a superficial discussion of all the essays is not possible. It will be best to concentrate on the introduction by the editor, whose choice of the subjects and contributors is usually influenced by her or his broader perspective on the theme of the collection, and then pick on one or two of the more interesting essays.
This book comprises 14 essays led by an essay length introduction by the editor, Sanjib Baruah; 12 out of the 15 contributors are academics from diverse disciplines. The essays present different perspectives on policies and programmes, and the contradictions and ambivalences inherent in such policies and programmes, of countering insurgency in Assam and its neighbourhood — very broadly Northeast India. Many who live in the region (including the editor of this volume in his earlier work) question this collective nomenclature, arguing that the term ignores the profound differences that mark the component units by imposing a collective identity that does not exist. Indeed, such is even more the case with insurgencies and rebellions like those in Nagaland, Manipur and Assam seeking the same stated objectives — sovereignty and independence.
Assumption
The assumption underlining many of the essays, and certainly Baruah’s essay, is that the official strategies adopted to counter insurgency in the region over the past half a century have only led to an impasse. Despite initiatives like the Look East Policy and the related measures like road and railway building projects that will eventually link the region to Myanmar and further eastward, and public relations exercises like the hugely popular Asian Car Rally, the situation on the ground remains as it was. Instead of the expected spurt in investments or dynamic trans-border transactions, the situation remains static, the impasse unbroken.
The problem is how to break this impasse. The problem itself is presented cogently and forcefully by Baruah as is the case with his other writings.
At the outset, he questions the two “structural factors” that have contributed to the persistent ferment according to both the official reading and “popular” imagination. These are: the “development fix” that relates the unrest to lack of economic development, “everyone’s favourite bogey”, and the weakness and failure of the “state”. While much is made of lack of economic development, Baruah argues that sufficient attention has not been paid to what he sees as the crucial “structural factor”, the failure of the state, though there is no suggestion that the region is now little more than a collection of “failed states”, the other, less openly exposed facet of official perceptions of the region.
Citing a 2006 World Bank report on utilisation of water resources in Northeast India that sees existing institutional arrangements as the “principal obstacle” in the way of utilisation of the region’s vast water resources for economic development, he extends this analysis to the larger failure of institutions of governance in the region.
Tensions
“India’s national security managers” present another problem. Baruah sees a tension between the vocabulary of the security managers central to which are phrases like “cross border terrorism”, “proxy wars” and “ethnic insurgencies” (the derisive capitals are the editor’s) and what he sees as the region’s “multi-layered conflicts”. “This vocabulary also underscores the tensions between the preference of national security mangers for the close monitoring of borders, and the openness of borders envisaged by a transnational economic space.” Citing a contributor, he argues that “such national security-centric discourse is heavily pro-state and insensitive to the vulnerabilities of the common man and dismissive of the frequent transgression of rights of its own citizens by the state.” Even well-meant open ended initiatives like the Look East Policy are hijacked by the military and security establishments.
Herein lies the rub. If one sees the very state as the enemy, fundamentally undemocratic and a passive adjunct to a security regime in its approach to the region, where is the way out, especially since, as the editor also admits, there is little chance of the “sovereignty struggles” ever succeeding? The author’s conclusion about breaking the impasse, the theme of the collection, is deeply pessimistic. “As long as a crudely developmentalist and national security-centric mindset continues to shape policy, the goal of achieving peace in Northeast India is likely to remain elusive.”
But then, the aim of the collection is to raise questions, disturb the official complacency. I found the three essays, under the section, “Nation and its Discontents”, especially rewarding to read, maybe because their treatment of the problem goes beyond and outside the usual insurgency/counterinsurgency discourse, as in the essay by Dolly Kikon that brilliantly locates the linkages, clothing and civilisation, the historical trajectory of the varied representations and imaginings, and the changes that have taken place in the accoutrements of war of the Naked Nagas and of their contemporary descendants, whether as a soldier of the Indian army or as a rebel.
GPRN/NSCN condemns landmine explosion PUBLICITY CELL, GPRN/NSCN
It is truly shocking that an explosion of one of the landmines planted around Hebron by IM has caused grievous injury to four women of Shikavi Village on the morning of 9th March. Such horrendous act is alien in the history of the Naga struggle. Instead of admitting the truth, the so called MIP at Hebron would, perhaps, come out with another dubious story to justify their anti-Naga tactics. Every conceivable evil plan is being hatched and tried out by IM upon the Nagas but God in Heaven knows their every design and evil doers are somehow revealed. When the entire civilized world is campaigning against the use of landmines, why is Hebron camp using it against the Nagas? Did not IM sign the Anti-landmine treaty as a non-state actor back in 2004? Does Honorable Catherine Reusse, Secretary General of Geneva Call (UN Organ for worldwide ban on the use of landmines) know the great pretension at work in Nagaland? Is there a clause allowing Hebron camp to use landmine against the Nagas? This dreadful action of the IM is unacceptable. All remaining landmines around Hebron camp threatening surrounding villages must be identified and immediately be diffused. Naga Homeland cannot be turned into another Vietnam where thousands continue to perish by littered landmines planted decades earlier. IM will come and go but Naga land shall remain and therefore contaminating the very soil they claim to fight for with landmines is a display of horrific politics going horribly wrong. If Naga people remain mum to such visible terror tactics, greater agony awaits future Naga generations.
Evil plans conceived, underneath or above, to destroy the Nagas and their land shall not succeed because merciful God has wisdom greater than mortal men and women. Destiny of the Naga people is not decided by one man or the Collective Leadership at Hebron Camp. The will of the People in God’s good time shall prevail. GPRN/NSCN conveys its solidarity to the landmine blast victims of Shikavi Village and wishes them speedy recovery

WE ARE NEITHER INDIAN NOR BURMESE Thomas NNC
We, the Eastern Naga people have fully appreciated the talk on more concern for the Eastern Naga people in the consultative meet held at Kohima from 5th to 7th March 2009. Though you cannot help the Eastern Naga people in the socio-economic or infrastructure developments, we hope that you can extend possible help to us to uplift our education and health care as we are in need of your help because you become elder brothers in aspect of modern developments of the world. And we are ready to welcome your help but on the matter of our national, if you say, “brothers! you must be Burmese and we will be Indians”, which we will not accept. Rather we will be happy if and when you declare abandoning the 16-point agreement signed with the Indian Government in 1960, for we are neither Indian nor Burmese.
Also we wonder on your thought and expression that the Nagas can be accommodated in the world globalization only when you become Indian or give up the sovereignty of Nagaland. And there is no question for the Nagas that they should become the Indians because India possesses Nuclear weapon and exploring the space. The fact we all know that Indians need not to become Chinese to suit with the world globalization.

Thomas, NNC Member
Can Nagas living abroad play a constructive role in shaping Naga society? morungexpress

Some of those who voted Yes had this to say:
• They have a wonderful opportunity in really contributing towards the Naga society. The non-resident community in other places has played positive roles in shaping their home countries. In Nagaland till today there is no Naga who has played such a role. Maybe they can start now. I only hope they will listen patiently before passing any judgment and they should not come with the view that they have all the solutions.
• Because observing from outside also has a balance view of the issues, and these will help to offer a constructive direction
• Naga's living abroad can at least bring some sense of peace.
• How can we expect those living outside to shape up our society? They have their problems too
• The issue has to be publicised otherwise the outside world (for that matter Indians too) have no idea who the Nagas are what are the real issues..
• Hopes remain only on them. Simple reason, most of them are very potential and are compelled to reside outside Nagaland because of the prevailing environment...
• If they have the heart and the right attitude, they can contribute in shaping Naga society. They will have to humble themselves and listen to the voices of the people before they even start talking and rambling away. In fact since they live outside, they should be able to be more objective in their approach.
• Yes because those who are living outside Nagaland can understand the scenario of the other states or country

Some of those who voted NO had this to say:
• Oh! How many Nagas are abroad? A handful, some settled, some working, some still pursuing their studies. And we want them to play a role in shaping our society? Shame on you Naga brethrens. We are guarding our land and still cannot control it. How in the world will those outside do?
• A big NO. Just count how many Nagas are abroad? Half of them are underground officials hiding from their own people. Do you think they will open their mouth and speak for our land? They are hiding their faces as they have stolen, killed, murdered, ransacked our society since long. Now what they do in pretext of living abroad to speak for the Nagas, is we Nagas in general are paying for their stay. Where do think taxations from our salaries, shops, institutions, hospitals (THEY DONT EVEN LEAVE THEM) going? Now stop the idea of them shaping our society. I would be the first one to kill them if they step foot in Nagaland.
• They have their own problems of survival
• Why do we need an outsider to shape up our society? Aren't we responsible for our society? Why even talk of expecting others to play a role.
• What? Isn't it ironical to even hope for those abroad to have a hand in shaping our society? Is it they or us living with our society? I bet they wouldn’t be proud to tell others how our society is.
• Do you expect somebody to raise our Naga issue or the society in an international level? No matter what he tells, we Nagas are not going to listen .Be it a helping hand. We are a good race of humans who dont want to criticise nor give advise. As we know almost everything there is, we are never giving up our egoism and tribalism.
• What do you think those abroad are there in the first place? They must be fed up with our Naga society. Now we cannot ask them to play some role in shaping our societies. They have their share of roles to play, thats why they are there.
• Its one of the mostdumbest question to expect others to shape up our society. Whoever came up with this idea must be a brainless, stupid person.
• Those outside do not have any role to play. Infact, some of them are abroad because they fear their own people. Do you think they work to earn? Its our money with which they are able to stay anywhere, where ever they feel safe from our own people. So the question of playing any role to shape up our society doesn't arises to them.
• What? Are u serious? When our people living together couldn't do any better, how in the world will those outside do it.
• Never in this life time will we get to see all Nagas under one roof. Every tribe we have is unique and "ism" is not going anywhere. First be a part of your own brothers. Make peace. Build up faith, and ask GOD. Why expect a foreigner to rebuilt our hopes.
• Probably no. most of them leave for good. The general perception is that they get upward social mobility by staying abroad. Hence, if 'they' are not of our ilk, how can they shape 'us'?
• Please stop this thing of reconciliation, etc etc. I will bet on my head that anyone living now will get to see a united Nagaland. All these talks taking place is merely a wastage of time and money. How many tyms our Ministers, CM, Secretaries go to Delhi and talk? They are spending public money only. Do u think they are spending their money or what. Instead talk of our issues here. One funniest thing is talks held abroad. How the hell will it have an impact here when they themselves are scared to have a meeting in our backyard. Nobody is willing to give his life for the nation. Next tym, if they want talks, come to my place, have black tea, and talk. No need to spend so much money and sit somewhere talking nonsense.
• Not at all. How many Nagas are there in abroad? When the majority of Nagas live in Nagaland, a few of them outside wont change anything. Just forget the idea.
• Nagas are the most God fearing people in the world. We see all our men and women on Sundays going to church, sitting in the first benches, singing hymns and praying hard. But on Mondays, they are the devils plotting ways to kill. If we fear God, and was never selfish, we wouldnt be expecting a Naga living outside to rebuild our society in anyway. Iam sure am never going to see a new, developed, and one roofed Nagaland in my lifetime. To the elders of Naga society, do u think u r going to see that? You are leaving behind a legacy of corruption, hatred, mistrust to your own children. Do not live just for your lifetime. Be constructive. Build bridges of hope, love and trust. Tomorrow when u die let your children talked of ur righteousness than of ur sins. Get up u leaders of today. Do not give false hopes to ur children.
• What? no Naga can be a role model. In fact, the biharis, miyas, and bangladeshis are the most constructive role models. At least they build our roads, make our buildings, carry water for us, work like a dog in our houses. If we Nagas are looking for someone to be a constructive role player, look up to these hardworking people around us. Do not expect even ur neighbour to build a bridge of hope, love and kindness. We are no more the Nagas we had heard of. Everyone has evolved, and into a demon only.
• Do you know that most of the Nagas outside are the big bosses of our factions (I have lost count, as there are so many).After building big mansions, luxuries cars, etc etc, they cannot even stay back to live there as they are shit scared of our people. They are the undergrounds. But do you see them in that way? They have created havoc into our societies by being our overground bosses too.
• I am afraid, NO. Just for the reason that, first they are very few and scattered. Also none of these groups hold any significant position, barring Mr. S. Sangtam, who works for the UN office in NYC. SO as for now, its only a Picnic, whose going to miss a fully paid trip to go HOME...it doesn’t hurt to " Big Talk" :)

Some of those who voted Others had this to say:
• The fact of the matter is that in the history of the Nagas, the Nagas living outside have not contributed one tiny bit to the Nagas. This is a truth that needs to be told right away. But still then, all Nagas must be included in shaping the Naga history and so their contributions are important. I however wish that the Nagas living abroad will have the dignity to first listen to the voices of the people and understand the ground situation before they open their opinionated mouths.
• They can be a part but the real work below to the people in Nagaland to put pressure on the various factions and power interests.
• Depends what their agenda and vision is. After all political power depends on the structure and agency of the state. It ca be another voice of support nonetheless.

Girls rescued from rebels OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph
Imphal,: Two girls, abducted by a militant group for recruitment, were rescued by a joint team of police and Assam Rifles from Thoubal last night and handed over to their parents this morning. Angom Asha Devi, 22, and Konsam Pemabati, 19, were rescued from the clutches of the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-Military Council, Nando faction) during an operation at Khangabok in Thoubal last night.
Assam Rifles spokesman Col L.M. Pant said the cadres of the outfit abducted the girls from Imphal West on March 5. On receiving information that the girls were in Khangabok and the rebels were about to shift them to an unknown location, the combined team set out on a hunt yesterday, Pant said.
The kidnappers fled, though, as the troops had to refrain from launching an attack to avoid collateral damage in the crowded Khangabok area. The Assam Rifles and police this morning handed over the girls to their parents in the presence of meira paibis (women’s activists) of Thoubal.
The police, however, are still trying to trace the 12 timber labourers who were abducted from Ukhrul district on Thursday. The kidnappers are suspected to be militants of a splinter group, known as Wishful Group, formed by cadres who had allegedly defected from the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah).The group, it is suspected, abducted the labourers engaged in wood-cutting and loading in Poi jungle along the Indo-Myanmar border after timber contractors failed to meet its monetary demands.
The police believe that the militants have taken the hostages to Myanmar. The contractors, whose identities are yet to be established, reportedly sent a team to negotiate with the abductors for the labourers’ release. The district police have advised people not to venture into the border jungles. Vigil has been stepped up in the border areas, particularly in Poi and neighbouring Huishu jungles. The police have also sought help from the security forces deployed in the district for rescue operations.
‘Govt. committed to Naga solution’ Chizokho Vero
Governor of Nagaland K Sankaranarayanan is seen here addressing the 3rd session of the 11th Nagaland Legislative Assembly, Tuesday, March 10. (DIPR)
Kohima | March 10 : Governor K. Sankaranarayanan today asserted that the state government remains firm in its commitment to facilitate a negotiated settlement of the Naga political problem. “My government will continue to act as an active facilitator in the ongoing peace process between the Government of India and Naga “political” groups, so that a lasting and durable settlement acceptable to the Naga people may be arrived at,” the governor said in his address on the first day of the 3rd session of 11th Nagaland Legislative Assembly here.
In pursuance of this policy, the governor informed the assembly that the Political Affairs Committee of the DAN had convened the three-day Naga consultative meet at Kohima, which was attended by a number of overseas Nagas, representatives of political parties, hohos, prominent NGOs, churches and the Naga groups. The event was with the objective to exchanging views and suggestions to take forward the Naga political issue towards a peaceful resolution.
“My government also stands by our earlier commitment to pave the way for an alternative arrangement that may be necessary in the event of such a permanent settlement,” he said. The governor also thanked Naga civil society and the church for their efforts and contributions to the cause of reconciliation and unity of the Naga family.
Sankaranarayanan appealed to the underground groups to listen to the voice of the people, to stop fratricidal killings and bloodshed, to sink their differences, and move towards reconciliation and unity.
The governor informed that there has been considerable improvement in the law and order situation of the state during the last one year of the government, especially since July last year. “The incidents of inter-factional clashes amongst the underground groups have also significantly reduced, thanks to the efforts of the churches, the NGOs, the civil societies, the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, and also thanks to the restraint shown by the underground groups,” he said.
Sankaranarayanan also appreciated the security forces, the state police, state-level strategy groups and the district coordination groups, that they have also put in commendable efforts to maintain peace in the state.
Stating good governance to be the top agenda of the government, the governor said “a government that is transparent and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people will continue to be topmost on our agenda, and e-governance is being increasing introduced as one of the means to achieve this objective.”
Also stating that the district administration and the police represent the face of the government to the common man, the governor said every effort will be made to make the two organs of the government effective and result oriented.
He informed that the government was vigorously implementing the scheme for modernization of the police, with a view to make it more effective by equipping it with more modern weaponry, communication systems, transport facilities and imparting better training.
“My government is also in the process of raising a few special commando companies to enable our police to deal more effectively with the rising level of terrorist violence in the country,” he said.
Sankaranarayanan said the government had also recently framed and notified the Private Security Agencies (Nagaland) Rules, 2008, under the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005, to enable the setting up of private security agencies to provide security to banks, private firms, institutions and individuals etc who may need such protection.
Highlighting some of the achievements, the policies and programme of the government, he said “With peaceful conditions gradually returning to the state, and with the cooperation and support of the people who have given us a fresh mandate, I am hopeful and confident that we shall be able to translate our dreams and visions into reality, make our people happier and more prosperous, and our state a better place to live in.”

Highlights of Governor’s address
• High-priority to employment and self-employment generation and human resource development
• Actively pursuing proposals for setting up a medical and nursing college in Nagaland
• State Agriculture plans formulated under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme
• Create proper marketing mechanism, including buy-back facilities.
• Emphasis on bringing large areas under agro-fish culture to utilize terrace paddy fields to rear fish
• Veterinary & Animal Husbandry in process of implementing schemes to facilitate large-scale meat production
• Plantation and marketing bamboo being taken up on a large scale
• Undertaking projects to ensure drinking water supply to Kohima town and Peren, Kiphire Longleng and Tuensang districts
• Exploration of oil and gas in the foothill-regions of the state will also be given greater momentum
• Government is in process of setting up diagnostic centers at Mokokchung, Tuensang, Wokha, Zunheboto, Phek and Mon
• Eco-cultural tourism will also be promoted
• Priority will continue to be, to ensure that remote and less-developed areas are given special attention to bring them at par with the rest of the state.
• Further strengthen the department of Women Development
• Expecting that the four-lane of Kohima-Dimapur road and the works on construction of Chiethu Airport will commence shortly
• Proposal to take up construction of foothill-roads connecting Mon district to Dimapur
• Railway line between Kohima and Dimapur expected to take off soon and
• City Development Plan of all district HQs will also be given due priority.

11th NLA session begins

Kohima, March 10 (MExN): The 3rd session of the 11th Nagaland Legislative Assembly commenced here this morning with the Governor’s Address by Nagaland Governor K. Sankaranarayanan. The motion of thanks on the Governor’s Address was moved by MLA Shetoyi and endorsed by MLA CL. John. NLA Speaker Kiyaneilie Peseyie said the debate and adoption on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address will take place on March 12.
Obituary references were made by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the Leader of Opposition Chingwang Konyak on the demise of R Venkataraman, former President of India and VP Singh, former Prime Minister of India. The House observed a 2-minute silence. March 11 is recess for the session. The session will resume on the 12th.
The provisional assembly business for March 12 shall be a questions’ session, tabling reports, papers; debate and adoption on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address; presentation of supplementary Demand for Grants for regularization of excess expenditure for fiscal 1996-97, supplementary Demand for Grants for fiscal 2008-09 and vote-on-account for fiscal 2009-2010.

Global Climate: State’s drive is well

Kohima, March 10 (MExN): Governor K Sankaranarayanan today said Nagaland’s contribution to the campaign against global warming and climate change “is quite significant, as we are maintaining the existing forest cover at 82.75 per cent of our geographical area.”
In his address at the 3rd session of the 11 NLA here today, the governor said being a part of the global community, “every one of us has responsibilities to contribute something towards this noble effort.” As a symbolic gesture to show solidarity with global campaign for “Vote Earth”, Sankaranarayanan appealed to the people of Nagaland state to participate in observing “Earth Hour 2009” by switching off all lights between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM on March 28.
The governor also said that the revival of the Paper Mill at Tuli is finally taking shape. The original approved cost at Rs. 553 crore is being revised upwards to Rs. 1241 crore to enhance the capacity of the mill to 90,000 MT per year, he informed. Sankaranarayanan said the project is expected to give a huge impetus to the economic activities in Nagaland, in the shape of thousands of direct and indirect employment both in the mill and in downstream and feeder industries, including bamboo cultivation.

3 women sustain injuries in Nagaland landmine blast Utopia
Kohima , Mar 10 Two women and a teenaged girl were injured in an IED blast while they were tilling land at Shikavi village near Dimapur, police said today.
The victims were being engaged in jhum cultivation when the improvised explosive device (IED), planted at the forest area near NSCN(I-M)&aposs headquarters of" Camp Hebron", went off yesterday, they said.
The injured were admitted to a hospital at Dimapur and the condition of a 50-year-old woman was stated to be serious since her left arm was severely damaged in the explosion.
The police were yet to ascertain who planted the IED near" Camp Hebron".
Armys 3 Corps headquarters at Rangapahar near Dimapur in a statement warned that"such move"by underground groups was being viewed seriously and asked militants to"desist from dangerous tactics of using IED as booby trap in civilian areas".
Meanwhile, NSCN (IM)&aposs rival group NSCN/ GPRN in a statement accused NSCN(I-M) of being insensitive to safety of people by planting landmines around its Hebron Camp.