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03/20/2009: "AR stops movement of armed NSCN-K cadres The Sangai Express"

AR stops movement of armed NSCN-K cadres The Sangai Express

Kohima, March 19 2009: In its efforts to stop the movement of armed cadres violating the cease fire ground rules, on receiving information about a group of NSCN-K cadres reportedly moving from Bongkolong to Khelma near Athibung under Peren district of Nagaland, 32 Assam Rifles was activated and laid a barricade on Tuesday.

AR today said that after laying the cordon and subsequent tightening of the area the AR confirmed that a group of NSCN-K cadres were present in Khelma village which consisted many of them in uniform carrying weapons.

The AR reportedly conveyed gross violation of agreed cease Fire Ground Rules to the factional group through the village authorities and informed chairman Cease Fire Monitoring Group (CFMG) accordingly.

It was conveyed in clear terms that such armed movement of cadres outside designated camps will not be permitted under any circumstances which threatens the life of local populace besides vitiating peace in the area.

The AR is closely monitoring the situation to ensure NSCN-K cadres are forced out of the civilian area to designated camp of Athibung in the overall interest of public safety, security and peace to prevail in Nagaland, sources said.

Meanwhile, Assam Rifles authority has appealed to both the factions not to carry out any activity in contravention to agreed Cease Fire Ground Rules which will invite stringent action to ensure peace and tranquility within the state.
‘Culture is instrument for peace & harmony’ morungexpress

Governor of Nagaland K Sankaranarayanan (C) and Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio (L) seen here lighting the inaugural lamp of the NE Spring Festival, Thursday, March 19. (Photo/Caisii Mao)

Dimapur | March 19: Nagaland Governor K Sankaranarayanan today said culture not only form the basis of the society one lives in but also serves as the foundation for peace and harmony between peoples from different communities and beliefs. “We must envision and work towards a region and a country, made richer and more beautiful by the diversity that exists rather than getting differentiated because of the differences that may seem to be there in various cultures,” the Governor said. He was addressing the inaugural of the North East Spring Festival 2009, here at the NEZCC complex.
NE Spring Festival underway
Sankaranarayanan said the unique culture and art forms of the northeastern region of India can be instrumental in bringing development, peace and prosperity by way of educating others about “our way of life, our values, our creative potentials and the warm hospitality of the people.” The governor further said state planning and policies can capitalize on the uniqueness and richness of teh region’s culture and come up with suitable and innovative strategies to use them for furtherance of the economic development of the people.
Sankaranarayanan said North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) has a crucial role to play in building sustainable partnership between member-states through cultural events, programmes and other creative initiatives. “Together, we can all work towards changing the image of this region, which because of various reasons, has been unfairly projected to the world at large as a troubled and difficult place” he said.
It is imperative that we all do our bit to make the outside world know the rich and varied culture forms that exist here,” he added.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio who also addressed the inaugural function said the festival was a unique occasion in that it brought artistes from all over the country under one platform to showcase the culture and traditions of the respective states. Director, NEZCC, V Hekali Zhimomi delivered the welcome address, while Secretary to the Governor of Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha, gave vote of thanks.
The inaugural of the six-day festival was marked by choreographed folk dance presentation from all eight North East states and other states including Rajasthan, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. A host of VIPs including ministers and other dignitaries attended the festival.
NPSC/SE: Naga Hoho says don’t give in to threats morungexpress
Dimapur, March 19 (MExN): The Naga Hoho has encouraged the Nagaland Public Service Commission and the department of School Education not to give in to the threats and intimidations over investigations, being made in both institutions, over a number of graft-related cases. The Naga Hoho, in a statement today said it is perturbed by the threats being issued to bureaucrats and investigating personnel. Investigations are on in both the state institutions – NPSC for the recent answer script-swapping scam and School Education department for bogus appointment of teachers.
The apex Naga body expressed displeasure at what it called “national workers”, to be issuing threats in the department of School Education. “Naga Hoho is perturbed to know that different groups of national workers are intimidating few bureaucrats under the department of School Education over the detection of bogus teachers in the department. As the matter of fact, the paramount duty of any sensible bureaucrat is to ascertain the unrealistic and abnormal”, the hoho said.The organization also expressed ‘surprise’ that “a handful of perpetrators” are “trying to cow down untainted NPSC officials”.

The trend deserves condemnation from all “civilized walks of life” the hoho said. “Towards this end, we appeal the concerned authority to stand firm as an exemplary to younger generation towards eradicating such menace” the hoho said. It has appealed to the state government to act swiftly “by providing the most befitting mechanisms to investigate thoroughly even up to the extent of probing all forms of assets possess by corrupt officials”.
Further, the various and regular scandals in the NPSC “ever since the emergence of Nagaland statehood” is noted with concern by the Naga Hoho. However, it has lauded the leadership of the NPSC for “unearthing such inconsistency and dishonesty on the part of few corrupt NPSC officials and the students who are supposed to be future public servants towards crafting a welfare state”. The hoho is fully convinced that the detection of the recent answer script swapping racket “is an upshot of various forms of corruption which have been practicing over the years by well knitted untruthful officials-parents-students”.
“In the long run, no country can afford the social, political or economic costs that corruption entails. It erodes public confidence in political institutions and leads to contempt for the rule of law; it distorts the allocation of resources and undermines competition in the market place; it has a devastating effect on investment, growth and development” the hoho said. That corruption exacts an inordinately high price on the poor by denying them access to vital basic service, the hoho said, “a whole host of conditions can influence corruption, its different manifestations, its pervasiveness and, indeed, its perception by ordinary citizens”.

NSCN (I-M) attacked in Lamnan NPN
DIMAPUR: ‘GPRN/NSCN’ on Thursday claimed to have killed one NSCN (I-M) activist and left four others seriously injured during a “pre-dawn attack” at Lamnan village.
GPRN/NSCN, MIP “deputy kilonser” described the operation as “yet another attempt to chase Muivah boys out of Tirap” terming it as successful.
The GPRN/NSCN affirmed to continue the offensive against the “un-popular Muivah gangs” till the last person was pushed out of Tirap.
The MIP also alleged that the NSCN (I-M) activists had demanded Rs one lakh each from all the state and central government officials residing in Khonsa to be delivered within 48 hours. It said many officers have reportedly moved out of Khonsa and many more gone into hiding out of fear. It described the demands as a “desperate attempt to collect as much money as possible before fleeing.”

NSF to stage protest rally Correspondent (NPN):
KOHIMA On the issue of the NPSC answer script swapping scam, the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has decided to stage a protest rally on March 20 to register dissatisfaction over the ongoing process of investigation.
The rally would be held at the Old MLA hostel junction starting from 10.30 am.
NSF President Imchatoba Imchen informed this while addressing a press conference in the NSF office here, Wednesday.
The NSF has requested all schools in and around Kohima to send students from class eight and above including all the college students, post graduate students and all the presidents of the federating units and subordinate bodies to take part in the protest rally.
The NSF will also hold a presidential council meeting of all federating units and subordinate bodies, after the protest rally to decide on the future course of action.
“We’re not satisfied with the ongoing process of investigations, we want the government to thoroughly uproot all corrupt elements and system from the commission for once and all,” said Imchatoba.
He said there was no hope for the younger generation under such circumstances as it discouraged competitive spirit among many youth. He also pointed out that since May 2005, the NSF has been fighting against the corrupt system within the NPSC. Imchatoba rued about the height of corruption and continuance of such people in the commission.
General Secretary, Hetoi Chishi said the NSF wanted to deal with the NPSC issue in an impartial manner. He said the NSF felt that both the investigating agencies (Police) and the judiciary have not come out with concrete outcome of the probe. Similarly, NSF Vice President Charles Lotha said that the Federation wanted the government to ensure a thorough probe without any interference from any angle.
Stating that it was aware of the reported threat to the commission members and also the investigating agency, the NSF asserted it would neither pay any heed or be cowed down by any such threat but vowed to back the investigation till justice was meted.
On the alleged involvement of a Parliamentary Secretary the NSF reiterated that the former should resign owning moral responsibility since his two sons were involved. However the NSF clarified that it had so far not demanded the resignation.
The NSF said it was conveying the message not only to the Parliamentary Secretary but also the parents of all the other candidates involved in the answer script swap scam.
Meanwhile, all the 11 NPSC candidates arrested in connection with the scam have been granted bail by a lower court on Monday
GoI sponsoring terrorism in AP, alleges NSCN-IM Eastern Mirror
DIMAPUR, MAR 19 (EMN): Alleging duplicity on the part of the Security Forces, vis-à-vis their activities in Arunachal Pradesh, the NSCN-IM has accused the Government of India of sponsoring terrorism by remaining passive against the ‘terrorising activities’ of various underground groups, including NSCN-K, in various districts of the neighbouring state.
The fresh allegations were made in a statement of the MIP/GPRN, in which the outfit also claimed to have shot dead 3 members and injured many more of the combined team of NSCN-K, Manipur People’s Army (MPA), ULFA and Kachin Independent Army (KIA) today, in what it called a ‘rescue operation’ of the Naga Army in Lapnan village, Khonsa town in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the MIP statement, the NSCN-K in collaboration with the MPA, ULFA and KIA had been harassing the villagers of Lapnan since the past 3 days by demanding rice, pig, mobile handsets, etc.
It claimed that the men-folk were compelled to flee their village for their own security leaving the women behind to fend for themselves.
The villagers’ pleas to the district administration including the 19 AR at Khonsa, the Dogra Regiment and CRPF allegedly were ignored and no action was taken to check the situation.
The outfit alleged that the AR, CRPF and Dogra Regiment ‘turned their faces the other way’ when apprised of the situation by the villagers.
The NSCN-IM claimed that the Naga Army stationed in the area launched a rescue operation at 3 am early this morning to rescue the villagers.
Accusing the government of denying security to the villagers, the NSCN-IM claimed that the government forces were ‘busy giving medical treatment to the injured terrorist elements.’
It further lambasted the Dogra Regiment at Deomali area of ‘meddling in the peaceful affairs of the area forcing the NSCN Town Command to leave the place’, instead of going after the ‘terrorist groups.’
The MIP/GPRN in its statement said that such policies expose face of ‘India’s insincerity and duplicity in dealing with Northeast issue, particularly of Naga’s under NSCN.’

PREPAK claims responsibility for Oinam attack on Army The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Mar 19: The underground PREPAK has claimed responsibility for the ambush on a convoy of the 12 Maratha Light Infantry yesterday in which the post commander, Lt. Satvir Singh was killed and two other personnel were injured.

The ambush happened at 8.45pm at Oinam Mamang Khumannung in the Bishenpur district.

A statement by the banned organisation said the ambush was carried out by a small unit of its Red Army, all who took part in the attack have returned to the safety of their unit headquarter and none suffered any injury.

The release said the Indian security forces have been oppressing the ordinary people of the state for a long time, systematically eliminating them in fake encounters and framing them up as extremists by placing some small arms near the dead bodies.

It said these murders were done with even the formality of a trial.

Yesterday’s ambush is part of its campaign to oust the Indian security forces from Manipur once and for all, it said.

It said its attack did not bear full result as the enemy had numerical superiority and that they were close to their post. Had the encounter happened a little away from the Army post, the PREPAK Red Army would have shown to the world what harm it is capable of doing to its foes.

However, it said the courage of the Red Army cadres was commendable as they dared to attach the Army on its own ground and killed their post commander.

The release also clarified that unlike what was reported in certain section of the media, the PREPAK had no connection what so ever with the attack on the house of LDA EE Oinam Ibopishak.

The release also said it would not condemn the attacks on Congress workers in recent times as it too had vowed to punish these workers earlier.

However, since none of those targetted in the recent attacks were in the list PREPAK had released, the organisation was not involved in these acts, it said.

However, it said it has not changed its stance on targetting anybody close to the chief minister, Okram Ibobi for the fake encounter campaign by his forces unleashed on the people.

It said if the fake encounter campaign continues, the PREPAK would hit at any of its announced hit list at any available opportunity.
Burma Steps Up Bangladesh Border Tension, but Why? indoadmin: Irrawaddy News
March 19, 2009: Burmese military preparedness along the country’s land and sea borders with Bangladesh was stepped up this week, although the reason for the latest increase in tension is not clear.
Bangladeshi border troops were put on alert on March 16 after reporting unusual movements by Burmese forces, who also began to build a barbed wire fence along the 200 km frontier between the two countries.
Local Burmese authorities said the fence was being built to deter smuggling and human trafficking. Illegal immigration has been a problem for this border region of Burma’s Arakan State since colonial times.
Although the Burmese explanation for the fence is credible, Bangladesh military officials have told Dhaka newspapers that Burmese ships had been mobilized in the Bay of Bengal, increasing tension along the sea border.
Warships of the two countries were involved in a border standoff late last year when the Burmese regime attempted to drill for natural gas in a disputed area of the Bay of Bengal.
Some reports from Rangoon suggested that the latest tension between Burma and Bangladesh is being orchestrated by the Naypyidaw regime as a diversion in the run up to the 2010 election. It is suggested that problems with Burma’s Muslim neighbor are being provoked as a way of making “scapegoats” of Arakan State’s Muslim minority.
Anti-Muslim books and other publications are reportedly being distributed in Rangoon and towns in Arakan State.

The military regimes ruling Burma since 1962 have a history of creating false rumors against the country’s Muslim and Chinese minorities. Bloody riots sometimes resulted.
One common rumor accuses a Muslim man of raping a Buddhist woman, according to a Burmese political observer in Rangoon. “Many Burmese are not very tolerant of different religions and cultures,” he said.
There have been high-level visits by Burmese junta officials to the border region recently. Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein travelled there in late January and inspected government projects in the region.
Among the projects are highways connecting Rangoon and the Arakan towns of Sittwe and Kyaukphyu and a railroad between Arakan State and the west bank of the Irrawaddy River.
The junta’s number 2, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, also travelled recently to Arakan State., but the purpose of his journey was not made public.
Other key Burmese ministers, including Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan, Construction Minister Maj-Gen Khin Maung Myint and Post and Telecommunication Minister Brig-Gen Thein Zaw also visited Arakan State in February. Kyaw Hsan opened TV transmitter stations and libraries.
“I think ruling generals made many trips to Arakan State recently because the anti-junta movement there is quite strong,” Aye Thar Aung, an Arakan leader, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
Aye Thar Aung said that although the authorities were distributing anti-Muslim papers in Arakan State, they would not influence public feeling. “The Arakan people see the issues of the Rohingyas and military rule as separate ones. Anti-Muslim propaganda will not make the people of Arakan State pro-junta.”
Western Burma is not only an important region for the Burmese junta but also of geopolitical and strategic interest for the junta’s closest ally, China. Beijing is scheduled to construct oil and gas pipelines from Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Port to Yunnan Province in Southwest China in 2009. The US $2.5 billion project, which includes upgrading Kyaukpyu Port, is scheduled for completion by April 2013.
The pipelines will carry 85 percent of China’s Middle East oil imports, as well as Burmese natural gas from the Bay of Bengal. The Chinese-financed projects were believed to have figured prominently in talks in Naypyidaw on Wednesday between junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, who is currently visiting Burma.