[Previous entry: "Machiavelli’s Ceasefire and the Indo-Naga Peace Process Nandita Haksar, The author is a human rights lawyer and writer. Mainstream"] [Next entry: "Zero tolerance for poll misconduct morungexpress"]

04/11/2009: "Nagas must not initiate in Indian election Naga Military Army Force, NNC."

Nagas must not initiate in Indian election Naga Military Army Force, NNC.

In the year 1947, June 26, we the NNC govt. had meeting with Akbar Hydari for Nagas Nine point, agreement but could not finalized. After that Kughato Sumi and Phizo elected delegation member in July 19, 1947 and went to Delhi and had a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation in Bangi Colony not to interfere in Nagas’ right.
Then Mahatma Gandhi told that if you people of Nagas want to live in your own you don’t have to tell us.

So Kughato, Ivulho, Tolhopu together declared Naga Independence day on August 14, 1947 and hoisted Naga National Flag by Kughato in Kohima Choto Bosti Dibashi Line. We the Naga have our own right but don’t want to have enmity with Indian.

In 1954, we demanded them to leave Nagaland but they don’t. So in March 24, 1956 we had a clash with Indian Army force A.P. Battalion in Satakha Village and apprehended 78 Indian Army with arms, ammunition but released them without any harm because we are Christian Country and don’t want blood shed.

We demanded Indian to leave our country and not to interfere in our Naga country right. According to 1951 May 16, plebiscite known by most of the country, we have been given every right and want the people of Naga also. We the Nagas must not initiate in Indian election. Who ever is a ring leader in Indian election, he or she will be not counted as Naga and if anything happens he or she will be responsible (as in the azha).

If any of the NNC non accordist 15 Battalion 5 Brigade Naga Military Army Force is involved in the election he or she will be punished. M.I.P, Battalion 5 Brigade,

UNPC tells, IM, Mani to go to Nagaland The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 01 2009: Taking strong exception to the manner in which Mani Charenamei has been advocating the formation of Nagalim at the expense of Manipur, the United Naga People's Council has dubbed him a stooge of the NSCN (IM) and 'advised' him to instead go to Nagaland to represent that State.

In a statement issued to the press today, the outfit said that it seriously views the statement of Mani Charenamei during the Nag Reconciliation meeting held at Komlathabi Kapam Public ground in Chandel in October last year wherein he said that no one should oppose the aspirations of the Nagas to live under one administrative unit.

Mani Charenamei is an MP from Manipur but since he deems it to speak against the interest of the State, then the ideal thing would be for him to contest the election from Nagaland, it asserted. Till date UNPC has neither sought the help of any Minister, MLA or MP and has also never issued any threats to them, but the stand of Charenamei is taking things a little too far. The outfit also reminded that Mani made the statement under heavy security provided by the State Government.
Though some sections of the Nagas of Manipur may support the idea of disintegrating Manipur, the UNPC will oppose such an agenda till the last breath, said the statement.

The UNPC is fully committed to the peaceful co-existence of the hill and valley people, it added. Going on the offensive against the NSCN (IM), the statement said that the dastardly killing of Dr Th Kishan and his two subordinates is ample proof of the mindset of the IM leaders. The Lt Col who carried out the murder must have surely received the blessings of Hebron in committing the hideous murder, it said and added that though they have been stating that the guilty would be punished, it is clear that they are far from doing that. Recalling the instances of Baby Lungnila Elizabeth, UNPC said that the prime accused, James Kuki was released from the custody of the IM group on a parole of Rs 40 lakhs. What does this say, it countered. Even the murder case of Muheni Martin and Hriini Hubert has been allowed to die a natural death, it reminded and said that the time has come for the Nagas of Manipur to banish the IM group.

Negating the press statement published in the State papers on September 7 last year, UNPC said that there are no district officers. The officers were named as William Tangkhul (Ukhrul), Robert (Senapati), Dimgolmei (Tamenglong) and Megheiber (Chandel) and army wing commander DS Ason. Till date the UNPC does not have an army wing. Till an official decision of the UNPC is taken all works will be executed under the is general secretary BT Lansha and finance secretary Apam Tangkhul, it added.

The outfit also asked the renegades to confess to their misdeeds or else they will be taken an enemies of the people of Manipur.
Bullets can't be a reply to NE terrorism' 'Bullets can't be a reply to IST, B B Goswami Times of India
SILCHAR: External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the problem of militancy in the North-East could not be solved by using bullets only or putting the rebels behind the bar. "Peaceful means are a better option to solve the problem," he said while addressing a number of election rallies in the Barak Valley of Assam.

"There's no doubt that the UPA government has been controlling the menace in the region with a firm hand. There's no question of being soft towards the militants. But at the same time, we have to understand that the youths who have taken up arms are our own boys. Unfortunately, they are a misguided lot. The UPA government is interested to listen to them and solve their demands through dialogue. If UPA returns to power after the election, the new government will accelerate the peace process," he said.

Addressing his first meeting at Nandan Kanon Tea Estate in Cachar district near the state's border with Manipur, the Union minister said the problem of insurgency in the southern part of Assam was influenced by militants based in Manipur and Nagaland.

"I understand the phenomena here. The government is committed to solving the problems of insurgency in Manipur and Nagaland and ensure that peace returns to this part of Assam," he said.
Coming down heavily on the Opposition for nailing the government for the recent blasts that rocked Assam, Mukherjee said they (the Opposition parties) "only know to criticize but fail to go through the government's achievements in terms of containing terrorism."

He added, "It's true that militants are frequently triggering blasts in Assam. But this is nothing new. There were major terror attacks including one in Parliament during the NDA's tenure. Terrorism has become an international problem and different countries are discussing the issue to take on the menace jointly. The achievement of UPA government is that during this period India has managed to succesfully present the problem of terrorism at international forums. But the NDA government had failed to do so."

Taking a pot shot at BJP leader L K Advani for describing Manmohan Singh a "weak" prime minister, Mukherjee said, "It's not necessary that Manmohanji has to put on many kgs to become a PM. For a prime minister, his head has to work, not his body."

Rio was proposer of "Bedrock of Naga Society", claims NPCC Page News Service)
Dimapur, April 9: In response to the statements of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and NPF President, Dr Shürhozelie on "Bedrock of Naga Society" during the election meetings, the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee asked Rio to refresh his memory when the meeting for the release of the booklet was organized at Congress Bhavan, Kohima in June 2000 and added that Rio, the then Congress Home Minister was the proposer and Z Lohe, the then Speaker was the seconder.
It may be mentioned here that the NPF leaders, including the Chief Minister had said that the Bedrock of Naga Society cannot be a closed chapter as claimed by the Congress Party unless Congress Party officially tender apology to the Nagas.
In a release, NPCC Vice President, Nillo Rengma stated that for NPFF it is a totally a closed chapter from August 31, 2005 when former CLP leader I Imkong pronounced before the Naga Convention on Integration that "I hereby put on record that it is a closed chapter. Let the past rancours and hatchet be buried, sink differences, be reconciled and unite to go forward for a glorious future blessed with peace and prosperity". On that day the booklet has been put at rest and disowned, the release stated adding, for the NPCC, the matter end there.

NSCN (I-M) lauded for apprehending culprits Nagaland Post
DIMAPUR: DVC: The Darogapathar Village Council (DVC) has expressed gratitude to NSCN (I-M) for apprehending two of the accused involved in the 25 March incident. The Council chairman Tsukjem Jamir and secretary Ate Kapfo further request NSCN (I-M) for early arrest of the other accused. ASUD: The Ao Students Union Dimapur (ASUD) has expressed gratitude to NSCN (IM) for their active and sincere work in apprehending the two main absconding culprits who were part of the heinous crime of robbery, attempted murder and rape on March 25 at Darogapathar. ASUD president N. Sashi Walling and general secretary S. Toshi Longhcar, in a press release issued further lauded the service of police and administration in capturing the third absconding culprit. ASUD has appealed the authorities to apprehend the last remaining culprit at the earliest to conduct a speedy trail and award befitting punishment to the culprits. SSU: The The Süngratsü Students Union has expressed gratitude to NSCN (IM) and police department for apprehending the culprits who were involved in March 25 incident. SSU in a press release issued by its president Meren Aier urged all authorities to cooperate in bringing the absconding the culprit to justice. SSU has appealed the authorities to punish the culprits as per the law to serve as an example to other criminals from committing crimes aganist humanity.
Discussion: Both Lalu and Vaiko should be detained under NSA Latest India News By Satbir Bedi
I have heard Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav saying “If I were Home Minister, whatever the consequences, I would have had a roller move over the chest of Varun Gandhi for the latter’s inciting the Hindus to act against 15 crores of Indian Muslims”.
It is clear that just as Varun Gandhi wanted to get Hindu votes by speaking against Indian Muslims, Lalu is also hell bent on getting Muslim votes whatever be the consequences. Clearly, he wants to incite the passions of Muslims. A case has been registered against him at the Kishan Ganj police station in Bihar for his threatening remarks. Maneka Gandhi, mother of Varun Gandhi had also written to the SSP, Badayun for acting against Lalu for threatening to kill her son. What Lalu has done is just like what Varun Gandhi has done and if Varun Gandhi is detained under NSA, then Lalu should also be detained under NSA.
On the other hand, the Chennai Police sources said a case was registered against MDMK leader Vaiko after his ‘bloodbath’ speech in which he warned of a bloodbath in Tamil Nadu if Prabhakaran, the Chief of the LTTE got harmed under the current Sri Lankan Army’s operation against LTTE.
Vaiko also supported Tamil Eelam (freedom) by dividing Sri Lanka into a Tamil Sri Lanka and a Sinhalese Sri Lanka. He has been booked under section 124A (sedition) of Indian Penal Code and section 505(1)(b) (making a statement to cause alarm in the public and induce a person to commit offences against the State). The case is also under section 13(1)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967 (advocating or abetting unlawful activity). The LTTE is a proscribed outfit under the Act. However, Vaiko has not been arrested so far.
This man, Vaiko is clearly linked with LTTE which is a terrorist organisation and is banned organisation. He should not be permitted to act against the interests of Sri Lanka which is a friendly country. It is also not clear whose blood will be spilled if Prabhakaran gets harmed. He is clearly inciting the feelings of the Tamilians to get votes. He, too, should be detained under NSA just as Varun Gandhi was detained under that act for inciting the feelings of Hindus against the Muslims. Moreover, his idea of Tamil Eelam is a dangerous idea. It could have repercussions in the various States of India with Kashmiris in J&K, Sikhs in Punjab, Nagas in Nagaland and ULFA in Assam demanding a separate State for them.
Moreover, according to news reports, Sri Lankan government has warned India that there is a threat to Sonia Gandhi and her children from LTTE which of course, has been denied by the latter but still there is a great need of caution as Sonia Gandhi’s husband had been killed by LTTE earlier.
Confident Rio claims 80% victory for Chang RIDICULES CONG’S TWO-FACED NATURE ON BEDROCK AS DAN CAMPAIGN OFFICIALLY ENDS Our Correspondent | EMN
PUGHOBOTO, APR 9: A contented and confident Neiphiu Rio today announced the conclusion of the DAN election campaign for Lok Sabha polls while predicting victory for the coalition’s consensus candidate CM Chang by a whopping 80 percent.

The 14-day DAN campaign, which underscored the Naga political issue, kicked off on March 27 last at Mon District to conclude with a public rally at Pughoboto, four days prior to the deadline set by the Election Commission.
Expressing satisfaction over the ‘good response’ from the people, Rio, interacting with media persons, exuded confidence and stated that the main aim of the coalition was to win the LS polls with the highest margin in the whole of the country.
Going by his assessment, DAN’s CM Chang will pip Congressman Asungba Sangtam for the lone Lok Sabha seat by about a margin of 80 percent.
Stressing on the insensibility in letting a ‘high command’ in Delhi address local issues, Rio questioned – “Why should we continue to let high command to rule our people. They don’t know the grass-root level.”
The Chief Minister further categorically stated that NPF-led DAN was mature enough to make decisions for the good of its people.
However, Rio clarified he is not biased about any leader of the Congress at the Centre but admitted that the fight was with the state Congress, which according to him has brought much misery to the people of Nagaland.
On the same refrain, he once again expressed distaste for the two-faced nature of the state Congress, particularly with regard to the controversial booklet - Bedrock of Naga Society.
While the Nagaland Congress has been trying to protect its Achilles’ heel by claiming that the ‘Bedrock’ is a closed chapter, it has stopped short of making any apologies over the booklet which caused a furore and brought about its downfall in the 2003 general elections.
Ridiculing the claim that ‘Bedrock’ was a closed chapter, Rio said ‘it is still the Holy Bible for Congress’ and once again challenged the State Congress to plead forgiveness from the public and to condemn the Bedrock of Naga Society, as ‘it is a matter of the whole Naga family’.
Meanwhile, lambasting the comparison with Varun Gandhi made by the State Congress, Rio said Varun and any other person who addresses hate speech against any community deserves punishment. “If I am to be punished, I will be punished for speaking up for the rights of the Naga community at large,” he said, adding that he was the first person to voice against communalism in a Delhi meeting attended by Chief Ministers and Union Ministers of the country, for which he claimed he has received appreciation from various organisations, including the Bishop of India.
Addressing today’s public at the Pughoboto Local Ground, the CM asserted that the real strength lies in the regional party and DAN Government is a people’s Government with a view to work for the development of the people.
He said Congress cannot work for the interest of Naga people as they will only talk party policy and not about Naga policy. DAN Government’s policy is ‘equi-closeness’ and our top priority is to bring solution to Naga political problem, he added.
Minister for Higher Education and Urban Development and also the president of NPF, Dr Shürhozelie Lezeitsu, in his address, also reiterated the NPF’s commitment to bring solution to the political problem with a political approach. The veteran regionalist described Chang as the fittest man and appealed to the electorate to elect him to represent the Naga people in Delhi.
Other dignitaries including Power Minister, Doshehe, Parliamentary Secretary, Co-operative, R Khing, Neiba Ndang, Member NCP and NPF Youth President also addressed the rally.
Motivations and Methods of India’s United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 9: Derek Henry Flood
Category: Terrorism Monitor, Global Terrorism Analysis, Home Page

ULFA militant The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has been terrorizing India’s northeastern states since a student-led insurgency began thirty years ago on April 7, 1979. The movement’s primary goal is to achieve a sovereign homeland for the Assamese people. After three decades of political violence, the ULFA shows few signs of abandoning its struggle for an independent Assam, as demonstrated by a recent pre-election bombing in Guwahati, the state’s commercial capital (Hindustan Times, April 1). The blast occurred before India’s Minister for External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, was due to address a campaign rally on behalf of his ruling Congress Party.

The northeast Indian states known as the “Seven Sisters” are an ethno-linguistic archipelago of seething and unresolved conflicts with the central government in Delhi. Assam is the bridgehead both for the northeast region’s economy and the Indian security forces counterintelligence operations. ULFA represents the biggest indigenous strategic threat to the “Chicken’s Neck,” the vulnerable 20 to 40 km wide corridor sandwiched between southeastern Nepal and northwestern Bangladesh that connects West Bengal to Assam. Decades of ULFA insurgency and terrorism have led to the permanent presence of the Indian military (though nothing on the scale of Delhi’s forces in Jammu & Kashmir). Thirty years of political violence has been an obstruction to the development of this vital yet impoverished region. Assam is essential for the development of India’s crumbling domestic infrastructure and markedly growing economy. Upper Assam state’s carbon-based energy resource sector was developed under British rule and bequeathed to the Nehru government at independence. After nationalization via Nehru’s socialist inspired policies, it has continued to supply petroleum and coal to the Indian “mainland,” while many Assamese who inhabit villages adjacent to petroleum production in Digboi that open pit coal mining in Margherita cook dinner with firewood and eat by candlelight.

Droves of workers from India’s Hindi belt have migrated to Assam to cultivate its sprawling tea plantations and chip away at its mines. These mass migrations were encouraged during the British Raj when colonial officials needed vast numbers of laborers to fill the imperial treasuries and have continued unabated to the present day. Thus, the ULFA’s primary targets consist of both national and local political elites, the security forces and the Hindi-speaking migrant laborers (primarily from the poverty-stricken eastern Indian state of Bihar). A dominant factor in ULFA’s raison d’etre is an anti-migration sentiment mixed with linguistic chauvinism toward outsiders. The UFLA’s xenophobic doctrine insists that the influx of illiterate migrants into the state’s labor pool drowns out indigenous Assamese culture and leaves locals out of participating in their own rightful industries.

Critics in the Indian security establishment point to inconsistencies in the group’s rationale; the ULFA is vehemently against internal economic migration from within India but remains relatively silent on the illegal immigration of Bengali-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh (Rediff January 9, 2007). This contradiction is regarded by Indian officials as de facto evidence of the involvement of Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), which Delhi believes to be supported by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) (Rediff.com, January 17, 2007).

Though links to regional Islamist groups are often ascribed to unnamed government officials in Delhi or the Assamese state capital of Dispur the ULFA differs from the many militant Islamist groups operating on the sub-continent by being Hindu in origin and militantly ethno-nationalist in nature, not unlike the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka (Times of India, October 21, 2004). Any coordination between the ULFA and religiously motivated non-state actors in Bangladesh and Pakistan would be of an operational nature based on temporarily dovetailing interests rather than any ideological commonality. Delhi seeks to emphasize the ULFA’s Islamist/terrorist connections through the national press, though publicly it presents scant empirical evidence to make such a case (Economic Times [New Delhi], February 7). Indian authorities and the Indian press seek to link the group to ISI-sponsored Islamist groups in Bangladesh and directly to the ISI itself.

The ULFA’s theater of operations and training is or has been comprised of the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, the predominantly Muslim hereditary democracy of Bangladesh, the Orwellian state of Myanmar and Nagaland, home of a predominantly Baptist revolutionary movement. The ULFA fights and terrorizes within an astonishingly Balkanized belt of ethnic and religious diversity. ULFA activities are rarely reported in the Western press unless they produce a mass casualty attack, such as the January, 2007 incident in which approximately 70 Bihari civilians were killed in a multi-day orgy of violence (Bloomberg, January 8, 2007). These attacks are partly aimed at disrupting the Assamese and Indian economy. Often when Bihari civilians are attacked they flee Assam en masse, leaving the state devoid of much needed labor.

Looking Eastward Following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by a teenage Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bomber in 1991, India moved from an idealistic Nehruvian foreign policy into an era of realpolitik under the leadership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. India’s traditional support for democracy in Burma and its vanguard, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was put on the back burner in favor of creating trade relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Several of India’s northeastern insurgent movements maintained bases in the jungles of northern Myanmar, including the ULFA and the bitterly split factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland. The ULFA insurgency in northeast India stands in the way of India rebuilding the historic Stillwell Road that connects the region to China’s Yunnan province via Myanmar (Times of India, April, 11 2005).

A Roadblock to Regional Integration Suppressing insurgency in Assam is an essential element of India’s “Look East” policy, as Delhi seeks to enhance trade linkages and military cooperation in Southeast Asia. If Assam is the gateway to India’s turbulent northeast, than Myanmar is India’s gateway onward to Southeast Asia. After the ULFA was largely expelled from its Bhutanese camps by the kingdom’s security forces in the 2003 Indian-assisted “Operation All Clear,” the Indian government has since sought to encourage the Burmese junta of General Than Shwe to expel ULFA rebels from its territory (which would leave Bangladesh as ULFA’s last external training center) in exchange for closer military-military and commercial ties (Times of India, December 30, 2003). The armies of Myanmar and India staged the “India-Myanmar Friendship Rally” in 2006 under the guise of memorializing the collective loss of Allied indigenous soldiers in WWII.

The impetus for India engaging Myanmar is twofold. Primarily, India is uneasy with Chinese expansion into Myanmar as China seeks out resources and blue water ports to meet rapidly increasing domestic consumption demands and strengthen its influence in the broader Southeast Asian/Indian Ocean realm. Secondly, India is seeking to exploit natural gas fields and other resources, along with China and South Korea, off western Myanmar’s Arakan coast (Asia Times, April 3). Creating pipelines, reviving WWII colonial era roads and turning a blind eye to human rights are factors in India’s new relations with the Than Shwe government. The ULFA and its goal of Assamese secession is a nagging impediment to Delhi’s belated plans for development of the Northeast necessary for integration with ASEAN.

Methods of Terror ULFA guerrillas, who are routinely referred to in the Indian press as “cadres” or “ultras,” routinely extort money from sprawling tea estates that blanket Upper Assam and target estate officials for kidnapping and assassination (The Telegraph [Kolkata] November 30, 2008). Tea estate workers in Upper Assam interviewed by the author described night visits by ULFA insurgents demanding cash, food and silence on the group’s movements in exchange for remaining unharmed. The workers, primarily Bihari peasants, said that while the Indian Army controls the roads in Tinsukia district during the day, the ULFA operates freely at night. ULFA members occasionally slaughter groups of Biharis to demonstrate the reality of their threats.

In Assam’s urban centers, ULFA members commonly plant explosive devices on motorcycles and bicycles, hurl grenades into unsuspecting marketplaces and place bombs in rubbish bins to make their point (Telegraph, March 26, 2008). The ULFA also instructs whole commercial districts to commence bandhs, or strikes, where guerillas force commerce to come to a halt under threat of violence. Shop owners seen conducting business during a bandh may be killed or have their enterprises destroyed for disobeying an ULFA ultimatum. By issuing bandh diktats, ULFA leaders seek to send a message of immense dissatisfaction to Delhi and punish local leadership in Dispur for its perceived intransigence.

Though the Indian government has had a certain degree of success with getting particular factions of northeastern insurgent groups to demilitarize and surrender, there always seems to be hardcore elements within these fissiparous, personality-driven movements that are irreconcilable to anything less than their stated aims. The “Charlie” and “Alpha” companies of the ULFA’s 28th Battalion, allegedly based in Myanmar, have ceremonially surrendered and agreed to ceasefires while other irreconcilable elements within the movement have yet to come in from the cold (The Hindu, June, 25 2008).

Conclusion At the thirtieth anniversary of ULFA’s founding, the group and its activities in Assam show few signs of genuinely abating despite pronouncements by Indian authorities to the contrary. The ULFA’s military leader, Paresh Barua, also appears no closer to being apprehended in his sanctuary in neighboring Bangladesh, though negotiations on the ULFA issue are under way following the election of the pro-India Awami League government in Dhaka. As the Indian military’s primary focus will likely remain along its western frontier with Pakistan and maintaining one of the world’s largest military occupations (and subsequent counterintelligence operations) in Jammu & Kashmir, it will be very difficult for Delhi to dismantle the ULFA in the long term. The ULFA has suffered military and logistical setbacks in recent years but not nearly enough to bring the organization to an end. The grievances that have fostered the Assamese insurgency, primarily allocation of resources, unfettered migration from the Hindi-speaking belt and prospects for Assamese independence, are unlikely to be addressed by the central government. With India and China in competition throughout this complex region while still retaining a degree of distrust stemming from unresolved territorial disputes in the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian war, prospects for a comprehensive regional peace process are highly unlikely. Economic interdependence between Asian powers is moving ahead faster than the resolution of long standing ethno-nationalist grievances (with their suspected foreign sponsors) and trade may ultimately trump diplomacy in this bitterly contested region.
Rebels rain bullets on train CRPF jawan killed, 17 hurt SARAT SARMA The Telegraph


Nagaon, April 10: A CRPF constable was killed and 17 persons were injured when suspected militants of the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel Gorlosa) sprayed the Badarpur-Lumding Barak Express with bullets in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district today.
Thaiso Langthasa, a 32-year-old passenger, said, “The train was moving slowly as it was climbing. The attackers fired from either side of the track as soon as the engine reached their level. They also lobbed a grenade. Five coaches were hit.” The grenade exploded after hitting the window of a coach, Thaiso, who was travelling from Haflong to Langting, said.
The attack took place near Wadrengdisha between Haflong and Maibong railway stations on the metre gauge track around 2.15pm. The site is 153km from Badarpur railway junction to the south and 75km from Lumding and 30km from the district headquarters of Haflong to the north. Maibong civil sub-divisional officer Ghana Kanta Pegu said the train continued its journey despite the firing and reached Maibong station. The injured passengers were taken off the train there.
“A special train on medical duty reached Maibong this evening. We are shifting all the seriously injured to Lumding and Haflong,” Pegu added. The rest are being treated at the Maibong community health centre.
Amarjeet Singha, 21, a constable of the 5th Assam Police Battalion, said from the Maibong health centre, where he was undergoing treatment before being shifted to Lumding, “I was in the coach for security personnel next to the engine. I saw at least five militants firing at us from sophisticated weapons...bullets were raining on us.
“Two bullets hit me, one on my right arm and another on the left leg,” he said, ruing that he did not have a firearm as he was returning after work. The other security personnel in the coach retaliated, he added. Singha, who was on his way to Lumding from Haflong, hails from Jalukbari in Guwahati and had joined the battalion two years ago.
The deceased constable, identified as A.K. Tiwari of the 144 CRPF, was also travelling in this coach. Three persons — RPSF constable Dhanesh Buragohain, Rangthang Haflongbar of Semkhor and an unidentified middle-aged man — were seriously injured in the attack. The unidentified person suffered serious burn injuries as a kerosene stove, being carried in one of the coaches, burst after being hit by a bullet. “He was sitting close to the stove,” a senior doctor at Maibong CHC, Tilok Deka, said.
The two civilians have been shifted to Haflong while a jawan of the Railway Protection Security Force has been shifted to Lumding, Deka said. Two women and two children were also among the injured, he added.
Another passenger, Dipti Hojai of Lumding, who suffered splinter injuries and was also undergoing treatment at the Maibong CHC, said, “We were peeping out to see from where the firing was coming. At that moment a grenade was hurled and it hit the iron grill of the window of our coach. I can’t remember anything after that.”
NC Hills district superintendent of police Mridulananda Sarma said the DHD (J) are suspected to have launched the attack, but investigations are on to ascertain the facts. He and deputy commissioner S. Jagannathan visited the spot. An NF Railway spokesperson said discussions were on to decide whether to run trains in the section from tomorrow. Train services in the district have often been disrupted because of militant attacks. The railway still does not run passenger trains in this section at night.
Cong’s vote-bank politics has harmed Assam: Modi Assam Tribune
GUWAHATI, April 11 – The choice in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Assam would be between vote-bank politics of the Congress party and the politics of development that the National Democratic Alliance stood for. It is the politics of vote bank that has created the gravest of problems in the State, which has been under Congress rule for several decades.

Asserting this at a campaign rally of the BJP’s candidate for the Guwahati constituency, Biyoya Chakravarty, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said that the time has arrived for the electorate to bury the Congress for good, so that much needed development can be ushered in. The future of the entire country would reside on the foundation of development, he said.

Contrasting the status of drinking water availability in Assam with Gujarat, he said that while a place like Guwahati had limited access to potable water, every village in water-starved Gujarat had access to water. “This shows the difference between vote-bank politics and what can be achieved by politics of development,” Modi thundered.

He agreed with BJP leader LK Advani, who had described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a weak leader. “Had you been strong, you would have arrived in Assam the very next day after the blasts that killed and injured scores of people…You would have dismissed a cabinet minister who had favoured granting citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants.”

Modi referring to the security scene in Assam said that the Congress Party has failed to ensure the safety and security of people across the State. “Vote bank politics would never eradicate terrorism from the State,” he said.

Appealing to the people of the State to vote for the NDA and the leadership of LK Advani, Modi noted that only if the NDA came to power would the fruits of development be enjoyed by the masses. “Unlike in the case of the Congress, the NDA believes that the first claim on the country’s wealth is that of the poor,” he commented.

“I have spoken at several rallies today, and I feel a change coming…the Congress Party would be finished in Assam!” the senior BJP leader claimed. Addressing the gathering, Bijoya Chakravarty sought the blessings of the electorate, and promised a discernible difference to Guwahati and Assam when the NDA came to power.

AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary told cheering crowds that no major development has taken place in Assam during the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government. “All the major benefits that the State has enjoyed was because of the initiatives of the AGP government and the BJP government,” he remarked.

Several other BJP AGP leaders attended today’s campaign rally, including SS Ahluwalia, Sudhangshu Mittal, Dhruba Baishya and Ramen Kalita.

Our Correspondesnts add: Nagaon: “Vote for the BJP-AGP combine and save Assam,” said Narendra Modi here today while addressing a large crowd. He said that the voters had three options – to vote for the UPA whose partners share power with Congress in New Delhi, but turn into vocal critics of the Congress in their states, or the third front that does knows neither their leader nor its objective, or vote for the NDA which will never break.

It is the wish of the people that the NDA should come to power, Modi said, adding that Advani represents nationalism and the NDA is for the welfare of India and also for Assam. Modi criticized the UPA, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in particular, because he did nothing for Assam even though he was elected from the State.

Rangiya: Narendra Modi today accused the ruling UPA government in centre and the Congress Government in Assam of failing totally in providing the basic needs of the poor and the deprived. “Both the governments are turning a deaf ear to the burning problem afflicting the common man and the development process has been completely sidelined,” he said while addressing a public rally.

Criticising the Congress, the BJP leader said that the party was only trying to play vote-bank politics in Assam to woo the voters but failed to understand the problems of the people. Urging the people to vote for the BJP, Modi said that if elected to power his party would accord top priority to development and providing a stable government. “The State of Assam has seen no development under the Congress regime ,” Modi said adding that it was high time the people ousted the Congress by putting up a united stand.

Jorhat: “The vote bank politics patronized by the ruling Congress party has crippled India during the last 60 years”, said Narendra Modi, addressing a huge election rally at Jorhat District Sports Association (JDSA) Field here today. The prominent BJP leader, Modi arrived here at 11-30 am to campaign for Kamakhya Tasa, the young BJP candidate of the Jorhat constituency for the ensuing LS election.

Modi further added that the illegal migrants from Bangladesh during the rule of Congress have changed the demography and socio-economic structure of Assam which is a serious threat for the indigenous people of the land.

Criticizing the Congress government and the MP of Jorhat constituency he said that the scarcity of drinking water in the district itself is the worst example of the vote bank politics of the party in power, while the river Brahamaputra is only 10 km away from the Jorhat town. Contrasting to it he presented the picture of Gujrat, where BJP government linked 1400 km of pipeline from Narmada within 700 days and provided drinking water to 8000 villages. The insecurity of life in Assam according to the Chief Minister of Gujrat was due to the failure of the Congress government in both the state and Centre. It indicated the unheeded attitude of the government for the common folk. In Assam there occurred four blasts within a week which according to him was an astonishing instance.