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06/08/2009: "NSCN (K) sets conditions for unification with rival group (Page News Service)"



NSCN (K) sets conditions for unification with rival group (Page News Service)

Kohima, June 7: On the sidelines of ongoing "Naga Reconciliation Meet" at Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) today set conditions for possibility of unification with the rival NSCN led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thiungaleng Muivah.
Envoy of the collective leadership of NSCN (K), Kughalu Mulatonu said unification of the two NSCN groups could be possible only after the rival group abrogate the ongoing peace talks with the Centre.
Sending a clear and categorical message to the rival NSCN (IM) group, he insisted that Swu and Muivah break the ongoing negotiation with the Centre and come out with the reason for abrogating the talks. And thirdly, reconciliation meeting between the top brass of the NSCN factions be held in Nagaland and not in foreign soil.
"Meeting for peace and reconciliation at junior level may take place anywhere but for the top level the IM gang must first break the ongoing talks with India and declare the outcome along with the reasons for withdrawal," the Khaplang's spokesman said.
The NSCN (K) envoy said reconciliation meeting between Swu, Muivah and S S Khaplang and N. Kitovi Zhimomi could take place only in Nagaland and not as insisted by the rival group in foreign countries. "But first they must break the ongoing talks with Government of India," Mulatonu said.
The NSCN (K) envoy is currently in New Delhi to meet the Central leaders and pursue them to begin talks with the outfit stating that 12 years of talks between the Centre and NSCN (IM) has failed to hammer out solution to the Naga political problem.
"No meeting for peace and reconciliation outside Naga soil and any such meeting will preferably be only in Nagas' soil," the NSCN (K) man said. He said the stand of the outfit has already been conveyed to the NSCN (IM) chairman, Swu and convenor of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation, Rev. Wati Aier and that this stance would not be revoked. He said Khaplang and Kitovi would not commit any miscalculation on Naga issue.
Currently Swu is reportedly in Bangkok, Thailand, though rival group said he is in China, while Muivah is reported to be in Africa
Mulatonu however said NSCN (IM)'s uniformity with the Forum for Naga Reconciliation as "airy-fairy drama" and cautioned the people from being carried out by the ongoing "so called" reconciliation meets.
Under the sponsorship of FNR and supported by world renowned peace groups like Quakers from United Kingdom and American Baptist "Naga Reconciliation Meet" is underway in Chiang Mai, Thailand where representatives from the Naga factions are attending. But top brass of the factions are not present.
The NSCN (IM) chairman Swu has also spoken to his old comrade Khaplang over phone and had sent a letter to commander-in-chief of the NSCN (K) Khole Konyak for a face-to-face meeting vis-à-vis for unification of the two NSCN groups. But the NSCN (IM) leaders said N. Kitovi Zhimomi and the outfit's emissary Kughalu Mulatonu have become the main obstacle towards such arrangements. The duo has been accused of misleading Khaplang and Khole.
NSCN was split in 1988 after differences cropped up between Swu, Muivah and Khaplang and since then there has been fratricidal killings between the two factions. Khaplang and Khole live in Myanmar.
Meanwhile, the Khaplang group is optimistic that solution could come out with the Centre once dialogue begins.
The outfit said there is every possibility of solution with the Centre if they (NSCN-K) are invited for the talks. The NSCN (K) which is in truce with the centre since 1997 is yet to begin talks with the Centre.
Mulatonu said both the Centre and his group are keen to resolve the Naga problem through dialogue. But at the same time he also sounded lest convinced about the possible invitation by the Centre to start the talks. The outfit which has been categorical on nothing short of sovereignty said talks would be based on the proposals from the Centre. "We will discuss the Naga issue on Government of India's proposals," the NSCN (K) envoy added.

Homeless Zemes pour into relief camps EMN Kevi Soho |
ONGOING COMMUNAL VIOLENCE STRAINS AGE-OLD NAGA-DIMASA RELATIONSHIP
JALUKIE, JUN 7: The sudden spurt of violence on March 18 with the attack of a Zeme village by the Dimasa militants continue to trouble the North Cachar Hills district in Assam while the head count of displaced Zeme Nagas taking refuge in parts of Nagaland and Manipur daily show an increase.
Forced to flee their own homeland to escape the communal violence and subsequent economic-blockade, the over 200 odd displaced Zeme Nagas, mostly minor children and women are taking refuge among brethrens in Jalukie town in Peren district of Nagaland.
Indiscriminate killings and burning down of their villages are compelling more and more Zeme Nagas to flee their NC Hills homeland and ties between the indigenous Zemes and Dimasas, co-existing since long, are getting strained with the Zeliangrong and Dimasa leaders
The bitterness of the apex Zeliangrong Baudi towards the Dimasa militants in particular and the Dimasa people in general was evident as the Baudi’s officials garnering assistance for the displaced Zeme villagers accused the Dimasa Kacharis of Nagaland of being to a large extent responsible for the situation.
Miffed with the unwarranted attacks on innocent villagers by DHD cadres, an official of the Baudi even went on to say that ‘they (DHD) were trained by our own people, have been seeking refuge in our homeland in bad times and now they are targeting us.’
The NC Hills Zeme Naga exodus, Zeliangrong Baudi officials informed, started on May 15 with violence escalating to terrible proportions.
While many have fled to relatives in various parts of Nagaland state, majority of the displaced have reportedly headed for Tamenlong district in Manipur.
Though the exact count was not available, Baudi officials put the number of displaced people taking refuge in the state within 500 to 700.
The relief camps are spread across Tenning, Ghaspani area and Dimapur, the officials said adding that proper survey to confirm the number has not been done as yet.
However as innocent Zeme Nagas continue to be the target of violence, many more are expected to be arriving in Nagaland in the coming days.
Zeliangrong Baudi vice president Raitu affirmed that the DHD ceasefire group was responsible for all the killings and torching of villages.
‘The cadres taking the advantage of the ceasefire have been moving around with the army patrols to identify villages with no volunteers for protection and then making those villages their targets,’ the Baudi official alleged.
Obviously intent on accomplishing their objective of uprooting the Zeme Nagas from their rightful lands, the DHD have also been threatening traders not to sale essential commodities to Nagas and trade or buy their wares, the Baudi officials added.
The DHD had earlier served an ultimatum to the Naga villagers to leave NC Hills within May 15 and threatened to launch full scale attacks on the villages if they failed to comply.
Informing on the measures taken to accommodate the displaced lot, Jalukie town Council vice chairman, Imtui Mpom said they have been kept in small groups to help them get menial jobs to meet their own expenses at a later time.
‘We are doing all we can in assisting them, but we cannot keep on feeding them,’ JTC vice chairman rued.
Earlier, with more and more seeking refuge, the council carried out donation drives from all residents in its nine wards.
The displaced housed in small groups of 25, 18 in nine camps spread over Jalukie town have been living off the contribution from residents of Jalukie, Jalukie Town Council, various individuals, IRCS, Tenyimia Union, Naga Hoho and others.
Survivor tells of ruthless killings
While reports of the NC Hills violence continue to make headlines in local newspapers, the magnitude of terror that has gripped the restive district of Assam can be gauged from only those who faced the fire.
A 35-year old father of three who miraculously survived one of the DHD attacks, on May 15, lives to tell the tale of the cold-blooded killings.
Lunglakam of Baureneu village recounting the events of the day when he cheated death said – “We have heard the first violent outcome in Thunjai village and were apprehensive when five cadres armed with sophisticated weapons entered our village.’
The cadres assured the villagers that they were in the village for their protection and appealed to all village people to come back, Lunglakam recollected adding that most young people of the village had fled to the jungles.
The cadres asked villagers to prepare chicken for them but soon they were behaving in suspicious manner, he added. While sipping red tea which has been served as demanded by the cadres, a wary Lunglakam inched towards the door when he heard the weapons been readied to open fire. “Sensing the intention of the cadres, I made a dash for the door sustaining the bullet injuries in the process.”
There were five of us including two old women, a family relative and my younger brother, he recounted while showing his wounds on the left elbow and left hips.
The cadres shot dead Lunglakam’s younger brother and the relative. The killing was the second incident after Thunjai wherein, the cadres lined up five villagers and sparyed bullets on them killing two on the spot. However, two persons escaped while one sustained injury.
‘If we had believed their assurance and called everyone, they would have lined us up and shot us like the incident in Thunjai village,’ he informed.
Also speaking to Eastern Mirror, a 32-year old women, Kanche (32) said since the flare up, many villagers were taking shelter in the forest to escape the cadres. “I was camping in the forest for 10 days after which, I decided to reach out for help and walked for two-days till Nsong with friends. From Nsong village, we got transportation and reached Jalukie,” she said. Commenting on the conditions in NC Hills, Kanche said the villagers have been going through untold sufferings. Living in the forest in shift camps is very difficult in the monsoon, she said.

NC Hills’ Displaced Nagas Sit Out Misery Ashikho Pfuzhe morungexpress
Women and children who fled the ongoing violence in NC Hills of Assam, seen here in a relief camp in Jalukie town.
JALUKIE | 7 : Fear and despair are writ large on the faces of these women and children who fled the carnage unleashed by militants in NC Hills, Assam, and came seeking refuge here in the relatively peaceful Jalukie valley, Peren district of Nagaland.
Around 200 Zeme Nagas, mostly women and children, are presently taking shelter in nine relief camps scattered on the outskirts of Jalukie town, following the ethnic violence between the Dimasa and Zeme in NC Hills.
The women and children arrived in batches, with many of them trudging the jungles for three days to reach safety after crossing the border. Others were transported in vehicles provided by the Zeme brethren of Peren district.
A middle-aged woman in one of the relief camps told visiting media persons that women and children of her village had to spend ten days and ten nights in the jungles to escape the wrath of DHD militants while their men folk stood guard over their village.
“We had to endure the rains and insects like mosquitoes and leeches. Whenever rain comes, our limited rations like rice and salt get spoiled. We finally decided to cross the border and seek shelter here,” she said. Another woman, a mother of three minors, said it was a frightful experience walking in the deep jungles at night carrying her children, always wary of militants.
A group of naked children were seen playing in the courtyard of a relief camp, their tiny laughter masking the scar of the violence that would haunt them in later life. In a room of a building at a multi-sports stadium, a one-year-old boy lay fast asleep on the floor, oblivious of the circumstances, which transported him to a new environment.
Some children were more subdued. A seven-year-old girl was near to tears when asked if she would like to go back to her village where her father stayed behind. “Yes,” she nodded in saying she would like to go back.
Even as the women anxiously wait for good tidings from their menfolk back home in NC Hills that peace has returned to their hamlets, they are not sitting idle in the relief camps but working as daily wage labourers in the fields and as domestic help in various homes. They know that the little savings they make here would help them when they go back and rebuild their homes, destroyed in the ethnic frenzy.
Meanwhile, members of the Jalukie Town Council (JTC), said the council has so far distributed clothes, utensils and food items donated by council members, various churches and well-wishers, to inmates of the relief camps. The Zeliangrong Baudi (Nagaland) is also actively mobilizing funds. It may be mentioned 31 people have been killed and more than 300 houses burnt in the Dimasa-Zeme conflict since March 19.
Zeliangrong Baudi Nagaland approves relief committee

Dimapur, June 7 (MExN): With regard to the ethnic clashes in NC Hills of Assam which has led to the displacement of a large number of people, the Zeliangrong Baudi Hoho, Nagaland, today informed that it has approved setting up of a relief committee on June 2. Raitu Elu is convener while Namheu Khate is member secretary. Other members of the committee include K Mark, Penam and Ekobe (from Kohima), Namdi, Chingkhiulung and Kames Akham (from Dimapur), Herahungbe, Dalak and Ngaugia (from Jalukie), Lungranggai (from Peren) and Hangdi and Taong (from Tenning).
For any information needed in connection with the NC Hills refugees, the mentioned members may be contacted, the Baudi added.
Annihilation of Black Widow in NC hills, Nagaland Post
DIMAPUR If there is a will, there is a way. Perhaps nowhere it has been more evident than in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, the most dangerous district in India. Here trains could not run because of militancy, there is no administration, the local government could not function, even a single rupee of development fund could not be spent properly without giving a major cut to the terrorists.
That is the North Cachar Hills, now in the mid of an unprecedented operation involving almost all government agencies of the country that includes Army, National Investigation Agency (NIA) Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau(SIB), paramilitary forces and Assam Rifles, reports UNI.
‘’To restore the system and put almost everything in place, all it needed was seven days of straight forward security operation and a strong political will, which has been lacking for over a decade, making it a classic case of how negligence and political greed help insurgency to prosper in the North East,’’ said former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
The North Cachar hills is fast returning to pre-Black Widows days as a systemic annihilation has been started all across the State and even outside. The Black Widows was a small militant organisation which emerged as the most dangerous one, taking advantage of a fluid political situation and a complete apathy of the state government, said Assam DGP G M Srivastava.
In a fast paced development, all right moves took place at rapid succession. Mohit Hojai, the former CEM of the District Council was arrested, so was Depolal Hojai, another former CEM and many other smaller politicians, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Black Widows were caught at Bangalore while their Foreign Secretary was killed at Guwahati as the security forces are after the remaining group, trying to wrap up by annihilating the remaining group before the actual monsoon starts, Mr Srivastava said.
It may not be so easy, as the C-in-C of the force Niranjan Hojai has assumed the leadership and it will be a long hide and seek game. But the rapid success raises the first question-why on earth the authorities allowed the NC Hills to reach such a level of anarchy? The situation is such that two national projects of railway gauge conversion and the East West Corridor projects involving more than Rs 3000 crore are allowed to be closed, Railway remains suspended for over two months, de-linking two critical states Tripura and Mizoram and the whole of the Brahmaputra valley, said Mr Kulendu Doulagpu, leader of the Assam State BJP.
Even the Autonomous District Council was not allowed to function properly and the Dispur was more interested to grab control of a District Council rather than controlling a very localised and manageable militant group, he said.
To ask the same question--has arrived the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the top intelligence agency formed after 26/11 of Mumbai. It was their first major assignment as the new Government at the Centre took the matter very seriously and decided to wipe off the militancy in the District.
The DHD guerrillas have unleashed a reign of terror in the North Cachar Hills district areas for the past several months. Since March 18, more than 30 people have been killed in a series of attacks by DHD rebels in the hilly areas. Over 2,000 people belonging to both Dimasa and Zeme Naga tribes are now taking shelter in six relief camps opened by the district administration after their houses were set ablaze by the militants.

Northeast Echoes Time for a healing touch PATRICIA MUKHIM
The Telegraph


DHD-J chief Jewel Gorlosa being taken to the CJM’s court in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by Eastern Projections
The arrest of Jewel Gorlosa, chairman of the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) and his deputy-commander in Bangalore and the death of the outfit’s foreign secretary, Frankie Dimasa in an encounter in Guwahati, came as a major breakthrough for Assam police.
Jewel Gorlosa, who has several aliases, had been operating from Nepal for a while. He travelled to Bangalore ostensibly to get a passport for onward travel to some foreign destination. Had he succeeded in doing so, it would have been almost impossible for the Indian security agencies to lay their hands on him.
Twin problems North Cachar Hills is bleeding from the twin problems of insurgency and ethnic conflict. Since Jewel Gorlosa broke away from the DHD (Dilip Nunisa) group in 2004 and started his own faction, he has wreaked havoc across the NC Hills. His daring exploits carried on almost unabated. At his behest, the DHD (J) has killed several personnel of the Northeast Frontier Railway, some high profile politicians and security forces guarding the railway tracks. Cadres who have deserted the outfit have also been ruthlessly eliminated.
Sadly, the ethnic conflict between the Dimasas and Zeme Nagas has also claimed several lives. An organisation calling itself The Janjati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Manch (Janjati Faith and Culture Protection Forum) has expressed anguish at the killing of innocent citizens from January this year, where 200 lives have been lost and 245 houses burnt to ashes. This organisation lays the blame for the ethnic conflict on Christian missionary activity.
Wreak havoc Property worth several crores of rupees have been destroyed in the NC Hills and construction of the East-West Corridor, with an allocation of Rs 800 crore, and the work on the broad-guage line, costing Rs 1,000 crore, are now in jeopardy.
When largescale violence such as the one that NC Hills is experiencing, rages unabated, it is natural that development activities would come to a standstill. More appalling is the fact that this should happen in one of the backward regions of the state, which is crying for development.
To expect business to carry on as usual in a conflict zone muzzled by extortion demands is to be idealistic. Several industries, including a cement factory, have been closed. The district has become so unsafe that not only businessmen but even senior officials and politicians have decided to stay away from Haflong, Maibong and Mahur and base themselves at Guwahati to escape the extortion net.
A deserted land Haflong today is a deserted town and the fear psychosis is palpable. Recently, the district administration had to close down educational institutions on account of the ethnic riots. For a while now there is not even a semblance of law and order. How can citizens feel safe when armed militants move around freely?
But there appears to have been a major breakthrough with the descent of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) at Dispur. The law seems to have tightened its grip with the arrest of the chief executive member of NC Hills Autonomous Council, Mohit Hojai, and its laision officer R.H. Khan from Haflong, for allegedly paying Rs 1 crore to the Jewel Gorlosa group for purchase of arms.
Evil nexus In the Northeast, the nexus between militants and politicians is legendary. The channelling of development funds from government coffers into the pouches of militants is also old hat. So Mohit Hojai is not the first one to pay money to a militant outfit. What is new is perhaps the information that 10 per cent of development funds from the Autonomous Council of NC Hills, which was created to bridge the development gaps, was regularly flowing into DHD coffers.
The NIA, formed after the Mumbai (26/11) incident, will perhaps prove to be a no-nonsense organisation. Perhaps, for the first time, insurgent outfits of this region will feel the heat. Once the intricate links between militants, politicians, gunrunners and drug peddlers are unearthed and the leakage of funds is plugged, militants will be compelled to think peace.
Mohit Hojai’s confession that he paid a certain police official Rs 30 lakh in order to buy easy mobility should be taken seriously. There is no denying that application of the law has thus far been slack in NC Hills. Even the co-ordination between different security agencies has not been a smooth affair. There is reportedly a total of 50,000 security personnel, including the army, CRPF, RPF, Assam Rifles, BSF and 700 SPOs.
These security personnel have not been given clear-cut operation signals. Conflicting messages from Dispur and Delhi only complicate the situation further. What also merits investigation is the role of religion in the ethnic conflagration.
Myriad faiths For decades the Dimasas and Zeme Nagas practicing their indigenous faiths have shared common traditions and rituals. They have intermarried and become close kin. Their filial relations are narrated in folk-tales, folk songs, history and religious practices. Both groups have remained constant in their faiths and have not been open to any form of conversion. They are also opposed the inclusion of NC Hills into Greater Nagalim, which is the demand of the NSCN (I-M).
Christian missionaries have been proactively engaged in prosletysation, according to the principles of their faith. Perhaps there is a resistance to the manner in which such evangelisation processes are being undertaken. The foreign Christian missionaries used the divide-and-rule tactic of the colonial regime and separated the converts from their “pagan” brethren.
One can only hope that a similar ploy is not at work now in the NC Hills by over-enthusiastic local missionaries. When people of the same cultural roots begin to divide because of religious differences, cultural ties corrode and social cohesion gives way to disorder.While the benevolent role of Christian missionaries cannot be undermined and their efforts at peace-building must be lauded, the most important religion now is that of brotherhood and communal harmony.
Yeoman’s role Christian missionaries have played yeoman’s role in serving the refugees holed up in various camps. Such efforts need to be replicated several times over without giving the impression that they are doing it for the purpose of conversion. There are currently about 4,000 people from the Dimasa and Zeme communities living in 13 relief camps in NC Hills. They want to return to their villages and farms. The government and all other relief agencies need to facilitate the return of normality and douse the fires of communal passions that are raging in these once peaceful hills. The people of NC Hills need a break from the killings and bloodshed they have been witnessing for years. Indeed, NC Hills district is crying for the healing touch!
(The writer can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com)
Dispur unmoved by truce call - DHD-J’s ceasefire declaration only a ploy to launch attacks: Govt The Telegraph
Guwahati, June 7: Dispur today alerted security formations in North Cachar Hills asking them not to be taken in by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel)’s unilateral ceasefire declaration, as it could be a ploy to launch strikes in retaliation to the arrest and killing of its top leaders. A source in the government said Dispur has received no communiqué yet from the outfit declaring the three-month unilateral ceasefire and as such, nothing had changed on the ground.
David Dimasa, commander of the group’s “north zone”, who called up a few reporters last evening to announce the ceasefire, promised that the outfit would abjure violence, and asked the government to consider its demands.
“Operations are on irrespective of what has been reported by the media and the security forces are in a search-and-destroy mode,” an official said.
He said even if the missive from the DHD (J) did come, it would not mean that the operations would be called off. “We’ll have to see whether they are serious. Besides, no matter what, they have to surrender their weapons if they want the government to reciprocate to their gesture,” he said.
“In the past, too, the outfit had expressed its desire for truce, but ultimately it was found that such overtures were a ploy to get the security forces of its back and get a breather,” another official said. This time round, the outfit’s stakes were even higher as its chairman and deputy commander-in-chief had been arrested and it was aware that operations would only intensify against its cadres, he added.
The state police were under tremendous pressure from the Centre to neutralise the marauding DHD (J) militants. P. Chidambaram, soon after taking guard for his second innings as Union home minister, had spelt out the government’s priorities when he identified the DHD (J) as an outfit which needed to be tackled with a firm hand.
Within days of the home minister’s tough talking, Assam police arrested the chairman of the outfit, Jewel Gorlosa, and its deputy commander-in-chief Partha Warisa, from Bangalore, a few hours before gunning down the rebel group’s foreign secretary, Frankie Dimasa, in Guwahati.
Taken aback by the triple blows, the second-rung leaders of the outfit went into a huddle in an undisclosed location in North Cachar Hills and decided to offer a unilateral ceasefire to the government. They, however, said the group was far from finished even after the arrests and killing of their leaders. The government is now trying to ascertain the veracity of the overture, a senior home department official said. Dispur will then keep a watch on the group’s activities to find out how serious it was about abjuring violence.
A source said resum- ption of passenger train services through the district would also depend on the commitment of the outfit to maintain peace. Train services in the district had to be stalled after the outfit repeatedly targeted the passenger as well as goods trains meandering through the district’s vast forest and hilly track.
“We are not in a hurry to resume passenger train services. We are adopting the wait-and-watch policy as far as running the passenger trains is concerned,” the official said.
Rebel killed OUR CORRESPONDENT Te Telegraph
Guwahati, June 7: An NDFB rebel, Lousang Brahma, was a killed by unidentified assailants at Batasipur under Dhekiajuli police station in Sonitpur district at 9.30am on Sunday.
“He was on his way to the market on a bicycle when gunmen shot him point blank,” an official at Dhekiajuli police station said. The police said Brahma had gone home on leave from the NDFB ceasefire camp at Udalguri about 10 days ago.



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