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08/10/2009: "Centre urges NSCN to adhere to 'terms & condition' to hammer out solution Nagaland Page"



Centre urges NSCN to adhere to 'terms & condition' to hammer out solution Nagaland Page

Kohima, August 10: The Union Government today said the protracted Naga political issue can be resolved amicably if the parties engaged in the dialogue adhere to the terms and conditions agreed upon prior to the 1997 ceasefire declaration.
On his 2-day visit to Nagaland, Union Minister for Planning & Parliamentary Affairs, Narayanasami, who is also the AICC general secretary, said both the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) must adhere to the terms and conditions agreed before the declaration of ceasefire in July 31, 1997. He, however, categorically said any solution to the long pending Naga political problem would be within the ambit of the Constitution of India.
"Any solution will be within the Constitution of India and the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram had clearly stated that," the minister said.
Narayanasami said the Government of India is positive in resolving the issue provided that all concerned are sincere in their approach. "Whatever terms and conditions should be agreed by both the parties," the Union Minister said. He did not disclose the terms and conditions agreed upon by the Centre and the NSCN.
Narayanasami said the Union Home Minister Chidambaram had explicitly stated that the Centre is willing to resolve the problem through negotiation, but under the Constitution of India. "We want all to come to the negotiation table as the Government of India is open-minded," he maintained. He said in the interest of all concerned the federal Government is determined to resolve the Naga issue at the earliest.
Asked if the Centre is abrogating the terms and conditions of the ceasefire agreement put stating that solution to the Naga issue would be within the ambit of Indian Constitution, the union minister said: That is their view point. The Centre and the NSCN had declared the ceasefire with the agreement that talks would be held without pre-condition and in the prime minister level. The Naga outfit had accused New Delhi of putting the condition in the talks.
The Minister said talks with NSCN would take time to resolve the problem, as it is a complicated issue. He, however, said solution could be hammered out only through sitting across the negotiation table without reservations. He said towards this effort, the Union Home Ministry had taken various initiatives to give tempo to the Naga peace process. If we sit issue can be resolved, the minister added.
The Union Minister also said the Centre is strong-minded to fight the menace of terrorism and that whoever violates the law of the land would be severely penalized.
Meanwhile, the minister said he is in Nagaland to review the over all situation. During his stay he would separately meet the Congress legislators, party officials and workers. He said regarding the change of leadership of congress in Nagaland, final decision would be taken by the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi. But congress leaders here strongly denied that Centre was contemplating to change the leadership of the congress.
On the development front the minister charged DAN government of rampant misuse of funds. He said the Union Government is serious with the manner in which chief minister Neiphiu Rio was misusing the centrally sponsored schemes like NREGS. He said the Centre would use its own machineries to monitor the schemes are properly implemented in Nagaland.
Narayanasami also lambasted the DAN government for what he alleged election malpractices by the state Government in the last parliamentary elections. He said LS election in Nagaland was unprecedented in the country for the first time. (Page News Service)
Govt for constitutional changes to break Naga impasse The Statesman
NEW DELHI, 9 AUG: In a bid to achieve a breakthrough in the 12-year-long Naga peace talks, the UPA government has reportedly sought the opinion of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) to suggest “necessary” constitutional changes to resolve the vexed problem.
“The government has identified a few areas where changes are possible. The NSCN-IM has been accordingly asked to study the Indian Constitution and suggest amendments to the government,” informed sources told The Statesman.
The government and NSCN-IM representatives met in New Delhi on 17 July where ceasefire ‘bottlenecks’ and issues like random extortion of the civilian population by the NSCN-IM militants were discussed.
The NSCN-IM was represented by special emissary VS Atem, Phungting Shimrang and Kilonser Kraibo Chawang at the parleys. According to sources, the NSCN-IM has accepted the idea of taking a closer look at the Indian Constitution in principle and has also enlisted the services of a few constitutional experts. However, no names could be confirmed, though the experts could be from abroad also.
Sources said one basic issue for constitutional amendment could be “devolution of more power to the state of Nagaland”. ;SNS
CFMG discuss points of ‘mutual concern’ morungexpress
Dimapur | August 10 : After a gap of more than five months since the Shiroi stand-off between the Assam Rifles and the NSCN (IM), the ceasefire monitoring group (CFMG) today held a meeting here at Chumukedima Police Complex, and discussed various “irritants” coming in the way of smooth implementation of the ceasefire ground rules.
Emerging from the closed-door meeting, CFMG chairman General Mandhita Singh told media persons that the meeting focused on how to keep the communication channels between the law enforcing agencies and the underground factions “open,” to prevent any misunderstanding. The chairman said the CFMG members discussed certain points of “mutual concern.” These issues included how to deal with “people” of criminal backgrounds, the issue of capital punishment and the rampant extortion in the state.
It was informed that the CFMG members also discussed on the situation in NC Hills, Assam, and Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh. “Other irritants like the issue of passes to senior functionaries of factions and checking conducted by security forces on certain routes were also discussed,” the General said. On the current situation in Nagaland vis-à-vis factional violence, he said it was encouraging that inter-factional clashes and killings have reduced decreased. The CFMG chairman however noted that although the overall violence in the state had certainly come down, the biggest concern was that of “unbridled extortion and abduction for money” still remained.
On implementation of the standard operation procedure (SOP), which is strongly opposed by the NSCN (IM), Singh hinted on how the groups can be incorporated into the whole process. “We are not adverse to involvement of representatives of faction in sorting out problems,” he added.
Nagaland Commissioner HK Khulu, who also attended the meeting, said today’s CFMG meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and termed the discussions as “fruitful.” He hoped that outcome would be positive and that things would improve. Nagaland’s Director General of Police K Kire and IGAR (N) JP Nehra and top officials from the security forces also attended the meeting.

‘SOP not part of CF agreement’

The NSCN (IM) has reiterated its opposition to the SOP. It has said that the SOP, issued by the Home Ministry during the brief stint of President’s Rule in Nagaland in 2007, had nothing to do with the ceasefire agreement between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM).
Convener of ceasefire monitoring cell of the NSCN (IM), “major general” Phungthing Shimrang who headed the six-member team of the faction in today’s CFMG meeting, later told media persons that the main point they put forward was that whatever agreement the Government of India had entered upon was the latter’s concern.
“If GoI is able to handle that (SOP) with other groups, well and good. But what GoI and NSCN have agreed upon should be followed. SOP has nothing to do with the ceasefire agreement between NSCN and GoI,” he said.
On earlier occasions, Phungthing had said that the SOP especially violated clauses (a) and (j) of the revised CFGR, which stated that the Indian Army would not carry out offensive operations against the group. Further, all cases of violation of the ground rules would be referred to a monitoring group comprising of the NSCN (IM), NGOs and representatives nominated by the Government of India.
On reports of Muivah’s recent “clandestine” visit to Nagaland, Phunthing refuted it and said it was mere speculation and mischief. To a query on their involvement in the NC Hills, he said, “If we have been involved, things would have been different long back. In fact we told our men there not to involve,” he asserted.

Manipur continues to burn - Protesters burn CM effigies as ‘quit Ibobi Singh’ campaign reaches fever pitch OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph


Women burn effigies of chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and his wife MLA Landhoni at Kiyamgei in Imphal on Sunday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Imphal, Aug. 9: The campaign seeking resignation of chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh reached a fever pitch today with people taking out rallies and staging sit-ins defying curfew on the eve of Apunba Lup’s mass protest rally tomorrow against the July 23 Imphal “fake encounter”.
Ch. Sanjit, a former militant, was gunned down by police commandos on July 23 in what Imphal residents later claimed to be a “cold-blooded murder”. As the police chased Sanjit through a busy road during the “encounter”, a pregnant woman was killed and five shoppers were injured in indiscriminate firing.
It is not clear as yet whose bullet, Sanjit’s or police’s, killed the woman. Both Imphal districts, particularly Khurai, Sanjit’s residence, have been on the boil since. Though Saturday was day of peaceful sit-ins, the sound of tear gas shells and mock bombs were heard again today as the police fanned out in various corners of the twin districts of Imphal to disperse protesters.
Apunba Lup, on the other hand, continued to mobilise support for tomorrow’s rally in Imphal city to submit a memorandum to Governor Gurbachan Jagat seeking dismissal of the Ibobi Singh government.
In anticipation of the Apunba Lup rally, the Ibobi Singh government deployed BSF personnel in Imphal’s trouble spots.
A large number of BSF personnel today began taking positions in Khurai that witnessed a two-day street battle between the police and protesters earlier this month.
The government has decided not to relax the curfew tomorrow for Apunba Lup’s rally.
Though curfew was relaxed from 5am to noon today, protesters chose the curfew hours for demonstrations.
However, a group of protesters closed down Khurai Lamlong market when the curfew was relaxed.
Another group took out a rally at Kongpal of Imphal East carrying an effigy of Ibobi Singh, before burning it on Porompat D.C. Road, about 300 metres from the deputy commissioner’s office.
“Quit, CM Ibobi”, “Punish guilty commandos” screamed the protesters as the effigy went up in flames.
Another group took out a rally on National Highway 39 at Awang Sekmai in Imphal West.
The police had to fire tear gas shells and explode mock bombs on a group which was trying to burn an effigy of the chief minister at Khonghampat Khunou of Imphal West.
They snatched away festoons, placards and materials used in the sit-in.
“We had to use tear gas and mock bombs as repeated appeals to end the sit-in fell on deaf ears,” a police official said. Demonstrations were held all over the twin districts of Imphal East and Imphal West, despite strong instructions from the police headquarters to all the police stations to prevent them.
As the protests continued, a delegation of the Opposition Manipur People’s Party visited Sanjit’s Khurai Sajor Leikai (Imphal East) home.
The delegation, led by party president Nimaichand Luwang, assured the family and the joint action committee formed by Sajor Leikai residents that the party supported the demand for resignation of Ibobi Singh and punishment of the guilty commando personnel. The party gave Rs 2,000 to Taratombi Devi, Sanjit’s mother.
Rishang Keishing for "workable solution" to Naga pol problem
Dimapur, August 10: Rajya Sabha Member from Manipur, Rishang Keishing has said that political talks to resolve the protracted Naga political problem has dragged for almost 12 years, but there's hardly any progress as far as the common Naga's awareness of the talks is concerned.
And even if there is certain progress, we all don't know, he maintained.
A two-time Chief Minister of Manipur, Keishing has often spoken against the demand for "Naga sovereignty".
About the future prospects of the 12-year Naga peace talks, Keishing still sticks to his guns for an "amicable solution within the constitutional framework of India".
In a recent interview to The Statesman the veteran politician said, "Why doesn't everyone realize that this country has given enough to Nagas and other Northeastern people?"
Sharing his opinion on the Naga peace talks, Keishing said, "My own tribe and some leaders are very active in the Naga insurgency movement. We worked hard to start the peace process and the Congress under Narasimha Rao started the process. But after the talks began, as state-level leaders we had no role. It was purely between the Government of India and the NSCN(IM) leaders."
"There is no denying the fact that we all don't know what's really being talked about. The talks are between the Government of India and the NSCN(IM). But if the NSCN(IM) leaders are talking to the Centre, I find no reason why they should talk to Mandela or anyone else. Talking to international leaders might not help the talks progress," he said.
Stating that a solution to the Naga problem is everyone's desire, the Rajya Sabha MP wanted the contending parties do the talking, but in the right direction. "Whatever they talk of, my emphasis is that the NSCN leaders should also look for a workable solution," he said.
He further said that the solution should be acceptable to the Government of India, the Nagas and the people in general so that there is no major problem once we have a package on the table. "Today we are in the dark. We need an amicable solution within the constitutional framework of India. So far we state politicians, either in Nagaland or Manipur, have not been taken into confidence."

CFMG meet reviews law & order situation in state (Page News Service)
Govt stress on communication channel between law enforcers & NSCN
Dimapur, August 10: The Government of India today stressed that communication channel between the law enforcing agencies and the NSCN (IM) should remain open in order to build up a better coordination in implementing the ceasefire ground rules in the state.
Ceasefire Monitoring Group Chairman, Lt Gen Mandhata Singh said that it was encouraging to observe the factional clashes have come down and the overall law and order situation in Nagaland has also improved. However, he said that the biggest concern is the unbridling extortion and abductions related to money.
Talking to media persons after the Ceasefire Monitoring Group meeting here at Chumukedima, Lt Gen Singh said that the meeting discussed how to deal with people with criminal background, besides issues of capital punishment, issues of exceptional extortions in neighbouring states and also the ongoing violence in Tirap & Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh and NC Hills districts of Assam.
The meeting also stressed on making further progress and enhancing the grassroots level understanding between the law enforcing agencies and factions so as to maintain a cordial relationship.
The CFMG Chairman further disclosed that they took up the matter of SOP (Standard Operation Procedures) with the NSCN (IM) as to how the NSCN (IM) can be brought in under the SOPs. He said that SOP is an internal document and the NSCN (IM) is not averse to be representatives of the faction in sorting out the problems.
On a query about the involvement of NSCN in the NC Hills situation, Lt Gen Singh said that the faction has been informed that any involvement there would be counter-productive.
About the deadline given for cadres to move into designated camps, he informed that the NSCN (IM) insists that the rival factions first occupy their designated camp, then they would move. He said that two designated camps have come up for the NSCN (K) and their cadres would soon be asked to move into them.
Convenor of the Ceasefire Monitoring Cell of NSCN (IM), Brig Phungthing Shimrang said that the meeting was held after a gap of 5 months where they impressed upon the Government of India that whatever agreement they have entered into with the NSCN (IM) should be followed and that they should not say that the Ceasefire Ground Rules made with other groups be a part of NSCN (IM).
He also was critical about the SOP, which the Government of India wants them to follow and said that SOP has nothing to do with ceasefire, but it is a different issue.
"If the Government of India is able to handle the issues with other groups, then they can say that it would be a part of agreement with us also," Phungthing said.
He said that factional clashes is not because of NSCN's willingness, but due to mishandling of the issues by the Government of India.
The CFMC Convenor said that the GoI has commended the NSCN for the restraints they have made and they have also told the GoI that the NSCN is doing their best on their part.
Stating that Nagas want peace and solution, Phungting said that they also discussed many issues regarding the ceasefire. He said that ceasefire ground rules agreement within the GoI and NSCN has to be implemented like a Gospel truth just like the Bible, Koran or Bhagwat Gita.
He also questioned the GoI's motive behind allowing other outfits to come up slowly in Nagaland.
On a query about the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR)'s role in reconciliation, Phungthing said that FNR is for reconciliation and let the reconciliation process continue. "We are also in favour of reconciliation. But at what cost?, he questioned and said that it cannot be at the convenience of somebody.
About NSCN's involvement in NC Hills violence, the NSCN leader denied such involvement and said that the organization has sent one of their leaders to calm the situation. Rubbishing all allegations leveled on the NSCN, Phungthing said that even people have alleged Assam Chief Minister's involvement in NC Hills carnage. "We should not allow such kind of ethnic violence," he commented.
The Government of India was represented by CFMG Chairman, Lt Gen Mandhata Singh, IGAR (North), Maj Gen J P Nehra, Commissioner Nagaland, H K Khulu, DGP Nagaland K Kire, DIG CRPF, P M Ramalingam, while the NSCN (IM) was represented by CFMC Convenor, Brig Phungthing Shimrang, Jacob Saiza, Steering Committee Member, Salem Yang, Tatar, Among Lim, Member, CFMG, Livingstone and M K Winning. (Page News Service)

Centre, NSCN-IM should adhere to agreement: Narayanasami NEWMAI NEWS
KOHIMA, Aug 10 – Union Minister for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs and AICC general secretary Narayanaswami today asserted that both the negoatiating parties should adhere to the terms and conditions of the agreement in order to find an amicable solution to the decades-old Naga political problem.

Interacting with media persons on his arrival here to assess the Congress party’s activities in the State today, Narayanasami said that the Congress is totally against terrorism and whosoever wants to talk within the frame work of the Constitution, the Government of India has an open and free mind to sit across the table.

He also asserted that for over all development of Nagaland, peace has to be instilled while also warning that if the laid down terms and conditions are violated the Government would take its own course of action.

On developmental activities in Nagaland, the Union Planning Minister revealed that the Centre has been receiving a lot of complaints regarding misuse of Central funds alloted to Nagaland, specially the NREGS, SSA, Health, Water and Electrification of rural areas.

He said complaints are that the funds are being totally misused to benefit the ruling party workers while enormous funds from the Central Government are being diverted and not spent properly.

Inter-state alert over sneak-in - NSCN-IM holds camps OUR CORRESPONDENT The Telegraph
Silchar, Aug. 9: Security along the boundaries Cachar shares with North Cachar and Manipur has been tightened after the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the DHD sent several of its cadres to Manipur last month to receive arms training from the Naga militants.
The superintendent of police, Cachar, Prashanta Bhuyan yesterday said last month, at least 60 rebels of the Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic) and the DHD (J) sneaked though the jungle in Cachar via North Cachar Hills on their way to Manipur to receive arms training from the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN, an ally of the DHD (J).
Vigilance along the boundaries Cachar shares with North Cachar and Manipur had been stepped up after police got inputs about their movements, the SP said.
The leader of the parent faction of the DHD, Dilip Nunisa, said last month the rival DHD (J) faction had “very clandestinely sent about 30 of their armed cadres to Manipur through the Digli and Rakhalpar areas in Cachar’s Jirighat block on the North Cachar boundary on July 30 for training in Ukhrul under the aegis of the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN”.
He was talking over phone from Guwahati where he is camping at present.
The DHD (J) cadres had sneaked into the adjoining Jiribam subdivision under Imphal East district, Nunisa alleged.
Following Gorlosa’s arrest in Bangalore on June 3, the DHD (J) declared a unilateral ceasefire and sent talks fillers. The government, however, insisted that the outfit first deposited its arms.
The Centre has asked the state government to go all out against the DHD (J) although the outfit had declared a unilateral ceasefire. Union home minister P. Chidambaram has recently unfolded the new ceasefire policy with ethnic rebels with the rider that the rebels should first lay down arms at a government-run arsenal during the ceasefire period.
The arms, Chidambaram said, would be guarded by security personnel and the rebel outfits. The DHD (Nunisa) group which is in the ceasefire with the government, however, is opposed to the Centre’s policy on arms deposit.
Firmly rejecting the Centre’s offer, Nunisa has categorically stated that they could not part with the arms as “these are the essential props to provide us protection when we would come under the raids mounted on us by the rival DHD (J) or the NSCN (I-M)”.
He said the arms were kept in Deogbra village near Umrangsu, an industrial town in NC Hills, under vigil by police and security forces along with the militants.
Arms had also been provided to his cadres lodged in designated camps in Dhansiri, Harangajao and Maibong besides Deogbra for their protection, Nunisa said.
He accused the Centre of “procrastination” in solving their prime demand of carving out a Dimaraji state.
, he said the last round of talks between his faction and the Centre in New Delhi in June could not provide any breakthrough.
Nunisa was categorical in his stand that “there is no scope for any compromise on my cadres’ right to keep arms for their protection against enemy attacks”.
Northeast Echoes The invisible displaced PATRICIA MUKHIM The Telegraph


Nowhere to go: A woman with her child at a relief camp in Udalguri. A Telegraph picture
Of all the states in India, perhaps Assam has the largest number of internally displaced people living in relief camps in different parts of the state.
These internally displaced people have been uprooted from their hearths and homes on account of ethnic conflicts and violence that have visited Assam with regular frequency. Ironically, the government of Assam has no policy for tackling this major issue. The response has always been knee-jerk and a case of “too little too late”. It is a matter of grave concern that while India has a policy on dealing with refugees from Sri Lanka or the Tibetans, it has no blueprint for dealing with “people who are refugees in their own homeland”. It is, of course, no coincidence that the displaced people in Assam are largely tribal groups belonging to the “tea tribes”, a nomenclature for the different racial groups comprising the Santhals, Mundas and Oraons.
Alarming figures Government statistics show that in the Bodo-Santhal clashes of 1996, the number of families displaced was 42,214, which adds up to 2,02,684 persons. The majority are Santhals. In the 1998 clash, 48,556 families were displaced, adding up to a population of 3,14,342. Hence, within a span of two years, nearly 5.5 lakh people were living in camps at some point and about 44,000 of them were children. While a good number has returned to their original homesteads, there are still about 23,000 families termed as encroachers who have not been able to resettle in their original habitats. Children have grown up in the most abysmal conditions and women have often been seen to venture out of the camps to earn something through prostitution. Food and other amenities are grossly inadequate.
But the above two are not the only ethnic clashes that Assam has experienced. The horrific Nellie massacre of 1983 still haunts. Moreover, the Bodo-Santhal conflict resurfaced in 2004, leaving 37,000 people displaced. In 2005, the Karbi-Dimasa riot in Karbi Anglong district rendered 49,000 people homeless while the Karbi-Kuki conflict displaced 11,000 people. Then, in the Bodo-Muslim clash of October 2008 in Darrang district, 14,279 people were displaced from their hearths and homes. The ongoing ethnic clash between the Zeme Nagas and the Dimasa tribes, which started in February 2009, has claimed several hundred lives and razed an equal number of homes to the ground. Altogether 44,000 people are displaced in this most recent flare-up. Independent researchers put a rough estimate of about 1.5 lakh people living in different relief camps in Assam. This would easily make Assam the state with the highest number of people in relief camps, living in sub-human conditions.
Cluster solution And now, to salvage the situation in North Cachar Hills, the government proposes to relocate 10,000 villagers from 40 villages in 12 safe clusters with six clusters for each tribe. This is the second time that the state is trying out a regrouping plan in the Northeast. It happened in 1967 in Mizoram for the first time when the state uprooted thousands of villagers and relocated them. The Mizos attribute the present state of corruption in Mizoram to this thoughtless relocation plan, which they claim has made the industrious Mizo people indolent and dependent on relief without working for a livelihood.
In the relief camps for Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, the Centre provides resources for setting up schools, so much so there is cent per cent literacy among the inmates. There are vocational courses for livelihood skills training for women and men. Samuel Chandrahasan, who has spent almost three decades serving the cause of Tamil refugees, says, “We are grateful to the magnanimity shown by the Indian government and the state of Tamil Nadu. Now, with trained human resources, we can go back to rebuild Sri Lanka.” What makes it so difficult for the same government to think of its own displaced people? Is this because India is not aware of the problem of internally displaced people in Assam? Is it because this issue has never found mention in Parliament?
So far, only the Lutheran World Service, a para-church organisation, which has also roped in other relief organisations from across the world, has done some solid work among the displaced people. They have meticulously studied the needs of this population through participatory rapid appraisals and narrowed down to a few basic necessities such as constructing temporary schools, and providing supplementary nutrition to students, training teachers and paying them honorarium. Above all, they have, in collaboration with the villagers, used the food-for-work model to build about 25-30km of roads reaching about 20 villages. Since the standing crops and stored seeds were destroyed, the Lutheran World Service provided seeds and fertilisers to families who returned to their homesteads after the conflict. Drinking water projects were implemented to ensure that people in camps do not contact water-borne diseases.
Paltry package Coming to the rehabilitation plans of the government, the faultlines are gaping. Those displaced from revenue villages received Rs 10,000 as rehabilitation grants. Others living in recognised areas and encroached forestlands received nothing. Ironically, those displaced in the Karbi-Dimasa and Karbi-Kuki clashes got a meagre Rs 1,500 as rehabilitation grant. Is there any justice in this rehabilitation package?
Identity politics is a dangerous weapon of mass destruction in the Northeast. Instead of narrowing differences, it is creating bigger chasms that are difficult to bridge. Each dominant group uses identity as a springboard to electoral politics without a holistic approach to address the needs of the communities they claim to represent. Naturally, this waters down their arguments that they are victims of “Asomiya” prejudice.
The Northeast dilemma is that every dominant group asserts its own brand of chauvinism. While we all accuse India of being a menagerie of unequal citizens, where race, place of birth and caste are prominent markers, the dominant communities of the Northeast do the same within their areas of influence. Dispur, for instance, would have shown more sensitivity and responded with greater alacrity if the displaced people were “Asomiyas” and one does not need to split hairs about what that means. Similarly, the Bodos who are responsible for the displacement of Santhals from large parts of Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon, are apathetic about the fate of those in relief camps. In the same manner, the Khasis and Jaintias of Meghalaya find it hard to co-exist with the Garos. Identity then is a major marker here.
Illegal influx Today the “Asomiyas” are in combative mode on account of the silent influx from Bangladesh. They realise their safe little cosmos is no longer that safe. Some are beginning to believe in a concerted, inclusive effort to fight the illegal influx. But it seems like a tall order to bring people together on a common platform. The element of distrust is too strong among the different communities of Assam.
But coming back to the problem of internally displaced people, it is time for human rights groups to take this issue seriously. How can people live in camps for a whole generation? What are the psychological and mental scars that they carry with them? How can they be physically rehabilitated, trained and counselled to live normal lives once again? Depending on relief agencies and international organisations to do what is essentially a state responsibility suggests a major flaw in thinking. Besides, there is such a thing as “compassion fatigue”.
Can we stop talking about violence for now and concentrate on the victims of violence and what needs to be done for them?
Sonowal rues Centre’s stand on Stilwell Road Staff Correspondent Assam tribune
DIBRUGARH, Aug 10 – Former MP of Dibrugarh, Sarbananda Sonowal has flayed on the Centre’s decision to drop the proposal of reopening the Stilwell Road connecting India with China through Ledo in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Taking serious note of the stance of the Centre, Sonowal, who is also the general secretary of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) said in a press statement that Assam was subject to deprivation by Government of India. He said former President APJ Abdul Kalam had desired to reopen the Stilwell Road to start trade and commerce with the neighbouring Asian countries so as to boost the economy of the region.

Accepting the President’s point of view, UPA government had consented to the suggestion of re-linking the road stretch to China, Sonowal said. However, the former MP further said, the decision to overlook the proposal is due to the unreliable policy of the State Government and negligence of the northeast by the Centre.

The hope that the entire northeast region would reap the economic benefit due to the reopening of the Stilwell Road has remained only a dream due to the latest announcement of the Centre, Sonowal viewed.

Besides dropping the proposal of reopening of the Stilwell Road, the snail’s space development works of Bogibeel bridge, National Highway, Rail Communications and Gas Cracker project are some missions that reflect the insincerity of the Centre, the former MP underlined in the press release. He has called upon all the parties irrespective of political affiliations to oppose the latest decision of the Centre.

Intl Day for Indigenous People observed S Singlianmang Guite Sangai Express
Lamka, Aug 9: The International Day for Indige- nous People was celebrated here yesterday with the theme, ‘On the verge of cultural extinction’ at Synod Hall under the aegis of Zomi Human Rights Foundation (ZHRF).
Showcasing the past culture and tradition of the local indigenous people was the main attraction at the day’s observance. It also witnessed an oration on the indigenous rights and exhibition of the indigenous developed tools.
A declaration affirming the commitment to promote the cultural, economic, social and political rights of the marginalized indigenous people was also adopted on the occasion.
During the celebration, ZHRF called on the indigenous people to wake up from their deep sleep of ignorance on their rights and also urged upon the Government to look into the matter.
In spite of they being the inheritors and practitioners of unique culture and ways of relating to other people and to the environment, indigenous people lost all their right over their land, forest and other natural resources. And despite the dawn of the 21st century, they still were not only suppressed and isolated but deceived and weakened by decisive Acts and Rules especially in the State of Manipur, alleged the foundation.
Besides the days theme, self-determination was another major agenda discussed during the function.

MNRF claims responsibility for bomb attack
IMPHAL, Aug 10: The Manipur Naga Revolutionary Front has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack and gun shot at the residence of the Joint Director of the Tribal Welfare Dept at Nagaram yesterday at 7 pm. It was a warning, said MNRF in a statement issued by its publicity and information secretary C Rockey, reports our Ukhrul correspondent. Meanwhile, ATSUM and TKS, during a meeting has agreed that no rally would be held at Ukhrul tomorrow unlike the other hill districts. The decision was taken in light of the frequency of bandhs and rallies in the dist. However Ukhrul dist will continue to support all future course of action, against the decision of the Govt to deploy commandos and IRBs in the hill districts.

Back to back hill-valley mass rallies could test security forces to the limit The Imphal Free Press

Imphal, Aug 9: The state home department is facing a difficult situation in organising the security arrangements following the sudden public agitations in the wake of the BT Road mayhem involving police commandos, as well as a series of agitations announced by various tribal bodies in the hill districts to protest a recent Cabinet decision on deployment of police commandos and IRB in the hill districts.

In view of the existing law and order situation in the valley districts, mainly greater Imphal areas, and the upcoming state government observation of Patriots’ Day on August 13 and an expected general strike by underground organisations of the Independence Day on August 15, the state government has been compelld to recall a large number of state forces deployed in different parts of the state to concentrate in the valley districts.

According to a highly placed official source, civil police, police commandos, MR, IRB, and Central para military forces have been recalled from the other districts of the state and deployed in the entire greater Imphal area since yesterday. Security has also been concentrated in and around the chief minister’s bungalow, Raj Bhavan and major government departments from this evening in view of the proposed mass rally planned to be taken out by the Apunba Lup tomorrow in Imphal to protest the recent alleged fake encounter at BT Road in Imphal on July 23.

The source further said that adequate security deployment in and around the greater Imphal areas consisting of rapid strike commando forces and other Central para military forces have been completed to prevent any untoward incidents tomorrow during the rally.

The official source also mentioned that strike police commando mobile teams have been sent out to the peripheries of greater Imphal area to prevent any public gatherings. The precautionary measures taken from this morning would continue tomorrow when regular patrolling in every part of greater Imphal area would take place to foil the rally, the source added.

Meanwhile, even as the security appratus is stretched to the limit in trying to control the situation in the valley districts over the Tehelka exposure episode, the upcoming mass public rally called by eight different student bodies of the hill ditricts on August 11 is expected to cause serious problems for the authorities as most of the state’s security has been recalled from the other parts of the state to meet the requirements in the greater Imphal area. The rally on August 11 is to be held at all the district headquarters of the hill districts to protest against the recent Cabinet move for deployment of state police commandos and IRB in all the hill districts of the state.


Tribal bodies say they have no faith in state forces The Imphal Free Press

Imphal, Aug 9: A mass protest rally is being collectively organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur, ATSUM, All Naga Students’ Association Manipur, ANSAM, Kuki Students’ Organisation, KSO-GHQ, CDSU Churachandpur, NSUC Chandel, TKS Ukhrul, SDSA Senapati and ZSUM Tamenglong on August 11 at the district headquarters of all the hill districts to protest against the recent Cabinet decision to deploy state police commandos and IRBs in the hill districts.

According to a statement of the ATSUM signed by Robert Leivom, assistant secretary of the union, the rally will also condemn the impunity given to the state forces, especially the Manipur commandos and IRBs through the AFSPA even though it is not in force in Imphal’s municipal areas. With the state forces’ past record and the recent incident in which two persons were killed and five others injured in the heart of the city in broad daylight on July 23, the students organisation demands reversal of the state Cabinet decision, the union said.

The statement also mentioned that the state government has the right to place its forces anywhere in the state, but the Manipur commandos and IRBs could not be termed a security force going by their misdeeds. It was there for all the tribals in the hill districts to see the kind of law and order that is being maintained in the valley by these forces, it said while observing that there was hardly a day when incidents of doubtful nature resulting in the death of civilians happened in the valley, not to mention the rampant harassment of civilians at every given opportunity.

Urging the state government to reverse the Cabinet decision on deployment in the five hill districts, the union appealed to all the tribal people in the five hill districts to come out and actively participate in the rallies.
The only marked difference between North Korea, Burma Sources: The New Vision By: Gwynne Dyer
August 9, 2009: IT is generally agreed that North Korea and Burma have the two most oppressive regimes in Asia. They rule over two of the poorest countries in the continent, and that is no coincidence whatever. But there is one marked difference between them.
No foreign leaders pay court to the Burmese generals in their weirdly grandiose new capital of Naypidaw (which makes even Brasilia seem cozy and intimate), whereas even Bill Clinton, the world’s most recognisable celebrity statesman, makes the pilgrimage to Pyongyang.
Clinton was there to secure the release of two American journalists who were seized on the Chinese-North Korean border four months ago, probably with the explicit purpose of taking American hostages and forcing a high-level US visit to the North Korean capital.
That is why it was private citizen Bill, rather than his wife, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made the visit to Kim Jong-il: the US paid the devil his due, but deniably.
The big difference is this: the Burmese regime is seen by most foreign governments as ugly, but basically harmless (except to the Burmese people), whereas the North Korean regime is seen as ugly and extremely dangerous.
And the most dangerous thing about North Korea is its nuclear weapons — so if the Burmese generals also want to have emissaries from the great powers genuflecting at their doorstep, they need some nuclear weapons too.
The notion of a nuclear-armed Burma is faintly ridiculous, because the country has no foreign enemies that it needs to deter, let alone wants to attack. But respect matters too, especially to regimes (like the Burmese) that feel their legitimacy is always under question. Burmese nukes would elicit a whole lot of respect.
Articles published in the past week in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Bangkok Post by Prof. Desmond Ball of the Australian National University and by Thai-based Irish journalist Phil Thornton suggest that the Burmese military regime has sought North Korean help to build its own nuclear weapons.
Specifically, it wants the North Koreans to create a plutonium reprocessing plant in caves near Naung Laing in northern Burma, not far from the site of a civilian nuclear reactor that is being built with Russian help.
So far, it sounds like the plot for a sequel to “Team America: World Police,” but the usually reliable website, Dictator Watch, has been publishing warnings about the Burmese nuclear weapons project for several years now.
Most of the information comes from defectors, included a former army officer who was sent to Moscow for two years’s training in nuclear engineering. A thousand others were being sent as well, he said.
In June, the North Korean freighter Kang Nam I, bound for Burma, turned back to port rather than accept inspection by US warships under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874.
That resolution was a response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test, and requires governments to inspect ships coming from or going to North Korea if there are “reasonable grounds to believe” the vessel is carrying various categories of weapons including missile — and weapons of mass destruction-related cargo.
Defectors often make stuff up to inflate their importance in the eyes of their new masters: just think of the preposterous tripe that was peddled as “intelligence” by Iraqi defectors in the run-up to the 2003 invasion.
But at least three Burmese defectors have told essentially the same tale about their country’s nuclear weapons project, although they had no opportunity to coordinate their stories and did not even know one another.
Why would North Korea be doing it? Because it is being paid in “yellowcake” (partially refined uranium) which Burma processes at the Thabeik Kyin plant. And also because the fact that North Korea is a reckless nuclear weapons proliferator, willing to sell to anybody, makes it more dangerous, and being dangerous is what forces people like Bill and Hillary Clinton (and ultimately Barack Obama) to talk to it. All assuming that North Korea really is helping Burma to develop nuclear weapons, of course.
Ball and Thornton suggest that Burma could be processing 8kg of plutonium — 239 a year by 2014, after which it could produce one atomic bomb per year.
Well, yes, but we all know that apparently competent intelligence agencies like the CIA and Mossad have been predicting that Iran will have nuclear weapons within five years, practically every year since the early 1990s.
They were wrong about Iran every year, and Iran is a much more serious country, in scientific, technological and industrial terms, than Burma.
But suppose it is true. Why would Burma be doing it? Not to nuke Thailand or Malaysia or Bangladesh, surely, for it has no serious quarrel with its neighbours.
But one can imagine that Senior General Than Shwe and his colleagues would feel a good deal more secure if the US and other great powers, instead of condemning and boycotting the Burmese dictatorship, were begging it to be responsible and give up its nuclear weapons. Could it be as simple as that? Of course it could. That is why North Korea developed nuclear weapons, too.



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