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12/24/2009: "Nagaland police ransack railway station, five injured PTI"
• Nagaland police ransack railway station, five injured PTI
Siliguri (WB), Dec 24 (PTI) At least five railway officials including the station manager were injured this evening when Nagaland Police personnel ransacked New Jalpaiguri station near here for inordinate delay in leaving their special train.
"They were injured when the policemen went on the rampage at the station after their special train from Ranchi to Dimapur was stopped here for a long time," New Jalpaiguri Station GRP Officer-in-Charge Pinaki Majumdar told PTI.
The special train carrying nearly 700 police personnel was stopped at the station at 8:20 pm, but was not given green signal to move even two hours later, officials said.
The policemen went to the railway officials to know the cause of the delay and some of them began to turn tables and chairs in the office, Majumdar said.
Most of the railway officials left the station in panic.
Don't fight for a state when you can get a country
WSN Network
As demands for newer states in India rise like a crescendo, the fact that the country is artificially bound without any common traits that are required to build a legitimate nation state is becoming more and more clear. The Nagaland fighters have pinned down the government into agreeing that the Constitution of India will no longer apply to their state. Kashmir talks are on, though behind the veil, even as the establishment is forced to engage those who do not believe in the Indian Constitution.
In such an atmosphere, the demand for Telangana has raised perhaps deeply entrenched notions that a large section of the local population is not satisfied with the concept of an overarching nation state muzzling smaller regions and their aspirations. But the fasts in favour of Telangana earlier, and against dividing Andhra Pradesh now, clearly denote that New Delhi is losing the faith of its people and the capacity to keep them under its leash.
For many in Andhra Pradesh, December 9, 2009 was akin to a black day in the political history of the Telugu society when a Bengali, a Gujju, a Madrasi and a Malayali in the name of a four member core committee of the Congress party decided to divide the home state of Telugu people, Andhra Pradesh, into pieces.
Why did wily P Chidambaram chose mid-night of December 9 to announce such a major policy decision to create the seperate state of Telangana? If bifurcation of Telugu is a sort of birthday gift from Mrs Sonia Gandhi to the people of Telangana, then there are many with Telugu pride who were not ready to gift-wrap it. The Telugu Bidda's revolt is more against the machinations of the Indian state than against those who wanted a space of their own. All over Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, the unprecedented and spontaneous revolt against Delhi is sending clear signals that New Delhi's writ will not be respected if it cannot respect the aspirations of the people.
In a hurry to gain maximum mileage by granting Telangana unilaterally with a mid night decision, Congress even ignored not just its UPA partners but also the chief minister of the state and other rank and file. Now it is trying to put the blame on other political parties for nodding their heads at all party meetings.
Of course, all political parties agreed for the formation of Telangana in principle but did the people of the state agree? The mandate in the recent elections was clearly against Telangana. But New Delhi ignored the people's democratic voice.
Whatever may be the political reasons for this entire episode, the Telugu pride is at crossroads today. Telugu Bidda is at decision making point, but it needs to take a tough stand. If the state of Andhra Pradesh had come into its own, it was because many had made huge sacrifices. Leaders from both Congress and Communist party fought for a long time to bring all the Telugu speaking people from three different regions under one umbrella. Andhra Pradesh was the first linguistic state to be formed in India.
If the union government cannot maintain the integrity of state of Andhra Pradesh as one, the people need to think seriously of "why a separate state, why not a separate country for coastal Andhra and Rayalseema"?
As Sai Nuthakki said, "Why do we still have to remain in a Union that never respects our sentiments and emotions?"
But what reasons can really lead the people to that end?
Even though Telugu is the second most spoken language in India, it always remains behind Tamil and other regional languages in all aspects. Even though the state provides maximum number of MPs for a ruling coalition, they hardly get any thing in return.
Today's federal system is not providing equal opportunities for all the states. Some of the political parties in the union government are not working in real federal spirit. Some states like Tamil Nadu, with their arm twisting techniques, are always taking advantage at the expense of states like Andhra Pradesh.
It had been proven several times in case of roads, railways, ports and other major projects. For example, take NH9, Hyd-Vij high way. The people of Andhra have been struggling for the expansion of this road for the last ten years and the surface transport minister, who always happens to be a Tamilian, puts all kinds of hurdles.
They are facing the same treatment in all areas. As a separate nation, they will not have to depend on any one for clearances and they can make their own decisions for the development of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. They have a 1000-km coast line with many ports and huge reserves of natural gas and petroleum, a potential to become OPEC member. The people of this region are very hard working and enterprising in nature. Andhra has huge potential to become itself an IT and Pharmaceutical hub with its vast pool of technical resources.
The fertile lands of Krishna Godavri delta, the mineral rich lands of Rayalseema can make this country a self sufficient and a booming export oriented country. Tourism and Tollywood can also contribute immensely in creating thousands of jobs and development in this area.
It can take Israel as its role model and evolve into a developed country within a span of 15 to 20 years with proper planning and vision. They can become a major force in global trade and a major player in ASEAN region with free global treaties with India, USA, China and Israel.
With all these developments, one can visualize a bright prosperous combination of Singapore and Saudi in this area. Why lose sleep over losing Hyderabad any more because then the people will have the potential to create three Singapores in this area?
Another biggest advantage is Defense. Today India is spending nearly 20% of its budget on defense and the new Andhra nation need not waste huge amounts on defense. Instead it can spend these funds on health, human development and education on par with developed countries.
Because Pakistan will not be its problem anymore, Kashmir will not be their issue any more. Communalism will not be their headache any more as BJP has no prospect to grow in this area. So they won't have to carry the burden of all these liabilities of India.
The people will not even need to move away from India. They will still remain part of Indian sub-continent maintaining same rich traditions, religions and culture.
To those of you who think these are separatist tendencies, may we remind that such demands emerge when the true federal spirit is killed. It is New Delhi that killed federalism. Andhra Pradesh can live with the blessings of Lord Venkateswara. Long Live the United States of Andhra.
Signs of desperation B G Verghese Indian Express
The CBI’s unravelling of the mystery surrounding the death last May of two young Kashmiri women of Shopian has stung the separatists in the Valley following the exposure of the mischief they perpetrated. Not for the first time, efforts were made to paint the state administration and, more particularly, the security forces in the darkest possible hues as cruel oppressors and perverts out to terrorise a hapless people seeking no more than freedom and the right to live in peace with dignity.
In the instant case, the twin fatalities occurred on May 29. First reports by the police suggested death by drowning. However, a vociferous group came forward with alleged eye witnesses who claimed to have heard screams from a vehicle standing on bridge over a nearby nullah into which uniformed personnel had presumably pushed the girls after sexually assaulting them. Thereafter the post-mortem report and other forensic evidence was cooked up to suggest rape and murder.
A commission of inquiry was misled into believing this version and charges were filed against the policemen who had initially reported a simple case of drowning. Protests were mounted against the security forces.
Shopian saw angry demonstrations for months until the chief minister ordered a CBI inquiry. The bodies were exhumed and detailed medical tests conducted by doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi conclusively proved death by drowning and no symptoms of rape whatsoever.
The “eye witnesses,” doctors and others confessed they were threatened and bribed to concoct the stories they did. The so-called forensic evidence of rape by the Shopian doctors was also found to have been crudely manufactured to the dictates of separatist elements.
The Shopian exposure has greatly embarrassed the separatists whose protests have turned to denouncing a CBI–Government conspiracy to cover up the crime. The Kashmir High Court Bar Association has rejected the CBI report and plans to challenge it in court and, if need be, take it to the International Court of Justice, which amounts to whistling in the dark. Strangely, Mir Waiz Umar Farooq has joined the clamour, demanding an international probe into the incident. It appears he has been rattled by the dastardly attempt on the life of the respected moderate Hurriyat leader, Fazle Haq Quereshi, a couple of weeks ago in Srinagar by jihadi elements out to scuttle the J&K internal peace process initiated by the government. This from the Hurriyat chairman who has for 20 years not dared to state who killed his own father, the previous Mir Waiz, though everybody knows the Hizbul Mujahideen was responsible.
The dark politics of separatist-jihadi violence and fear still pervades parts of Kashmir. Every Friday has become an occasion for organised protest and hooliganism to provoke a police response that can be blamed for the ensuing mindless violence. The faked symbolism in the choice of the timing of these planned demonstrations is unmistakable. It betrays desperation to keep the “cause” alive.
The J & K peace process must move forward, at least on the internal aspect as a prelude to a final international settlement when Pakistan is willing and able to negotiate without holding a terrorist pistol to India’s head. Meanwhile, it is good to learn that more Army units are being pulled out of internal security duties in J & K as promised. This augurs well for talks.
One sees similar signs of desperation and hope at the other end of the country with the arrest of key ULFA leaders, Arabinda Rajkhowa and Raju Barua among the latest, thanks to newfound cooperation from the Awami League administration in Bangladesh. The Centre and State governments have concerted action to open a dialogue with ULFA if they abjure violence and abandon the demand for sovereignty. Rajkhowa has said he will not talk with handcuffs. Paresh Barua, ULFA’s commander-in-chief, has moved his hideout from Bangladesh to somewhere in northeast Myanmar near the Chinese border from where he has denounced Rajkhowa’s arrest or surrender, accused the government of double standards in its negotiating stance with different separatist formations and continues to press for sovereignty as a pre-condition for talks.
The government is willing to offer Paresh Barua safe conduct to come to Assam and open a dialogue. There is no need to insist that he foreswear sovereignty as this can be rejected in the course of dialogue. Far better to grant him the face saver he needs if this can clinch a settlement. ULFA has a totally muddled and opportunistic agenda and knows that it has forfeited public support by its brutalities and extreme demands. Hopefully a dialogue will commence in the new year. The real issues relate to development, inclusive growth and regional cooperation.
The same is true of talks with the NSCN-IM and Khaplang. Further autonomy is negotiable (and some formulations have been exchanged) but Nagaism is a non-starter as established histories and current geographies cannot be lightly discarded except thorough consensus. Nagas, for instance, have no historical title to Dimapur But it cannot now be detached from Nagaland. What can be devised is non-territorial integration of dispersed Naga areas for certain common purposes without violating existing territorial jurisdiction.
Likewise, Gorkhaland need not necessarily be carved out as a separate state. But the area could be granted a further degree of autonomy and, even as part of West Bengal, made a member of the North East Council, maybe alongside an autonomous Kamtapur, which would make the Northeast a compact unit of which Sikkim becomes a contiguous part.
Two other developments this past week warrant disquiet. The first is a Supreme Court division bench ruling that a killer’s caste anguish may be entertained as a mitigating factor even in a case of murder. The order was made in a case of a man killing members of his sister’s family for the marriage of their daughter into a lower caste. Such “social factors” have no legitimacy in law and one hopes this judgement will be soon reviewed and overturned. It sends out a horribly wrong message.
Equally disturbing is Tony Blair’s statement before Britain’s Iraq War Inquiry that he would have gone to war with Iraq even if categorically informed that there was no semblance of WMD capability or wherewithal with Saddam. In his view, Saddam was evil and deserved to go on any pretext. This is dangerous nonsense. It is a war crime and constitutes licence for international banditry which cannot be condoned.
About the author: B G Verghese is a columnist.
60 years of the Constitution of India National Dalit Forum
By 26th November 2009, the Constitution of India has completed 60 years of its functioning. The Constitution of India as drafted and presented by the Chief Architect of the Constitution Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and certain articles came into force on the day and whole of the Constitution came into force with effect from 26th January 1950, on which date, India became a republic.
On the eve of completion of sixty years of its functioning, it is imperative to have an appraisal of the Constitution, since it is not only an administrative index or compilation of instructions relating to the governance of the country, but, primarily, it holds out certain promises to the citizens, assured certain guarantees, conferred certain fundamental rights to them, with a protection of the various High Courts and the Supreme Court. it is now, the time to assess how far the Constitution fulfilled its promises and protected the rights guaranteed.
The important feature of the Constitution is its promise of Justice- Social, Economic and Political; Equality of Status and of Opportunity; Liberty and Fraternity. The Constitution is more essential for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other poorer sections of the society, because, it promised equality and equal opportunity, to which these communities were denied for centuries. In addition to this the constitution through Directive Principles issued instructions to the government to establish a Welfare State, where there is no social, economic exploitation and oppression.
It has directed the government to take care of health and education of the children and particularly of women and aged. It has also cautioned that the natural recourses and wealth of the nation is not concentrated in the hands of a few people, but should be made available to all, to better their conditions of life. Therefore, it is necessary to assess, what happened to its promises and its guarantees.
In this context, it is trite to remind ourselves, the question posed by the then president of India Sri K R Narayanan, on the eve of the Golden Jubilee of the Constitution of India, “whether the Constitution failed? Or We failed the Constitution?”
On this occasion let us also remind ourselves the caution held out by Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on the day of adoption of the Constitution that: “On the 26 th January 1950 we are going to enter into a life of contradictions … we must remove this contradictions at the earliest possible moment or else, those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of the political democracy which this assembly has so laboriously built-up”.
Facts after sixty years reveal that the contradictions are widening. Then, why, those who suffer from inequality do not blow up the structures of the political democracy? This question is also to be addressed.
Drafted by- Bojja Tharakam, Senior Advocate, High court AP, state president Republican Party of India, and Chairmen of Celebrations committee on 60 Years of Indian constitution
The Celebrations committee on 60 Years of Indian constitution was formed with the collaboration of 20 Dalit organizations in the state of Andhra Pradesh to launch a state wide campaign on 60 years of constitution of constitution of India to analyse its functioning, to have an appraisal of the Constitution
The committee held its first meeting on 26/11/2009 in Hyderabad Press Club, Chief Guest, Justice K.Ramaswamy (former judge supreme court of India), Honorable Guests V.S Ramadevi (former Governor Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh states) and S.R Shankaran (former secretary of Tripura state) and the meeting presided over by Bojja Tharakam, Senior Advocate, High court AP, state president Republican Party of India, and Chairmen of Celebrations committee on 60 Years of Indian constitution
The member organizations are 1) National Dalit Forum 2)AP SC welfare society 3) Confederation of Sc ST Organizations 4)Dalitha Sthree Shakthi 5) AP ST Employees union, 6) APSEB SS ST Employees union 7) AP SC rights protection society 8) Dalitha Bahujana Front 9) Sakshi Human Rights Watch 10) Peoples Monitoring Committee 11) WAASSAN (Bhoomi Kendram) 12) APVVU 13) HRLN 14) All India Samatha sainik dal 15)AP Dalitha Bahujana workers union 16) All Indian SC ST Bank Employees Union 17) All India Defense SC ST Employees union 18) AP Grameena Bank SC ST Employees union 19) AP Buddhist Trust 20) Republican Party of India
The Member organizations are organizing meetings all over the state starting from 26/11/2009, and the state level final meeting will be held on constitution day on 26/01/2010 in Hyderabad
With Jaibheem - Karthik Navayan Programme Officer www.nationaldalitforum.org
Christmas fever grips Nagaland STAFF WRITER PTI
Kohima, Dec 24 (PTI) After a near fortnight-long pre-Christmas celebrations, people here are waiting with a bated breath for the stroke of midnight today when the church bells would jingle to the joyous occasion of the birth of Jesus Christ.
Churches of different denominations, high-rise buildings -- both private and public, markets and landmarks of towns in the state are illuminated with Chinese lights, giving a festive fervour to the whole ambiance as devotees get ready to attend the midnight mass in churches.
With some people doing last minute shopping, traffic snarls were noticed at the state's commercial hub Dimapur.
The capital town Kohima remained calm since most of the government employees and students have already left for their villages due to long holidays.
However, the skyline of Kohima remains dotted with twinkling Christmas stars and illuminated buildings on hill-tops.
Naga community voice at Copenhagen summit morungexpress
Dimapur| December 23 : In the growing global climate crisis, indigenous communities have felt the most adverse affects of climate change. Climate change is threatening indigenous livelihoods, culture and economy more than people of any other regions in the world. In the imperative need to address the issue, indigenous communities across the world were looking at Copenhagen climate summit to provide a solution to their problems. But the summit has left these communities cold. The response to the reality of climate change failed to include the voices of global indigenous communities, including Nagaland.
Taking across the crucial message of climate change affecting indigenous communities in Nagaland, is North East Network (NEN), Chizami, under Phek district.
Based on a comprehensive study conducted by NEN in six villages of Phek district, a community charter of demands was presented at the Copenhagen climate summit. But like many other communities, it failed to make it to the negotiating centre. The demand charter was presented under the aegis of Peoples’ Coalition for Climate Change- a conglomeration of grass-root civil society organizations in India carrying the voice of adivasis, forest people, dalits, fishers and pastoralists. Disappointed but not deterred, NEN is pushing beyond Copenhagen. The next summit will take place in Mexico and NEN is already making efforts to get there.
Back home, NEN is already succeeding where the government has so spectacularly failed. NEN’s study was based on a participatory exercise with different communities. The process included twenty communities in Phek district living in different eco-systems. The exercise also included children. The study shows similar kind of changes in weather pattern across the entire region and the affects are adverse. Indigenous Naga communities are being driven by the constant threat of global climate change, whereas, NEN found that Nagaland has enough resources of its own to address the issue. NEN says that Nagaland government must recognize the kind of strength the state has, and invest in efficient technologies. With the government’s move to increase growth through technology, the effect is directly impacting the indigenous communities, NEN findings suggests. At this speed, the long term effects are going to be hazardous.
The Peoples’ Coalition on Climate Change community charter of demands at the Copenhagen climate summit:
1) demands for recognition of the diversity and integrity of farms, livestock, forest and seas as civilization assets
2) Endorsing multifunctional, ecological and diverse agriculture as a defence against climate change
3) Promoting traditional seeds
4) Focus on afforestation policies, encourage local plant species
5) Prevention of unreasonable extraction of ground water and promote local methods of water conservation
6) Respect and recognize pastoralism
7) Respect and recognize traditional fishers
8) Adopt measures to reverse negative environment impacts of development schemes, seek prior and informed consent from communities
9) Make government policies people-centric
10) Honour each members of community as frontline warriors against climate change
