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08/22/2010: "PRESS STATEMENT UNITED NAGA COUNCIL"


UNITED NAGA COUNCIL
Tahamzam, Senapati
E-mail: uncnagalim@gmail.com, Phone: +913871 222523, +913871 201571

PRESS STATEMENT
Dated Tahamzam, 22nd August, 2010

The United Naga Council takes very strong exception to the Statement reported to have been made by Mr. P. Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister in the Lok Sabha on 19th August, 2010 that there “ no question of altering the integrity of the State of Manipur.” While the Government of India(GoI) is free to use its options in governing the country by taking into account the consequences, its actions must be fair, rational and accompanied with due protocol. The GoI cannot be wrong and as Mr Chidambaram represented the GoI in the Lok Sabha, he must bear full responsibility and liability for his statement.

The ceasefire declaration and the Indo Naga peace talks are being held (a) at the Prime Ministers level (b) in a third country, and c) without pre-conditions. The principles of the three point guidelines have not been negated with a ceasefire call off or withdrawal from the peace talk by any of the parties. The peace talks have been going on for the last 13 years for all the world to see. Therefore Mr Chidambaram must bear full responsibility for imposing the condition of the territorial integrity of Manipur on the peace talk.

The prestige and sincerity of the GoI has been put to question by Mr. Chidambaram’s statement. Or has the GoI been fooling the Naga People and the whole world all these years. Is it now being made clear that the GOI never intended to keep its word right from the beginning as far as peace talks are concerned ?

Article 3 and 4 of the Indian Constitution provides for increasing or altering the boundary of any state. Although admitting that Nagas are there in Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mr. Chidambaram has gone against the Constitution by unilaterally declaring that it will “be inconceivable that we break up the states.”
India is a democracy of the people, by the people for the people. It is undesirable that the Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram made a mockery of this basic democratic principle. Such statement only provoke and stirs violence and exposes the discrimination and insincerity towards the Nagas and the hill tribes of Manipur. The Indian Home Minister characterizes an ideology which is hell-bent on legalizing ‘might is right.’ This conceited attitude and power-mongering politics has been the cornerstone of Indian politicians towards the Northeast. Mr. Chidambaram has undone all efforts to build understanding between the Nagas and the Indian government; and with one swipe, he has caused more alienation and mistrust.
Manipur, a state that acquired full state status on January 21, 1972 may be pluralistic in demography, but is communal in structure and oppressive in character. This dogma is what Mr. Chidambaram wants to protect, at the cost of the rights and dignity of the Hill Tribes of Manipur. The Meiteis have been our neighbours in the past and will continue to be our neighbors in the future. What Mr. Chidambaram must understand is that Nagas are not trying to break up Manipur state. The Nagas of Manipur just simply do not want to be part of a state that is built on an ideology of force, communalism and oppression.
The socio political structure in the state of Manipur is built like a Pyramid. The valley area of the state,(10% landmass with 70% population) stands right at the top. All development activities, funds, educational institutions, medical facilities, market infrastructure, sports complexes, everything is located in the valley area, the top of the pyramid and nothing percolates down to the Nagas who are at the bottom. It is as though the hills areas are called part of Manipur just because two lifelines passes through Naga territory. These lifelines feed the whole of Manipur state and not only Imphal. In every economic blockade the worst hit are not the Meitei people of the valley but the hill people of the six hill districts. The rest of the country realizes that the hill areas are inhabitated only when economic blockade is called on the two highways NH 39 & 53.

The GoI must therefore confirm whether it seeks peace sincerely or prefer treachery and lies to suppress the rights of the oppressed indigeneous tribal and alienate them from their land and resources to the advantage of majority advanced communities in the neighbourhood in the light of what has been stated by its Home Minister on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 19th August 2010.

As for the Nagas in Manipur, we declare that Mr. P Chidambaram does not have the final say on the Nagas and their future. It is for us the Nagas in Manipur to decide our future and this will be done by the severance of all ties with the Manipur Government.

Publicity wing
United Naga Council

Has the Govt. of India Lied to the Naga People, then ?

The statement in the Lok Sabha on 19th August ’10, by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram that the Govt. of India rules out any move to alter the boundary of the states in the North-East region to ACCOMMODATE the demand for ‘Greater Nagalim,’ is but a fitting example of the left hand of the UPA II not knowing what its right hand does. While the GOI is free to use its options in governing the country evaluating the consequences, its actions are expected to be within the parameters fairness, rationality and due protocol. If the statements were made at a press conference it would have been bad enough but having made the statement on the floor of the house he surely knows the total ramifications of his action. P. Chidambaram knows he treads dangerous grounds and is well experienced on the fact that loose talk from insulated high seats can cause tragedy at the ground level .While replying to discussion on the reimpossed economic blockade in Manipur there appear to be little reason to pre-empt the ongoing Indo-Naga peace talks, and make a policy statement on the floor of the parliament, against the spirit in which the peacetalks are being held presently. Much because the Naga peace talks is also a Government of India agenda. More because the matter was still under negotiation with the Government of India. On 19th august ’10, P. Chidambaram represented the GOI .
The Home Minister is well aware that ceasefire declaration and the subsequent peace talks were being held a) at the Prime Ministers level. b) in a third country, and c) without pre-conditions. Though the conditions have been softened over the years due to the good rapport between the negotiators, the three guiding principles remain intact. The proper and honourable way to completely rubbish the on-going peace talks would have been to, a) first call-off the ceasefire with the Naga groups, b) unilaterally withdraw from the peace talks, and then c) make the declaration in Parliament or elsewhere.
The question here is not whether Nagas are to be united or not, the question here is why the GOI should serve an ultimatum on its own prestige and sincerity. The question here is not whether the Naga peace talks are ejected or not but how the Government of India really looks at the the much flaunted peace talks offers made across the country where peoples movements exists much for the same reasons, be it Kashmir, the Northeastern states or the Maoist areas of central India. The Indo-Naga peacetalks are going on for all the world to see but after the Home Minister’s statement in parliament, the questions in the minds of the people is - has the GOI fooled the Naga People and the whole world for all these years? Is it such that the GOI had never intended to keep its word as far as peacetalks were concerned right from the beginning?
Chidambaram talks of “the pluralistic character of states that cannot be wished away”. What the he unfortunately does not realize is that all naga area district headquarters and townships are miniature India’s where many communities co-exist peacefully. On “honour, dignity and equal rights” in Manipur state – the less said the better. On 28th August 1948, four persons were shot to death by Manipur Rifles exactly at the place where two students were shot dead by the Manipur Police commandoes on 6th May 2010. The meitei - naga divide/conflict started more than 200 years back from the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. Tha Nagas have time and again tried to swallow the bone of the meitei promises of “honour, dignity and equal rights” but have always ended up with lacerated throats and nothing else. So the H.M’s offer, passed on through meitei hands is not likely to serve any real purpose.
The statements that it will be ‘inconceivable that we break-up the states’ appear to be escapist politics and tantamounts to saying we are not prepared to set things right or let justice prevail– let the situation continue. We don’t mind. His assertion of “no question of altering the integrity of the state of Manipur” he tries to imply that the political boundaries of Manipur is sacrosanct. By that yard-stick then maybe no boundary disputes exist in the country between the states nor border disputes with neighbouring countries.However, the statement was in stark contrast to the press statement Shri. Pranab Mukherjee the then Defence Miniter of India made on the first of December 2006, where he went on the say “in the course of the settlement of Indo-China boundary dispute, the territorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh may have to be compromised”. That he went on, less than two months later to receive the Padma Vibhusahm on 26th Jan 2007 is altogether another matter. It was not the territorial integrity of Arunachal Pradesh but that of India vis-à-vis China – between sovereign countries. Within the country at best it will be boundary disputes between neighbouring states which every state in the NE has with its neighbouring states. The issue of territorial integrity of a state within the country did not arise when Jharkhand, Chhatishgarh and Uttaranchal were created, simply because it does not arise. However, the Government of India, appear to have different ways of dealing with the same problem with different people in different parts of the country.
The local administration of tribal areas by the tribals granted by the Sixth Schedule amendment to the constitution was whittled down by the majority Meitei Government (40 reserved meitei assembly seats in the house of 60) to a loud sounding nothing. It was also kept in abeyance for the last 20(twenty) years. It must be appreciated that the Union Home Minister realises that the truncated caricature of the Sixth Schedule amendment granting the autonomous district councils is known as the Naga Autonomous District councils in Manipur It is unique in the entire country.
The socio political structure in the sate of Manipur is built like a Pyramid. The valley area of the state, (25% landmass 70% population) stands right at the top. All development activities, funds, educational institutions, medical facilities, markets infrastructure, sports complexes, everything you-name-it, is located in the valley area, the top of the pyramid and nothing percolates down to the Nagas who are at the bottom. Sometimes it is as though the hills areas are called part of Manipur just because two lifelines passes through Naga territory. These lifelines feed the whole of Manipur state and not only Imphal. In every economic blockade the worst hit are not the meitei people of the valley but the hill people of the six hill districts. All the godowns, wholesellers- government and private, petrol and fuel depots, all buffer and reserve stocks of all essential commodities are stored at Imphal. From Imphal these goods are collected/dispatched to the hill areas on daily- weekly-monthly basis depending on the goods. During economic blockades this transfer to the hill areas are completely stopped and all the quota for the hills are retained as the reserve stock for the valley.In Manipur,the oppressor have become the victim and the victims have become the oppressor. And the rest of the country realizes that the hill areas are inhabited only when economic blockade is called on the two highways NH 39 & 53.
Now it is upto the Prime Minister of India to make a statement on the same floor of the House on the status and life of the Naga Peace talks. The Prime Minister have to convince the people that his government had not lied to the Nagas , the Indian nation and the world at large. The denied people in the war zones across the country need to know and gauge the sincerity of the Government at the centre. They need to know whether the government really seeks peace sincerely or is not so adverse to use treachery and lies to suppress the rights of the oppressed indigenous tribals and alienate them from their land and resources to the advantage of majority advanced communities in the neighbourhood. Whether the Government really means to protect the indigenous tribes so that they may best preserve their traditions and customs, their lores and ways of life, their land and resources or whether they are out to annihilate the tribals of the land. Yes, the Prime Minister of the land owes it to the other people of India and the Naga people especially those living in the present state of Manipur an explaination on the stand of his Government in the light of what has been stated by his Home Minister on the floor of the Lok Sabha on 19th August 2010.

Puni Modoli
Former president, UNC

TRIBAL PEOPLES’ FORUM MANIPUR
CHINGMEIRONG ,IMPHAL 795001 tpf.maipur@gmail.com

Press Statement August 22, 2010

The Tribal Peoples’ Forum Manipur (TPFM) is constrained to issue a press statement again as Shri Okram Ibobi Singh led ministry is continuing to play a malicious game to deny the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Manipur their democratic rights and right to local self-governance.

The repeated statement made by Principle Secretary (Tribal Development and Hills), Government of Manipur, claiming that the May-June 2010 imposed election which was held under a highly militarised environment where thousands of army and paramilitary forces were deployed amidst strong protect by the tribals/indigenous peoples under the unwanted Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council Act 2008, as a success is nothing short of an outright hogwash, a pathetic lie to hoodwink the people, and a mischievious attempt to murder democracy in Manipur.

In four out of the five hill districts of Manipur, public protests were so overwhelming that polling officials were forced to put army combat dress with bulletproof gears. Despite this, they could not even proceed to their respective polling stations. The election which was to be held in two phases was “re-held” in five phases because of strong protest by the tribal people. Despite all these whitewashing, the end result is that there is no political mandate for those candidates who were declared “elected”: people did not vote for them.

Despite the tall claims of the Government of Manipur, the fact proves otherwise. If the conduct of the District Council election is a success, why did the Government of Manipur carry out all the processes including the filing of nomination, scrutiny, counting, declaration and oath taking, and constitution of the Council in Imphal? If this election is for local self-governance, how would these so called “successful” Councillors govern from Imphal and not from their respective jurisdictions? Are they for the governing Imphal Valley? Could we imagine a similar scenario where Shri Ibobi Singh and his cohorts all shift to New Delhi? Would such governance be deemed democratic and legitimate?

TPFM is surprised that the reason behind the inability to conduct elections for the last 20 years, paticularly the denial of autonomy in the functioning of the District Councils has till date not been resolved, and resolving this serious lapse is not even in the agenda of the Government of Manipur. The deinal of 20 years of democratic rights was not questioned but when the funds alloted to the state was at stake, suddenly the Government of Manipur decided to conduct the elections under a law that the people did not want. In continuing the trend of denying the rights of the tribals, the GoM then ignored the widespread protest which lasted for more than two months, and conducted the elections as a mere formality to implement a process rather than giving meaning to the substance and objectives.

The denial of the rights of tribals, and the continued discrimination meted out to them is evident in many actions of the Government of Manipur. For instance, the bulk of the Special Plan Assistance Fund of Manipur is concentrated for projects in Imphal West District alone. In fact, funds under the Special Plan Assistance allocated to Imphal West District is more than the combined total allocated for the five hill districts of Chandel, Churahandpur, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul. If we factor in the funds allocated to the other districts in Imphal Valley, including Imphal East, Thoubal and Bishnupur, the difference is mindboggling. Such discrimination is nothing new for the tribals. We know, through the many years of hardships, that the Government of Manipur is not for the whole state but for the 700 sq mile territory of Imphal Valley/Kangleipak.

Such myopia will not bring the much touted social harmony and peaceful coexistence spouted by the corrupt politicians. We call upon every tribal to stand up against this tyranny and fight against the denial of our rights.

H. Ruleng,
Member Secretary, TPFM
Dimapur to defy all kinds of bandhs Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Dimapur, August 21 2010: Bold enough to bell a cat after having had lost huge amount of money in terms of crores of rupees because of bandhs in recent times in the Nagaland commercial hub Dimapur, the Dimapur Chamber of Commerce is now all set to defy all sorts of bandhs in Dimapur.

The Dimapur Chamber of Commerce urges all business establishments to defy bandhs called by any organisation including civil society bodies and political parties saying that enough is enough.

Dimapur is a fast growing commercial hub not only for Nagaland but in the whole North East region after Guwahati.

Goods trains are ferrying commodities to Dimapur on regular basis.

Meanwhile, various civil society organisations hailing from the Karbi community have announced to impose a 24-hour Karbi Anglong bandh from 5 am of August 23 in support of a demand for the creation of Karbis'autonomous state from Assam.

The Karbi organisations pledged that they will intensify with their agitations in the days to come unless their demand is met.

The proposed bandh will affect Nagaland and Manipur as the national highways leading to both the states traverse through Karbi Anglong district of Assam where the Karbi community dominates.
IRB personnel protest against vintage weapons PTI
Kohima, Aug 22 (PTI) IRB personnel, assigned for duty in the Maoist-dominated Midnapore and Purulia districts of West Bengal, have protested against 'vintage' fire arms and inadequate logistic support provided to them. The personnel of 10th IRB battalion staged protests virtually for the whole day rpt virtually for the whole day yesterday and two companies of advance party scheduled to leave for West Bengal refused to go to the line of duty unless they were assured of all necessary arms, ammunitions, other logistics and the ex-gratia to be paid in the event of casualty. They burnt rations and other belongings at Nagaland Armed Police Training Centre (NAPTC), Chumukedima near Dimapur. The personnel, some of whom were to leave by buses for Bengal, told media persons that they "cannot fight well equipped Naxals with vintage SLRs, some of which have no firing pins and magazines that could be fitted to them." The hand grenades provided to them were about 30 years old, they complained and added the IRB companies were asked to go to the line of action with insufficient officers. High caliber rifles such as AKs, LMG had not been provided to them despite stipulated norms for making available better weapons to carry out counter-insurgency operations, they claimed. They also complained that their former commanding officer did not brief them properly during the months before leaving for fighting the Naxals, a practice before every assignment and operation. Top police officials, including Nagaland Director General of Police K Kire and Additional Director General (Ops) S.N.Achumi arrived at the spot in the evening rpt in the evining and pacified the IRB personnel and brought the situation under control. Kire assured that their concerns would be looked into before they left for West Bengal. He told newsmen that necessary logistical arrangements had been made and unserviceable weapons would be replaced. "The IRB personnel should, however, maintain the weapons issued to them," he said and conceded that there was shortage of officers in the battalion and no grenade training was given to the 10th IRB personnel, who were still using 30 year old ones due to non requisition. "The incident reflected a bad image for the force as a whole and a probe would be conducted into the entire episode," he said and owned moral responsibility for it. PTI AP KK KK 08221211
Economic blockade in Assam against Arunachal Pradesh PTI
SIBSAGAR: A large number of vehicles were stranded after an indefinite economic blockade was launched on Saturday on the border with Arunachal Pradesh in Sibsagar district by the influential AASU (All Assam Students’ Union) and other organisations protes ting violence by miscreants backed by the NSCN-IM for the past one week.
Roads leading to Arunachal Pradesh at Charaipung and Bimolapur in Sibsagar district and Joypur in Dibrugarh district were blocked by thousands of people, official sources said.
“We don’t not accept the NSCN-IM’s ‘Greater Nagalim’. We will not give an inch of our land. We had met Isak Muivah (IM) at his camp in Nagaland and conveyed our stand to him,” the AASU General Secretary, Mr Tapan Gogoi, told reporters on Saturday.
On Friday, a police constable was injured after miscreants backed by NCN-IM militants fired at at Charaipung area in the district, the sources said.
The insurgents and miscreants have been raiding and resorting to firing and arson since August 14 and set ablaze several houses and attacked police pickets in Charaipung and Bimolapur area, the sources said.
The Assam Law Minister, Mr Pranab Gogoi, and the Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister, Mr Tako Dabi, held a meeting to resolve the border tension in the disputed Bimolapur area of Charaipung sub-division and decided to instill confidence building measures and restore peace.
Patrolling was intensified and an Assam police picket was posted in the area. — PTI



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