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01/08/2011: "Northeastern states hail PAP withdrawal (IANS)"

Northeastern states hail PAP withdrawal (IANS)

Imphal/Aizawl, Jan 8 The northeastern states have welcomed the centre's decision to do away with the Protected Area Permit (PAP), a mandatory permit for foreigners to visit the region.
The union government had recently excluded Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland from the PAP regime for a period of one year.
However, the regulation is in place for Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China.
'The decision is very positive. It will help foreign nationals, specially tourists, to visit here,' Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said in a statement in Aizawl Saturday.
Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh also welcomed the decision to withdraw the PAP from his state.
'A large number of tourists have been visiting Manipur every year with the PAP. The number will now increase,' Singh told reporters in Imphal Saturday.
'However, all foreigners visiting Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland will have to register themselves with the Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO) of the district they want to visit within 24 hours of their arrival,' a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release said.
According to a Mizoram official, the citizens of some specified countries, including Pakistan and China, will continue to require prior approval of the union Ministry of Home Affairs before their visit to the northeastern states.
Various NGOs have also hailed the decision.. On an average, 50,000 foreign tourists visit the eight north-eastern states every year
Nagaland's split to form new state Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Dimapur, January 07 2011: Nagas in four Nagaland districts carried out massive public rallies demanding the creation of a new state christened as 'Frontier Nagaland' by bifurcating Nagaland.

The rallies were held simultaneously in the districts of Tuensang, Mon, Kiphire and Longleng today.

The rallies were organised by Eastern Nagaland People's Organisation (ENPO) .

The ENPO, which is the apex organization of six Naga tribes of Konyak, Khiamniungan, Chang, Yimchunger, Sangtam and Phom belonging to the four districts, has submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister urging him to realize the demand.

"Our demand for the creation of Frontier Nagaland is based on historical facts.

This is something like going back to the earlier arrangement when the entire area was under the erstwhile Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA," ENPO general secretary Toshi Wungpung said.

Before Nagaland was created in 1963, this entire area was under the Tuensang Frontier Division of NEFA.

Mon, Kiphire and Longleng districts were carved out of Tuensang post-statehood.

Toshi Wungmung alleged that for decades, gross injustice has been done to the people of these four districts by the successive governments, both in the state and at the centre.

"Of the 11 districts in Nagaland, these four backward districts have almost half of the state's total population.

But despite that, they continue to remain extremely under-developed," the ENPO general secretary said.

He added that only three per cent of the total population of the four districts held government jobs.

Ours is "a democratic and people's movement based on fundamental issues.

The people in the four districts have given their wholehearted support to it," Wungmung added.

So far, the Nagaland Government has remained silent, but the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee has appealed to the people of the four districts, called Eastern Nagas, to reconsider their demand.

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) said, "At a time when the Nagas have expressed their willingness and taken concrete practical steps to reconcile with one another and unite for a lasting Indo-Naga political solution, the Congress appeals to our Eastern Naga brothers [and sisters] to reconsider their stand in the interest of the Nagas in general" .
Nagaland, Laos sign MoU to promote ''Agar'' plantation MSN
Kohima, Jan 8 (PTI) Nagaland government has signed an MoU with Laos to promote plantation of a perfume ingredient on commercial scale in the state.

Two senior officials from the state are now in Vietnam capital to acquaint themselves with the process of injecting a special solution on ''agar'' (the perfume ingredient) tree to enhance its production as well as market value, state Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) H K Khulu said yesterday.

The farmers of Changki village in Mokokchung district were informed about the state''s move that the government is actively working to give a technical boost to ''agar'' production.

Visiting the Changki eco-green project at Ts�rang valley, Khulu said the valley boasts of a wide scope to turn into an "economic centre" and encouraged the farmers to undertake agar tree plantation on a commercial scale.

He assured the "progressive" farmers of the area to extend all possible assistance from the government.

Khulu said he was impressed with the cultivation of diverse plants, including cash crops such as tea, rubber, Aloe Vera, agar and fruits like orange and lemon.

He also assured the villagers that the government would look into their demand for an all-weather road to the project site.

Started in 2001, Changki eco-green project, stretching over 1,800 hectares, is a multi-cropping zone which came up after the village leased out land to 16 farmers.
Nagas of Myanmar for unity
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Kohima, Jan. 4: The Nagas of Myanmar today said they would launch an agitation against discrimination and bifurcation of Nagas’ lands in Myanmar.
The assertion comes close on the heels of the decisions of the Nagas of eastern Nagaland and Manipur to intensify their agitations for a separate state and a separate administrative unit.
The president of the Naga National League for Democracy, Myanmar, Sosa, said in a release that any arbitrary decision imposed on the Nagas would never be accepted. “This is the era of democracy and self-determination is its essence. Therefore, the Naga people will decide their own future,” he said.
Sosa said the Nagas had lived on their ancestral land since time immemorial. This was interrupted when British imperial forces intruded into their country and tried to colonise the Nagas with their divide-and-rule policy.
The British bifurcated the Naga territory and placed them under India and Burma, but failed in their attempt. On the eve of departure of the British in 1947, General Aung San convened a meeting of all the heads of the tribal councils at Penlong in Burma to form a union of Burma but the Nagas were not a party to it.
Sosa said after Burmese Independence was declared on January 4, 1948, the Naga areas of Namyung, Tanai, Lahe, Hkamti, Thamanti, Leishi, Homalin, Phombian, Mawliek and Tamu townships were annexed to form Sagaing division.
However, under the military rule, their territory was sliced and the Nagas were deprived of basic rights and facilities, Sosa said.
He said the Naga people would never be silent spectators to the destruction of their homeland.