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05/13/2011: "End of road for Jamir? Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times"
End of road for Jamir? Rahul Karmakar/HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Guwahati, Once the face of Congress resilience in the Northeast, former Nagaland chief minister SC Jamir, 79, losing his pet Aonglenden assembly seat to the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate Toshikopba Longkumer by 1,325 votes. By-poll for Aonglenden in Mokokchung district was necessitated by the dea
th of Congress legislator Nungshizenba Longkumer earlier this year. The by-election held on May 7 saw a high 88% turnout.
Jamir, Nagaland’s longest serving chief minister, had never lost Aonglenden before. He had stayed away from electoral politics to be the governor of Goa and Maharashtra. This election was his bid to stage a comeback.
“This could be the end of the road for Jamir,” said a senior Nagaland PCC leader. “The Congress needs to move out of his shadow to be the force it was in Nagaland.”
The rebel National Socialist Council of Nagaland, on truce mode since July 1997, is said to have worked overtime to ensure Jamir’s defeat. Jamir has been the staunchest critic of the outfit and had been attacked several times in the past.
Ex-Nagaland CM Jamir loses Aonglenden by-poll Press Trust Of India IBN
Kohima: Former Nagaland chief minister and senior Congress leader SC Jamir on Friday lost the Aonglenden Assembly by-poll to ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate Toshikopba Longkumer by over 1,300 votes.
Jamir, the longest serving chief minister of Nagaland, had won from the Aonglenden seat in Mokokchong district a number of times in the past.
He was staying away from the state for nearly a decade due to gubernatorial assignments in Goa and Maharashtra.
By-poll for the Aonglenden seat was held on May 7 which saw a high voter turnout of about 88 per cent.
The by-poll was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Nungshizenba Longkumer in 2011.
Chidambaram reviews law and order in Manipur Iboyaima Laithangbam
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram arrived here on Tuesday for a two-day visit. Soon after his arrival, he was closeted with Manipur Governor Gurubachan Jagat, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, and senior Army and intelligence officers to take stock of the law and order situation.
His visit comes in the backdrop of attempts to bring all the insurgent outfits to the negotiating table. Valley-based outfits, including the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), have been distancing themselves from peace efforts.
On Wednesday, Mr. Chidambaram will visit Ukhrul district to inaugurate a mini secretariat and a guest house. This will be the first time a Union Minister is visiting the border district after the ambush of the independent MLA, W. Keishing, and his entourage in April, in which six Manipur Rifles troopers and two civilians were killed.
The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), which has been holding peace talks for 10 years, says that Mr. Keishing has been acting against the interests of the people.
It may be recalled that Mr. Keishing has been advocating the upgradation of the Phungyar sub-division to a full-fledged district. Some Naga organisations had objected to it.
Nagalim: Leaders Meet Union Minister of Home Affairs UNPO
Leaders of the United Naga Council (UNC) met Indian Union Minister of Home Affairs Palaniappan Chidambaram to discuss their proposal for an alternative administrative arrangement in Nagalim The Times of India:
Leaders of United Naga Council (UNC) on Wednesday [11 May 2011] met Union home minister P Chidambaram at Ukhrul to voice their demand for an alternative administrative arrangement in the Naga areas of Manipur without bringing the state government into the picture. UNC president Samson Remei was among those who met Chidambaram.
UNC, which is a conglomerate of several Naga civil bodies of Manipur, submitted a memorandum to the home minister urging him to expedite tripartite talks on their demand. The first round of tripartite talks involving representatives of the Centre, state and UNC was held at Senapati on December 3 last year [2010].
The memorandum submitted to the home minister urged Chidambaram to urgently put into place an alternative arrangement for Nagas in Manipur, for which immediate resumption of tripartite talks is imperative. "We are making this submission to reiterate that Nagas in Manipur will accept nothing short of an alternative arrangement outside the state of Manipur," it said. "We further strongly urge your good self to expedite the process for putting the same in place, so that the principles of democracy and justice are assured to the Nagas."
UNC said its leaders met the home minister for 20 minutes, during which he assured the delegation that the tripartite talks are important, and added he was keenly observing the progress of the discussion. Chidambaram further said that dialogue should continue at a sustained level and with regularity, said the UNC statement.
The meeting concluded with the mutual agreement that the next round of talks would take place this month in Senapati district.
Besides holding the meeting with the Naga leaders, Chidambaram also inaugurated a mini-secretariat and a guest house in the Tangkhul-dominated district bordering Myanmar. Though chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh accompanied the home minister to Ukhrul, he did not join the meeting with the UNC leaders.
Chidambaram had on Tuesday attended a meeting with governor Gurbachan Jagat and the CM to review the measures taken to combat the law and order problem in Manipur.
Five-time Nagaland chief minister loses by-poll News One
Mokokchung (Nagaland), May 13 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader and former Nagaland chief minister S.C. Jamir Friday lost an assembly by-poll to the ruling Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate Toshikopba Longkumer.
‘Longkumer defeated Jamir by 1,320 votes,’ L.G. Chishi, returning officer of Mokokchung, told IANS.
Jamir, a five-time chief minister and former governor of Maharashtra and Goa, managed to get 4,945 votes, while Longkumer bagged 6,265 votes.
The by-election was necessitated following the death of Congress legislator Nungshizenba Longkumer in 2011.
Jamir, who had never lost an election in his political career, said: ‘It’s a contest and someone must win and lose and I am not losing anything.’
However, Congress termed Jamir’s defeat as a ‘major embarrassment’ for the party, which is plagued with internal bickering over the leadership issue.
‘The party will soon sit and review the cause of our failure,’ said K.L. Chishi, a senior Congress legislator.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio congratulated the people of Aonglenden constituency ‘for voting for a change, for believing in youth and for expressing faith in the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland’ government.
With Friday’s victory, the ruling NPF has increased its strength to 35 in the 60-member assembly, while the opposition Congress is reduced to 17.
Naga men assaulted by Assam Police morungexpress
The victim with bruise marks
Dimapur, May 12 (MExN): In another incident that could strain the already fragile relation between the states of Nagaland and Assam, two Naga men were assaulted by Assam Police Wednesday afternoon while on their way to Niuland. The men identified as Qhehovi of P. Vihoto village and Asheto of K. Hetoi village were on their way from P. Vihtoto village to Niuland via Bokajan subdivision in Assam.
Relaying the incident, the victims told The Morung Express that on Wednesday around 3:30 pm while travelling to Niuland in a Maruti van, they were stopped by Assam Police who were tailing behind them in a gypsy. The Assam police suddenly blocked their way by overtaking them and one policeman (an officer) got down from his vehicle and came towards them. Then suddenly without rhyme or reason, the policeman began to slap the man in the driver’s seat. The Naga men were taken by surprise and therefore, questioned the policeman why he was beating them. Then suddenly all the policemen, numbering six, also jumped out of the vehicle and together started thrashing the two of them.
According to the victims, they were kicked and beaten by huge logs all over their bodies. Both the victims’ have sustained severe injuries and one of them has fractured his right hand. Their bodies are all bruised and swollen. The vehicle the two Naga men were traveling in was also damaged completely. The men are reportedly piggery owners.
An FIR was lodged in Dimapur East Police Station today, which was later referred to Niuland Outpost. According to information received here, the Border Magistrates from both sides and the Commandant of the CRPF posted along the Assam-Nagaland border, met today to discuss the issue which could very well escalate into a major one. Authorities of both the Sumi villages under Nuiland sub-division have vehemently condemned the incident. They have taken the matter seriously and have appealed to the Border Magistrate to take appropriate action against the perpetrators.
Westminster Conference Endorses Sikh, Kashmiri and Naga Self-Determination
Westminster, London, 12 May 2011: India’s current temporary UN Security Council seat should serve as an opportunity for the international community to force it to comply with its human rights obligations. That was the call from a major Conference hosted by ‘Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination’ (PNSD) which also endorsed the right of Sikh, Kashmiri and Naga self-determination in their homelands, as well as calls for UN criminal courts to punish those who have directed or carried out gross rights violations by the state in those conflict zones.
Chairing the event, Lord Ahmed castigated India for its formal ‘Reservation’ lodged at the UN under which it purports to deny that the right of self-determination applies to the nations living in Indian controlled territory. The UN’s own Human Rights Committee has demanded India withdraws its infamous ‘Reservation’ against Article 1 of the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which grants “all peoples the right to self-determination”; it goes on to provide that “by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development”. He said the recent cases of East Timor and South Sudan were ample evidence that the international community had accepted the application of this right as a means to end conflict; yet India seems intent on continuing the blood letting in Kashmir, Punjab, Nagalim and elsewhere, where it has opted instead for massive human rights violations as a means of crushing legitimate movements for freedom.
Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Chair of the All Party Hurriet Conference participated in the event via telephone link from occupied Kashmir and detailed India’s breach of its commitment to the UN and to Kashmiris, made over 65 years ago, to allow the people of the region to decide their own destiny. He condemned India as a state drunk with military power, whose armed forces are accountable to no one in accordance with shameful black laws such as the so-called Public Safety Act, which Amnesty International has recently branded “Unlawful Law”. The Hurriet leader said there was no point to the current Indo-Pak dialogue as it omits the voice of the Kashmiri people; it was a process aimed only at diverting world opinion from the core issue of Kashmiri self-determination and deserved to fail. He demanded India withdraw its armed forces from Kashmir, involve Kashmiris in the dialogue and allow the UN to supervise a plebiscite so the people themselves can shape the outcome in a peaceful manner.
Kanwarpal Singh, spokesman for Dal Khalsa in Punjab also contributed by phone link, called for Nuremburg-type trials to punish Indian officials guilty of war crimes and genocide in Punjab, Kashmir and India’s troubled North East. He demanded a UN sponsored plebiscite in the Sikh homeland to allow the Sikhs to demonstrate, freely and fairly, their backing for the Declaration of Khalistan 25 years ago. He pledged to work with “co-travellers on the path of freedom” to promote, by peaceful and democratic means, the implementation of self-determination wherever India’s imperialism had sought to crush the birth right of freedom.
Special messages were received from several MPs. Fabian Hamiliton MP, Chair of the All Party Group for UK Sikhs, opined that “whether it is in the Punjab, in Kashmir or in the Middle East, the rights of peoples in these regions to self-determination should be strongly supported by the international community”. Khaled Mahmood MP pointed out that, whilst self-determination as a collective human right has been long established by international law, “India, somehow, officially denies it applies to the peoples and nations in the territory controlled by it”; he said that was no way for the Indians to build a case for a permanent UN SC seat. He also called for the human rights violations by India to be addressed: “The rule of law is a pre-requisite to peace and the UN should itself administer justice if the Indian state cannot, or will not, do so”. Marsha Singh MP asked why the Sikhs, as nation, should not be allowed self-determination if they desired freedom and justice in their homeland. He described Kashmir as a time-bomb and said “we need to defuse this time bomb and that self-determination, by peaceful means, is the only viable option”. If 1947 was India’s “tryst with destiny” then it now needs a “tryst with justice” and the international community should bring that about.
Ranjit Singh, of the Council of Khalistan, hailed the historic decision of the Sikh nation in 1986 when its leadership declared the establishment of Khalistan, in the face of an onslaught by the full might of the Indian army; some 200,000 Sikhs have been killed since the genocide began in 1984 with no resolution to the conflict in sight. In the words of Human Rights Watch’s report entitled ‘The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab’, “the deliberate use of torture and execution as counterinsurgency tactics was not merely tolerated but actively encouraged by senior government officials”. India has repeated the pattern in Kashmir. It should now be put in the dock for genocide by the UN itself, after making obvious its policy of granting immunity to the perpetrators of massive state terrorism.
Professor Nazir Shawl of the Kashmir Centre in London recalled how he had been in India in November 1994 when Sikhs were being butchered in their thousands by Government sponsored mobs. The killing machine has since extended its operations to Kashmir and yet the world stands by ; he asked why the aspirations of the people of the Middle East are more important than the aspirations of the Sikhs, Kashmiris and others like the Nagas? Calling for a more principled approach by the international community, he identified the cessation of violent suppression and the holding of UN supervised plebiscites as the only way to restore enduring peace to these shattered regions. The UN SC’s own resolutions on Kashmir were being flouted by a member of that body, which was untenable and repugnant to any right minded person.
Peter Davis of the Naga Support Group in the UK delivered a message from the Foreign Minister of the Government of Nagalim, which has been in negotiation with the Indian government for some 14 years to resolve the Naga struggle for self-determination. The message extended support to the other nations represented within PNSD and lamented that despite 70 rounds of talks “India is yet to demonstrate its real sincerity and preparedness” for a honourable and mutually acceptable solution”.
Manmohan Singh of Dal Khalsa spoke of the need to end India’s murderous treatment of nations and minorities under its control. Muslims (Gujarat in 2002), Christians (Orissa in 2009) and Sikhs (Delhi in 1984) had been subjected to mass violence by mobs unleashed by the state, with thousands being mercilessly killed whilst security forces looked on. In 2010, the US Congressional Committee on Religious Freedoms put India on its watch list of states that permit religious violence and grant immunity to the guilty. He said the Sikhs will pursue their struggle for freedom and were today , more than ever before, inspired by their leaders who bravely declared independence in 1986.
Ms Rana Nazir of the Kashmir Women’s Forum attacked India’s appalling record of extra judicial killings, disappearances, torture and illegal detention which she said was shocking on any analysis. She urged all the nations being targeted by these wanton abuses to work together in solidarity and expose the inhumanity of a failed state. Gurjeet Singh of the Sikh Federation, UK affirmed that the Sikh nation’s historic decision in 1986 to establish Khalistan was irreversible, despite the Indian government’s use of unbridled force in trying to reverse it. He called for the well documented systematic abuses by Indian security forces to be acted on by the UN, specifically for it to establish an ad hoc criminal tribunal to give exemplary punishment to those responsible for the carnage of Sikhs since 1984.
Khawaja Sulehman of the Kashmir Information Centre saw India’s forcible denial of the right of self-determination as an unforgivable policy which was, in any event, doomed to fail. The USSR and Yugoslavia were not able to stifle the nations trapped within their artificial borders and neither will India in the long run. It was time for India to reformulate its approach, accept the just demands of the people it oppresses and implement what international law demands.
Santokh Singh Saran of the Akali Dal (Amritsar) ridiculed India’s so-called secular fabric by highlighting the murderous oppression of religious minorities and the attempt to re-write history by state educational programmes which defame them. He singled out the absurd Article 25 of the Indian Constitution which declares – in the very provision that is supposed to protect freedom of religion – “the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religion”. The Sikhs are a religion and a nation, but India refuses to recognise them as anything other than an appendage of Hinduism. This would never be tolerated by any Sikh and independence is the only plausible way forward for the Sikhs if they want to secure their homeland, freedom and dignity.
Irshad Malik called for a strategy to isolate India at the UN, as its record and policies are inconsistent with the declared principles of the world body. Muhammad Ghalib, President of Tehreek-e- Kashmir, welcomed the sincere display of solidarity at the Conference between nations who were seeking nothing other than their lawful rights being denied by a common aggressor. Amrik Singh Sahota, OBE (President, Council of Khalistan) urged Sikhs, Kashmiris and Nagas to redouble their efforts to secure freedom as this was a prize that would not be handed to them by such a committed foe which has ruthlessly dismissed universally cherished humanitarian values.
Resolutions passed on the occasion called for India to withdraw its ‘Reservation’ against Article 1 of the 1966 Covenants, or in default, to be subjected to UN sanctions. Linked with this was a call for UN supervised plebiscites in Punjab, Kashmir and Nagalim. In addition, the UN was called on to set up criminal tribunals to investigate and punish those guilty of massive abuses by the state, including genocide. John Hemming MP endorsed all three Resolutions, reaffirming his support for the event.
PNSD Conference, Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London on 12 May 2011
