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11/30/2011: "India against itself PATRICIA MUKHIM Shillong times"
India against itself PATRICIA MUKHIM Shillong times
Manipur is under blockade for well over 100 days. The Naga peace process isn’t going anywhere. Recently, even Assam was on fire due to the land swap deal between India and Bangladesh. Has the Centre lost the plot in the Northeast?
Whichever way you look at the Northeast, the imprint of an insouciant Centre (read the Government of India) is writ large on its canvas. From the early 1960s when Mizoram was strafed by the Indian Air Force to coerce the Mizos to conform to Delhi’s nation-building expedition, to the Naga insurgency that began with India’s Independence, a few questions remain unanswered: Has the country understood its periphery? Will it ever comprehend this distinct geographical space which shares only four per cent of its boundaries with the country? How can this region with its myriad colours, cultures, races, ethnicities and dreams ever become part of the mainstream Indian mind-space?
The fate of this region has nearly been decided by politically illiterate rulers, ably guided by bureaucrats whose ability to think out-of-the-box is suspect. The rigmarole has been to fire-fight every problem even if the genesis of the problem is rooted in a series of wrong decisions taken by the Centre. Recently, former Home Minister LK Advani said that
he would publicly apologise to the people of Manipur for clearing extension of the NSCN(I-M) ceasefire “without territorial limits”. That decision triggered a violent agitation in Imphal, leading to the death of 18 people in June 2001.
The 2001 decision gave a fillip to claims for ‘Nagalim’ since the ceasefire extended to all Naga-inhabited territories of Manipur. The fear of the Meiteis that their State would be reduced to Imphal Valley and the outlying areas cannot just be dismissed as paranoia. There is also the fear that Churachandpur district with its overwhelming Zou-Kuki-Paite-Mizo inhabitants would also assert itself at some point and so it has. The blockade that started on August 1 this year began when the Kukis affiliated to the Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) blocked National Highways 53 and 39 to press their demand for a Kuki-majority district to be carved out of portions of a larger district claimed by the Naga people as part of the ‘greater Nagalim’. The Nagas responded to the SHDDC blockade with one of their own. Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh is not known to be a decisive person. He goes with the flow. When things get out of hand, his only escape route is to make demands to the Centre for more forces. Each time he does so, his legitimacy as the elected ruler of Manipur takes a beating.
The Chief Minister’s impetuous handling of the Kuki demand (where he asked the Kukis to withdraw the blockade after a written assurance to look into the viability of a Kuki-majority district) has only rekindled Naga ‘nationalism’ — a talisman that Nagas wear on their sleeves. Since the highway blockade has become the only effective tool to blackmail the Government, the United Naga Council (UNC) and the All Naga Students’ Association of Manipur (ANSAM) have also adopted similar tactics. In fact, the Nagas were the first to use the blockade of NH 39 and 53 as a tool of tyranny last year when Thuingaleng Muivah was not allowed to visit his homeland in Somdal village in the Ukhrul district of Manipur, which is an integral part of the Nagalim map.
Last year the blockade lasted 69 days. It was the Centre’s intervention then and a personal visit by former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai to Manipur, followed by a visit by members of several Naga outfits to Delhi, which brought an end to the blockade. But the politics of ethnicity is a hydra-headed monster. Appeasing one group gives ideas to others who also find strength within the solidarity of their own ethnic combines. The Kukis are an ethnic group comprising several sub-groups believed to have migrated from the Sinlung Hills of south China to settle in north-west Burma, north-east India and the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Like most tribes settled in the Northeast, the Kukis are of Tibeto-Burman origin.
The Kukis, too, have their own militant outfits and I dare say that most insurgent groups in Manipur have emerged to counterpoise the NSCN(I-M). They have all learnt with time that the Centre responds to those with fire power. Each has emulated the other in this game of one-upmanship. Each time a group indulges in a killing spree, a Central emissary is sent to the region to plead with it to end the bloodbath and come to the negotiating table or have a ceasefire agreement. The group then lists out its demands and is paid huge annual bonuses for keeping its daggers in its sheaths and its gunpowder on hold. The fact that it intermittently reminds the Centre of its demands gives the outfit the legitimacy among its people. Each of the groups survives on extortion despite clauses in the ceasefire agreement clearly saying that they cannot carry arms or collect money. There is no monitoring and no one really cares. There are several such groups with whom the Centre has signed ‘ceasefire’ agreements. They are all armed to the teeth and potential trouble makers.
Now the latest salvo comes in the form of an announcement from Delhi that the Nagas would be granted some sort of a supra-State body. No one really knows what this body is, beyond its name. Does it mean that the Naga-inhabited areas will also be governed by this super-body? If this is the intent, then the supra-State body has all the potentials to spark another bloodbath in Manipur. For those who know the region and its multifarious malaise, these knee-jerk responses from the Centre are shenanigans for buying temporary peace while sowing the seeds for an ugly and ominous future. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has delusions of grandeur that the pugnacious Nagas must be placated so that the UPA-II is able to showcase to itself and the world “that the Northeast has never been more peaceful than it is now”. Fine words indeed, but as the wise say this is sowing the wind to reap the whirlwind.
The Centre’s new ‘gift’ to the Nagas will not be without its repercussions. Other groups, too, can be intransigent and they have every right to demand similar bodies to guide their destinies. Where will all this end? One fears that a time may arrive when a full-scale ethnic warfare will turn the region into a bloody Bosnia. Sadly, there are no statesmen in the region who are willing to look at the big picture. The seven States are divided in their political ideologies. Even a supra-development body like the North Eastern Council (NEC) with an overarching mandate for the region’s development has failed to bring a convergence of minds about addressing some key issues collectively. To address the governance gaps in the region, a second body — the Department for the Development of the North East Region (DoNER) — was constituted in 2001. It later became a full-fledged ministry based at Delhi, but the problems of governance have remained static. In fact, there is greater confusion as both the NEC and DoNER are disbursing funds for different projects. And, why should an institution dedicated for the development of the region be based in New Delhi? And, we dare talk of decentralisation in decision making?
To add to the woes of the region, recently Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had to agree to part with 357.5 acres of land that by virtue of different interpretations — some by strident political adversaries — is said to belong to Assam. That the land swap should even happen with a contentious neighbour accused of planting its obstreperous population in Assam, is scandalous. It’s not just a swapping of land here but people as well. By the way the swapped areas are not unpopulated wastelands. They are fertile stretches of ‘char’ land or river beaches. However, since Bangladesh is playing ball with India in pushing back the cantankerous rebels, some give and take is inevitable. But this land swap deal promises to turn into a volatile election issue for Gogoi and the Congress in 2015. And the UPA-II cannot get away unscathed. Realists say that the total land swapped with Bangladesh does not even measure 1.45 sq km which is less than 0.5 per cent of Guwahati’s metropolitan area. This is hard to prove to a people fed on jingoism and years of Bangladesh bashing. But not without reason. The Assamese have for decades been lamenting that they are a minority in their homeland. Add to that the ethnic cauldron that threatens to break the State into smithereens with the active connivance of New Delhi and you have a potential war in the offing.
Every ethnic group in Assam wants a share of the political pie. The Bodos are no longer happy with their Bodoland Territorial Council even though money is flowing into the coffers. They want a separate State. The Karbi and Dimasa people, too, are not far behind in their demands for a separate State. The present ruling dispensation in Dispur has no long-term policy to address these competing concerns. It is Delhi that directs the State Government to disband an elected district council in Karbi Anglong and to include in the reconstituted body members of the Karbi militant outfit which has signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre and the State Government.
It is laughable to talk of a vibrant Centre-State relationship in this country. State Governments are very unstable. Every Chief Minister of a Congress-ruled State who is on shaky ground has to travel to New Delhi to convince 10, Janpath that he has the numbers to hold on to this chair. One trip does not suffice because the political rumblings go on for months together. In the meantime, governance is suspended. It depends on the report given by Congress general secretaries in charge of a particular State to assure the Czarina of India that so and so is a better Chief Minister and must be given the green signal to go back to his State and form the next Government. It is no secret that a lot of money changes hands during each of these toppling games. How then can we talk of democracy here? And, can we really say that the States are autonomous? If they were, would they need the Centre to decide crucial issues? Would they need the Congress high command to tell them who should be the Chief Minister?
Now, let’s deal with the last point — autonomy. When the Manipur blockade happened, why did New Delhi turn a Nelson’s eye to the State’s dilemma? At last count Manipur had 55,000 security forces (police, paramilitary and the Army). The population of Manipur is 2.7 million. Why were these security forces not used to break the blockade? Why did the Centre not send a special highway protection force to remove the economic barricades? And, better still, why could Ibobi Singh not take charge of the situation? Why was he allowed to play Nero when things dipped to their lowest ebb? What is Delhi’s stakes in allowing the blockade by the Kukis to continue unabated, so much so that the whole world looked on in wonder and dismay?
The answer, as Bob Dylan says in his inimitable style, is blowing in the wind. Yes, Chidambaram, a legal eagle known for analysing issues in black and white and ignoring greys, has sown the wind in this region. We shall be reaping the whirlwind of discontent.
-The writer is editor, The Shillong Times
CFMG chairman dies of heart attack A Staff Reporter | EMN
DIMAPUR Maj Gen (retd) Eppen Jacob Kochekkan, incumbent chairman of the Cease Fire Monitoring Group (CFMG) and Ceasefire Supervisory Board (CFSB) of the NSCN-IM and the NSCN-K, passed away Saturday evening in Dimapur.
Military sources on Saturday evening said Kochekkan died of a sudden heart attack at around 9 pm. His remains are at the moment is being kept at Rangapahar Military Hospital.
The body of the CFMG chairman is expected to be flown to his native village in Kerala for the last rites. However, it is not known when this would take place. Rangapahar sources said there may be a tribute function and guard of honour at Rangapahar cantonment at 10 am on Sunday. Further details could not be ascertained till the filing of this report.
The sudden death of the chairman comes hardly a month after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reported to have ordered his elevation equivalent to that of a serving Lieutenant General of the Indian Army. This honour is a reserved status, rarely afforded to any. According to the MHA order, Eppen was to be the chairman of both the outfits’ monitoring groups and as well serve as Lt Gen in the Army.
Major General (Retired) Eppen Jacob Kochekkan had taken over charge of the Cease Fire Monitoring Groups for the NSCN-IM and NSCN-K in April this year. He had succeeded Lt Gen Mandhata Singh, whose term ended in November last year.He had been the General Officer in Command (GOC) of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka area. He retired in June 2009 after serving the Army for 37 years.
Three northeast states could get own high courts soon By Sujit Chakraborty, IANS,
Agartala : Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya could soon get their own high courts that would help in quicker disposal of cases, save litigants time and money, and fulfil a long-standing demand of these states.
All the eight northeastern states, excluding Sikkim, come under the jurisdiction of the Gauhati High Court situated in Assam. It has benches in several northeastern states. Sikkim has a separate high court.
"All necessary infrastructure for the establishment of separate high courts is ready in three northeastern states -- Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya," a Tripura law department official told IANS, not wishing to be identified as he was not authorised to make the announcement.
The central government needs to amend the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, to set up separate high courts in the three states.
"The union Ministry of Law and Justice, on persuasion from the three state governments, had finalised the draft amendment of the act," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Khagen Das, Lok Sabha member from Tripura, Friday met union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi and demanded that the process of setting up separate high courts in the three northeastern states be expedited.
"Chidambaram informed me that his ministry has referred the matter to the union cabinet for amending the necessary act. After the endorsement of the union cabinet, an amendment bill would be introduced in parliament," Das told IANS.
Das, who moved a private member's bill in the Lok Sabha recently, said that he had urged the union home minister to expedite the matter so that the necessary amendment bill could be passed in the current session of parliament.
"The demand for a separate high court in Tripura has been vigorously pursued from 1987. The Tripura assembly had passed unanimous resolutions requesting the central government to set up a separate high court," said Das, a member of the central committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
An all-party team from Tripura also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh June 8, 2008, over the demand.
For quick disposal of pending cases, the Gauhati High Court introduced in May video conferencing systems with its benches spread across six northeastern states.
The high court, which was constituted April 5, 1948, initially had its sittings in Meghalaya's capital Shillong but shifted to Gauhati Aug 14, 1948. It came to be known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland on the constitution of the state of Nagaland Dec 1, 1963.
On the re-organisation of the northeastern region by the North-Eastern Area (Re-organisation) Act, 1971, a common high court was established for five northeastern states -- Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura - and the two erstwhile union territories (now full-fledged states) - Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh - and named as the Gauhati High Court. (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in
NPF slams Therie’s attack on party leadership Nagaland Post
DIMAPUR Naga People’s Front (NPF) Friday said the remark by PAC convenor of NPCC K. Therie, against the chief minister Neiphiu Rio and NPF president Dr. Shürhozelie, carried “no iota of truth” and was the “unthinkable joke of the era.”
NPF press bureau was reacting to Therie’s claim that both Rio and Shürhozelie “could not understand that Naga Underground and over ground society have been fractured into pieces during their governance” and that people were not comfortable “under their biased leadership” and also not happy with “the paternalistic, manipulative and dictatorial leadership.”
It said contrary to Therie’s “lightheaded statement”, the “degree of unity and progress on all fronts” has ameliorated “as never before” consequent to the “sincere, incessant / consistent efforts and hard work” in just a few years of the NPF-led DAN govt. in office.
Maintaining that at this juncture “we need a strong leadership”, the bureau said “as such, the unambiguous, candid and impartial opinion” expressed by Rio over the status of the “Indo-Naga political process” and “Supra State Body” should not be “misconstrued or marginalized for scoring frustrated personal interests.”
NPF stated that quest of the Naga people for a “permanent solution of the Indo-Naga political issue” has tracked on for decades and the issue has been on the DAN govt.’s “top priority.” Asserting that a lot has been said and done over the issue, it said NPF would continue to be the foundation upon which “the principles and ideology of the Naga people’s political aspiration” lay.
NPF press bureau said the vision of party leadership to widen its ambit to cover all Naga inhabited areas was to “promote social integration, national understanding and create/maintain political order” to ensure a “clean and self reliant society”.
On ENPO’s statehood demand, the NPF said DAN govt. has “never minced words” or shied away from making “factual commends.” It pointed out that on Jan 14 last, Dr Shürhozelie, while inaugurating the 63rd USSC at Kiphire, “clearly” said he had nothing to “commend” on the ENPO demand for a separate state as it was a matter between the ENPO and the Centre.
The bureau recounted that Dr Shürhozelie, while expressing apprehension that development may dismantle the hard won peace which has paved the way for a final solution to the Naga political issue, said “Naga people will be helpless if the stage players fall into the trap of speaking what the ‘prompters’ prompt from behind the screen.”
Also, pointing out that NPF was “a well-knit, disciplined family”, it said NPF was a party with “unwavering stand to safeguard and uphold the Naga identity and work towards bringing a solution to the Indo-Naga political issue acceptable to all.”
Reacting to K.Therie’s remark over re-nomination of Dr. Shürhozelie as NPF president, the NPF said its constitution has it all as to how the election process of the party should go.
The bureau said it was “utterly ridiculous and astonishing” that K. Therie took it so “bitterly and murmur” about the re-election of Dr Shürhozelie as NPF president.
“It only confirms how his folly has driven him to the nadir,” said the NPF, adding his “outrageous attack” on the system of election of another political party only reflected “the degree of his frustrated and desperate state of mind.”
It advised Therie to “realize his situation” and keep away from meddling into “other’s affairs and mind his own affairs”.
