In one voice Nagas reaffirm their support for a Just Solution led by NSCN Naga mass rallyNaga public support NSCNNaga rally
In one voice Nagas reaffirm their support for a Just Solution led by NSCN
Naga mass rallyNaga public support NSCNNaga rally
Supporters during the Delhi rally
In a show of total support to the cause of the Nagas and the on going talk between the NSCN (IM) NSCN (K) and other naga group and the Government of India thousands of nagas filled the Parliament street in Delhi. The mass came out questioning the intention of The Government of India on solving the Naga issue. The rally organized by Naga Peace Felicitation Committee Delhi questioned the very intension of the Indian government and the constant attempt to criminalize what they call the Naga movement. In the course of the rally it was made clear that whatever the Government of India think about the naga movement and its exponent of different ideological group and faction the public will not let things die down as it is. The youngsters were clear of what they want from the government- A Just Solution for the Nagas.
Thousand of nagas from all walks of life came forward and took part in the rally in support of the committee’s objectives. It may be mentioned that the talk started as a high level talk that was believed by many people as a well intentioned steps towards solving the vex naga problem. The rally questioned why the talk that was started as (i) “at Prime Ministerial Level” has been downgraded to Home Affairs that too represented on India’s part by a retired bureaucrat (ii)And the term “Unconditional” being time and again twisted to suit the political mechanism of the Indian state and (iii) “ Outside India” (third country) being reduced to Hebron the designated official head quarters of
Ardent supporters
NSCN (IM) near Dimapur. The committee pointed out the violations committed by the Government of India such as rolling back the term’without territorial limits’ simply because the Meiteis the majority community of Manipur state protested on the flimsiest ground that the nagas land were governed by their forefathers before the advent of the British. The committee also pointed out the Indian Government’s intention of flaring up the meiteis sentiments during Muivah’s proposed visit to his home town Somdal by using Ibobi to stop Muivah from entering Manipur. The recent arrest of Ningkhan Shimray, Head of Foreign Affairs NSCN, by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and also the restriction imposed by the Indian security on the chairman Isak Swu and Secretary Th. Muivah on their Zunheboto Visits were also questioned by protestors.
Unlike any other naga protest rally of the past, today’s rally confined to the core issue of the talk between the GOI and The naga national Parties. During the rally NJ interviewed many protestors on their reason for supporting and coming to such rally, even as the Nagas seems quite divided back home , Nokho Nyekha a post Graduate from IGNOU when asked about her views on the rally stated that the divides at home should not matter at such a crucial juncture after all the divides incidentally are all because every Naga organization wants to bring something for the people, she admits that there is a divide but such rally create a space and a platform for the nagas to come together.
A research scholar from Delhi University Mr. Franky states when asked if he can forget the misdeeds of various Naga underground group “ You see we are unhappy in many way with our national workers, but that does not mean I am happier with the Indian Government, who is the real culprit, who should be held responsible should not be misplace with immediate problems. The truth is the mistakes committed by the NSCNs boys is not greater than the blunder of the Indian Government”.
A Naga perspective of Naga struggle: GOI stop sleeping by iSikkim
Press Release
Naga struggle for independence not a law and order problem, argues Naga Peace Facilitation Committee
The history of the resistance movement of the Nagas is dated back to 19th century when the colonial British and other forces ventured into the Naga Ancestral Domain. The Nagas as a nationality group distinct from other races have always been fighting against any intrusion and outside interference in their day-to-day independent affairs. Thus, when India forcibly tried to bring Nagas into the Indian Union, the Nagas refused and rejected such idea of being an Indian. While the Indians were preparing to celebrate their Independence on August 15, 1947, the Nagas under the banner of Naga National Council (NNC) declared their own Independence on August 14, 1947, a day ahead. The history of Indo-Naga conflict incepted since then continued until today without solution insight.
Due to the historical, political, socio-economic, religious and cultural incompatibilities, clash of civilizations and differential national identities between the Indians and the Nagas, the conflict over a political issue has become more complicated and protracted. One can vividly recollect the Memorandum submitted by the Naga Club to the Simon Commission on January 10, 1929 which stated that “Nagas should be left alone like they were in ancient times”. History has clearly shown that Nagas never want to be under any hegemony and domination by the foreign forces.
Indian and Burmese States have always been trying their utmost to subjugate, suppress and crush the Naga National Movement by using various strategies and policies. However, the Nagas, being a warrior nation, continued to have faith and aspiration to be a distinct national entity. Defying the Nagas’ yearn for Sovereign Independent Naga State, the Government of India, in order to bring more division within the Naga family, created Nagaland State on December 1,1963 which was out-rightly rejected by the NNC.
Nevertheless, in order to thrash out a solution, the Government of India (GOI) and the Nagas entered into the First Ceasefire in 1964. The ceasefire collapsed like a pack of card after six rounds of talks at the Prime Ministerial Level, because of the GOI’s rigidity to solve the issue only within four corners of the Indian Constitution disrespecting the Nagas’ aspiration for Independence. Since 1972, the Naga Affairs was transferred from Ministry of External Affairs to Ministry of Home Affairs to project Nagas’ struggle for political rights as mere “law and order problems”.
The conflict and war continued resulting in the death of many Naga civilians apart from combatant Armies on both sides. Unaccountable gross human rights violations were committed by the Indian armed forces against the Nagas. Undeterred by such military assaults and atrocities, the Nagas hold fast to their hope for equal political status as any other nation-state to build the Naga cultural communities into single political entity with pride and fervor. There was an increased spirit of Naga nationalism in the face of brutal military campaign and various repressive agencies trying to disunite the Nagas.
As late as in the 1990s, the Indian leadership and many military generals came to realize that Naga issue is a political one which cannot be solved through military might, but should be solved by political means and dialogue. Indian Government started sending its feelers, met the Naga leadership for political discussion to solve the issue through peaceful means. The Naga leadership responded positively to the call of time. Several years of bloody battle between the Indian and Burmese States on the one side and the Nagas on the other gave way to a bilateral political dialogues when Second Indo-Naga Ceasefire was signed on August 1, 1997 with three primary principles of negotiation, i.e., (a) the talk is unconditional, (b) at the highest level, meaning at the Prime Ministerial Level, and (c) the talk will be held outside India, meaning at the third country. The signing of Ceasefire between the GOI and the NSCN-IM was subsequently followed by a Ceasefire between the GOI and the NSCN-K in 2003.
However, the hard earned way of bringing the two conflicting parties to the negotiating table has been taken for granted by the Government of India, without any urgency to bring forth lasting and a meaningful political solution to the Indo-Naga problem. Inspite of repeated appeals from different sections of Naga society, the political talks between the two parties remains a stalemate for the obvious reason that the GOI has never been serious about the Indo-Naga political problem. Therefore, time has come for the Nagas to be categorical with the demand and assert their rights while articulating the factors leading to the deadlock of the bilateral political dialogue.
►Insincerity of GOI on Indo-Naga Peace Process Exposed:
The insincere approach of the GOI could not have been clearer than the rolling back of the terms “Without Territorial Limits” from the June 14, 2001 Bangkok Agreement with regards to the Ceasefire coverage areas after the Meiteis’ virulent protest in Imphal. The GOI’s recognition of the “Unique History and Situation of the Nagas” on July 11, 2002 does not make much sense because the GOI has considerably failed to seek a solution based on such recognition. It is observed that the GOI has not come out from its old and traditional methods of conflict management which is not only futile but also archaic and redundant. We have been witnessing time after time how the GOI talks peace while at the same time colonial ‘Divide and Rule’ policy is being exhibited against the Nagas. Our memory is still fresh of Mr. Loshou and Mr. Chakho who were brutally murdered by the Indian state military forces during the standoff at Mao Gate on 6th May, 2010 when the Ato Kilonser Th. Muivah was denied entry into his birthplace. While the GOI, on the one hand, gave nod to the journey of Ato Kilonser to his native village, on the other hand, they used Ibobi’s Government and Meitei populace to sabotage the itinerary, which had flared up communal tension between the Nagas and the Meiteis.
GOI blamed Ibobi’s Government for barring Th. Muivah from entering the state of Manipur and creating the unprecedented situation thereafter. However, this pitiable politics of GOI did not go uncaught. When the Government of Nagaland gave security permission to Chairman Isak Chisi Swu and Ato Kilonser to address the public gathering at Zunheboto on 14th Jan., 2012 on the invitation of Sumi Hoho, Ministry of Home Affairs (GoI) denied the permission to the entourage of Collective Leadership at the eleventh hour. Since they could not find any Ibobi or Meitei trump card in Nagaland to incarcerate the Naga leaders from meeting their people, MHA issued silliest conditions to the Collective Leadership and their cavalcades, i.e. (a) Not more than 20 vehicles including the local escorts to be used for the journey (b) Collective Leadership cannot carry arms, (c) Their Security personal cannot carry arms even in a concealed manner, and, (d) Collective Leadership must not hold any public meeting and press conference along the journey and at Zunheboto.
Such irrational restrictions that directly contradict the principles of political talks have not only left the peace process hanging with uncertainty but also exposed the double standard of the Indian Government.
►Criminalising the Nagas’ struggle for Self-Determination:
To make the matter worst, Government of India is working day and night to paint the rightful struggle of the Nagas as a terrorist activity. On 27th September 2010, Ningkhan Shimray, member of NSCN (IM), was whisked away from Kathmandu airport by Indian Intelligent Agencies in connivance with the Nepal Intelligence and on October 2, 2010, National Investigation Agency (NIA) stage-managed the arrest of Shimray in Bihar and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA). He is allegedly framed for procuring arms and conspiracy to wage war against India.
However, Government of India has intentionally failed to understand that Mr. Shimray was on his way to participate the peace talks to be held on September 29, 2010. The question is, why the NIA should term the NSCN as terrorist organization under UAPA when the GOI has lifted the ban on the NSCN in 2002? NSCN and other Naga groups did not even appear in the GOI’s list of terrorist organisations in India. The conduct of NIA not only contradicts and undermines the GOI’s efforts for peace but also signal its desperateness in trying to implicate the rest of Naga nationalists and sympathisers under the same terrorist ordinance Act. Thus, NIA’s action is nothing but to criminalize the Nagas’ struggle for Self-Determination and exterminate the Nagas from the face of the earth, and push the Nagas’ history, culture and identity into oblivion. NIA is reminded of the fact that there was virtual army rule in the North East where reign of terror was unleashed against the people. GOI has also mishandled the Kashmir and the Maoist problems on the pretext of one or the other reason.
►GOI’s attempt to sabotage the peace process at its last stage:
Government of India has always been saying that Nagas must be united and reconciled due to the fact that GOI cannot afford to negotiate a solution to all factions. Therefore, with the painstaking endeavors of Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) under the aegis of Dr. Wati Aier prayerfully brought all the infighting Naga nationalist’s organizations to reconciliation process, that showed the way to form One National Government of the Nagas.
In view of this efficacious effort of FNR and the Naga public, the Government of India began to prick the neighboring communities like the Meiteis and the Assamese to protest against the rightful demands of the Nagas. For which, particularly the Meiteis under Ibobi’s leadership have diabolically locked horns with the Nagas on several occasions. Taking advantage of the vulnerable ethnic problems in the region, Government of India uses communal equation to suppress the rightful aspiration of the Nagas. The GOI has taken undue advantage in this peace process to disunite the Nagas. GOI’s utterances of unity, peace and reconciliation among the Naga groups are highly dubious.
►The Support Base of the Naga Movement is rooted in the Naga Public:
GOI thinks that general Naga public has grown tired of Naga nationalism, and Naga Movement has lost the Support base of the Naga public. GOI leveled that the general Naga public has willingly embraced Indian constitutional system, while it is only the underground organizations fighting against the Government of India without any public support.
However, GOI has miserably failed to realize that the general Naga public has been the base of the Nationalists’ organisations all these 60 years of the Nagas’ struggle. The Nagas have been supporting the ongoing peace process for the last 14 years in the hope of achieving their genuine aspiration for a meaningful political solution. However, the action and policy of the Ministry of Home Affairs (GOI) and its agencies goes against the spirit of the principles of peace talks.
Despite the evidential proof of the Nagas being serious to solve and transform the conflict, the MHA is trying all out to derail and abrogate the political talks by delegitimizing the Naga nationalists’ organisations as a terrorist organization. We must never forget that Government of India is taking undue advantage of the peace talks to muzzle the rights of the Nagas by de-motivating and demoralizing the Nagas and their leadership.
►The Collective Leadership Wield the Mandate of the Naga People:
In the run up to the Ceasefire, the Collective Leadership of NSCN (IM) and its functionaries have been mandated to represent the Nagas in the political negotiation, through series of public consultative meetings led by various Naga frontal organizations such as, Naga Hoho, Naga Mothers’ Association, Naga Students’ Federation, Eastern Naga Students’ Federation, Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights, United Naga Council, All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur, etc. Yet, the Government of India continues to overlook the powers of representation rested with the Collective Leadership by the Naga people.
Thus, GOI has dared to impose restrictions on the Collective Leadership in its latest development entirely to sabotage the peace process. Despite such callous policy on the part of GOI, the Naga Leaders of the three political groups – NSCN/GPRN, GPRN/NSCN and NNC/FGN is organising the Naga people consultation meeting in Dimapur on February 29, 2012 convened by Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) with the objectives of fostering peace, unity and reconciliation, and also attempt to realise one National Government of the Nagas. All the Naga villages’ chiefs, GBs, Naga Civil Societies, leaders of the Religious Institutions, NGOs etc. have been invited for the meeting.
►Nagas in Delhi Demand a Timeframed Political Solution:
As a follow up action of the Naga people consultation meeting, Nagas in Delhi under the aegis of NAGA PEACE FECILITATION COMMITTEE, DELHI in solidarity with the Naga society back home and the Collective Leadership has decided to have REMONSTRATION RALLY on February 24, 2012 at 1 PM from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street against the GOI for trying to scuttle the political talks with deceptive policies, so as to find an early and a meaningful political solution within a timeframed manner to the protracted Indo-Naga problem.
We want the Indian Government to speed up the peace process with sincere approach having a political will and commitment to solve and transform the drawn out conflict. GOI must stop sleeping over the issue, rather it should start recognizing and accepting the Unique History, Identity, Socio-Cultural and Political Reality of the Nagas. In order to show that Nagas have every right to be independent the Nagas in Delhi once again must bring forth thousands of volunteers all dressed in traditional attires to march down to the Delhi street.
We will take forth the message to the world community that “indigenous Nagas marches in cultural attires in the political capital of India to reclaim the rights of the Nagas”. We must send out the message loud and clear to the global citizens that Nagas genuinely aspires to be free. The committee appeal all the Nagas in Delhi, be it government or private employees, students and entrepreneurs to take leave on that stipulated day for a mass rally.
Issued in the interest of the public by NAGA PEACE FACILITATION COMMITTEE, DELHI
Factionalism in Nagaland, queering Times of India | Nirmalya Banerjee,
The body count is going up in Nagaland, once again. And Delhi may have missed a chance to settle the intractable Naga political issue offered by two years of relative calm in 2009 and 2010 after the signing of the Covenant of Reconciliation (CoR) between three rebel groups - NSCN (I-M), NSCN (Khaplang) and NNC - to end factional feuds.
Though former Union home secretary G K Pillai said in Guwahati recently that the situation in Nagaland is better, with 61 incidents of violence in 2011 as against 64 in 2010, the statistics tell a different story.
Former Nagaland chief minister S C Jamir feels that it is high time the Naga issue is settled. "The nine-point Hydari agreement in 1947 had taken only three days to be drawn up. The 16-point agreement in 1960 was also finalized in three days. But the current negotiations with NSCN(I-M) are continuing for the past 14 years," he pointed out.
India's wild east unprepared for new Myanmar
Reuters Feb 22, 2012, 09.04PM IST
Tags:
• wikileaks|
• Thein Sein|
• The National|
• The Hills
•
(A man rides his motorised two-wheeler across the Indo-Myanmar border bridge at the border town of Moreh, in Manipur. (REUTERS Photo))
Just 22 bumpy miles from the capital of Manipur, he and his colleagues are outnumbered by gunmen from a faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, one of half a dozen insurgent groups operating near India's border with Myanmar.
Last year, six policemen were killed a few miles away in an ambush authorities blamed on them.
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Small groups of men with machetes on their belts can be seen in the winter twilight, openly climbing steep paths through the poppy fields, where valuable seed heads will later be harvested and taken to Myanmar for processing into heroin.
"There are many poppy fields in the hills here," the policeman said in a hushed voice, refusing to give his name to Reuters for fear of reprisals from the men he said were armed rebels patrolling the fields above his office. Growers will either sell the seed heads to agents or openly in the local market , he said.
Opium and insurgency can make for a profitable if exotic business model, but it is not what India had in mind when it launched its "Look East" policy 20 years ago to link its markets to those of booming Southeast Asia.
Now as resource-rich Myanmar emerges from decades of isolation under military rule, India should be a natural partner, with ties stretching back to 3rd Century BC Buddhist emperor Ashoka and, more recently, a shared experience of British colonialism and World War Two.
Bridge to southeast Asia
"Myanmar is India's only bridge to Southeast Asia," Myo Myint, Myanmar's deputy foreign minister, told Reuters last week at a meeting of Southeast Asian diplomats in New Delhi to look at ways to speed up road, rail and telecoms connections with India. "India needs to come forward with assistance."
Myanmar sits at Asia's crossroads, sharing a western border with India, and a northern one with China. Thailand is its neighbour to the east and the Malacca Strait is on its southern flank.
The country of nearly 60 million people has emerged from a half-century of military rule and is courting the West while trying to wean itself from dependency on China for trade and investment. But despite a recent flurry of high-level visits between the two countries, India appears ill-placed on the ground to exploit Myanmar's opening.
Reuters journalists on a recent trip to the Myanmar-India border in Manipur found a region where rebel groups deeply influence politics and business. Opium poppies are grown openly. Cross-border gun-running remains big business.
Manipur and the three other Indian states sharing the 1,640- km (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar were supposed to be India's "Gateway to the East". Instead, the area has become India's Wild East.
Legal trade on the border has dwindled in the last five years to just 0.15 percent of total commerce between Myanmar and India. Checkpoints by security forces and rebel group supporters make the 120 km (75 mile) journey along rutted Highway 102 through the hills from Manipur's capital Imphal to Moreh on the border a painstakingly slow -- and expensive, too, from the "taxes" they impose on traffic.
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No crime here
The sleepy border town of Moreh had dreams of being a major international trading centre, a key station on the ambitious Trans-Asia Railway that will enable containers from East and Southeast Asia to travel overland across India to Europe.
But work on the $900 million, 125 km (77 mile) stretch of the railway is already two years behind schedule and has only progressed a short distance. Costs are soaring.
At first glance, Moreh seems to be a quiet bazaar of traditional wooden stilt houses, frontier hotels and stores where Myanmarese Buddhist monks and tribespeople in traditional dress and sandal-paste painted faces mingle with traders from across India.
The town of 15,000 people has one bank.
"There is no crime here," acting police chief Akbar Hussein said, chewing on a lump of betel nut at his outdoor desk. "There was only one case registered this month, and that was a road accident."
Opened in 1995 to great fanfare, the Moreh crossing was supposed to be a major trading post by now. Only some small-scale merchants conduct legal trade. Much of that is on a barter system, exchanging flour and soy products for betel, a mild stimulant popular in India.
Despite the police chief's boast, Moreh is a major smuggling centre where outlaws move around freely. Heroin from the Golden Triangle, guns and gem stones go westward; raw opium, tiger bones and rhino horn move east.
"Since 1995, nothing substantial has taken place. The border area is like a 17th-century tribal village," said N. Mohindro, an expert on trade in the state. "It's all about drugs and guns. People can make money so easily."
Some of this business is in the hands of Indian insurgents who run their operations from the Myanmar side of the border. Several of Myanmar's own rebel groups are also based in the area.
A U.S. diplomatic cable from 2006 released by Wikileaks described local politicians either in league with the rebels or supporting them for financial reasons.
Local residents say security forces are also deeply involved in trafficking but a senior officer of the police intelligence branch in Imphal denies that.
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"The dense forest cover in this open border region is a nightmare for us," the officer said of an unfenced 63 mile stretch running from Moreh, adding that "the easy availability of weapons inside Myanmar has worsened the situation".
Imaginary road
It wasn't always this way. Until the early 1990s, Myanmarese flocked across the border to buy Indian-made consumer goods. But as China's workshops cranked up and offered cheaper, more durable products, the market shifted to the other side of the fence.
Now, traders from Imphal endure the serpentine journey along bumpy Highway 102 and its checkpoint shakedowns to visit the Namphalong bazaar on the Myanmar side of the Moreh border gate.
Their pick-up trucks are piled high with Chinese mattresses, refrigerators and TVs to sell back in India, returning along the same road that brought Japanese troops in World War Two through then Burma in an attempt to invade India. The trip from the border to Imphal carrying such contraband can involve payoffs along the way amounting to several hundred dollars.
Highway 102 was supposed to be part of a road network linking up with Mandalay, Myanmar's main city in the North, and on into Thailand. But the only notable improvement on the Indian side is a short patch running through the Manipur chief minister's home town.
"People had plans to open eateries, motels and shops along the Asian highway. Now, the trans-national road is imaginary. It does not exist here," said Lunminthang Haokip, a senior state government official for Moreh's Chandel district. "The Look East policy is no more than power-point presentations in Delhi."
The complaint is voiced often here by residents in Manipur who have suffered decades of rights abuses under draconian emergency powers including "shoot-to-kill" orders aimed at curtailing the insurgencies. Residents say New Delhi acts like a colonial power, with much of its mistrust of the region stemming from its relative proximity to China.
"The overwhelming presence of military, paramilitary and police officers contributed to the impression that Imphal was under military occupation," the U.S. embassy cable said. "The Indian civil servants were also clearly frustrated with their inability to stem the growing violence and anarchy in the state, feeling their efforts to effectively control the insurgencies was hamstrung by local politicians either in league with or at least through corruption, helping to finance the insurgents."
India, which fought a border war in 1962 with China, has watched with mounting concern as Beijing steadily increases its influence around the rim of the Indian Ocean.
"You can't leave the whole region under an iron curtain just because they look Chinese," said rights activist Babloo Loitongbam, in a restaurant left dark by one of the chronic power cuts in Imphal. "You have to constantly prove you are not anti-national."
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Ten years ago India's foreign minister proposed reopening a World War Two highway to the north of Manipur called the Stilwell Road, which connects India's far eastern region, known as the Northeast, with Myanmar and China.
Worried that the road risked strengthening China's influence and the flow of militants and arms to the region, India dragged its feet and Myanmar turned to China's Yunnan Construction Engineering Group instead. India also missed out on the natural gas from two fields in Myanmar it has a stake in, when the government chose to pipe it to China.
During long years of self-imposed isolation, Myanmar's only major economic partner was China. India realised in the 1990s that Chinese investment in Myanmar's military and infrastructure was giving Beijing a strategic advantage in a nation that borders five countries, straddles busy Bay of Bengal shipping lanes and has large oil and gas reserves.
New Delhi quietly dropped its backing for the opposition party of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who went to school and university in India.
Ties have strengthened since then, with President Thein Sein just the latest of Myanmar's leaders to call on New Delhi on a visit to India last year.
Rajiv Bhatia, who was India's ambassador to Myanmar until 2005, says India is still more concerned with its South Asian neighbours, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, and could miss the moment.
"In pure geopolitical terms, Myanmar is hugely important to India. We are now getting a historic opportunity to recover our relationship," he said. " But it is still not a priority for our politicians."
Nagaland CM opposes NCTC Correspondent Assam tribune
DIMAPUR, Feb 21 – Joining several other Chief Ministers, including West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today opposed the proposal to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by the Centre. He said that the State Government is for removal of even the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and not addition of another all-powerful body.
Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the Kohima District VDB Conference at Khouciezie, Rio said rather than introducing the NCTC, the Centre must apply the AFSPA to all the States if it must. Or if AFSPA is dead then it should be removed from all the States, he said.
“When AFSPA is already in force why should they introduce another one; let that be applicable throughout the country,” he asserted.
Queried further on the powers of arrest and search of the proposed NCTC, Rio said “that is wrong” and that the federal structure or relationship between Centre and the States will be disturbed.
Extending his support to the other Chief Ministers opposing the NCTC, he stated that the State Government is already against the AFSPA and the question of supporting introduction of another similar one on top of it does not arise.
Asked about the stand of the State Government on the fresh spurt of factional violence in the State, Rio said “no government, be it Delhi or Kohima, can stop these underground elements and anti-social elements carrying out crimes and killings”. However, he asserted that the State Government is making all efforts to check anti-social activities and maintain law and order. But it’s like “rats running around and we cannot prevent such things which do not come to the notice of the government and these people will not ask permission from the State for the killings or illegal activities”, he said.
On the split between the NSCN-Khaplang and NSCN Khole-Kitovi, he said it is their internal problem and he has no comment. However, stating that the State Government’s constant plea is for all to unite and reconcile, he said indulging in violence is going against the voice of the people. Therefore, if they are real national workers fighting for the cause of the Naga people, they should listen to the voice of the people, Rio said.
Asked whether the State Government would go ahead with the civic polls by implementing the 33 per cent women reservation despite opposition from various tribal bodies, Rio reminded that they had held consultations on the issue. “But as per court directive, we have announced elections to Municipal and Town Councils, and therefore we will go as per the Act and will implement women reservation”, he stated.
As for the dates for the elections, he said it is to be decided by the Election Commission and not by the Government.
Rio also clarified that the 33 per cent women reservation would be implemented in every third ward.
"BENEATH HIS SHADOWS: THE BEACON OF NAGALAND" Morungexpress
Dr.Shilpa V.Bhatte | Vitamin Angels | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
When I first heard of Nagaland – it was mainly with regards to the information given in a travel brochure about the erstwhile head-hunting practices and the warrior tribes. This information did not excite me too much about visiting Nagaland and I would have truly missed out on seeing heaven on earth and making some amazing friends.
I work for a non-profit organization named Vitamin Angels and we work with a mission to reach essential micro-nutrients like Vitamin A to vulnerable at risk children in hard to reach areas of the world. My friend Mr Rajiv Chopra asked me one day if I was interested in reaching children in Nagaland and that he had a childhood friend who was based and worked in Nagaland. Initially I was a bit hesitant to accept the fact that children in Nagaland, a predominantly non vegetarian state, would be found to be suffering from Vitamin A deficiency. However I agreed to talk to Rajiv’s friend – Mr Raj Verma, and I called him one evening in January 2011. Raj told me that he was presently travelling the eastern part of Nagaland - bordering Myamnar and that he would really appreciate if Vitamin Angels did a field assessment in eastern Nagaland to assess the need for Vitamin A supplementation in the children of eastern Nagaland.
With this background, within 10 days I landed in Jorhat, Assam and was told that his colleague – Ayong Chang (Executive member ENWO) would receive me at the airport and accompany me through the field assessment visit across the 4 districts of Mon, Longleng, Tuensang and Kiphire. At Jorhat, I met this amazing young Naga girl who was just my age and we became friends at first sight. We started our travel that evening from Jorhat and reached Mon late that night – through roads that made me feel as if I had just been transponded back in time by almost 60 years. Wooden bridges, mud roads, no street lights, hardly any signs – entering Mon from Jorhat was truly a feeling of travelling back in time!
Ayong and me, travelled the 4 districts over the next 8 days and visited local district hospitals, villages and communities meeting the paramedical staff, village heads and mothers in these villages – through roads that did not exist. Contrary to my belief – even though Naga society primarily consumed a non vegetarian diet, families, especially in eastern Nagaland were big with most families having 8-10 children with the household distribution of food starkly varying among the youngest siblings (especially poor diets of children under five). The situation at the hospitals wasn’t so great either – dearth of doctors, essential micronutrients and mainly lack of reach if the local district hospital to the villages situated on hill tops which had literally no access except on foot. Even the Immunization cards had 2 boxes of Vitamin A supplementation mentioned in the schedule as compared to the 9 doses recommended by GOI & WHO.
Armed with this information I finally met Raj Verma in Kohima on 14th Feb 2011. Contrary to his name and my preconceived notions – Raj Verma (the name sounded Punjabi to me) was a true blue Naga gentleman – his Naga name being Pongsochu Chang. We spoke at length that evening and me and Ayong shared our findings with him. Raj shared his passion for his “Nagaland” and to work for the betterment of his people, especially the people of eastern Nagaland – breaking down in tears while mentioning the situation at some of the places in eastern Nagaland. I found him to be highly motivated and a visionary person who would definitely take Nagaland from its present situation to a state that would contribute majorly to mainstream India. Over hours of conversation that evening, me and Ayong promised to Ajei Raj Verma that we would support him in making his dream for a better and beautiful Nagaland come true!
Over the course of 2011, Vitamin Angels supported ENWO – Eastern Nagaland Women Organization to reach out to 44,265 children (6 months to 5years) in the 4 districts of eastern Nagaland. Vitamin A not only prevents childhood blindness due to Vitamin A deficiency, it also increases child survival by 24% by preventing childhood infections. Ajei Raj and me spoke frequently and he shared his dream of the program being implemented all over Nagaland. However a fortnight back Ayong called me up to say that Ajei Raj had passed away on 3rd February in Delhi (he had recently undergone a liver transplant). It was truly a shocking news and I could not hold back my tears for the man who I had fondly started to call “Ajei” (big brother).
We promise you Ajei Raj – you will always remain alive in our hearts and we will put in all our efforts to fulfill your dream for a brighter future for Nagaland and children especially eastern Nagaland.
Rest in Peace Ajei Raj!
Hottest chilli crown under threat
K.P. NAYAR The Telegraph
Washington, Feb. 17: Fears of a collective failure are threatening the northeastern states: the downgrading of their chillies, which not long ago ascended the dizzying heights on the Scoville heat scale, the acknowledged international yardstick for measuring the heat sensation of chillies.
Associated Press reported yesterday from Albuquerque that the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion was on the verge of formally displacing the bhut jolokia, grown in the Northeast, primarily in Nagaland, as the world’s hottest chilli.
The bhut jolokia was declared by Guinness World Records as the world’s hottest chilli in 2007, putting the fruit from the Northeast on the global map. Other chillies grown in the Northeast, such as the Naga Viper, have ascended and descended on the Scoville heat charts periodically, but India has consistently had a pride of place in growing chillies. At one point, the Naga Viper was credited with having 1,382,118 Scoville heat units but this figure was never conclusively validated.
Bhut jolokia’s rise to fame came after it was established scientifically to have 1,001,304 Scoville heat units. Its challenger in waiting, from the Caribbean, has been measured to be capable of exuding 1.2 million Scoville heat units.
All may not be lost for the Northeast yet: it may still be possible for the region to protect its standard bearer in agriculture and the culinary world because the Chile Pepper Institute, an international non-profit organisation devoted to “educating the world about the wonders of Chile peppers” has not yet formally crowned the chilli from the Caribbean as the lord of heat.
But there may not be much time to be lost.
As part of the Chile Pepper Institute’s research, it planted some 125 varieties of chillies — including the bhut jolokia — and fruits from each variety were picked, dried and ground into powder. Their capsaicinoids, which emit the true chilli sensation were then measured on the Scoville heat scale. That was when the bhut jolokia was displaced by the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.
Although the Chile Pepper Institute based in Albuquerque has not yet formally announced the findings of their latest research, the Associated Press interviewed researchers at the institute for an exclusive story and it suggests that the displacement of the northeastern variety of chillies is not far away.
The acknowledgement by Guinness World Records five years ago that the bhut jolokia was the world’s hottest chilli was also the result of research at the Chile Pepper Institute. Till then, the Red Savina, grown in California, was considered the world’s hottest chilli.
The Red Savina is not, however, a fruit of natural evolution unlike the ones in the Northeast or in the Caribbean. It was developed by a spice manufacturing company in California and it is protected by the US Plant Variety Protection Act.
As a result, the method by which it was developed is secret. The Red Savina measures merely a quarter of the bhut jolokia on the Scoville heat scale, according to the Chile Pepper Institute, although there have been claims that its strength could go up to half a million Scoville heat units.
Ananta Saikia, scientist, horticulture department, College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, said they were not in competition to establish the bhut jolokia as the hottest chilli in the world as the reputation of the chilli has already been established in the world market. “At regular intervals we get to hear that the bhut jolokia has been displaced from the hot seat. First it was Infinity then the Naga Viper and now the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. However, these are short-lived,” he said.
Regarding the Chile Pepper Institute’s findings on Trinidad being the hottest chilli on the Scoville test recently, Saikia, who has been conducting extensive research on bhut jolokia for several years now, said this could be because of various reasons and could be suspected to be commercially motivated.
He said growing chillies in greenhouse conditions adds to the hotness which may sometimes get diluted when grown in natural weather conditions.
“Adding sulphur to the soil where chillies are grown helps increase the heat level and therefore nothing can be conclusively proved in greenhouse conditions,” he said.
The scientist alleged that as the Chile Pepper Institute was funded by commercial establishments and that there was scope for a commercial effort for quick gains in the market by some producers.
Moreover, the Chile Pepper Institute after establishing bhut jolokia as the hottest chilli in Guinness Book of World Records in 2007 had sold 10 seeds of bhut jolokia at five dollars in different parts of the world.
He said the horticulture department is working on a project to preserve the seeds of bhut jolokia in its pure form as well as produce better quality chillies after cross-breeding.
“These will be supplied to the farmers for commercial cultivation in the future,” Saikia said.
North East Institute of Science and Technology director P.G. Rao said they had also created a small farm to grow and preserve the germplasm of bhut jolokia in its pure form and work on any possible diseases which could affect the plant, as bhut jolokia is becoming as viable as tea commercially.
Review: Road of Bones Ishan Chaudhuri, Hindustan Times
February 24, 2012 First Published: February 24, 2012
Review: Road of Bones
Road of Bones
Fergal Keane
Harper Press Rs 499 pp 550
Proper nouns such Palashi, Alamo, Somme, El Alamein and Stalingrad form the many checkposts of history. These places take on a quality that is more than just a location in which a major battle was lost and won. They became sites where history swivelled and was made to turn. In the case of World War 2 history, Kohima, the capital of modern Nagaland, is such a proper noun that when tapped, provides us with the forgotten story of “empires colliding in a world where high imperialism was already an anachronism, and where defeat might have profoundly altered the story of the end of the British Raj”. In this book, award-winning journalist Fergal Keane brings to life the pain, drama, courage and importance of a small band of British-Indian troops defending the remote village of Kohima in 1944 from soldiers of the 31st Infantry Division of Japan’s Imperial Army.
The hard-won victory not only ended the Japanese march eastwards from Burma into India, but also marked a turning point in its militaristic designs. Keane details the two-week siege in March 1944, providing illuminating pictures of soldiers and their leaders in the theatre of war. In this, he swivels his viewfinder to capture British, Japanese and Indian narratives. Keane has done to ‘forgotten’ Kohima, what Anthony Beevor had done to Stalingrad.
The siege of Kohima is also an important chapter in Indian history. As Keane points out, “The battle was fought on the territory of a tribal people loyal to the Raj, but whose fate is one of the most haunting strands of this narrative.”
Ishan Chaudhuri is a Kolkata-based writer
IDSA COMMENT
Growing Maoist Activism in Assam: Sinister and Calculated Moves Nihar Nayak
The Government of India has, in recent years, suggested to states affected by left-wing extremist/Naxalite/Maoist movements to follow the so-called “Andhra model”. This is because the strategy followed by Andhra Pradesh has resulted in drastic decline in Maoist violence in the state during the past two years. At the same time, it must be noted that the Maoists have changed their tactics and have spread to new areas, Assam being one such area. Maoist presence and organisational activities in Assam are confirmed both by government and private sources, including the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom). Anticipating a further consolidation of the Maoists and their linkages with North-East based insurgent groups, possible arms support from China and, ahead of the visit of CPI-Maoist central committee members to Assam, the Union Home Ministry on February 16, 2012, asked the North-Eastern states to intensify their vigil against the growing Maoist menace.
Most worryingly, some arrested Maoists have disclosed that the CPI-Maoist, in particular, has been trying to establish contact with arms traffickers in Dimapur, Nagaland, for Chinese- and European-made arms. This information confirms that the Maoists are meticulously executing their plans. A 2006 government document indicated that a CPI-Maoist blueprint proposed to step up their presence in Bengal and break new ground in Assam, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh by 2011. A few recent incidents indicate that the Maoists are now in a position to set up guerrilla zones in Assam.
So far, Assam has not witnessed Maoist violence. There are reports, however, of Maoist organisational activities in the 22 police stations of upper Assam districts like Tinsukia, Golaghat, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Sivsagar, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, and Dibang Valley, and the Lohit district of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh. Their activities are currently mostly confined to the river islands of the Assamese districts. Poor policing in the area aids the Maoist cause.
The Upper Assam districts are within the Maoists’ sights not because of governance issues, but due to their strategic location. According to police sources, the Maoists have established three guerilla zones—the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh, Assam-Nagaland, and Assam-West Bengal border areas—in Assam. The outfit has around 78 regular cadres and has been supporting anti-dam protests in the state. Quoting intelligence reports, the TV channel Times Now claimed on October 31, 2011 that China has been backing the Maoists. J.B. Pattanaik, Governor of Assam, confirmed this piece of information on the same day. He said, “Naxals have started organizing themselves in some parts of the State, particularly in Tinsukia and Dhemaji districts. There is a possibility that the Paresh Baruah group of ULFA may help them with weapons, so the State Government and Government of India must be alert.”1
There is a prevalent view that given the competition for influence between India and China at the regional and global levels, China would logically be expected to keep India tied up in internal matters in order to stifle its global ambitions. The CPI-Maoist and other insurgent groups who have declared a “strategic united front against India” can become a handy tool for China in this endeavour. In the event of any conflict between the two countries in future, China can employ them as a fifth column. As it is, these groups are already engaged in destabilising the Indian economy. For example, most of the iron ore being extracted via illegal mining in India, with the connivance of the Maoists, is reportedly being exported to China. Indian government sources claim that they have “concrete proof of certain elements from the Chinese establishment aiding North-East militants. The Chinese government, at least at the prefecture (provincial) level, was involved in such activity.”2
From the Chinese point of view, a perennial internal conflict in India will slow down its economy and indirectly help China’s rise to superpower status over the next 25 years. The Maoists expect China to actively support their efforts to effect a total regime change in India. In this regard, West Bengal and Assam together are strategically important for the Maoists. Their presence in these states serves as a meeting point with ULFA, NSCN-IM (National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muviah), and the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) of Manipur for purposes of training and weapon acquisition. This region also provides an opportunity for them to forge an alliance with the Maoists in Nepal, Philippines, and other South Asian nations. Kishenji, Eastern Regional Bureau Chief of the CPI-Maoist, was the main architect of this project.3 In March 2010, CPI-Maoist cadre, Telugu Deepak, reportedly told the police that some “members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of Philippines (CPP), camped in dense forests in September 2007 near the Bengal-Jharkhand border for over a month.”4 The Maoists’ link with China was disclosed by two arrested cadres of the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) of Manipur, who talked about forming a “strategic united front” with separatist groups active in various parts of the country. Irengbam Chaoren, chief of the political wing of the PLA, is also reportedly being harboured by China. According to media reports, his organisation has also been planning to liaise with terrorist outfits based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and separatist groups based in Jammu and Kashmir and India’s North-East.5
Before embarking on a full-fledged violent movement, the Maoists usually carry out a feasibility study, which is known as the “documentation stage” in Maoist parlance. One such study was carried out in 2010 in different areas of Assam analysing the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the state. The arrest of three suspected Maoists belonging to Dibrugarh district of Assam on February 12, 2011 in the Sundergarh district of Orissa indicates that the Maoists are in the second sub-stage, where they focus on establishing zonal committees, opening cultural organisations, and infiltrating agitations that break out over local issues. The suspects also confessed to have undergone training at a Maoist camp in Orissa for three months.
Law enforcement agencies have been receiving timely reports about growing Maoist activities in Assam. But it appears that they do not pay much attention to the issue. Granted that the Maoists have been receiving external support; but this cannot be used by the law enforcing agencies as an excuse to hide their inefficiency.
The Naxalite movement in India has been the second-longest conflict in South Asia, continuing from 1967 till date. The sustenance of the movement has been caused by its own determination, aided by factors such as poor governance, support from certain political leaders, and a blurred analysis of the conflict by policymakers. It has repeatedly been said that one of the tragedies of history is that the people concerned refuse to learn its lessons; in this case, the lesson not learnt is the gravity of the threat that Maoism poses to India’s future.
India's colorful Naga tribes rally for statehood
Kevin Frayer / AP
An ethnic Naga woman wearing traditional clothing participates in a rally, urging the Indian government to expedite the India-Naga political dialogue for a positive solution in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 25, 2012. India is offering wide autonomy to the Nagas though it has already rejected the demand of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland rebels' for an independent homeland in northeastern India bordering Myanmar, where most of the 2 million Nagas live. The Naga rebels began fighting more than 50 years ago, although a cease-fire has held since it was signed in 1997.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Ethnic Naga men wear traditional clothing and participate in a rally, urging the Indian government to expedite the India-Naga political dialogue for a positive solution in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 25.
Kevin Frayer / AP
Ethnic Naga women wear traditional clothing before the beginning of a rally urging the Indian government to expedite the India-Naga political dialogue for a positive solution, in New Delhi, India, on Feb. 25.
Frans on 02.25.12 @ 02:43 PM CST [link]
