Thursday, June 5, 2008

Coffins pile up in Dimapur

Villagers watch the mass funeral of the NSCN rebels on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections
Kohima, Jun 5 : Another internecine clash and rows of corpses. This seems to have become the fate of Dimapur and its neighbouring areas.

Fourteen activists of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN were killed in a fierce gun battle with the Isak-Muivah group on the outskirts of Dimapur this morning. The former struck back later in the day, killing two from its rival camp.The clashes came as NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu today called for reconciliation and peace among the warring Naga groups.

Khaplang faction’s spokesperson Akaho Assumi confirmed that they had lost 14 cadres during a clash with the rival faction between Xelhoje village and Seitekema C village near 7th Mile off Dimapur this morning.

He said Isak-Muivah activists surrounded their cadres near Xelhoje village around 5am and pounded them with rockets and heavy machine-gun fire. “We have lost 14 of them — 13 from the Sumi Naga tribe and one from Yimchungur tribe.”

However, sources said the Khaplang activists were on their way to attack the Isak-Muivah camp at Seitekema but, as the latter got wind of it, were attacked instead.

The Khaplang cadres came under heavy firing as they neared the rival camp, leaving nine dead. Five of them died when a rocket exploded in their midst.

Of the Khaplang cadres killed, a commander was identified as “major” Hekuto Sumi of Yemishe village under Zunheboto district. A “captain” was also killed, but the identities of the rest could not be ascertained, as the Khaplang group did not allow police and the administration to retrieve the bodies.

The militants later retrieved the bodies of their comrades and took them to Nihoto village, not far from the site of the clash.

Quoting sources, Dimapur police said 14 bodies had been retrieved from the spot.

The firing continued till afternoon, but there was no report of any casualty on the NSCN (I-M) side. Sources in the outfit said there was no casualty on their side and they had seized 11 weapons, including AK-47 rifles, from the Khaplang group. They refused to make any further comment about the morning’s incident. Other sources said one NSCN (I-M) cadre was injured.

The Khaplang group struck back in the evening, gunning down two rival activists and injuring another at Singal Basti in Dimapur. He was rushed to a hospital.

Villagers residing in the area said they could hear loud explosions and did not go to their fields today. The situation is tense in the area as cadres from both the factions are still holed up there.

Today’s incidents have come as a surprise to people as top leaders of the two factions are striving for reconciliation and unity among the Nagas. Swu had spoken to NSCN (K) chairman S.S. Khaplang recently. But the NSCN (I-M) still considers the rival cadres at Vihokhu camp near Dimapur as “rogue elements” working against the wishes of the Naga people.

Telegraph India

India rebel groups’ feud kills 11

Guwahati, Jun 4 : At least 11 Naga rebels have been killed when two rival separatist factions clashed in the north-east Indian state of Nagaland, police say.

Police said 10 of the dead belonged to the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).The clash with the Muivah faction took place in a village not far from Nagaland’s commercial centre, Dimapur.

The NSCN is the strongest separatist group in the north-east. It split in 1988 and has seen in-fighting since.

‘Huge panic’

Rebels of the Muivah and the Khaplang factions fought with rifles and light machine guns in Seitikhima, near Dimapur town, police said.

“The gun battle started early on Wednesday and lasted for three hours. There is huge panic in the area,” a Nagaland police official said.

Both factions blamed each other for starting the fighting.

Kraibo Chawang, spokesman of the Muivah faction, told the BBC that their fighters had killed 10 guerrillas of the Khaplang group.

“We crushed them when they tried to attack our camp at Seitikhima,” he said.

One of the dead belonged to the Muivah faction, police said.

A spokesman for the Khaplang group, Kughalu Mulatonu, told the BBC that the Muivah group had launched an unprovoked assault on their fighters .

“They are escalating the conflict and we have to hit back,” he said.

Split

Last month too, 14 fighters of the Khaplang group were killed in a clash with the Muivah group at the same place.

Nearly 50 people, including civilians, have been killed in and around Dimapur in intensified fighting between the two Naga factions.

The NSCN split in 1988, when Burmese Naga rebel leader SS Khaplang parted ways with the main group, led by Thuingaleng Muivah and Issac Chisi Swu.

Both factions have been maintaining a ceasefire with the Indian security forces since 1997 but they have been fighting viciously against each other.

More than 400 rebels have died in factional clashes between these two groups since 1988.

BBC News

NREGS lifts living standard in Churachandpur

Imphal, Jun 5 : National Employment Guarantee Scheme NREGS has enhanced the living standard of the people in Churachandpur more than any other Governmental schemes by raising the laborers coffer, a study revealed today.

Extended over a week, the survey conducted by a team of reporters based in Churachandpur including this correspondent, took in accounts the observations of hand loom weavers and traders, brick field proprietors and laborers, school principals and vendors.Of the groups included in the survey, handloom traders were the groups that receive a major blow while its weavers turned out to be the main beneficiaries.

Proprietor of Ngainou Wool House, S Sanglian told the survey team that a weaver usually takes a week to complete one traditional shawl earlier but with the introduction of NREGS, the same weaver now takes about 28 days to complete the same.

Despite reviewing their wages from Rs 60 to Rs 80 per shawl since March this year, their supply failed to revive, he said.

At the average, NREGS has affected about 35 percent of the supply in handloom industry and increase the weavers’ wages by 6 percent.

On the trend of months tuition fees paid to schools, S Liankhanlal, Principal of Ebenezer Academy said his institution witness 50 to 60 percent improvement this year.

“Last year there are student who didn’t have complete text book even up to December, but this year everyone is equipped with their text complete with their notes by March,” he said.

He nevertheless like other principals interviewed, claimed that payment on tuition fees has improved by 5 to10 percent.

Another trade badly affected by the NREGS seems to be the brick fields.

Availability of unskilled labourers, mostly women deteriorate to an extent that brick field owners were forced to raise their wages from Rs 65 per 1000 bricks to Rs 80 since January.

The team also unveiled that peoples’ purchasing power has increased by 5 to10 percent.

Partei of Kawnpui, a variety shop owner said her shop was never better off than this year ever since she open the same several years back.

At an average, the survey team revealed that NREGS has increased the wages of daily labourers by 5-10 percent and that money circulation was three fold in comparison with the pre-NREGS period.


TSE

Manipur farmers encouraged to grown more lemons

Imphal, Jun 5 : Grow more lemons - this is the mantra of a Manipuri NGO to help farmers increase production of the citrus fruit in an area of Ukhrul district.

The Information Centre For Hill Areas Manipur (ICHAM), the NGO, in collaboration with Kachai Fruit Farming and Processing Co-operative Society (KFFPCS) planted 25,000 lemon saplings at Kachai village, about 90 km east of here, last week.“Our target is to plant at least 40,000 saplings,” said ICHAM president N Rajendro. ICHAM would provide the remaining saplings for plantation at KFFPCS’s 30 hectare farm.

All the 300 households of Kachai village grow lemons, with each family having between 20 to 1000 lemon plants.

PTI

Delhi team on recce in NC Hills

New Delhi, Jun 5 : A worried Centre will send a team of officials to assess the latest situation in the North Cachar Hills district in Assam taking into consideration that suspended goods and passenger trains would eventually lead to a food crisis in at least two states of the region.

After the attacks by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) on labourers working on the gauge conversion project in Assam, only nine of the 27 stations on the Lumding-Badarpur rail link are operational today.The ninth station was opened today. However, passenger trains are still suspended on the route that is the vital supply link for Manipur and Mizoram to the rest of India.

When all trains were stopped for 10 days on May 15, goods trains carrying food supplies to the two far-flung states could not reach their destinations.

A delegation led by special secretary (internal security) M.L. Kumawat will visit area this week. The team is likely to include the director-general of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), M.K. Sinha.

The Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam gauge conversion project was declared a national project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this year. Over the past two days, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi held meetings with the Prime Minister, home minister Shivraj Patil and defence minister Pranab Mukherjee where security in the North Cachar Hills topped the agenda.

While Gogoi has blamed the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) besides the DHD (J), it has also been blamed for delaying security to the vital rail link.

At present, of the five goods trains and three passenger trains, only goods trains are running during the day. “Night trains are still suspended at night because of the security scare. As for passenger trains, they will run soon,” Samir Goswami, chief public relations officer of the North East Frontier Railways said over phone.

The delegation’s visit to the area is significant also because routine maintenance on the railway link has resumed. Usually, maintenance is carried out in the hill section of the 185-km railway route before the monsoon sets in.

Beefing up security during this period will be an imperative for the line to remain functional and assure smooth supply of food grains to Manipur and Mizoram.

The alternative road routes, National Highway 39 from Dimapur-Imphal and National Highway 53 connecting Silchar to Manipur are both affected by militancy.


Telegraph India

Arunachal moves ASI for Tawang heritage tag

Itanagar, Jun 5 : One of Asia’s biggest and most revered Buddhist treasures — the magnificent Tawang monastery — could finally see the “scientific preservation” of its priceless relics with the Arunachal Pradesh government moving the Archaeological Survey of India for granting it heritage status.

Years of monumental neglect have taken their toll on the monastery’s 400-year-old relics, but the state government has finally woken up to the danger. “It is already very late, but we have moved the ASI for the heritage tag. Once the ASI moves in, the monastery and its relics could be preserved in a scientific manner,” Tage Tada, the director of the state research department said.Considered a cornerstone of Buddhist faith, the monastery is an architectural marvel besides being a treasure house of rare manuscripts and artefacts. Nestled amidst picturesque snow-clad hills, it was built in 1680-81 and is the second largest monastery in Asia after the Potala monastery of Lhasa in Tibet.

The monastery in Tawang is famous for its 8.3-metre-high golden Buddha statue. It also houses a library, which is a treasure trove of valuable sculptures, scriptures, manuscripts and other old books, both handwritten and printed. Its museum has rare and beautiful artefacts, including some personal possessions of the 6th Dalai Lama, who was born in Tawang.

Tada said many 17th century artefacts like exquisite paintings, mostly murals and staco, had faded beyond restoration. These paintings, portraying Buddhist mythological tales and dance forms of Monpa tribesman, are known for their sheer grace and finesse.

“However, the remaining paintings and other Buddhist artefacts made of wood and metals can be preserved in a scientific manner to ensure that they survive the ravages of time,” he added.

Tada said several scriptures and manuscripts depicting the Jataka Tales were also facing the danger of extinction.

The ASI had tried to help the monastery in 2003, but had to back out in the face of opposition from the monastery authorities and local people.

A monk in the monastery, Lama Sanglu, admitted that a team of the ASI and officials of the state research department were obstructed by the Lhangekhang or a group of lamas.

The lamas’ argument was that “if outsiders were allowed to work on the premises, it would desecrate the sanctity of the monastery”.

Another state government official said, “The monastery authorities have now realised the necessity of proper preservation to save invaluable artefacts.”

Besides proper preservation measures, the “heritage tag” will also ensure a steady flow of central funds to the monastery for its maintenance.

“In a tribal state like Arunachal Pradesh, where people are least aware of the artistic and aesthetic values of heritage sites that bear testimony to the glorious past, it is the government which must initiate measures to educate people on the importance of such sites,” the official added.

S.K. Manjul, the superintending archaeologist of the ASI’s Guwahati circle, said: “The apathy of the monastery authorities to protect and renovate it is very sad. Hopefully, things will look up. We will do whatever is required once we get a formal request from the government.”

Telegraph India

Mizoram’s domestic workers vulnerable to abuse:NDWMUT

Aizawl, Jun 4 : The Mizoram unit of the National Domestic Workers Movement Welfare Trust (NDWMWT) has contended that a large number of domestic workers in Mizoram, mostly Myanmarese migrants, are being subjected to not only sexual, but also verbal and physical abuse.

Police today arrested a person after the organization filed an FIR with the Bawngkawn police station on behalf of a 16-year-old Myanmarese migrant, who was allegedly molested by her employer on May 30.The organization also alleged that the accused had earlier molested several of his maidservants. NDWMWT programme coordinator Moses Lalsangzuala said some of the victims of sexual abuse did not reveal their ordeal out of shame and fear of losing their jobs.

Meanwhile, the Chin League of Women stated that there were more than 3,000 Myanmarese girls working as domestic help in Aizawl alone. The NDWMWT has been working for the welfare of the domestic workers by holding counselling sessions and workshops. So far, it has provided job placements to 20 and vocational training to 15 domestic workers.

Extreme poverty and military excesses, including rapes, in their own country had driven the Myanmarese girls to neighbouring Mizoram, where fear still haunts them , a social worker for Chin women told UNI here.

The NDWMWT had been endeavouring to educate the domestic workers about their rights and protection, but the message could not be reached out to the majority of them due lack of social awareness.

“We conduct workshops every Sunday which is their only off day, but only 20 to 30 of them turn up. This is mainly because many of them do not want to be identified as Myanmarese migrants for fear of deportation. At the same time, their employers do not allow them to attend the workshop,” a NDWMWT worker said.

UNI

Creaky bridges of trouble

Silchar, Jun 5 : Hundreds of residents of south Hailakandi cross about a dozen decrepit wooden bridges to work every day but the creaks of rotten wood have remain inaudible to the administration despite several complaints.

There are 14 bridges in the 70-km stretch between Lala town in Hailakandi and Bairabi on the Assam-Mizoram border.Of these 14 bridges that cut through National Highway 154, only two are concrete — the rest are of creaky wood.

The wooden bridge at Baldabaldi near Jamirabazar, for instance, collapsed two months ago, but all the government did was build a bamboo sub-way to “help residents”.

The crash snapped road link with Mizoram via Bairabi.

From Baldabaldi to Bairabi, around 35,000 people are cut off from the rest of the country.

Residents met excise and border areas development minister Gautam Roy recently and sought his intervention to get the bridge repaired.

Roy has asked the National Highway Division of State PWD in Silchar to take up the matter urgently.

Telegraph India