Saturday, July 12, 2008

Assam to get STF to fight militants


Guwahati, July 12 : The Assam government will have a crack Special Task Force soon to carry out specific operations against insurgents as initiatives for the same has been started after getting approval from the state’s finance department.

The force is being launched in the style and format of the Greyhound Battalion in Andhra Pradesh and is expected to be made operational within two months.A state home department source informed that the STF against insurgents will be headed by the inspector general of Assam Police and will have aroud 130 select personnel pooled from different existing units of state police, besides new recruits.

The STF personnel will be sent for advanced training in counter-insurgency operations in different army training centres including the Jungle Warfare Training School at Vairengte in Mizoram.

The commando battalion of Assam police and the newly raised 23rd India Reserve Battalion will act as backup for the STF that will be entrusted to carry out specific operations against insurgents in different parts of that state, especially as a strike force.

Unlike personnel for other Assam police formations, the men from the STF will not be deputed to carry out normal law and order duties or engage in VIP security. It will be kept focused on the purpose for which it will be created — to fight insurgents.

The Assam police uregently needs a crack specialised force to fight insurgents, given that a large number of existing state police personnel and commandos are engaged in guarding vital installations, normal policing and law and order duties.

About 7,000 Assam police personnel are required to protect VIPs and other vulnerable persons, about 3,500 personnel are engaged as PSOs and equal numbers of men in uniform are required to man escort vehicles accompanying VIPs in the state.

Meanwhile, the Assam government has moved the Centre with a request for approval and financial grant to raise the 24th India Reserve Battalion that will add more teeth in continuing their fight against insurgents.

Manorama family finally breaks resolve


Imphal, Jul 12 : Sixty three-year-old Khumanlei unloaded a “burden” off her back today.

Four years after her young daughter Thangjam Manorama’s lifeless body was found in a wooded area — allegedly killed after being raped by Assam Rifles personnel — her mother today finally performed the “last rites” and hoped that her daughter’s soul would rest in peace.Till now, the family members of Manorama had refused to perform the last rites saying they would wait till the security personnel responsible for Manorama’s death were punished and the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was repealed.

The symbolic funeral pyre was lit by Manorama’s elder brother Th. Modon. A twig of the pangong tree represented Manorama’s body.

“We wanted to perform the last rites after the black law was repealed. But I cannot live with this burden any more. I feel relieved now,” the frail mother said as she sat in front of her daughter’s photograph.

Troops of the Assam Rifles picked up Manorama on the midnight of July 10, 2004. The bullet-riddled body was recovered not very far from her house in Imphal East the next morning.

The death triggered a violent campaign against the army act, forcing the Manmohan Singh government to constitute the Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Commission, which recommended repeal of the act as did the Administrative Reforms Commission. But the government is yet to act on them.

Members of the People’s Action Committee formed by residents of Bamon Kampu locality after Manorama’s death and the Apunba Lup, spearheading the campaign against the army act, observed the fourth death anniversary by paying tribute to Manorama while the family members, neighbours and relatives performed the last rites near a riverbank close to their house.

The Okram Ibobi Singh government had cremated the body of Manorama as the family had refused to accept it.

Khumanlei said she might not live too long and could not “die without shouldering the responsibilities of a mother”.

“I often dream of Manorama and she tells me that she is very tired. I thought it is because we had not performed the last rites. Though my daughter will never be at peace until the culprits are punished and the act repealed, I feel that she will find a place in heaven now,” Khumanlei said.

Another reason for performing the last rites was to allow close relatives to get on with other religious activities and weddings. According to Meitei tradition, until the last rites and shradh of a dead person is performed, the family cannot hold either religious or auspicious functions.

The local action committee and Apunba Lup did not object to the family’s wishes, but did not take part in the rituals. “We will continue to struggle until the act is repealed,” K. Muhindro, a spokesman for the action committee, said.

A meeting addressed by leaders of Apunba Lup reaffirmed the demand for repeal of the act. “Guns cannot solve the problem. The solution should be political,” said Karam Sunil, a coordinator of Apunba Lup.

Dog’s life in JNU worth a fine of Rs 2000 only

New Delhi Jul 12 : The authorities at the Jawaharlal Nehru University have expelled a student from the hostel and fined him Rs 2,000 for torturing and killing a female dog in his room on July 8.

Acting Dean of Students’ Welfare V K Jain said, “I have heard the dog was killed in the room by a student and two of his guests. The action taken against him is apThe wardens, meanwhile, have prepared a report on what they saw and heard in the early hours of Tuesday. Everybody in the Kaveri hostel was woken up by the animal’s wails around 2 am. The yelps continued and within an hour they saw blood seeping out of room 248, where the PhD student — 30-year-old Yoronso from Nagaland — stayed.

JNU expel Naga student from hostel for killing a dog Student Anand Saurabh said, “We demanded that Yoronso open the door. Inside, the animal was lying dead in a pool of blood. Yoronso and his two friends had beaten it with iron rods.” Another student said, “The dog’s head had been smashed and limbs dismembered.”

Senior warden of the hostel Andrew Lynn was not present that night, but he handed the eviction letter to Yoronso on Thursday and asked him to vacate the room by 5 pm. Professor Jain said Yoronso, in his letter of apology to the authorities, had put forth “self-defence” as the reason. When Newsline tried to speak to Yoronso in campus on Thursday, he scurried away, shouting back that he had to take permission from his lawyer to speak to the media.

The student from Nagaland is in the fifth year of PhD in Political Sciences and was classified as a 9B student — or one who is on extension of a year. He was supposed to vacate the room by Thursday in any case. Students have questioned whether Yoronso had not been let off lightly. Some also said the authorities had at first tried to hush up the matter — removing the carcass and even cleaning the blood. Meanwhile, animal rights practitioners have moved into campus with some calling JNU a “lawless slaughterhouse”.

Lawyer Anjali Sharma of the Citizens for Animals — an association of animal sympathisers — said, “What happened in JNU is an offence under Section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and Sections 428 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code.” She added the police are also empowered to arrest such offenders without warrants.

NGO Citizens for Welfare and Protection of Animals had filed a complaint with the Vasant Vihar police station, but no FIR has been registered yet. Anjali Sharma said, “JNU is conducting an internal inquiry and once the result is out and a complaint lodged, the police cannot refuse an FIR.” On the other hand, Professor Jain has said the university is open to any legal scrutiny. Witnesses, activists shocked, varsity says this is a first “There have been rumours of all kinds, but we can’t do anything unless something comes to light. The student has been evicted and slapped with a fine of Rs 2,000. The police will take any action they think is appropriate. This is the first such case that has come to our knowledge.”propriate.”

Petrol, diesel prices go down in Mizoram


Aizawl, Jul 11 : Petrol, diesel and LPG have become cheaper in Mizoram after the state government slashed rates of sales tax on the items.

Petrol became cheaper by around Rs 4 a liter while diesel price also came down by Rs 1.80 per liter and a cylinder of LPG is cheaper by Rs 17.50.Local cabs had increased the fares in Mizoram due to steep fuel price hike by the Centre. Prices of essential items too shot up due to hike in fuel price.

With the cut in sales tax on petrol and diesel, these items would be the cheapest in Mizoram among the north eastern states.