Rail services hit by shutdown in Assam

Silchar, Aug 8 : Schools and offices remained closed and rail services were disrupted in four Assam districts Friday as students and youth organisations called a 12-hour shutdown to protest delay in completion of rail projects.

All Cachar-Karimganj-Hailakandi Students’ Association (ACKHSA) called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown across the four districts of southern Assam - Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and North Cachar hills districts.
Most shops, business establishments, government offices and educational institutions remained closed. Roads wore a deserted look while rail services were also disrupted by protesters blockading the tracks.

‘No incidents of violence have been reported so far,’ said a police official.

About 150 protesters were arrested by the police from different places of the four districts.

‘The dawn-to-dusk strike was total,’ said Rupam Nandi Purkayastha, president of the ACKHSA.

The ACKHSA and the All Dimasa Students’ Union (ADSU), supported by Left parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been protesting against the delay in Lumding-Silchar broad gauge conversion work since early June.

The foundation stone for the 201-km Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project was laid in 1996 by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and work was supposed to be over by 2006.

The gauge conversion project, declared a national project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was considered as the lifeline for southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Manipur. According to Northeast Frontier Railway, so far 50 people, including construction workers and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, were killed by militants in southern Assam after the Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project was undertaken.

‘Militancy and acquiring of land besides shortage of funds are the main problems for the gauge conversion project,’ a railway official said on condition of anonymity.

Railway authorities on May 15 suspended train services in the Lumding-Badarpur Section and also evacuated about 1,200 railway staff from 13 railway stations of the North Cachar Hills district following a spurt in violence by the separatists group Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), also known as Black Widow.

The construction companies have estimated a loss of about Rs.500 million during April-May due to the spurt in insurgency.

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Northeast footballers rally support for Monika Devi

Hyderabad, Aug 8 : Footballers from the Northeast in the national team Friday rallied support for dope-charged Manipuri weightlifter Monika Devi, who was pulled out of the Indian Olympic contingent at the last minute.

Led by captain Bhaichung Bhutia and senior-pro Renedy Singh, the group comprising Surkumar Singh, Gourmangi Singh, Govin Singh, Bungo Singh and Sushil Singh said Monika should be given a fair trial.Except Bhutia, who is a Sikkimese, the other players are from Manipur. But none of them knows Monika personally.

‘We sympathise with Monika Devi and appeal to the powers-that-be that she be given a fair trial. We are not coming to a conclusion but at times sportspersons take substance without proper knowledge,’ the Indian captain told reporters here at the team hotel.

Monika tested positive for a banned substance July 29 in a pre-Olympic test conducted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and was dramatically withdrawn from the Olympic squad late Tuesday night. Pleading innocence, the weightlifter alleged she has been ‘framed’.

Monika was the only Indian female weightlifter to participate in the Olympics and her selection was also marred by controversy. Earlier, Shailaja Pujari, who also served a two-year ban for doping, was selected for the Olympics but was dropped following accusations that she had bribed her way through.

The issue has created turmoil in Manipur’s capital city of Imphal, and Renedy said: ‘The reaction in our state is very strong. We can’t do much for her, and by speaking through the media we can voice our support for her.’

Monika is not the first Manipuri weightlifter to test positive. In the past, Kunjarani Devi was banned for doping.

‘It is true that some Northeast sportspersons have been charged with doping offences, but we can’t generalise the case. However, I feel Monika has made a very strong statement by saying she can be killed if her second sample tests positive. I feel her case should be handled properly. Having not represented India in Olympics, I know how much the Games means for an athlete,’ said Bhutia.

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