Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ministers on joint Sri Lanka trip
T
he British and French foreign ministers are to make a one-day trip to Sri Lanka amid efforts to secure a truce between the army and rebels.
David Miliband of Britain and Bernard Kouchner of France will meet top officials and visit an area where displaced people are living in camps.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was barred from joining them for reasons he says are obscure.
Sweden recalled its foreign minister in protest against the decision.
The Czech presidency of the EU called the decision a "grave mistake".
See a map of the region
Sri Lanka has had tense relations with the Scandinavian former monitors of its peace process, though its main problems have been with the former principal mediator, Norway.
Sri Lanka said it was taken by surprise by the EU's strong reaction over Mr Bildt, who it said would be welcome to visit next month.
The British and French ministers were visiting at the foreign ministry's invitation, while very little notice of Mr Bildt's plans had been given, a Sri Lankan official said.
'Artillery and mortars'
The Sri Lankan military has restricted Tamil Tiger rebels to a 12 sq km (5 sq miles) area of land in the north of the islands and believes it is close to defeating them.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the area, and the EU and the UN have urged Sri Lanka to observe a pause in its campaign to let them out.
The government says a halt would serve no purpose.
Diplomatic efforts to bring more help for the civilians in the war zone have so far made little progress.he British and French foreign ministers are to make a one-day trip to Sri Lanka amid efforts to secure a truce between the army and rebels.
David Miliband of Britain and Bernard Kouchner of France will meet top officials and visit an area where displaced people are living in camps.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was barred from joining them for reasons he says are obscure.
Sweden recalled its foreign minister in protest against the decision.
The Czech presidency of the EU called the decision a "grave mistake".
See a map of the region
Sri Lanka has had tense relations with the Scandinavian former monitors of its peace process, though its main problems have been with the former principal mediator, Norway.
Sri Lanka said it was taken by surprise by the EU's strong reaction over Mr Bildt, who it said would be welcome to visit next month.
The British and French ministers were visiting at the foreign ministry's invitation, while very little notice of Mr Bildt's plans had been given, a Sri Lankan official said.
'Artillery and mortars'
The Sri Lankan military has restricted Tamil Tiger rebels to a 12 sq km (5 sq miles) area of land in the north of the islands and believes it is close to defeating them.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the area, and the EU and the UN have urged Sri Lanka to observe a pause in its campaign to let them out.
The government says a halt would serve no purpose.
Diplomatic efforts to bring more help for the civilians in the war zone have so far made little progress.
he British and French foreign ministers are to make a one-day trip to Sri Lanka amid efforts to secure a truce between the army and rebels.
David Miliband of Britain and Bernard Kouchner of France will meet top officials and visit an area where displaced people are living in camps.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was barred from joining them for reasons he says are obscure.
Sweden recalled its foreign minister in protest against the decision.
The Czech presidency of the EU called the decision a "grave mistake".
See a map of the region
Sri Lanka has had tense relations with the Scandinavian former monitors of its peace process, though its main problems have been with the former principal mediator, Norway.
Sri Lanka said it was taken by surprise by the EU's strong reaction over Mr Bildt, who it said would be welcome to visit next month.
The British and French ministers were visiting at the foreign ministry's invitation, while very little notice of Mr Bildt's plans had been given, a Sri Lankan official said.
'Artillery and mortars'
The Sri Lankan military has restricted Tamil Tiger rebels to a 12 sq km (5 sq miles) area of land in the north of the islands and believes it is close to defeating them.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the area, and the EU and the UN have urged Sri Lanka to observe a pause in its campaign to let them out.
The government says a halt would serve no purpose.
Diplomatic efforts to bring more help for the civilians in the war zone have so far made little progress.he British and French foreign ministers are to make a one-day trip to Sri Lanka amid efforts to secure a truce between the army and rebels.
David Miliband of Britain and Bernard Kouchner of France will meet top officials and visit an area where displaced people are living in camps.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was barred from joining them for reasons he says are obscure.
Sweden recalled its foreign minister in protest against the decision.
The Czech presidency of the EU called the decision a "grave mistake".
See a map of the region
Sri Lanka has had tense relations with the Scandinavian former monitors of its peace process, though its main problems have been with the former principal mediator, Norway.
Sri Lanka said it was taken by surprise by the EU's strong reaction over Mr Bildt, who it said would be welcome to visit next month.
The British and French ministers were visiting at the foreign ministry's invitation, while very little notice of Mr Bildt's plans had been given, a Sri Lankan official said.
'Artillery and mortars'
The Sri Lankan military has restricted Tamil Tiger rebels to a 12 sq km (5 sq miles) area of land in the north of the islands and believes it is close to defeating them.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the area, and the EU and the UN have urged Sri Lanka to observe a pause in its campaign to let them out.
The government says a halt would serve no purpose.
Diplomatic efforts to bring more help for the civilians in the war zone have so far made little progress.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Meghalaya / Shillong / Raining In My Room by The Swell Maps
Meghalaya / Shillong / Raining In My Room by The Swell Maps
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Thousands Protest Rape, Murder of Minor Girl
hainamtsi (Nagaland) Apr 25 : Thousands of people in Peren district of Nagaland on Tuesday bade a tearful adieu to six-year-old Gaipuilu Gangmei, who was raped and murdered on April 17 in Mahipalpur area of Delhi. The mortal remains of the minor reached Mhainamtsi, her native village, on Tuesday.
There was, a feeling of anger amongst the people but they were emotional too as one of their dear ones was laid to rest, after a funeral service.
The entire Jalukie subdivision in the district, on Tuesday wore a deserted look with business establishments downing shutters, schools closed and vehicles remaining off the road in more or less a spontaneous bandh to register resentment and protest at the heinous crime.
The rape and murder of Gaipuiliu had evoked strong protest and outrage amongst the North East communities residing in Delhi and the whole of the Northeastern States, particularly Nagaland.
Condemning the crime, Jalukie Valley Women Organisation (JVWO), Mhainamtsi Students Union and Zeliangrong Students’ Union organised a joint rally from Jalukie town to Mhainamtsi village demanding early justice. Thousands of people from all walks of life marched protesting against the rape and murder, carrying banners and placards demanding justice for the innocent child.
On her arrival at her village, a small placard placed on the road leading to the local ground where the funeral was held read, “Welcome home Gaipuilu”.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, President of Jalukie Village Women Organization, Dalak Nchang said that rape and murder should not be allowed to happen and demanded that the rapist allegedly one Manoj Thapa should be brought to book and punished. She said that the women will fight till justice is delivered to them.
President of Rongmei Women Organization, Peren district, Achingpui Gangmei told AT that rape of a little girl is an insult to the mothers. She was of the opinion that the law enforcing agencies should honour the Children Protection Act. “When we cannot save our own child at home, how can we ensure safety of others?” she questioned.
She also demanded that the culprits should be banished from the society and severely punished.
It may be recalled that the girl’s bruised body was found on April 16 inside a building’s empty water tank at Mahipalpur where she was staying with her mother and grandmother. Her body was flown to Guwahati on Monday evening from Delhi, accompanied by relatives. On the arrival of the mortal remains at Guwahati Airport, the Naga Students’ Union Guwahati on Monday organised a funeral service in Nagaland House.
While various Naga organizations condemned the incident, students from North East on April 18 staged a dharna outside Delhi police headquarters demanding that the culprits be booked immediately.
Martin, father of the minor victim speaking to the media, said his daughter had gone to New Delhi with her mother who is working as a nurse in Indian Spinal Injuries Hospital in the last week of January to be educated in a good metropolitan school.
“Gaipuilu was studying in Upper KG class in a Government school in Mhainamtsi before moving to New Delhi,” he said adding that her admission was due and she had been waiting for him to reach Delhi. Visibly pained at having lost his only child, he said he had booked a train ticket and was to reach New Delhi on April 20. But on the day he booked his ticket his wife called to inform that his daughter was missing.
Police yet to arrest suspect: Martin expressed dissatisfaction at the “investigation” of the Delhi police. He lamented that the police failed to arrest the main suspect named in the case, one Manoj Thapa till now. Thapa is said to be absconding; only his father is reported to have been detained by the police.
Martin also informed that the main accused Manoj used to reside in the same building and was known to the family.
The Zeliangrong Women Organization has expressed pain over the inhuman act committed upon an innocent child. The ZWO declared that the organization would not rest until the culprits involved in the crime are brought to book.
US calls for Sri Lanka ceasefire
T
he US has called for an immediate ceasefire in north-eastern Sri Lanka, to allow thousands of civilians to leave the country's combat zone.
The White House said it was "deeply concerned" by reports of human rights violations and civilian deaths.
The UN humanitarian chief, John Holmes, is travelling to Sri Lanka for talks with the government on getting aid to people trapped in the conflict.
The UN says more than 160,000 people have fled the area but 50,000 remain.
In the first official US statement on the situation, the White House said it was "deeply concerned about the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers and the mounting death toll".
It called on both sides to adhere to international humanitarian law and to "stop fighting immediately and allow civilians to safely leave the combat zone".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that he was sending a humanitarian team into the heart of the fighting to monitor the situation.
The UN Security Council has called on Colombo to allow the team in.
Some 50,000 civilians are believed to be trapped with Tamil Tiger fighters in a 12 sq km (5 sq m) area in the north of the country as Sri Lanka's military closes in on the rebels.
The Sri Lankan army has said there can be no more pauses in fighting until the rebels are defeated.
UN statement Mr Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, is expected to leave for Sri Lanka on Saturday.
On Friday, he told the BBC he had called on both sides to bring the conflict to a "peaceful and orderly" end.
"Even if LTTE is destroyed as a conventional military force, that's not necessarily going to lead to the kind of generous political solution that is going to be needed ultimately," he said.
"So it's in everybody's interest to find a peaceful solution if we can."
At a meeting in New York, the Security Council president, Claude Heller of Mexico, told reporters that Sri Lanka's government must "extend all necessary support to the UN mission" so UN and Red Cross workers can help displaced people.
The BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan said that because China, Russia and other countries see Sri Lanka's crisis as an internal problem rather than a threat to international security, the call came in the form of a statement to the press rather than a formal resolution.
Humanitarian disaster
A UN document being circulated around diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka estimates that nearly 6,500 civilians have died and 14,000 have been injured since the end of January.
A government official in the war zone told AP news agency that there was a severe shortage of food and medicine in the area, and that people were dying of starvation.
Indian envoys met Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo on Friday to express their concern about civilian casualties and the plight of those who already fled.
"The president was receptive to our views and we are hopeful of a positive outcome," Indian National Security Adviser MK Narayanan told the BBC Sinhala service.
Despite the international calls to allow civilians out, the government has vowed to keep up its fight against the Tigers.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Polling In Six NE States Begin
Guwahati, Apr 23 : Polling in Northeast began this morning at 0700 hrs to
elect ten Lok Sabha members spanning over six states in the first phase of
elections that began amidst reports of brisk voting.
Except the sore condition in the North Cachar hills, where the politically
engineered violence is causing some panic, the north-eastern region was
free from any violence so far.
Among the six states, polling was on for three seats of Assam, two seats of
Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya each, and one each for Manipur, Mizoram
and Nagaland. Polling for the Inner Manipur will take place on April 22.
Arunachal Pradesh has two seats, while Nagaland and Mizoram have just one
seat each.
In Assam, three of a total 14 seats are going to polls. In Manipur over
seven lakh voters will decide the fate of nine candidates in the State’s
lone seat for the Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency. The Congress,
BJP and the People’s Democratic Alliance (PDA) are seen as the main rivals
in the Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency.
In Nagaland, the Congress and the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) are locked
in a direct fight for the lone Lok Sabha seat from Nagaland.
In Meghalaya, it is the same old battle between the Congress and Nationalist
Congress Party.
In Mizoram, the stage is set for elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in Mizoram
and byelection to the South Tuipui constituency.
There are four candidates for the lone Lok Sabha seat - C L Ruala (INC), Dr
H Lallungmuana (Mizo National Front-Mizoram People’s Conference alliance),
Rualpawla (Independent for Israel National Front) and Lalawmpuia Chhangte
(NCP).
In Arunachal Pradesh, it is a tough battle between the Congress and BJP.
This election would be an acid test for both the Congress candidates Takam
Sanjoy (Arunachal West) and Ninong Ering (Arunachal East), as they are
going to lock horn with equally strong and sitting BJP MPs - Kiren Rijiju
and Tapir Gao, respectively.
India holds second election day
Millions of voters in India are voting in the second round of the country's month-long general election.
Polls are open in 141 constituencies in 12 states, in a vote which pits the Congress-led coalition and opposition BJP-led bloc against smaller parties.
Counting is due on 16 May and the result is too close to call.
The first phase of voting a week ago was marred by Maoist attacks in rural areas in eastern and central India which left at least 17 people dead.
Voters in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are going to the polls on Thursday. Polling for one seat in tiny Manipur in the north-east took place on Wednesday. The incumbent coalition, led by the Congress party, and parties led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are battling a host of smaller parties.
If no group wins a clear majority, the left-wing and regional parties could play a crucial role in deciding the next government.
Dozens of people queued up early in the morning to vote in Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh state, says the BBC's Geeta Pandey in the area.
Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, is standing in Amethi.
At a polling station in Jagdishpur, our correspondent found factory employees queuing up to cast their ballots before going to work.
"We are all going to vote for the Congress party," they told the BBC.
Many locals at another polling station in the area were angry they were unable to vote. Despite having polling cards, their names were not on the electoral roll, our correspondent says.
In the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura, voters braved a steady drizzle to cast their ballots.
Sporadic violence was reported from Kokrajhar constitency in Assam state when armed men fired on the house of a leader of a prominent tribal party, says the BBC's Subir Bhaumik in the state capital, Guwahati.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
A landmine blast, blamed on Maoist rebels, was reported from eastern Jharkhand before polling began, the police said. There were no casualties.
'Symbolic gesture'
Voting is staggered over a month for security and logistical reasons. Some states are holding votes in several phases.
The new parliament has to be constituted by 2 June.
There are also a handful of state assembly elections - Orissa and Andhra Pradesh are holding theirs on 23 April.
Officials hope that the level of violence for the second stage of the national vote will not be as high as last week, when Maoists launched several attacks, leading to one of the most turbulent beginnings to an Indian election in recent years.On Wednesday Maoists briefly seized a train carrying several hundred passengers in eastern India before releasing them later.
In neighbouring Bihar, rebels shot and killed a truck driver in the town of Gaya, and torched several trucks.
The Maoists have urged people to boycott the polls, which end on 13 May.
The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says that the Indian authorities will be particularly nervous about Thursday's round of elections since the Maoists have now demonstrated their ability to strike at will.
Tens of thousands of security personnel have been deployed for the vote.
Most election media attention on Wednesday was focused on BJP candidate Varun Gandhi, on parole for allegedly making anti-Muslim speeches, who filed his nomination papers to fight for a parliamentary seat in the state of Uttar Pradesh on 13 May.
Mr Gandhi is a grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Although he is a descendant of the influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Mr Gandhi belongs to a side of the family that has disowned it.
In other election-related activity on Wednesday, police say that they raided the Bihar offices of film director Prakash Jha and recovered a large sum of money.
Mr Jha told the Times of India that the raid was illegal and that the cash recovered from his office belonged to a sugar mill that he owned.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Six Year Old Northeast Girl Raped and Murdered in Delhi
Racial Discrimination Against Northeast Communities Continue in Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 18 : A six year old girl from Manipur belonging to a Naga tribe was raped and murdered in Mahipalpur, New Delhi today. Racial discrimination in the North East communities living in Delhi and NCR continues.
Fact finding teams led by Advocate Lansinglui Rongmei, President of the North East Support Centre & Helpline rushed to the spot where the incident happened and confirmed the rape and murder of the victim.
Sources reaching the North East Support Centre & Helpline told them that the six year old girl went to dry clothes on the roof of the rented house her parents are staying in at 1:00 p.m. When the girl did not return back home her mother went up to the roof and did not find her. After 45 minutes her body was found in a water tank on the roof of another building.
The body was rushed to the Spinal Injury Centre, Vasant Kunj and later confirmed that she had been raped and murdered.
The NE Helpline called the Vasant Kunj police station and reported the matter. Sources from the Vasant Kunj Police station confirmed that a man living in the same building where the girl was found has been arrested and a Nepali boy is absconding.
The girl was staying in Mahipalpur with her mother who is a nurse professionally and her father a businessman.
The North East Support Centre & Helpline calls upon the Delhi Government and NCR to take up the appropriate measurement to stop the discrimination meted out to North East people. People from North East India living in Delhi and NCR are facing severe racial discrimination.
In Gurgaon two girls were beaten by a landlord in December and another raped and later turned hostile in the court. In March a boy was beaten with cable operators and two girls by a Rickshaw driver. Most of these cases are pending at the police station.
North East Support Centre & Helpline (www.nehelpline.net) is combined initiative of various human rights activists, social workers, students, journalists and lawyers seeking to prevent harassment and abuses meted out to women, North East People and tribal communities of different states.
The All India Christian Council (www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.
Curfew and the Night, Imphal Manipur
In the heat of day, all is silent in Imphal, except for the soldiers beating their sticks against the hard pavement and the dogs barking in distant neighborhoods. I had arrived a few hours earlier, unaware of the city’s uncertain state of siege, traveling past alternating police checkpoints and local highway blockades. At the series of police checkpoints my belongings were scrutinized, papers examined, and bribes paid. The local blockades were manned by angry Meithei women and children pulling on makeshift rope past burning rubber tires, as much forms of extortion as they were forms of popular protest. The bundle of ten rupee notes in my pocket helped me negotiate these barriers with more ease then most.Manipur was in a state of clampdown, the consequence of the kidnapping and brutal murder of a young dedicated officer of the Manipur Civil Service, Dr. Thingnam Kishan. His body was found along with his driver and guard, hacked to death, strewn under a bridge on one of the state’s highways on February 13. Yet another death in the face of the terror Manipur faces from the armed forces and from scores of militant groups, hardly any of it is reported except by their local media.
The insurgents have been in the region in one from or another since the birth of the country. Manipur is engulfed in a civil conflict with an almost unending stamina for death. The only difference being that more groups have mushroomed, crystallizing around the different ethnic and tribal identities. Each of these groups has their own skewed separatist agenda. What they share is a deep distrust of Indian soldiers and a love for extortion. India has pumped in almost 55,000 soldiers and loads of money in this more than half-century of conflict but neither seems to have staunched political grievances or every day misery.
I walk over to the window and took pictures of the scene beyond the heavy grill. The suspicious black box in my possession catches the eyes of one of the soldiers, in a sudden jerk he dismounts his gun off this shoulder and points its upwards; I drop my camera and protrude my hands through the metal outwards to make my intentions clearer – my first exchange of fear.
If you have lived in Imphal long enough you will find that the life of its 3 lakh inhabitants revolves around perennial cycles of general strikes and curfew. In fact Imphal and many parts of this north east corner of India have remained in a permanent state of partial curfew for decades, a reality incomprehensible to those of us who live in metropolitan India.
Between 5am to 5pm, the city swings into action. Everyone is desperately trying to get a share of the cash, before it runs out. Even the most routine of transactions like buying vegetables or sugar takes on an air of siege. Come evening the streets fill with people making a hasty retreat home - as the last of Imphal throng outside ATMs before the shopkeepers down their shutters and police loudspeakers announce the coming of yet another curfew.
A large photograph of a young woman - her nose covered by a medical swatch making way for a IV tube, stoic and dogged, her eyes peer down at you – dominates a makeshift bamboo hut in New Checkon in Imphal East. This is a picture of Irom Sharmila, she has not eaten for nearly 9 years now – for this she has been locked up by government and force-fed by tubes. She launched into this almost decade long fast unto death, demanding the removal of the repressive Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) after she witnessed the killing of 10 innocent civilians allegedly at the hands the Assam Rifles in November of 2000. Their killings like many others Manipur has witnessed came under the aegis of a law that gives the Indian army extraordinary powers to quash ethnic insurgencies. In the hut Ima K Taruni and the dozen other Meira Paibi, the torch bearers are angry as they sit in a relay hunger strike for Sharmila. “Enough is enough, we will not vote until AFSPA is revoked. What kind of democracy is this were members of our own army kill us with impunity.”
The smog gently floats over the valley in a vacuum left by the pause of violence; in the days that follow it is the Yaoshang festival. A quiet before the storm only to be pierced by gun fire. In the streets people scatter, shop shutters come rumbling down and all is once more quiet in anticipation of the next rattle of bullets. A photographer’s job is filled with fool’s errands; we chase gunfire instead of escaping it. Meters away in Imphal’s Kunjabi lekhai I find them breathing their last-two young men murdered and branded as insurgents in yet another encounter. A 9mm pistol, a grenade and some documents enough proof. People watch as their bodies are propped and put onto the back of a pickup truck by a lanky policeman. In Manipur death itself has become a spectacle.Thursday, April 16, 2009
Millions of Indians go to polls
I
ndians are voting in the first round of the country's 15th general elections.
Voters in 124 constituencies are taking part in the ballot. There has so far been a steady turnout, marred by several attacks from Maoist insurgents.
More than 700 million Indians overall are eligible to vote for seats in the lower house of parliament.
The incumbent Congress-led coalition government is facing a challenge from the main opposition BJP-led alliance.
The two main blocs are also competing against a "third front" of communist and regional parties in a poll that is too close to call. Results are due on 16 May and a new parliament must be in place by 2 June.
Voters began queuing up early at many polling stations across the country. TV pictures showed women queuing in Assam in light drizzle.
Among high profile candidates who cast votes early was former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor in the southern city of Thiruvananthapuram.
"It is a great privilege to vote. It is an extra bonus to vote for myself," said Mr Tharoor, who is standing for the Congress party. "I should be able to romp home."
A massive security operation is in place across India. In the eastern state of Jharkhand six paramilitary soldiers were killed in a landmine blast blamed on Maoist rebels, police said.
Maoists also attacked polling booths in the states of Orissa and Bihar. The BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says they were isolated incidents in remote rural areas, but still disruptive and carried out to prevent people voting.
In Bihar's Gaya district a polling booth was attacked. Two security personnel were killed and two female voters received bullet wounds, locals told the BBC. In addition the insurgents looted electronic voting machines and four police rifles.
Officials in the state say that 264 booths in areas where the Maoists are active will close down two hours ahead of time as a security precaution.
The attack in Orissa took place in Malkangiri district, where the insurgents burned some electronic voting machines, police said. The rebels have also blocked roads in the district after felling trees.
Local issues
The first voting is taking place in constituencies spread across the country, including volatile areas in north and central India.
States where voting takes place are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Lakshwadeep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
More than two million security personnel have been deployed, many of them in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, which is voting for both national and state assembly representatives.
"We have taken every necessary measure to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections. Now you go out and vote," state director general of police AK Mohanty said in the state capital, Hyderabad.
Thousands of troops have also been placed on alert in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which has the most seats in the national parliament. Polling will take place for 16 of the state's 80 seats.
Neither of the two main parties in the election - Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - is expected to gain a clear majority.
Both may have to depend on the support of smaller parties to form a government - and correspondents say the campaign rhetoric in recent days has become increasingly bitter.
While security and the economy are key election issues, especially after last year's attacks in Mumbai (Bombay), global economic meltdown and local and regional issues are all expected to be key issues.
Message Behind The Assam Blasts
T
he 7 April blasts in Assam, the second within a space of 10 days, are attention-seeking gimmicks. That such gimmicks result in loss of human lives does not seem to bother either the terrorists or the state.
The irony is that such blasts are not unexpected for two reasons. First, the Ulfa was preparing to commemorate its Raising Day. Second, it is election time and the Ulfa is a major player here. Blasts are the only means of drawing attention to the fact that the outfit is alive and kicking.
The state’s response is predictable. So is the public reaction. After the usual brouhaha, things slip back to normal until the next blast. The only difference is that this time a high-level delegation from the Union home ministry headed by the cabinet secretary has flown in to assess the situation from a closer angle, perhaps to ensure that militants do not get a free run between now and the election dates.
Blasts are a dramatic posturing by insurgents. Considering that these ruthless elements are targeting unsuspecting citizens, it is time we drop the euphemisms and simply call them terrorists.
Forget their goals, since all terrorists have altruistic goals anyway. Having got the nomenclature right, it is time to do some serious introspection to identify and nail the villains of the piece in this most reprehensible crime against humankind.
Mrinal Hazarika, leader of the Ulfa’s pro-talks faction, confessed recently that the outfit had played a key role in all elections in Assam. Now that says it all. Politicians of all shades have taken the help of the Ulfa to win elections or to eliminate/defeat rivals.
However, this phenomenon is not peculiar to Assam. No political party or politician anywhere in the region can claim immunity from the allegation that they have marriages of convenience with terror groups. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s trouble-shooters are alleged to have worked out their compromise formulae with the Ulfa on more than one occasion.
The February 2007 National Games passed off smoothly not because security was top notch but because the Ulfa was allegedly paid off. It is ritualistic for militant groups in the North-east to raise the pitch during election time. After all, this is party time when big money is at stake! It is also a time when political parties and politicians jostle to capture the mind space of the electorate. One bomb blast can undo a lot of leg work.
Militants have used terror tactics to influence voter behaviour. Taking a cue from Mrinal Hazarika’s confession, one question needs answering — what does the Ulfa want this time? Is it money, or breathing space? Or is it merely a show of strength?
Planting bombs is not without an agenda, even though it has become the easiest method of creating terror. And there appears to be no dearth of willing agents to do so on payment.
Bomb mechanics are getting bolder and bolder. In the latest blast at Maligaon, the devices were planted opposite a police station. This informs us that the masterminds of the episode are cocking a snook at the security forces and dumping down their claims of preparedness for the polls.
Those who think the Ulfa is on its last legs wear blinkers. The outfit continues to have fire power and it makes a spectacular display of that capability days before the commemoration of its Raising Day (7 April). This daredevilry is possible because of the lack of seriousness on the part of the state government to tackle the outfit head-on.
The Centre simply compounds the problem by not getting the correct perspective. Blasts allow the state government to make unreasonable demands from the Centre.
Many of these demands are not related to strengthening the local policing, which is at the crux of the matter. Local police require advanced training on counter-terrorism. Ordinary policemen trained to tackle law and order are no match for the ruthless tactics of terrorists. But strong policing must be matched by strong political will.
The second part is hardly forthcoming. As long as politicians and terrorists have liaisons of convenience, the game of cat and mouse will go on. Innocent citizens will continue to lose their lives and the security forces will be demoralised.
A demoralised security outfit is no match for an aggressive terrorist organisation. This story of compromises and secret pacts is so deeply entrenched that you wonder what sort of game the governments at the Centre and states play?
And at whose cost? Do they really want to see the end of terrorism? Or do they want it to survive on their terms? Unfortunately this is a question that no one asks.
The fact is that there are too few stakeholders in peace. These few are also too inconsequential to make an impact. Many more powerful people benefit from terror and have a stake in it. Peace is simply a rhetoric mouthed by some idealists and academics at workshops and seminars.
Look at the profile of those who have died in Assam. Aren’t they the most powerless lot? What clout do Bihari labourers have? Or the ordinary mortal ekeing out a livelihood?
Let’s remind ourselves that the Mumbai terror attack got the prominence it did because it happened at high profile places where the creamy layer congregate for their business and leisure. As was rightly pointed out, the most crowded CST station never attracted too much media attention. Such is life today that every human being is recognised only by his bank balance. Those with no balance are dispensable.
Again, what happened in Mumbai has had a snowballing effect in that the NSG is given the prominence and nurturing it deserves. Now one reads that they would have access to all state-of-the-art equipment which had hitherto remained locked in Union home ministry files. What major decisions has Tarun Gogoi taken to initiate new security measures to counter the terror threat in Assam?
Any security force is good only to the extent that it has clear-cut, unambiguous goals and is allowed to function under a command structure that has specific objectives. In the North-east, there is no definite dividing line between insurgents and politicians. Separating the two could be embarrassing and dangerous.
Parties ruling at the Centre are fully aware of these embarrassing alliances. But when the only goal is to get power at any cost then there are few choices left. Even supping with the devil becomes an attractive proposition.
No wonder the Union home ministry is reduced to an ineffectual top-heavy bureaucracy with massive monolithic establishments that have failed to deliver. They have learnt to acquiesce with what politicians want. After a while they compose their own tunes and dance to it.
The Union home ministry mandarins and those under them are shamelessly unapologetic about their failure to deliver. What is a blast in Assam, anyway? The place is so goddamned distant from the core, so why should it matter how many people are killed?
The North-east is no financial capital. In fact, over the decades, this region has taken the shape of a begging bowl, thanks to the Centre’s deliberate policy and our own politicians’ proclivity to be led instead of leading.
Every now and again the North-east is reminded that it is a prisoner of geography. Contradictory statements mouthed by people like former Union minister Jairam Ramesh that the North-East should be economically aligned with South-east Asia while being politically integrated to India makes the region a sort of schizophrenic space. Why are people so apathetic about their own destinies?
Delhi has never really allowed any kind of free-thinking here. We do not even enjoy a fullfledged democracy, living as we do under oppressive laws. But can we allow democracy to be muzzled by a small group of megalomaniacs in Delhi and the states?
If Delhi is serious about things, it should also stop talking to sundry militant groups. With terrorists you need to deploy tough action. Where uprisings are mainly due to the absence of development, as in the plains tribal areas of Assam, a different approach is required. But on no account should the Centre compound the problems here.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Mizoram Observes Easter Sunday
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izawl, Apr 12 : Christian-dominated Mizoram on Sunday celebrated Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucification, with religious fervour and gaiety.
The city woke up at dawn with Salvation Band parties playing ‘He has Arisen”, which ushered in the day of celebrations as the Catholic church members ended their fast.
Other churches like the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church of Mizoram held prayer and worship services in every local church while some church members shared tea and snacks after the church services to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
The day is celebrated by Christians all over the world to signify the victory of Christ over death and sin.
Bandh in North Cachar Hills District, Assam
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aflong, Apr 12 : In Assam, a day-long bandh is being observed in North Cachar Hills district from 6 am Sunday in protest against renewed violence by suspected DHD Black Widow militants.
The bandh call has been given by several organizations including the All Dimasa Students Union. The bandh call received spontaneous support from all quarters.
The AIR correspondent from Guwahati reports that suspected Dima Halam Daogah (Black Widow) militants lobbed a grenade in the heart of the Halflong town on Saturday evening. There was, however, no casualty.
The same group of militants fired upon a goods train between Langting and Disaobra railway stations in Hill district on Saturday.
One Assam Police battalion Jawan was injured in the incident. The ultras on Friday fired indiscriminately on the Barak Valley Express train at Wadrengdisa under Maibong Police Station, killing one CRPF jawan on the spot and injuring over 15 passengers.
Train movement on the Lumding-Badarpur hill section has been suspended since Saturday following threat from militants.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Chin People Suffer From Inadequate Protection in India
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hin Refugees at a Camp In India
The Chin people of Burma, who are living in the Indian capital, suffers from less access to humanitarian relief and services by the local government and also the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in New Delhi.
In a new report released today, the Chin Human Rights Organization finds that Chin people seeking protection as refugees face prolonged wait-periods in extremely poor conditions with very little access to humanitarian relief.
The CHRO has appealed New Delhi and the UNHCR to ensure that Chin in Delhi have access to expedient and fair protection mechanisms as well as basic human necessities.
“So many Chin in Delhi live in deplorable conditions- without jobs, without basic amenities, without access to social services,” said Salai Bawi Lian Mang, executive director of CHRO adding “In fact, the Chin are refugees in desperate need of protection, but it takes years to gain protection by the UNHCR.
Meanwhile, the Chin are living on the bare margins of society in Delhi.”
Currently, the estimated Chin population in Delhi is 4,200- the largest asylum-seeking population from Burma living in Delhi.
Sixty-six percent of the Chin community are unemployed and those who are employed typically work 10- to 12-hour days for less than Rs. 70 (US$1.35) per day.
Illnesses are common and access to affordable and quality healthcare is limited. More than half of those Chin who died in 2007 and 2008 succumbed to easily treatable and preventable health problems, such as diarrhea, stated in a statement issued by CHRO from California.
Mentionable that, hundreds of thousands of people of Chin were forced to leave their homes in the Burmese province to escape from severe ethnic and religious persecution of the military regime.
They arrive in India in search of security and the hope of enjoying basic freedoms. Currently, some 75,000 to 100,000 ethnic Chin from Burma are living on the India-Burma border State of Mizoram.
means of protection in India is to travel some 2,400 kilometers to Delhi.
Due to the significant distance and expense of this trip, only a small minority of the Chin population in India is able to make it to Delhi. As of December 2008, the population of Chin in Delhi numbered 4,200.
Although UNHCR supports several programs to provide for and improve the welfare of the Chin community, many of these programs are inadequate and ineffective to meet the community needs.
Access to such programs is limited to UNHCR-recognized refugees and more than half of the Chin community in New Delhi are not eligible to benefit from such programs.
Saurabhee Lives Up To Her Rock Star Image
T
he northeast sensation and India’s Latest Idol Saurabhee is ready to rock the music scene with her new album and her very first commercial track - Meherbaan.
Saurabhee had a dream run in Indian Idol 4 each and every performace of hers was amazing. She was the best consistent and the least hyper contestant.
She kept her cool all through out the season and became a winner not only of Indian Idol but also of audiences’ hearts.
Now with her very first music video release she is out there in open to try her luck in tinsel town with her talent.
The sound track is good but video is average… it’s a bad example of creativity block.
Saurabhee is not only a good singer but has an amazing personality the video fails to acknowledge it rather it is a rip from Madonna’s famous song “Don’t tell me to stop”.
Saurabhee’s voice is fresh is bubbly in the music track if this one strikes with the audiences then the girl is sure to rock for a very long time.
he northeast sensation and India’s Latest Idol Saurabhee is ready to rock the music scene with her new album and her very first commercial track - Meherbaan.
Saurabhee had a dream run in Indian Idol 4 each and every performace of hers was amazing. She was the best consistent and the least hyper contestant.
She kept her cool all through out the season and became a winner not only of Indian Idol but also of audiences’ hearts.
Now with her very first music video release she is out there in open to try her luck in tinsel town with her talent.
The sound track is good but video is average… it’s a bad example of creativity block.
Saurabhee is not only a good singer but has an amazing personality the video fails to acknowledge it rather it is a rip from Madonna’s famous song “Don’t tell me to stop”.
Saurabhee’s voice is fresh is bubbly in the music track if this one strikes with the audiences then the girl is sure to rock for a very long time.
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