north east online - north east india news: Sep 12, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal in November

E
xiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has planned a visit to Arunachal Pradesh in the second week of November, an aide said on Thursday.

The Dalai Lama had to cancel his visit to the state last year after the Indian government refused to grant him permission.

"The proposed visit of His Holiness to Arunachal Pradesh has been planned in the second week of November. However, the details are yet to be worked out," Chimme Choekyappa, private secretary to the Dalai Lama, told IANS.

"Right now I can't comment about the places he is likely to visit. The itinerary is being worked out."

The Dalai Lama's office in Dharamsala is keeping the Nobel laureate's trip to Arunachal a low key affair because it is feared that this could upset the Chinese who claim the region has historically been part of Tibet.

Last year, the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister visited Dharamsala to invite the Dalai Lama to visit Tawang to inaugurate a hospital. The Dalai Lama has contributed Rs 2 million for its construction.

Tawang is home to one of most sacred Buddhist monasteries. The Dalai Lama passed through this region when he fled into exile in 1959. Moreover, the sixth Dalai Lama was born there in the 17th century.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing China in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule over Tibet. His government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala. It is not recognised by any country.

Four Kuki militants killed in encounter in Manipur

F
our militants of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) were killed in an encounter with security forces in Manipur's interior Ukhrul district bordering Myanmar, official sources said on Tuesday.

Personnel of 12th Maratha Light Infantry patrolling Mokot hilly area were fired upon by the Kuki militants at around 7:00 PM on Monday night.

In the ensuing encounter, four Kuki militants were killed, while some managed to escaped.

Over 300 persons, including militants, have so far been killed in militancy-related incidents in Manipur this year.

Padmanabhiah eased out as Naga negotiator

K
Padmanabhiah, the Indian face of the negotiations with the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M), has been told that his role as the prime minister's representative, a task and job he held for a decade, has ended. The home ministry will now handle the talks.

A key figure will be the new Home Secretary G.K. Pillai, a no-nonsense, energetic officer from the Kerala cadre who has worked on issues relating to the northeast for over 12 years.

Padmanabhiah, a former home secretary, travelled to many countries to conduct talks with Naga leaders Isak Chisi Swu, chairman of the I-M group, which has had a ceasefire with New Delhi since 1996, and its general secretary Th. Muivah. He was told that his role was not being renewed from Aug 31.

In a telephone interview, Padmanabhiah told IANS: "The interlocutor has done his job. I cannot go on permanently and have called it a day."

For 10 years, Padmanabhiah conducted or took part in not less than 50 rounds of discussions with the Naga group although for the past five years he had become increasingly sidelined with a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Oscar Fernandes leading the process.

That GoM no longer is functional and it is the home ministry that will now call the shots, openly.

Although Padmanabhiah was known to have kept the discussions on track (venues included Chiang Mai in Thailand, Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur), the talks appeared to be moving desultorily and headed nowhere with neither side energetically pursing proposals for a settlement.

On one side, the Nagas said they were studying the Indian and other constitutions (such as Nepal and Papua New Guinea) for the past couple of years to see what changes could be made.

On the other, the Indian government appeared to be disinterested in settling the issue because it was unwilling to stir a political hornets' nest with the Naga demand for a homeland to be carved out of three neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

None of these states were willing to budge an inch on this claim although legally the central government can, under article three of the constitution, rewrite state boundaries without consulting the states.

The explosiveness of that issue was visible during the period of his tenure in 2001 after Padmanabhiah signed an extension of the ceasefire in Bangkok with the NSCN (I-M) group which said that the peace would be without boundaries, a term that led to riots in Manipur and the eventual rollback of the clause by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Pillai has long experience of the northeast having held the post of joint secretary in charge of that division in the ministry from 1996-2001. Unlike most New Delhi-based officials, he extensively travelled there, met ordinary people and interacted with local officials.

He is seen as the "humane" face of the home ministry although he is known to be extremely firm on issues of governance, corruption and inefficiency. During his term as commerce secretary, Pillai tried to develop programmes and policies in relation to the region which were in tune with its needs.

Top officials at the home ministry said that a major part of the new strategy would be an inclusive approach, seeking to reach out to all sides in interactions and discussions, involving civil society groups as well.

They said the central government would also focus on strong implementation of ceasefire rules and legal procedures as well as show no tolerance for extortion and other such activities.

Muivah, the principal negotiator for the NSCN (I-M), is now located in a large camp outside Dimapur, the gateway to Nagaland from the Assam plains. Swu is reportedly keeping indifferent health and is living in Bangkok.

It is widely known that the two major militant Naga groups, the I-M and its rival, the Khaplang faction, have had almost a free run in Nagaland and the Manipur hills for decades despite the ceasefire and "designated camps" where they are supposed to live.

These groups levy "taxes" on individuals, government officials, politicians and even school teachers; the public and New Delhi call this extortion.

NE dams being built on ecological lie: Activists to PM

T
he dams to make Arunachal Pradesh India’s future hydro-powerhouse are being built on ecological lies. This is what activists have pointed out to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while panning joint hydroelectric projects in Bhutan.

In a memorandum to the PM on September 7, various organizations and individuals in the dams’ downstream impact areas said at least 36 dams cleared for environment impact assessment (EIA) studies aren’t “environmentally benign”, as claimed by the government.

“We are being assured that most of these dams are run-of-the-river (RoR) projects and hence environmentally benign. This is an ecological lie by the government,” said RTI activist Akhil Gogoi, also the secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti.

Signatories to the memorandum cited NHPC’s 2000 MW Lower Subansiri project in Arunachal Pradesh to underscore this lie. “Your office (PMO) did ask for downstream impact studies to be done in the project in 2006, but only after the construction work had begun. Downstream impact concerns were raised since 2001, but ignored when the project was cleared in 2003.”

The second phase of the project’s downstream impact study was commissioned to an expert committee comprising members from Gauhati and Dibrugarh universities and IIT Guwahati. This committee in its February 2009 interim report raised concern about the very location and foundation of the dam on geological grounds and asked for all work to be stopped on the project till the full downstream study has been completed. “But this has been ignored by NHPC and work continues.”

Moreover, the memorandum read, “the government seems to deny that a river flows downstream”. This is evident from terms of reference for EIA studies granted by the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) for large dams in the Northeast in the last two years seeking analysis of downstream impacts to be “restricted between the dam and powerhouse” only. This, it pointed out, is in contravention of a general clause under EIA notification requiring baseline data to be collected in a 10 km radius of a project (including downstream).

The authorities, activists said, has also ignored the cumulative impact of a series of mega hydropower projects in a region. “The government failed to implement an April 2007 order of the National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) seeking advance cumulative study of a series of different dams coming up in a river basin. This is of great significance in the downstream areas of Assam owing to at least 135 projects for 57,000 MW proposed in Arunachal Pradesh alone,” said Neeraj Vagholikar of Pune-based Kalpavriksh.

One of these projects is the 3000 MW Dibang Hydel. This is estimated to involve the extraction of 32 lakh truckloads of boulders from the river Dibang and its tributaries, identified as an Important Bird Area and a potential Ramsar site (wetland of international importance).

The Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam, ecologists asserted, would bear the brunt of the 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric project on the upstream of river Manas in Bhutan. This is among several mega hydro projects India is pursuing jointly with Bhutan.

Six suspected militants killed in Manipur

S
ecurity forces in Manipur gunned down six suspected militants in Imphal West district, in which the state capital Imphal is located, on Tuesday night.

The police said the deaths took place when troops of the 12 Maratha Light Infantry and state police commandos exchanged fire with two young men, who came in an Enticer motorcycle, in Awang Khunou village, 10 km west of Imphal.

This was followed by another encounter at the same place with a group that came in a Tata Sumo.

Both encounters took place around 10.45 last night.

Imphal West District Superintendent of Police L Kailun gave a statement saying that the six people came close to a police post and when asked to stop, they fired, and were killed when the police retaliated.

The police suspect that they were militants, but are yet to identify the outfit involved in the incident. The public relations officer of Assam Rifles could not be contacted for comment.

According to Patsoi Police Station Officer in charge H Ibocha, one of the men succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital while the bodies of the five others were found at the spot, along with the Sumo and the motorcycle.

Ibocha said that security forces claimed to have recovered two 9mm pistols from the motorcyclists and one M16 rifle and one more 9mm pistol along with some ammunition from the occupants of the Sumo.

But no incriminating documents are reported to have been recovered.

So far four of those killed have been identified: Ksh Gopen, 29; Ng Danny, 30; Md Rahaman, 28; and Md Tomba, 35.

The first two were residents of Imphal and the others of Mayang Imphal (25 km south of Imphal). Family sources said Gopen was in the mobile card recharge business. A rickshaw-pullers' association said that Md Rahaman and Md Tomba were rickshaw-pullers.

Manipur rocked by another 'fake encounter' that kills 6

T
he Manipur government is once again mired in a blazing row over the killing of six suspected militants by security forces. Family members of the dead and rights groups claim it was a "fake encounter" and that the six were innocent civilians.

Six people - two on a motorcycle and four others in a vehicle - were killed late Tuesday near Awang Khunou village in Imphal West district.

A police spokesperson said a gunfight took place after the two motorcycle-borne youths and the four people in a Tata Sumo refused to stop when asked to do so by a security patrol on the highway.

"They (motorcycle borne youths and the four in the Tata Sumo) opened fire at the security team and in retaliatory attacks the six people were killed," police chief of Imphal West district L Kailun said.

Four of the six killed have since been identified by their families who claim they were innocent civilians - two earned a living selling mobile phone recharge vouchers, another a rickshaw puller and the fourth a driver.

"My son is innocent and had gone with his business partner on a motorcycle to collect money from customers to whom they had sold mobile recharge cards. I can vouch the two of them had no militant links and it was a fake encounter," Chaoba Devi, mother of one of the two motorcycle borne youths, told IANS on Thursday.

There were protests and sit-in demonstrations in the area with locals forming a joint action committee demanding a judicial enquiry into the incident.

"It was definitely another instance of fake encounter as four of them are totally innocent," Mani Singh, a community leader, said.

Manipur is in turmoil since July 23 following the alleged fake encounter death of 27-year-old Chongkham Sanjit and a pregnant woman in the heart of capital Imphal.

The immediate provocation for the string of protests was the publication of a set of photographs that punctured the security forces' claim that they had killed a youth following a gunfight.

The photographs clearly revealed that Sanjit, was taken inside a pharmacy by security forces in capital Imphal unchallenged and later his dead body was brought out.

ULFA militant gets lifer for killing two Assam cops

A
court in Assam Thursday awarded life imprisonment to a militant of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on charges of killing two policemen on duty 16 years ago.

The court found ULFA rebel Ronkur Dutta guilty of killing the two policemen in November 1993 in Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam.

"After a lengthy trial, the designated court in Guwahati awarded life imprisonment to Ronkur Dutta and slapped a fine of Rs.2,000 on him for killing the two policemen," government counsel Pradip Gogoi said after the verdict.

The rebel accepted the verdict and said there was not much he can do now.

"I would have to accept the court ruling," Dutta said as he was being taken to the prison from the court.

This is the third instance of a court sentencing ULFA militants to life imprisonment.

Another 'fake' encounter in Manipur

E
ven as the uproar over the killing of a youth in an alleged fake encounter in July is yet to subside, another case of a "similar" encounter in Manipur has surfaced.

Rickshaw driver Md Rehaman alias Tomba and five others, whom police claimed were militants, were killed in an alleged fake encounter on Tuesday.

A 24-hour general strike beginning midnight on Friday has been called by the All Manipur Rickshaw Drivers' Pullers Association to protest the killing of the driver.

Official sources said six persons were killed in the encounter with police commandos and personnel of 12 Maratha Light Infantry at Awang Khunou in Imphal West district on Tuesday night.

In a memorandum to Governor Gurbachan Jagat yesterday, the Association claimed that Rehaman operated his vehicle from Imphal to the border town of Moreh in Chandel district bordering Myanmar.

It demanded action against the security men involved in the killing.

The families of three other victims of the incident also claimed that those killed were "innocent civilians".

Dhaka won’t hand over top ULFA leader to India

D
HAKA - Bangladesh says it will not hand over Indian separatist leader Anup Chetia, who served a jail term here for entering the country with fake documents, but stressed it would not allow its territory to be used by militants.

Back from her visit to India, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters Friday that Chetia, a top leader of the United Liberation of Asom (ULFA), had already completed his sentence. Therefore, he was not covered by the bilateral agreement under which Indians sentenced in Bangladesh could finish their jail term in India and vice versa, The Daily Star newspaper said.

Chetia is wanted for organising insurgent operations in India’s Assam state.

“Anup Chetia has already finished his jail term and will not come under the purview of the agreement,” Moni told reporters.

Chetia was caught in Bangladesh in 1997. After he finished his jail term, a local human rights body campaigned against his repatriation and the government of then prime minister Khaleda Zia stayed the process.

India accuses Bangladesh of hosting many top ULFA leaders, as also those of other militant bodies in the Indian northeast, many of whom have settled down to do business and raise families.

Dhaka, however, reiterated its stand during Moni’s India visit that it would not allow its territory to be used by these militants.

Assamese welcome Dhaka offer on northeast separatists

G
UWAHATI - Bangladesh’s pledge to sign a treaty enabling transfer of sentenced militants and criminals and crack down on Indian separatists in its territory has evoked a positive response in Assam.

If such a treaty is signed, then it is surely a positive development. But it all depends on the Bangladesh government’s sincerity, former Assam police chief G.M. Srivastava said.

With top leaders of militant groups from Assam and the northeast staying in Bangladesh, a treaty like the one agreed upon could be of immense help in tackling insurgency, Srivastava told IANS.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni announced at the end of her four-day India visit that a treaty was in the offing on various counts - from transferring sentenced militants and criminals, combating international terrorism, organised crime and illegal drug trafficking, to acting tough on Indian terrorists based in that country.

The decisions were arrived at during talks with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in New Delhi.

India has on numerous occasions submitted lists of camps of northeastern rebel groups based in Bangladesh. Dhaka has persistently denied the existences of these camps.

Separatist camps apart, New Delhi had also queried Dhaka about the presence of separatist leaders like Paresh Baruah, commander-in-chief of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Arabinda Rajkhowa, the ULFA chairman, and Ranjan Daimary, chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), besides several others from the northeast.

Now that Bangladesh has committed to act tough, there is bound to be pressure on leaders like Paresh Baruah. We understand Paresh Baruah moves around freely in Bangladesh, but maybe it will now be difficult for him, Jitten Dutta, leader of the pro-talk ULFA faction, told IANS.

The A and C companies of ULFA’s 28th battalion, the most potent striking units of the outfit, announced a unilateral ceasefire last year and named itself the ‘pro-talk ULFA faction’.

The signing of a treaty would also help India to demand the extradition of ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia from Bangladesh - he is under detention in Bangladesh after being arrested on Dec 21, 1997.

If Anup Chetia is handed over to India, then probably he would be of great help in furthering the deadlocked peace process with ULFA. He was one person who in the past met leaders in New Delhi for talks… so he has the credentials of being a moderate, Dutta said.

In 1991, five top ULFA leaders led by Anup Chetia met then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in New Delhi and promised to bring in other top leaders for talks.

But with the senior rebel leadership refusing to hold talks, Chetia went underground again.

Foreigners mysteriously disappear in Himachal’s valley of gods

K
ULLU - The picturesque Kullu valley in the Himalayas, also known as the valley of gods, attracts thousands of backpackers from abroad. But some never return home — they simply vanish without a trace.

On July 21, Israeli-American backpacker Amichai Shtainmetz went missing while trekking in the Kullu valley. He is the 19th foreign tourist to have gone missing in the valley since 1992.

Amichai had gone trekking with his friend but took a different route on the way back - and hasn’t been seen since.

His father Jacob Shtainmetz has hired a private rescue team to locate his son but to no avail so far.

Superintendent of Police (Kullu) K.K. Indoria told IANS: “Amichai is not an isolated case of disappearance of a foreigner. He is among 19 foreign tourists who have gone missing in the Kullu valley in the past 17 years.

“Only one Australian tourist Burfitt Jacqueline Louise, who was reported missing in June 1993, has been traced so far.”

The missing tourists include three Israelis, two Swiss, three Australians, two Americans and a Briton, a Canadian and a Russian.

So what happened to these people? There are three possibilities, Indoria said. The first is that they died in an accident. The hills around Kullu are gorgeous, but they are also rugged, cold and inhospitable and no place for an inexperienced or ill-equipped trekker. Some are killed due to high-altitude sickness or slip off icy tracks or are marooned by blizzards.

A Swedish woman’s frozen body was found on a glacier in Lahaul and Spiti district in 2004, almost 25 years after she went missing in the region.

The second possibility is that the missing were robbed and killed by local people and their bodies are buried in forests or thrown in streams, Indoria said. Lonely hikers carrying expensive watches, cameras and other accessories become easy prey to unemployed youth.

In July 2000, two Austrian trekkers were attacked as they camped near Manikaran. One was shot dead, the other escaped. In December 2001 a skeleton was found near Malana and identified as a missing Israeli pilot Nadav Mintzer.

The third possibility is that the missing are alive and do not want to be found, said the police officer.

According to the state tourism department, around 50,000 backpackers pour into the valley every summer. Of them, 10,000-15,000 are from Israel.

Mehar Chand Thakur, a prominent trek operator in Manali, said: “Most of the foreigners prefer to trek alone or in small groups without taking the help of local guides. They generally rely more on guidebooks.

“As they are not familiar with the rugged, inhospitable Himalayan terrain, a sudden change in climatic conditions often creates adverse conditions for them. The recovery of skeletons in the recent past shows that in most cases the trekkers lost their way and became

disoriented in hostile climatic conditions.”

Jai Singh Negi, another tour operator of Kullu, said: “In the summer, thousands of backpackers descend on the valley. Some do serious trekking, while others roam aimlessly from village to village. They participate in ‘full moon’ rave parties and indulge in drugs. This is one of the reasons for their mysterious deaths and disappearances.”

Indoria said: “We have been advising foreign tourists to hire the services of local guides, move in groups and carry satellite or mobile phones so that rescue teams could be sent in cases of emergencies.

“We do have a problem with some of the Israelis who come here after three years of compulsory military service, and are desperate to have a good time. They generally don’t take many precautions. They prefer to stay in isolated, secluded areas. Some of them get involved in petty quarrels with locals. We have even asked their embassy officials to monitor their travel schedules.”

He said special police teams have been deployed to trace the missing foreigners in the past 10 years.

“We have information that a large number of foreigners who disappeared mysteriously are illegally staying in various tribal areas. We have formed special police squads to trace such people too,” he said.

Opposition seeks President’s rule in Manipur

I
MPHAL - Opposition parties are calling for central rule in Manipur, saying the situation in the state is alarming and accusing both state and non-state actors of unleashing terror.

The only solution is President’s rule. There is total anarchy. Security forces kill innocents and claim these are encounter deaths while militancy is on the rise, said H. Borbabu, president of the Manipur unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The state government has totally failed.

A BJP delegation this week met Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi to brief him about the law and order situation in the state. The minister expressed concern over the situation, the BJP leader told IANS.

While the Congress government is under pressure over a series of killings blamed on allegedly fake gun battles, separatist groups are also causing havoc.

On Tuesday midnight, about 200 militants in eight trucks descended upon village Nongpok Sekmai in Thoubal district and used a hijacked excavator to pull down a government hospital.

Capital punishment meted out by militant groups in Manipur has now become almost routine - from drug peddlers to alleged corrupt officials, the rebels spare none.

It is a totally lawless state. Nobody knows who is in control of Manipur. The government has become ineffective, Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of Imphal Free Press, a mass circulated English daily, told IANS.

Former chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Radhabinod Koijam added: It is true there is no administration at all. Manipur has become a free for all type of a situation.”

But Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh is unfazed.

The chief minister was not available for comments. Other ministers and lawmakers refused to speak on record about the prevailing situation in the state.

The situation is chaotic to say the least, said Moni Singh, a rights leader.

There are about 20 militant groups in Manipur, their demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy. More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Manipur in the past two decades.

Yamuna likely to flood Delhi

N
ew Delhi
, Sep 12: After two days of incessant rain, Yamuna river is likely to cross the danger mark and flood low-lying areas along the bank in New Delhi
on Saturday, Sep 12.

"By 0800 hrs IST today (Saturday), the water level in Yamuna had reached 204.55 metres. At 204 metres we had sounded a flood alert. The water level is likely to reach 205.05 metres - above the danger mark, by 1000 hrs IST today (Saturday)," a government official was quoted as saying in a news agency report.

"A warning has been issued to all the civic agencies to take precautionary measures and to evacuate people in the low-lying areas adjacent to the river," the official added.

On Friday, Sep 11, the Delhi government issued a flood warning and has directed flood control department to start evacuating people from low lying areas and especially areas adjacent to the Yamuna river.

Yamuna close to danger level; evacuation begins

W
ith flood water in Yamuna entering various low-lying areas due to continuous rains, Delhi government has begun evacuating people residing in these localities and sounded an alert.

Yamuna river has touched 204.75 mts mark while the danger mark is 204.83 mts.

The flood control department as well as disaster management authority have been asked to use all their resources to extend all possible help to those affected by the flood.

A control room, which will function round-the-clock, has already been set up to coordinate relief and rescue operations.

Expressing concern over rising level of water in Yamuna river, Flood Control Minister Raj Kumar Chouhan said Hathnikund dam in neighbouring Haryana has released 4.20 lakh cusecs of water on Thursday which may result in the river crossing the danger level.

"We have made all the necessary arrangements to deal with the situation. But still, the rising level of Yamuna is a matter of great concern," he said.

Earlier, at a high-level meeting to review the situation, Chouhan directed all departments concerned and agencies to put all their efforts to extend possible help to the affected people.

Jet standoff: Breakthrough today?

T
he management versus pilots deadlock in Jet Airways is yet to be resolved. The two sides spent eight hours on the negotiating table on Friday, but talks remained inconclusive.

Talks will resume in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Jet management is willing to reinstate the four sacked pilots, but it wants the newly-founded pilots union, the National Aviators' Guild to be disbanded. The pilots are opposed to this.

The government has, meanwhile, already asked other airlines to increase their flights so that passengers have alternatives to cancelled Jet flights.

On Friday, Capt Girish Kaushik, the president of NAG, said the pilots will not resume work "as of now" and the stir will continue but was hopeful of a solution on Saturday.

Sources said the talks saw a lot of hard bargaining by the two sides especially over issues which have a larger impact on the employees of the private airline.

Besides Chief Labour Commissioner S K Upadhyay, the conciliation proceedings were attended by Jet executive director Saroj Dutta, CEO Hafiz Ali and head of operations Capt Mohan. The NAG was also represented by Capt Sam Thomas and Capt Balraman.

Kaushik said the Jet management has agreed to take back the four sacked pilots but Datta said everything is under discussion. "The talks are inconclusive," Dutta said.

Meanwhile, Air India has said that there won't be any increase in fares due to Jet Airways strike. All sector fares are being offered at normal levels and as a national carrier, Air India will ensure that passengers are not inconvenienced or overcharged due to Jet Airways pilots' strike, Air India said.

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