Miz tribals, forest dwellers to get rights over land

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izawl, Oct 29 (PTI) A central act seeking to do away with injustice to tribals and other forest dwellers was today extended to Mizoram, giving the people customary rights like cultivation and grazing.

The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, will become applicable from December 31, 2009, with the state Assembly adopting an official resolution in this regard.

While moving the resolution, Social Welfare Minister P C Lalthanliana said the Act would benefit the tribal people and forest dwellers as a whole and also help in protection of environment.

The step was necessitated as per provisions under Article 371G of the Constitution which stipulates that no act of Parliament on ownership and transfer of land would be applicable to Mizoram unless the state legislature decided to do so by adopting a resolution.

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13 militants surrender in Manipur

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mphal, Oct. 28 (ANI): Thirteen cadres of four militant organisations laid down arms in Churachandpur district of Manipur.



They surrendered at an official ceremony held at the headquarters of 3 (Naga Hills) Assam Rifles under the aegis of 57 Mountain Division.



Five militants belong to the newly floated KYKL (MDF), four to UKLA (MC), two to NC-Hill based DHD (J), and one each to PREPAK and UPPK.



Significantly, the surrender marks the end of two underground groups - the splinter group of DHD (J) and the UKLA (MC), which were beginning to spread their support base in Manipur.



This is the third major instance of militants surrendering to the Army during the last four months.



Sixty-Four cadres of Sinlung Peoples'' Liberation Army (SPLA) had surrendered in July in Mizoram while 19 cadres of Dima Halam Daogah-Jewel Garlossa (DHD-J) had surrendered in September at Churachandpur.



The official surrendering ceremony was graced by Major General Shakti Gurung, VSM, GOC 57 Mountain Division as the chief guest.



"We were doing things there I did not like. There was a faction in our group and we roamed in the jungles of Assam and Manipur without any aim. When Assam Rifles contacted us in the jungle, myself and sir were convinced and we wanted to lead a peaceful life. We wanted all the violence to end. So we stand here proudly surrendering before you all," said Saveit Langthasa, a surrendered cadre of the DHD (J).



One rocket launcher, one lethod gun, two AK series rifles, one M-16 rifle, seven pistols, gelatin sticks, one Palm Top, five mobile phones and several ammunitions were laid down by the surrendered militants. (ANI)

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We have proof of Dalai Lama’s involvement in Lhasa riots: Chinese minister

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eijing, Oct. 29 (ANI): China has sufficient evidence to prove that last year’s Lhasa riots were masterminded and incited by Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, a vice minister of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has claimed.

“We have ample facts and evidence that last year''s Lhasa violence was premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai Lama clique… Also, the Dalai Lama himself has made several speeches since the March 14 riots to defend involved criminals,” China Daily quoted Zhu Weiqun, a vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC, as saying.

Zhu added that the Dalai Lama turned to so-called “middle line” after his conspiracies- aided with some Western countries failed to achieve “Tibet independence.”

“However, the so-called "middle line" is still in nature "Tibet independence". Since 2007 to the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, the Dalai Lama clique, especially the extremist group "Tibetan Youth Congress", had organized and incited a series of violent activities in an attempt to disrupt Tibet''s society,” he claimed.

On the question of why the Chinese authorities ended talks with the Dalai Lama''s private representative, Zhu said it was the Dalai Lama himself who halted the talks.

“During the talks in last Nov, the Dalai Lama''s representative showed a so-called "memorandum on Tibetans'' genuine autonomy" and claimed that the following talks with the central government should be based on the memorandum,” he said.

“At that time, the central government''s stance is crystal clear that the memorandum is another edition of the Tibet independence plot that is completely unacceptable. Seeing its attempt fail to come true, the Dalai Lama clique immediately convened a special meeting among all exiled Tibetans and announced the suspension of the contact and talks,” he added. (ANI)

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‘Heretic’ Korean pastors irk Nagaland Baptists

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e stealing, murder and extortion crimes? Or are they sins?

These questions might seem incongruous for a news report to begin with, but they have created ripples in rebel-controlled Christian Nagaland. They have, in fact, pitted a state baptized by American missionaries against Korean “biblical encroachers”.

Two pastors of the South Korea-based Good News Mission (GNM) – Ock Soo Park and Kim Sae Yoon – apparently rubbed the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) the wrong way prior to its four-day Bible Crusade that began here on October 26.

GNM was invited by the Withee Bible College near this commercial hub of Nagaland. What the NBCC and affiliate bodies were GNM pamphlets saying stealing, murder and other illegal activities were crimes. NBCC and affiliates categorize them as sins that can be atoned through confessions.

The GNM was also against paying tithes, which is one tenth of annual produce or earnings taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.

Irked, the NBCC and others including Nagaland Theological Colleges Association panned GNM and cautioned that “whosoever brings this sort of unsound biblical teaching shall be held responsible for any consequence of doctrinal crisis in churches.”

GNM was also labeled a heretic body, and pressure from church leaders in Nagaland forced it to shift its crusade from the Ao Baptist Church to the Dimapur Stadium.

To make matters worse, the militant National Socialist Council of Nagaland – its credo is ‘Nagaland for Christ’ – backed NBCC and maintained that the Korean pastors’ teachings “are a complete deviation from Biblical truths”.

The Korean pastors dismissed the accusations of heresy as baseless and a result of distorted information and misinterpretations. “There is nothing un-Christian with our belief. Tithes in South Korea, for instance, were not audited and whenever members asked for accounts from pastors, they were excommunicated. We don’t agree with all the corrupt and wrong practices of the church, which exert pressure through sermons for tithes and offerings,” said Ock Soo.

Despite opposition, the GNM crusade elicited a strong response with over 500 people attending the sermons every day.

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Dalai Lama will be our state guest: Arunachal CM

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otwithstanding Chinese objection to the Dalai Lama's proposed visit to Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on Wednesday said the Tibetan spiritual leader will be accorded the honour of 'state guest' during his week-long tour beginning November 7.

Khandu said the Dalai will be given all protocol, including a tight security cover, when he arrives.

"He will be accorded with the honour of state guest. He will visit Tawang, Itanagar and some other places," Khandu told PTI.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits in Cha-Am Hua Hin, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao that the Dalai Lama is an "honoured guest" of India.

"I explained to Premier Wen that Dalai Lama is our honoured guest and he is a religious leader," Singh had said.

China has protested the Dalai Lama's planned visit to Arunachal Pradesh. It accused the Dalai, who fled to India in 1949 after a failed uprising against the Communist rule, of indulging in anti-China activities and trying to "split" Tibet from the country.

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A cultural troupe performing on the occasion of Chavang Kut celebration at Leplen village of Ukhrul district on October 28.

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4 women detained under NSA in Manipur for burning Tricolour

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MPHAL: The manipur government has detained four women under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly burning the Tricolour
during a recent protest against Manipur's merger with the Union of India in 1949.

On October 21, S Bimola (65) M Nirmala (40), Ch Bilashini (60) and T Madhumati (45) were arrested. On Wednesday, they were produced at the court of chief judicial magistrate (Thoubal).

The MPLF, an umbrella body of three prominent organizations United National Liberation Front (UNLF), Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) and People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak) observes October 15 as "national black day for the past one decade. On this day in 1949, Manipur merged with the Indian Union.

Supporting the front's programme, hordes of women burnt copies of the "Manipur Merger Agreement" as well as the Tricolour at various places across the state. They also shouted slogans seeking restoration of the state's sovereignty.

On the other hand, a large number employees from the health sector on Wednesday staged a demonstration on the premises of the health directorate here to slam the recent murder of H Binodkumar Singh, a retired government doctor,

Over 100 doctors, 160 nursing students, staff of the directorate and employees of other private health clinics took part in the sit-in protest organized by the Indian Medical Association's state unit.

As a mark of protest, employees of both government and private centres ceased work for three hours on Wednesday.

On October 22, the body of Binodkumar Singh (60) with severe wounds on his head and back was found at an isolated place in the Ishikha area of Imphal East.

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