Sunday, November 8, 2009

Burmese army targets India rebels

B
urmese troops have surrounded a base of Naga separatists in the country's northwest and begun bombing it, Indian military officials said.

They said Indian troops have fanned out in the hills opposite this base in Sagaing to arrest any rebels who may try to flee into Indian territory.

The base is operated by the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).

There are around 300 rebels at the base, Indian intelligence agencies say.

Most of them are NSCN guerrillas, but around 50 of them belong to the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa).

Two Burmese light infantry regiments are involved in the attack, they said.

But Burmese military officials or diplomats were unwilling to provide details.

Villagers around Maniakshaw in Sagaing said they could see the Burmese troops firing mortars, targeting the camp.


Diplomatic pressure

Indian troops confirmed heavy shelling of the Naga rebel base since late on Thursday but were not sure whether the Burmese had launched an infantry assault.

Burma's military junta has been under Indian diplomatic pressure to launch assaults against northeast Indian rebel bases in its territory for some time now.

But the junta has cited counter-insurgency commitments elsewhere in the country for not starting an offensive against these bases located mostly in Sagaing division in the hilly northwest of the country.
The Bhutanese army demolished the north-eastern Indian rebel bases in the southern part of the kingdom in December 2003 in an operation.

The success of that operation has prompted India to push its other neighbours in the east to initiate similar military action against the rebels from the northeast.


Bangladesh's new Awami League led government has also started a crackdown against north-eastern rebel hideouts on their hideout.

The separatist United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has alleged that Bangladesh police has picked up two of the senior leaders from Dhaka this week and expressed apprehensions that they may be handed over to India.

Farmer recalls Dalai Lama's gruelling trek to freedom

F
ifty years ago, Auja Lama was among the thousands who received the Dalai Lama as he reached the frontier Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh while fleeing Chinese suppression.

Auja was just 10 years old when in 1959, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, disguised as a soldier and with a small escort of 80-odd followers, reached Tawang after he undertook a gruelling trek to freedom.

"The Dalai Lama was on muleback and he waved at a large crowd that lined the road to see him. My father broke a security cordon and managed to touch his feet...the crowd was kept at a distance with soldiers escorting the spiritual leader," Auja, now 60 years old, told IANS.

Today Auja's excitement is palpable as he is eagerly waiting to get a glimpse of the Dalai Lama when the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists arrives here Sunday on a weeklong visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

"He is our God and even a glimpse of him from a distance would be like atoning my sins. I am blessed as I was among those who saw him from close in 1959," Auja, a farmer in a village close to the border with China, said.

Auja is the elder brother of Tashi Lama whose album "Tibetan Master Chants" was nominated in the Best Traditional World Music category for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006.

"The Dalai Lama spent a night at a government rest house before undertaking his onward journey from Tawang," Auja recalled.

"After nearly three weeks of gruelling trekking on foot and on muleback, the entourage managed to reach Tawang from where he was escorted to Bomdilla, a township,"

T. Dhondhup, the newly elected Congress party legislator from Tawang, told IANS.

"I was told that the Dalai Lama's entourage took more than a week to cross the Tawang district as there were no roads that time."

Dhondup heard the stories of the Dalai Lama's escape from China from his parents as he was just two years old in 1959.

The then 24-year-old Dalai Lama's formal request letter to the Indian government for asylum reached the hands of a local journalist by mistake in Shillong, the former headquarters of the northeastern region.

"The messenger who carried the letter written in English by the Dalai Lama requesting the Indian government to grant them asylum in India reached me instead of the police chief who was residing adjacent to my residence," Naresh Rajkhowa, a former correspondent of Assam Tribune, said.

"I first copied the entire letter before sealing it once again to be handed over to the police chief," 86-year-old Rajkhowa said.

The trek to freedom for Tibetans fleeing the Chinese was a daunting 1,000-km journey through the Himalayas, shadowed by the constant danger of frostbite and avalanches.

In order to avoid Chinese troops and border guards, most crossings were attempted during the harsh winter months, and precious few of those making the journey had the right clothing or equipment to combat the high altitude, sub-zero temperatures and hazardous conditions.

Even today hordes of Tibetan refugees enter India for asylum.

Top ULFA leaders flee Bangladesh

I
n a setback to ULFA, Bangladeshi security agencies have launched a crackdown on their leaders there, forcing them to flee.

In another development, two leaders of the banned outfit have surrendered to the BSF.

Self-styled ULFA foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury and self-styled finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika surrendered at Gokulnagar along the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura, a BSF official told PTI.

The two were reportedly trying to enter India when they were spotted by the troops and made to surrender, he said.

Intelligence agencies said Bangladesh security agencies have raided some hideouts of the leaders of the outfit this week, prompting the cadres to flee.

ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa was said to be absconding as he slipped away hours before the raid in three different locations, according to intelligence inputs.

ULFA 'commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua is currently camping somewhere in China, the inputs said, adding some of the cadres might have been detained by the Bangladesh security agencies.

Stage set for polls in two Assam assembly seats on Saturday

T
wo Assam assembly constituencies go to polls on Saturday amid tight security, officials said.

An Election Commission official said voting for the Dhekiajuli and South Salmara seats would begin at 7 a.m.

The by-elections were necessitated after incumbent legislators Joseph Toppo from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Badruddin Ajmal of the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) were elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

Around 161,959 voters will decide the electoral fate of seven candidates in Dhekiajuli with the fight for political supremacy expected between the AGP and the Congress.

Dhekiajuli is in north Assam's Sonitpur district, about 160 km from here.

Three independent candidates contesting the polls in Dhekiajuli late on Thursday announced their support to the Congress.

"We are confident of winning the seat," Congress candidate Bhimananda Tanti told IANS.

In the South Salmara seat, the contest is expected to be a direct one between the AUDF and the Congress party.

The AUDF has fielded Abdur Rahman Ajmal, son of party chief Badruddin Ajmal, while former minister Wajed Ali Choudhury is the Congress candidate.

This is the first time Ajmal's son, a 28-year-old Islamic cleric from Deoband, has entered the electoral fray.

A total of 131, 836 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in South Salmara with five candidates in the running.

South Salmara is in west Assam's Dhubri district, about 300 km from here.

Sukhoi in NE skies from next week

S
ukhoi fighter jets will start flying in the skies of the northeastern region from next week.

According to defence officials, around six aircraft of the warplane's MKI variant have reached Tezpur air base in Assam a few days ago and a full complement of the warplanes is expected to arrive by the year end.

Flight training and operational sorties of the aircraft are likely to begin early next week and preparations were on in this regard, they said, adding that besides Tezpur, a full squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets would also be deployed at Chabua base in eastern Assam subsequently.

The IAF was also contemplating to deploy another squadron at Bagdogra air base in West Bengal, the officials said.

The Su-30s had operated from Tezpur air base when they were formally inducted in the base on June 15. Since then, the air base which has been upgraded to house the jets was also opened for civil aviation.

Tawang ready to welcome Dalai Lama

N
estled among the snow-capped mountains and perched at a height of 10,000 feet, picturesque Tawang is all set to welcome the Dalai Lama on his sixth visit to Arunachal Pradesh starting from Tamang.

Colourful posters with pictures of the Tibetan spiritual leader and flags welcome visitors to the place, where the Dalai Lama had landed in 1959 after his escape from Tibet.

A security blanket has been thrown around the area, strategically located between - China and Myanmar, with the Tawang district administration making all efforts to ensure a peaceful visit of the leader whose visit has been resented by China which has laid claim to the sensitive border state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Lama Tashi, director of the Himalayan Studies and Research Centre, who was nominated for the Grammy award for his songs based on Tibetan master chants, says the visit would give a strong signal to China that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.

"People regard him as god and, therefore, no objection should be raised from any quarter for his visit to the state," Tashi says.

IAF glider makes 'precautionary landing'

A
n Indian Air Force (IAF) power hand-glider made a 'precautionary landing' in Assam's Barpeta district on Saturday while it was flying from Hasimara in North Bengal to Guwahati.

IAF sources here said "inclement weather" forced the pilots to land the glider on the banks of the Brahmaputra near Bohori.

There was no injury to the two IAF personnel in the glider, they said adding it will later fly to Guwahati.

Assam Police takes custody of ULFA leaders; starts questioning

T
he BSF has handed over the two top ULFA leaders, who were picked up from the Indo-Bangla border in Tripura, to Assam Police which started their interrogation.

Self-styled ULFA foreign secretary Sashadhar Choudhury and finance secretary Chitraban Hazarika, who were pushed into Indian territory by the Bangladeshi authorities, were flown into Guwahati on Friday night in a special aircraft by a team of Assam Police officials.

"We have taken over the custody of the two ULFA leaders and they will be produced in a court here today for further custody," Additional Director General of Assam Police Khagen Sarma told PTI.

The special branch of the Assam Police has started their interrogation and they will be joined by sleuths of central intelligence agencies soon.

The banned group reacted quickly calling an Assam bandh on Monday protesting the "military action" and demanding unconditional release of Choudhury and Hazarika.

Claiming that the two top leaders were picked by some camouflage men on November 1, a statement issued by the banned group's chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said, "Instead of pursuing a peaceful political solution to the issue, Indian colonial forces are trying to settle it using military power."

Bangladesh has launched a major crackdown on ULFA militants operating from its soil by apprehending the two leaders and subsequently pushing them into Indian territory from where BSF took the duo into custody.

BSF officials, however, insisted the ULFA leaders have surrendered before them after fleeing Dhaka following an "internal clash" among the cadres.

IPS officer shoots self, family alleges harassment

A
senior IPS officer in Shimla committed suicide on Sunday morning.

Jagjeet Kumar, Inspector General for rail and traffic in Himachal Pradesh, shot himself at home.

His family allege that he was being harassed by his seniors, and that was the reason behind his death.