north east online - north east india news: Nov 13, 2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

Eight relatives of surrendered militants killed in Tripura

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n retaliation to the surrender of seven of their underground members, banned NLFT militants gunned down eight of their relatives at Pusparampara in North Tripura district early on Tuesday.

Militants of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) raided the village, about 70 km from Kanchanpur police station, and kidnapped the eight persons including four women and killed them in a nearby jungle.

The seven NLFT insurgents surrendered with arms and ammunition to the Deputy Superintendent of police, Amiya Chowdhury yesterday.

A strong contingent of Tripura State Rifles, led by the Superintendent of Police of North district, has launched a combing operation there.

Dalai Lama retraces trip to Bomdi-la from air

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UWAHATI: The Dalai Lama concluded his four-day trip to Tawang on Thursday, but not before revisiting the district deputy commissioner's
residence, called the Tawang House, his first stopover on Indian soil after pulling off a sensational escape from Tibet 50 years ago. He planted saplings near a tree that he had planted while staying there as a refugee in 1959.

The Tibetan spiritual leader bade goodbye to Tawang by praying at the Dukhang (main prayer hall) in the Tawang monastery before he retraced his half century-old footsteps on Indian soil to Bomdi-la. This time, however, he took the aerial route to reach the second destination of his escape from Tibet. He flew there in a chopper owned by the Arunachal government.

On the way, the Tibetan spiritual leader made a brief stopover at Dirang, where he held a religious discourse for Buddhist followers on the banks of River Dirang before taking to air again for Bomdi-la. It was here at Bomdi-la that an Indian government envoy had formally received him with a welcome message from then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. On March 31, 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama had crossed the Indian border before he reached Tawang. Bomdi-la is 185 km south of Tawang, which is about 40 km away from the international border.

West Kameng district officials informed that the Dalai Lama will be spending the night at Thuibchok Gatselling Lower Gompha and give a religious discourse at the Buddha Stadium at Bomdi-la on Friday. "Tomorrow is our day of salvation. We are expecting more than 10,000 people," an official said.

Local MLAs have also initiated cleanliness drives in and around Bomdi-la and have asked people to maintain a conducive atmosphere for the Tibetan leader's visit. The district headquarters wore a festive look with colourful Buddhist prayer flags draping the roads while colourful welcome arches have been put up at entry points.

From Bomdi-la, the Dalai Lama will leave Itanagar by helicopter on Friday. Earlier in the day at Tawang, he laid the foundation of a hostel building of a home for destitutes called Manjushree Vidyapeeth. He also visited the Old Market Gompha and the Serjey Jamyang Chockhorling monastery at Tawang before his departure.

Brakes on Ajmal juggernaut?

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othing could go wrong for perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal. Until his son Abdur Ramhan Ajmal lost the Assembly seat he had vacated to become a parliamentarian.

Less than a year after its birth in the latter half of 2005, the minority-specific Asom United Democratic Front surprised political pundits by bagging 10 Assembly seats in Assam. Last year, it shed its regional image and floated units in five more states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – to transform into the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).

As the Ajmal juggernaut rolled, the ruling Congress in Assam became warier of the AIUDF than the crisis-ridden Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). For, Muslims hold the key to 52 of 126 Assembly seats and six of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.

In the parliamentary polls earlier this year, Ajmal senior defeated Congress heavyweight and former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev to win the Silchar seat. It was the only Lok Sabha seat the AIUDF won, but it was almost through in two more seats.

Ajmal senior, more of a Muslim cleric than a businessman worth over Rs 200 crore, subsequently vacated his Salmara South Assembly seat. And he nominated his elder son Abdur Rahman for the seat.

The Congress was quick to pan Ajmal senior’s brand of “family-oriented” minority politics, underscoring how he wanted to pitchfork son Abdur Rahman after having promoted brother Sirajuddin. Ajmal had earlier vacated the Jamunamukh Assembly seat to make room for Sirajuddin.

“There’s a limit to how far you can go playing the minority card and cashing in on religious sentiments,” said Abdul Khaleque, Congress MLA from Jania in western Assam’s Barpeta district. “The defeat of Ajmal’s son by 6,553 votes is an indication.”

Abdur Rahman lost the Muslim-dominated Salmara South seat to Congress’ Wazed Ali Choudhury, who polled 53,469 votes. The Congress registered a bigger win in the Dhekiajuli Assembly seat, its candidate Bhimananda Tanti defeating AGP’s Shiv Charan Sahu by 21,547 votes. Dhekiajuli was regarded an AGP bastion.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, elated by his party’s show in the by-elections, went to the extent of calling Ajmal “history”. Lesser Congress leaders reminded how the AIUDF bubble had burst in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, where the party was routed in all the six seats it had contested.

“Let’s keep Maharashtra out of this,” Ajmal told *Hindustan Times*. “If one loss makes me history, then Indira Gandhi should have been history after the Congress debacle post-Emergency. And the Congress should know better than accuse others of dynastic politics.”

Ajmal accused the ruling Congress of misusing the government machinery and threatening voters to ensure AIUDF’s loss in the Salmara South seat.

Militant killed in encounter in Manipur

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n unidentified militant was killed in an encounter with combined forces of Manipur police commandos and 34 Assam Rifles between Moijing and Ningombam in Thoubal district, official sources said on Thursday.

The combined forces were patrolling the Moijing area last night when some unknown armed militants fired at the forces. The security personnel retuned the fire and the militant was killed on the spot.

The other militants fled and one 9mm pistol was recovered from the spot, the sources said.

Bandh affects normal life in some Assam dists

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ormal life was disrupted on Wednesday in Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD) in Assam in the wake of a 12-hr bandh called by the Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF).

All offices, educational institutions, business and commercial establishments remained closed and vehicles were off the roads in the BTAD districts of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri and Darrang, official sources said.

The shut-down was called to protest the killing of a former Bodo Liberation Tiger cadre Bhaktiraj Sarmah by suspected anti-talk faction of the NDFB in Kokrajhar on November 8 last.

There was no report of any untoward incident from any of the districts.

Dalai Lama attends prayer meeting at Urgelling monastery

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ibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday attended a prayer meeting at the Urgelling monastery on the fourth day of his visit in Tawang.

The Dalai Lama blessed the nearly one hundred monks who were present at the monastery to receive him.

The spiritual leader went around 'thangkas' (Tibetan paintings) inside the monastery.

The Dalai Lama arrived here on Sunday on a four-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh after a gap of six years. His visit also marks 50 years of his escape from Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule there.

Controversial anti-terror law to be amended, PM tells tribal leaders

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rime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured tribal leaders from Tripura that the central government would suitably amend the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) 1958 that gives unlimited powers to the paramilitary forces to shoot on sight and arrest anybody without a warrant.

The assurance, say tribal leaders, came when a five-member delegation of Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) met the prime minister in New Delhi late last month and submitted a detailed memorandum.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Tribal Welfare Minister Kantilal Bhuria, Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanaswamy, National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Home Secretary G.K. Pillai were present at the meeting.

"Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram unambiguously assured us that the centre is now working to modify certain provisions of the AFSPA," said Rabindra Debbarma, former Tripura minister and INPT general secretary.

Home ministry officials in New Delhi told IANS that amendments to the controversial legislation had been finalised and sent to the union cabinet for approval. Once the cabinet clears it, it will be applicable throughout the country - be it Jammu and Kashmir or the northeast states.

According to the INPT, a regional party and an ally of Congress, over 1,500 tribal youths have been either detained or arrested under AFSPA over the years.

"The demand for repealing the AFSPA was one of the issues in our ongoing movement gainst the Left Front government," Debbarma said, adding that the repeal of the draconian law was a major issue in the entire northeast.

Besides Tripura, the AFSPA is also in force in Manipur, Assam and Nagaland.

Human rights activist Irom Sharmila in Manipur has been on an indefinite hunger strike for 10 years, demanding rescinding of the controversial act, which was enacted by parliament to quell the Naga insurgency in northeast India in 1958.

Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Sekhar Mooshahary and central intelligence officials in a recent meeting of police chiefs of northeast in Shillong also discussed the issue.

"The prolonged use of the act has made it ineffective. There are reports of abuses of the act. If the act is suitably amends, I think the situation would not worsen, in fact it would improve," said Mooshahary, former chief of the National Security Guards (NSG) and the Border Security Force (BSF).

The Tripura government has recently extended the AFSPA for another six months to counter the insurgency in the northeastern state.

"Though militancy has come down in Tripura, the state government is averse to taking any chances for some more time," a state home department official said.

Of the 64 police stations in Tripura, the AFSPA is in force in 34 police stations and partially in six police stations since 1997.

During its meeting in New Delhi, the INPT also demanded further empowerment of the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTADC), inclusion of the Kokborok language in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution and amendment to the tribals' forest rights act.

"Like the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) of Assam, the TTADC should be given powers to collect tax and various royalties and govern higher education institutions and hospitals under its jurisdiction," Debbarma told journalists.

"The prime minister and the home minister told us that they would send a high level official team to Tripura to study the functioning of the TTADC and implementation of the tribals' forest rights act in Tripura."

2 engineers kidnapped in Manipur

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MPHAL: At a time when Manipur's legal fraternity is fighting hard for the release of an advocate who went missing 18 days ago, two government
engineers have been abducted for ransom, allegedly by an underground outfit.

On Thursday, local women of Kongpal Chanam Leikai and its surrounding areas demonstrated against the kidnapping of Manipur power department's executive engineer, Th Tomalchand, of Khurai area and section officer Leitanthem Mangi of Kongpal Chanam Leikai in Imphal East. Both were serving in Tamenglong district and are missing since the past one week. Family sources said an underground group that claimed to have abducted the duo has demanded a Rs 15-crore ransom from the power department against their release.

"On Friday morning, my father left home with his scooter. His whereabouts were not known for days till a man called up on Monday and informed that my father and Tomalchand were in their custody," said L Premananda, Mangi's son. The caller, who identified himself as a cadre of an underground outfit, said the two would be set free only if the state power department gives Rs 15 crore to the outfit, Premananda added. Police came to Mangi's residence on Thursday morning and recorded statements, his son said, while appealing to the abductors to release the two engineers unharmed. The power department head office here convened a high-level meeting of senior engineers to discuss the situation in the afternoon, official sources said.

On the other hand, a combined security team of district police commandos and jawans of 34 Assam Rifles gunned down a suspected rebel in an encounter at Moijing in Thoubal on Wednesday night. Also in Thoubal, unidentified men triggered a grenade blast at a local Zilla Parished member's residence on Wednesday night.

Churches wake up to reality' of HIV/AIDS

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HILLONG: All along even the most "basic means" to combat HIV/AIDS has been a strict no-no with Churches of all denominations in the North-East.
But with the menace assuming an alarming proportion in the predominantly Christian states of the region, the Church, it seems, is ready to review its stand on the very concept of birth control.

However, it's not going to be easy as Church elders are still in a dilemma whether to advocate the use of condoms. "It will be morally wrong for the Church to prescribe condoms for safe sex and use of sterile syringes by drug abusers," said Rev. Kevi Meru of the Shillong Baptist Church on the sidelines of a meeting held at the Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) here recently.

"The Church can only preach monogamy and abstinence before marriage because that's what is written in the scriptures," the Church leader contended.

Attended by Church leaders of different denominations, the meeting discussed threadbare the role to be taken up by the Church to address the issue of HIV/AIDS afflicting the society.

In fact, the Church is faced with a dilemma on using the pulpit for advocating the subject of HIV/AIDS. "The Church has seldom used the pulpit to highlight the dangers of HIV and AIDS faced by the faithful," Rev. Meru told reporters on the issue.

Nevertheless, he emphasized that the Church is already seized with the dangers that HIV/AIDS poses to society and added that the Church should be concerned with the "behaviour" of its members.

A two-day workshop on "HIV/AIDS, Prevention and Care" conducted by the North East India Committee on Relief and Development (NEICORD) in coordination with the UN and National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) was part of the meeting.

The meeting also discussed the predicament a church leader usually faces when it comes to dealing with issues like HIV/AIDS. A church leader said, "HIV/AIDS is a menace staring society as a whole as well as the Church. It's a part of the fallen world along with other ailments afflicting humanity. But what is worse with this disease is that innocent people become victims such as faithful spouses, babies and even those getting blood transfusion."

Significantly, the workshop was also aimed at making the Church leaders convinced of the fact that HIV carriers should not be discriminated against or declared unacceptable but should be allowed to live with dignity and hope, because contracting HIV virus does not "dehumanize" the individual.

Besides, the workshop also made suggestions to the Church elders as to how the Church could extend its "helping hands" to HIV/AIDS sufferers while emphasizing that they needed to be "forgiven and accepted".

Bandh after NLFT massacre, two Reangs missing

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GARTALA: Two days after eight Reang tribesmen had been massacred by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) militants in an apparent revenge
bid, two persons were reported missing on Wednesday, with police alleging that Monday night's attackers might have held them captive.

Even as chief minister Manik Sarkar went to Kanchanpur sub-division by chopper on Wednesday to take stock of the situation, the area observed a bandh called by both the ruling CPM and Opposition Congress in protest against the incident, crippling normal life.

"A massive search operation is on to trace the hostages. DGP Pranay Sahay has been camping in the subdivision since Tuesday," a police official said. The missing have been identified as Manikrai Reang and Budharam Reang. Police sources said tension still prevailed in interior parts of Kanchanpur. "However, the situation is under control following massive deployment of security forces in the subdivision," they added.

Intelligence officials believe the snatching of an INSAS rifle from NLFT militant Sadhan Jamatia by seven Reang youths who had later "surrendered" before the Special Branch on Monday with the same weapon could be the immediate trigger for the carnage. But there were several other factors, including "ethnic intolerance", that had played a key role in the violence. For Reangs the second largest community after Tripuris the predominantly Tripuri NLFT has a special dislike. "We have reports that NLFT attackers were led by Kiran Tripura, a Tripuri militant, and we believe there was an ethnic grouse behind the killings," said a senior police official.

In Kanchanpur, however, there had been an undercurrent of communal tension between Reang villagers and NLFT's Tripuri leaders for quite some time. "NLFT is desperate to stage a comeback and the Kanchanpur massacre is an indication of that. With this killing, they sought to send a message to tribal villagers resisting their recruitment and extortion drive," a Tripura Police official pointed out.

Fresh curbs on Dalai, media shut out

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AWANG/BOMDI-LA: As the Dalai Lama prepares to visit West Kameng district which, like Tawang, had fallen to the Chinese in the 1962 conflict, the
Arunachal Pradesh government has initiated steps to prevent the spiritual leader from making any strong remarks against the Communist nation.

On the eve of his departure for Dirang and Bomdi-la in West Kameng district, state officials on Wednesday asked him to convert his public address, which was scheduled to take place in Tawang, into a religious congregation. "Keeping the sensitiveness of the area in mind, we've advised his holiness to amend his programme," said a senior official. The state also asked mediapersons covering the Dalai Lama's visit to leave Tawang as soon as his programme ended there on Wednesday afternoon.

It refused to extend the inner line permits (ILPs), which TOI requested to cover the Tibetan leader's two-day trip to West Kameng district. "We've got instructions not to extend ILPs beyond the Dalai's Lama's stay in Tawang," explained the official. The ILPs are mandatory for outsiders who want to visit the northeastern state. "Our officers reprimanded us for allowing the media to get close to the Dalai Lama. They said journalists are asking all sorts of questions about China," said a Central paramilitary force officer as he stopped these TOI correspondents at the Yid-Gha-Choezin Monastery in Tawang, where the world's most venerated monk had arrived to attend a religious congregation in the morning.

Even on Tuesday, sources said, the state government cancelled the Dalai Lama's visit to a monastery in the heart of Tawang town. Organizers of the Dalai Lama's visit also withdrew volunteers of the India-Tibet Friendship Society from the Nobel laureate's programmes. On Sunday, the first day of the Buddhist leader's visit, these volunteers had images of Indian and Tibetan flags on their T-shirts.

Last Friday, police had removed Tibetan flags from various locations. They also asked the Mon Autonomous Council Demand Committee, which has been fighting for autonomy for local Monpa Buddhists, to keep their office shut until the Dalai Lama left Tawang. The state government has been extra-cautious ever since the Dalai Lama criticised Beijing for its role in Tibet and its claim over Tawang on Sunday.

Despite fresh restrictions on his activities, the Dalai Lama continued to draw thousands of followers from within and outside the state. For the third consecutive day, Tawang town remained closed for about six hours as almost all its residents went to attend the Tibetan leader's discourse at the Yid-Gha-Choezin Monastery. He was also scheduled to visit the Urgelling Monastery on the outskirts of Tawang, where the Sixth Dalai Lama was born in the 17th century.

Despite the chilly weather, unprecedented enthusiasm was seen along the 186-km stretch from Tawang to Bomdi-la. All shops were closed. Local Buddhists draped the road with thousands of five-colour religious flags and erected welcome arches with sacred motifs at numerous places. "We are thrilled to find god's reincarnation among us," said Pema Thondup, a former Assam Rifles jawan from Themang.

Witnesses testify July 23 shootout

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MPHAL: In a new twist to the July 23 "fake" encounter, two witnesses on Wednesday told the Justice Agarwal Commission that they saw an encounter
between a man wearing a black shirt and police commandos on that day.

Incidentally, Chungkham Sanjit Singh, a former militant who was killed in the shootout, had sported a black shirt that day. Besides Sanjit, a woman was also killed and five others were injured in the incident that took place at the crowded Khwairamband Bazaar. People took it to be a "fake" encounter after looking at the photographs published by the media which showed Sanjit surrounded by commandos minutes before his death.

S Dhaneshwor and W Rominchandra Singh, both cousins, on Wednesday told the commission that they saw two commandos standing on one side of Bir Tikendrajit Road checking a youth for a mark on the arm in the morning of July 23.

Dhaneshwor said the youth was wearing a black half shirt. While one commando was trying to lift the shirt, the young man ran away by pushing the cop. "The youth ran towards the East and started firing. Seeing this, I stopped my vehicle (van) and people started running hither and thither. The two commandos shouted and fired at the youth," Dhaneshor testified before the commission headed by Justice (retired) PG Agarwal here.

Thereafter, the youth ran for a certain distance and started firing at the commandos again after which he ran towards the market, the witness said. He added that the two commandos began chasing the youth. "I then started my vehicle and saw an injured person. We took him in our vehicle and dropped at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) hospital. The name of the injured was P Lukhoi as told by him at the hospital," Dhaneshwor said. He added that he met some police personnel who took him and his cousin to a city police station in Imphal West where their statements were recorded.

Earlier, the commission recorded the statements of two other witnesses Chandrakumar Singh, proprietor of a pharmacy along BT Road and Keshorani Devi. The probe panel had also asked the commandant of 3 Assam Rifles, Churachandpur, to produce rifleman P Lukhoi Singh (one of the injured persons in the shootout) before the commission.

Gauhati High Court orders probe into Kameng killing

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MPHAL: Gauhati High Court has ordered an inquiry into the alleged extra-judicial killing of a youth by Manipur Police commandos at Kameng
village of greater Imphal in November last year. Police had said Nongmaithem Michael of Keishampat Keisham Leikai was killed by commandos in an encounter at Kameng Yenkaobung in Imphal West district on November 4 last year. Police also accused him of being a member of a militant organization.

The deceased's wife, Nongmaithem Meena, dismissed the police version saying that her husband was killed in a "fake" encounter after being picked up by police commandos from Wahengbam Leikai in the city. She prayed before the court to punish the guilty commandos besides seeking compensation. Having heard both the parties, a division Bench of Gauhati High Court on Tuesday directed the district and sessions judge, Manipur East, to conduct a probe into the killing. In their Imphal bench sitting, justice Maibam B K Singh and justice A C Upaghyay maintained that the inquiry report should be submitted within six months.

In her petition, Meena said her husband had gone to attend a shradh ceremony at one of his friend's place on the fateful day and left his house around 3 pm after getting a phone call. Around 3.30 pm, Michael informed his wife that he was arrested by police commandos from Wahengbam Leikai. He also urged her to contact police to free him. When her family members tried to contact Michael on his phone, an unknown man picked it up and informed that he was inside a toilet. The next day, his body was found at the mortuary of Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) here, the petition added. Advocate Khaidem Mani appeared on behalf of the petitioner.

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