'Congress’ Manipur visit was to help Naga talks'

Kohima: With objections by ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) over recent visit of a Congress team from state to Manipur, former chief minister SC Jamir on Friday said that the meeting was an effort to help resolve Naga issue. 

A five-member Nagaland Congress team led by Jamir recently visited Imphal and met Manipur Pradesh Congress president and Home Minister Gaikham Gaigam and Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh "to seek their moral support for the party" for the coming Assembly Election in Nagaland. 

Referring to the unofficial visit, Jamir in a statement said, "It is unfortunate that in Nagaland there is a tendency to look at every sincere and honest effort with jaundiced eyes." 

Jamir, former governor of Goa and Maharashtra, said that as members of the Congress family, it was felt strongly by the five-member team that Manipur Chief Minister should be apprised of the genuine feelings of all sections of the people involved in the on-going Naga political process. 

"The decades of political negotiation (between the Centre and underground groups) is on the threshold of final consummation in which Manipur had to play a positive role," he said. 

"It was time for all the organisations to put their very sincere efforts to help in the early solution of Naga problem and fall in line with the resolution of 60 MLAs (of Nagaland Assembly) in this great political experiment," the statement said. 

On July 19 last year all the 60 MLAs of Nagaland Assembly resolved that they were ready to resign to pave the way for an alternative political arrangement in the event of an early political settlement of the protracted Naga conflict. 

All the legislators went to New Delhi to inform the central leaders, including the Prime Minister, about their decision. 

PTI 

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'Powerful men behind Arunachal scribe shooting'

Itanagar: Two bodies of scribes in Arunachal Pradesh Thursday expressed concern over the "slow pace" of investigation into journalist Tongam Rina shooting case of July 15 last year in which "powerful people" were allegedly involved. 

In a joint statement, the Arunachal Press Club (APC) and the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists today alleged that the police were trying to shield the culprit as powerful people were involved in the case. 

Gunmen shot and seriously injured Tongam Rina, associate editor of the Arunachal Times from close range when she was entering her office in the evening that day.

Rina had meanwhile recovered and resumed her duties in the paper, the first English newspaper of the state owned by former chief minister Gegong Apang, but journalists were unhappy as there was no progress in the case. 

Initially scribes were given to understand that the case had been handed over to the CBI, but later there was a report that it was turned down by the CBI. The government did not clarify it despite repeated pleas, the statement said.

So the case was in the hands of the Capital Police but there was no update from them in this regard. When enquired by APC members, some officers privately said "powerful people are involved and therefore it is tough to investigate the case," it said demanding the police to name those "powerful people". 

"The way the police are trying to suppress the case, we doubt their integrity and have a general feeling that the police are trying to shield the culprit involved in the case," the two organisations said in the statement. 

PTI 

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