North East & Eastern Himalayan: News & Discussion

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North East & Eastern Himalayan: News & Discussion

Post by Rakesh »

Last edited by Rakesh on 31 May 2007 08:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by shyamd »

‘You Can Demand Anything in India’
[quote]Violence doesn’t get you anywhere feels Sunil Nath, once ULFA’s publicity secretary. Young people need to know militancy is a dead end, he told Teresa Rehman

Sunil Nath’s booming voice echoes in the editing room of the new television channel he is setting up in Guwahati. Nath is a well-known mediaperson in Assam, writing columns for local dailies and hosting TV shows. Before he surrendered in 1992, Nath, alias Siddhartha Phukan, was the publicity secretary of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Nath was 22 years old when he joined ULFA. Growing up in Shillong, he was an outgoing boy, had a c certificate from the ncc and had even participated in the Republic Day Parade. He also had a private pilot’s licence from the Assam Flying Club. He was the boxing champion in college and the arm wrestling champion in university. An Arts graduate, he got a job with the State Bank of India while pursuing a masters degree in English.

The anti-foreigner movement was at its peak in Assam in the 1980s, and Nath was a member of the All Assam Student’s Union. “When, in 1983, elections were streamrolled over an unwilling population, we became dejected. We thought maybe taking up arms would help,â€
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Post by shyamd »

India to develop 7,603 kms of road links in North East
India today unveiled plans to develop 7,603 kms of road links to reach every nook and corner of the North East with the government saying it was not to rival, but to strengthen links with country's giant neighbour China.

"We are planning to reach every place in this strategic region," Minister of State for Defence M Pallam Raju told reporters after a full board meeting of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The North East comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

China recently inaugurated, what it claimed, was the world's highest rail link connecting the Chinese mainland with Tibetan capital of Lhasa and has built multi-laned highways right upto the Sino-Indian border.

"It is not in response to china rapidly building rail and road infrastructure across the Himalayan heights in Tibet, but to strengthen ties with our neighbour," the minister said.

"The special accelerated road development would involve laying down of a total road link of upto 7,603 km and would be completed in the next six years at an estimated cost of a whopping Rs 12,123 crores," he said.

It is not only road links to Sino-India border, but the new plan envisages networking road connectivity to country's other neighbours Bhutan and Myanmar as well within seven Naxal-affected states in the heartland and in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Post by R Sharma »

The border roads will go a long way in connecting the North East with the rest of India. What steps can be realized to really develop this part of the country? I guess the first thing to do a SWOT analysis of the region. What exactly are the economic strengths and weaknesses. Find out where the opportunities lie and then where the threats lie. How can India uplift this region of the country?
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Post by Rye »

link
NE states pitch for Myanmar-India gas pipeline

Source: IRIS (21 November 2006)
In a bid to bring prosperity and development to the north-eastern region, the seven sisters are stressing on the passage of the proposed gas pipeline through the region from Myanmar, as per agency sources.

This re-routing of the pipeline through the region would bring prosperity and development in the region, Assam`s Commerce and Industry Minister, Pradyut Bordoloi said after meeting Petroleum Minister, Murli Deora.

Bordoloi was representing a forum of Commerce and Industry Minister from the region.

India, which has been facing competition from China for gas from Myanmar, has presented eight alternative routes including one via the north-east that excluded Bangladesh for the USD 3 billion pipeline.

The trunk pipeline for importing gas from Myanmar`s Sitwe area will be connected to the proposed Jagdishpur-Haldia gas pipeline at Gaya in Bihar passing through Aizwal, Guwahati, Jalpaiguri and Siliguri.

The pipeline will also have the provision to transport gas from developing gas fields in Tripura and Assam.

GAIL, which is the preferred buyer of gas from Block A-1 in Myanmar is also for bringing the pipeline via the north-east. It proposes routing the pipeline through the states of Mizoram, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal.

The proposal for the north-east route was mooted after the Bangladesh government refused to allow its territory for the project.
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Post by Kakkaji »

Routing the pipeline through the NE states, instead of Bangladesh, is a most sensible proposal. Even if it costs extra, the payoffs will be significant. The extra costs should be borne for national security, backward areas development, and national security.

Forget subsidizing Bangladesh. Help our NE states first.
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Post by shyamd »

army saying ISI is helping ULFA.
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Post by ramkris »

s... it seems they r goin to fight for ulfa itself...read my post in terroristan thread

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ULFA ... 541834.cms[/quote]
Last edited by ramkris on 20 May 2008 18:14, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by ramkris »

BTW will anyone pls tell me y some of northeast terrorist outfits dislike commies....bcos a few days back there was anews that some 'north bengal' terrorists killed local commie workers and (as usual) wb commie govt called for strike.
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Salvaging the northeast

Post by G Subramaniam »

Unless the northeast is de-islamised by dilution, it is certain that within a few decades, we will lose it to Bangladesh or at the least have a JK problem x 5

Moving of kafirs into this area to de-islamise is the only option of our current system

Even if further immigration is stopped, muslims by birth are already 40% of Assam
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Post by shyamd »

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Post by Victor »

Rye wrote:NE states pitch for Myanmar-India gas pipeline
What bugs me is why do the NE states even need to "pitch" this route? Isn't it the brain-dead option already?
Kakkaji wrote:Routing the pipeline through the NE states, instead of Bangladesh, is a most sensible proposal. Even if it costs extra, the payoffs will be significant. The extra costs should be borne for national security, backward areas development, and national security.

Forget subsidizing Bangladesh. Help our NE states first.
Developing the NE is low priority for GoI like it has been for 60 years. What really makes this the idiot-proof solution is the fact that we will be saving millions of dollars in transit fees every month for the next century. This money would otherwise go to bangladesh to fund insurgency in the NE and promote terror in the rest of India.
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Post by shyamd »

The CCEA also approved the special accelerated road programme for building 603 km of national highway in the North East.
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Post by Rye »

Hopefully, the money actually goes towards building the roads and not in some corrupt person's pocket -- the roads in the NE better be of the best quality if India is to depend on them during war and peace times. Possession is 9/10s of the law and India better take possession of land in the NE by developing it (if the pro-chinese traitors in the CPI(M) do not stop such policy in the GoI), so that the Chinese cannot do so in the future...or will be provoking war with India if they do so.
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Post by Rye »

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-23 ... 182109.htm

Two killed in a blast in India's N-E Assam
New Delhi, Nov. 24, IRNA
India-Northeast-Blast
At least two people were killed and a dozen more wounded in a powerful explosion Thursday evening outside the Guwahati railway station in India's northeastern state of Assam.
A police spokesman said militants suspected to be from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) triggered the explosion near the parking area of the Guwahati railway station.
"The bomb was concealed in a sack and kept on a cycle rickshaw," city police spokesman Rajen Singh said.
Two civilians died on the spot and 12 others injured, three of them critically.
"The area where the blast took place was teeming with people. One of the victims who bore the brunt of the blast was blown up into pieces," Dharam Pal Singh, a witness said.
Police blamed the ULFA for the blast.
The injured were shifted to hospitals with multiple injuries.
Police and paramilitary forces have cordoned off the railway station with security personnel putting up roadblocks in the city.
The ULFA is accused for a wave of bombings in the past two months in which 20 people were killed and 106 injured.
Earlier this month, there were two explosions in the heart of Guwahati city killing 16 people and wounding 60.
Raju

Post by Raju »

ULFA, KLO foot soldiers of ISI

The Two Outfits Bond Through Their Leaders Based In Bangladesh

Subodh Ghildiyal | TNN

New Delhi: Security agencies have begun to piece together ISI's links to the Jalpaiguri train blast, with ULFA and KLO playing foot soldiers of the covert Pakistani agency - a substantial part of whose efforts are concentrated in orchestrating terror attacks on Indian targets.

The blast, which killed 10 persons in the West bengal district on Monday, is believed to be the handiwork of ISI-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with ULFA and KLO as local facilitators. The two India banned outfits bond through thier brass based in Bangladesh. But, intelligence agencies say, the cross-border dimension stands out in the sabotage.

While the ISI has an entrenched presence in Bangladesh-which has emerged as the major entry point for terror lately-suspiscious of its direct role in the train blast have been strengthened by reports of ULFA's visible interaction with the Pakistani agency.

Inputs say that ULFA leader Paresh Barua visited Pakistan recently. His dash to Pakistan was followed by a visit by a group of ULFA cadres as recently as last month.

It was the very ISI grip over ULFA which had the union home ministry suspect a breakthrough in the peace talks through People's Consultative Group. The stepped up violence in Assam and the Jalpaiguri blast, agencies say, are sings of the two collaborating for subversive activities.

It is also clear that the so-called peace talks were really a breather for the ULFA to recoup and plan and this is now evident in the train bombing and the blast at Guwahati railway station.

ToI
Raju

Post by Raju »

btw what is this Indira Goswami et al doing interacting and being spokesperson for this paki terrorist spawn called ULFA ??
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Post by shyamd »

WAKE-UP CALL FROM WEST BENGAL AND ASSAM
By B. Raman

On November 20, 2006, an explosion (some reports say two) in a compartment of the Haldibari-Siliguri passenger train at the Belakoba railway station in West Bengal resulted in the death of seven innocent civilians. Fifty persons were injured, 20 of them seriously. While no organisation has claimed responsibility for the explosion, the local police officials seem to suspect the hand of either the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), some of whose leaders and cadres operate from sanctuaries in Bangladesh, or the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), which is believed to have close links with the ULFA.

2. Media reports have stated as follows: "Police and intelligence officials believe the attack was carried out by the banned ULFA as the site of the blast is not far from the border with Assam. The finger of suspicion has also been pointed at the KLO, an insurgent group propped up by the ULFA that is active in north Bengal. Intelligence officials in Siliguri said the Darjeeling Mail, to which two bogies of the Haldibari-Siliguri train were to be attached, could have been the target. The Mail, coming from the Coochbehar district bordering Assam, was 30 minutes behind schedule when the blast occurred. The casualties would have been higher if the explosion had occurred at New Jalpaiguri Railway station near Siliguri, they said. The officials said it was likely that the explosives went off at Belakoba while being carried to New Jalpaiguri."

3. The explosion in West Bengal has come in the wake of a series of explosions in Assam since the security forces called off the cessation of operations against the ULFA on September 23, 2006, following the ULFA's reluctance to engage in serious peace talks with the Government. There were two serious explosions in Guwahati itself on November 5, 2006, resulting in the death of 14 innocent civilians. One of these had taken place in an area where a large number of Hindi-speaking persons from other parts of India live and work.

4. In its issue for August,2006, the "Herald", the monthly journal published by the "Dawn" group of publications of Karachi, had quoted an unidentified cadre of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) of Pakistan as saying that the LET has changed its modus operandi (MO) in India as follows: (a). Direct confrontations with the security forces to be avoided unless there is a 100 per cent chance of success; (2). greater emphasis on operations involving the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), using explosive material commonly available in India; and (c) more attacks on installations (economic and other strategic targets).

5. A similar change in the MO of the ULFA can be seen in Assam. There has been a disturbing increase in the number of terrorist strikes involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and hand-grenades, while incidents involving hand-held weapons and direct confrontations with the security forces have not gone up. Compared to the number of explosions, the number of civilian casualties had not registered a corresponding increase, because the ULFA was largely concentrating on economic targets such as oil installations, power transmission lines etc. But since November 1, 2006, it has been targeting civilians increasingly. Available police statistics of incidents involving explosions and civilian casualties are given below:


YEAR NUMBER OF EXPLOSIONS CIVILIANS KILLED

2002 18 218
2003 19 260
2004 103 202
2005 121 65
2006 100 (upto October-end) 92

NOTE: The number of civilians killed is in all acts of terrorism involving the ULFA, including explosions. The figures are not exclusive for explosions.

6. According to the Assam Police, the following jihadi organisations are also active in Assam: The Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA); the Independent Liberation Army of Assam (ILAA); the People United Liberation Front (PULF); the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), whose Pakistani counterpart is a founding member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF); and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), whose Pakistani counterpart is also a member of the IIF. According to them, the activities of all these organisations are co-ordinated by the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JUM) of Bangladesh, which organised hundreds of simultaneous explosions of crude devices all over Bangladesh on August 17, 2005.

7. Some HUM cadres, along with two Pakistani nationals, were arrested in August, 1999. Forty-two HUM cadres, including some trained in the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), have surrendered so far. Four HUJI cadres trained in Bangladesh surrendered in August, 2004. One HUJI cadre was arrested in February, 2004. So far, 370 jihadis have been arrested and 128 have surrendered.

8. The Security Forces in Assam have been putting up a determined fight against the ULFA killing 1,128 cadres since 1991 and arresting 11,173 during the same period. 8,465 others surrendered. As a result, they say, there have been some positive factors: Decrease in cadre strength; erosion of its support base in the population; decrease in recruitment and fund collection; and shortage of arms and ammunition. In view of these developments, the new MO of the ULFA has the following features: Decrease in specific targeted violence; increase in indiscriminate violence directed at soft targets; targeting of vital installations in remote areas; attacks on security forces when and where possible; and use of unconscious third persons not suspected by the Police for having the IEDs planted in public places.

9. However, the ULFA still has a hardcore of 800 trained cadres and another 1,500 untrained cadres. There are no signs of any weakening of its morale and motivation. Its command and control orchestrated from Bangladesh is intact.

10. In an editorial on November 9, 2006, the "Sentinel", a daily newspaper published from Guwahati, wrote as follows while commenting on the targeting of Hindi-speaking civilians from other parts of India living and working in Assam:: " Striking terror in the hearts of Hindi-speaking people of Asom is precisely what the jihadi elements of Bangladesh and the ISI (Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence) want for two reasons. In the first place, their identification with India is stronger than many others disillusioned by the Centre's neglect of Asom. Secondly, the Hindi-speaking people control the economy of Asom both as businessmen and as skilled manual workers. The forces inimical to the State want the economic vaccum that has stoked the illegal influx from Bangladesh to be intensified. However, none of this is unexpected. For over two decades, the "Sentinel" has constantly harped on the fact that it does not take long for a silent, unarmed invasion (My comment: of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh) to turn into a violent armed invasion. We are beginning to see this happening. Over the years, the Asom Government and the Centre chose to pay no attention. They are now about to reap as they have sown."

11. The same issue of the "Sentinel" carried the following report on its front page under the heading: " NE Rebels Still Getting Arms From China": "State Inspector-General of Police (Special Branch) Khagen Sarma said today (November 8) that arms consignments continue to come to the North-East from China. A huge consignment of such arms was caught along the Bhutan border way back in 1997 and the supply of arms from China to the rebel groups of this region has been going on since 2003, he said. "The arms consignments are coming through a strong smuggling network, and there is no evidence of the direct involvement of the Chinese Government in the illegal arms trade even though some sort of support from the Government to the activities cannot be ruled out," he said.

12. The newspaper, which was quoting from a presentation made by the IGP (Special Branch) at a seminar on terrorism organised by the Assam Police, added that the IGP also made the following points in his presentation:

(a). Terrorism is now not confined to a particular location.

(b). Bangladesh has become the hub of ISI and Al Qaeda activists, who are providing logistics and other support to the terrorist organisations in the North-East.

(c). The ULFA has been in an agreement with the ISI since 2004. After the set-back they suffered in Bhutan, the ULFA sent 25 of its cadres to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) for arms and explosive training. The terrorists are using a route from Guwahati to Karachi via Dhaka to go to the POK.

(d). The activities of the ULFA have increased in the last 13 months, particularly after the constitution of the People's Consultative Group (PCG), an overground front organisation. To make its presence felt, it has started to hit soft targets. Its modus operandi has changed. It has been using children and other innocent people to plant the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) assembled by it in public places.

(e). Although its support base has been weakened considerably, one of the main sources of its strength is the support from human rights organisations and a section of the local media, which tries to glorify its activities. There is a need to strengthen the psychological operations against the ULFA.

13. Many non-governmental organisations have refrained from condemning the ULFA's targeted killings of innocent civilians. Instead, the focus of their campaign has been against the Security Forces. After the two explosions in Guwahati on November 5, 2006, these NGOs remained conspicuously silent on the brutal killing of the civilians, but instead blamed the Government and the security forces for calling off the cessation of operations against the ULFA on September 23, 2006. The cessation had been announced on August 13, 2006, to facilitate peace talks with the ULFA. Since there were indications that the ULFA was exploiting this cessation to step up its fund collection drive through extortions and other activities and did not respond seriously to the Government's offer of peace talks, the cessation was called off.

14. Some of these NGOs had organised a public meeting at Jorhat on November 7, 2006, under the auspices of the People's Committee for Peace Initiatives in Asom. At this meeting, there was hardly any criticism of the brutal murder of the civilians by the ULFA on November 5. Instead, allegations were made that the security forces were committing atrocities against the civilians.

15. Some of the points made by the Hindi-speaking residents of Assam in their letters to the local newspapers are disturbing. One such letter published by the "Assam Tribune" on November 7, 2006, said: "Some people (in the PCG) even acted as co-ordinators in the ULFA dictat that all "Indians" living in Asom must pay tax, an euphemism for extortion. But the same ULFA never utters a word about the millions of Bangladeshis illegally living in Asom in fear of displeasing their foreign masters. In other words, "Indians" living in Asom must pay "tax" or face bullets, but Bangladeshis can stay without any such fear."

16. Any effective counter-terrorism strategy in Assam has to have the conventional components such as improving intelligence collection, analysis and assessment and co-ordinated follow-up action; improving the capability and resources of the police; strengthened physical security; and a well-tested crisis management drill. In addition, it must have a strong anti-illegal immigration component---to prevent any further illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the identification, arrests and deportation of those, who have already illegally entered India. Obviously for electoral reasons, there is a reluctance on the part of the Government to deal effectively with illegal immigration. This is likely to prove suicidal. Muslims constitute about 32 per cent of the population of Assam today. If the problem of illegal immigration from Bangladesh is not tackled, there is a real danger that in another 50 years, Assam might turn into a Muslim majority State.

17. Pakistan, Bangladesh and China have an interest in keeping Assam destabilised---each for its own reason. The interest of Pakistan and Bangladesh is in facilitating the emergence of a Muslim majority State and its ultimate secession from India. The interest of China is in weakening the Indian capability to protect Arunachal Pradesh in the likelihood of the unresolved border dispute over Arunachal Pradesh one day leading to a confrontation between India and China.

18. The previous Government headed by Shri A. B. Vajpayee was strong in rhetoric relating to terrorism, but weak in action. The present Govt. is weak in rhetoric as well as action. It seems to believe that confidence-building measures with neighbours who are sponsoring terrorism against India and the peace process would pay dividends in improving the terrorism situation on the ground. This is unlikely to happen. Lack of determination to act strongly and in time is already costing us heavily and will cost even more heavily in future.

The writer had visited Guwahati from November 6 to 9, 2006.
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Post by shyamd »

Northeast to get new tax benefits
[quote]A special package for the Northeast states is in the offing. A policy note for this is being prepared by the department of industrial promotion and policy (DIPP), revenue secretary KM Chandrasekhar said at the India Economic Summit on Sunday.

“The package would provide tax incentives for infrastructure development and investments in the region,â€
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Post by Rye »

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cns64770.htm
India considers Myanmar gas pipeline via Tripura

06-11-06 The Central government is considering a proposal by Tripura to lay a sub-line to link the planned India-Myanmar gas pipeline for transporting natural gas. Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said Tripura's proposal for a 160-km link pipeline for transporting natural gas from Myanmar was being considered.
"I was told by the minister (Ramesh) that the government was considering our proposal for the link pipeline," Tripura Industry and Commerce Minister Tapan Chakraborty told. "Once the link pipeline is built, Tripura will be able to export its surplus gas to the rest of the country or can even use the gas from Myanmar to set up gas-based plants in the state."

India is pushing the $ 3-bn pipeline plan to import gas from Myanmar through Mizoram and Tripura.
"After the Bangladesh government refused to allow its territory for the tri-nation project, the Indian petroleum ministry has chalked out a plan to lay the pipeline via the northeast and north Bengal," said a senior Oil andNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC) official.

The prospect of importing gas using a pipeline through Bangladesh was the cheapest option. The state-owned Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) had already submitted a feasibility report to the petroleum ministry for the 1,400-km-long pipeline from Myanmar's Sitwe area to the National Grid Station at Gaya in Bihar via the northeast and West Bengal.
"A number of industries have expressed their desire to establish their units if the required quantities of gas were made available from Myanmar," said industries and commerce director Abhishek Chandra.

The ONGC is commissioning a giant 740-MW gas-based thermal power project at Palatana in south Tripura and is planning for a jump in gas production in Tripura from 1.5 mm cmpd to 4.5 mm cmpd to meet the growing demand of gas.

Source: http://onlypunjab.com
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The Costs Of Insurgency
The Chief Minister's boast — peace is dawning in Assam — proves premature as his state is rocked with at least 27 bomb explosions between October 1 - November 24 period.

SANDIPANI DASH

Leading corporate groups in India, including Reliance Industries and the Tata Group, are keen to invest in Assam following a marked improvement in the state's overall security situation, according to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. On November 4, 2006, Gogoi said, "Today I am getting investors from across the country, including big players like the Tata Group, willing to set up businesses here."

Corporate heavyweights like the Reliance Industries, the Tata's Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, and Videocon Industries, are expected to invest Rs 300 billion in the development of rural infrastructure, promotion of agriculture and the setting up power plants, IT parks, and other projects. An expansive Gogoi declared, "Investors look for security and an environment that is peaceful. A few years back, the situation here was not conducive enough to attract big investors. But today the situation has changed and peace is dawning in Assam and hence a suitable climate for business to grow here."

The Chief Minister's boast of the dawning of peace may, however, seem somewhat premature. On November 5, fourteen persons were killed and at least 50 sustained injuries in twin bomb blasts in the Noonmati and Fancy Bazaar areas of Guwahati city. Indeed, Gogoi simultaneously confessed, on November 6, that the state government has failed to provide security to the people of Assam: "I have to admit that we have failed to provide security but we have taken this development very seriously and operations against the militants have been intensified." There was evidence of a worsening of the security scenario since October 2006. At least 27 bomb explosions occurred during October 1-November 24 period, while, between January and September, there were a total of 43 blasts across the state. At least 151 people, including 82 civilians and 30 Security Force (SF) personnel, have died in insurgency-related incidents in 2006.

Jayanta Madhab, a noted economist from the region, injected a note of sobriety in the current and sanguine assessments of Assam's economic potential, arguing that insurgency has always played a negative role so far as inviting outside investment is concerned. The persistent insurgency has substantially weakened the productive capacities of Assam's socio-economic infrastructure. Consequently, the productivity of capital is low compared to other states. Assam is one of India's poorer states with about 36 percent of its population of 27 million living below the poverty line and per capita income (Rs 13,925) 40 per cent below the national average. The state is marked by poor road infrastructure, tenuous communications, low agricultural productivity, and low levels of industrial activity. According to a study by the Planning Commission, between 1980 and 1990, per capita income at 1980-81 prices grew by 20 per cent in Assam, compared to 40 per cent for the entire country. The period 1980 – 1998 was worse, with per capita income in Assam growing by just 10 per cent as against 39 per cent at the all India level.

Domestic industry has been variously affected by the insurgency. While there have been the more direct attacks on physical infrastructure and manpower, there are also substantial costs incurred through extortion and 'levy' charges. In the latter case, some instances of non-compliance have translated into attacks against and murders of managerial cadres and businessmen. The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), moreover, continues with its random depredations, bombing markets and public places, as well as oil and gas pipelines and other key installations.

The oil and tea industry, the mainstays of Assam's economy, has been targeted by the ULFA virtually since the creation of the group.The outfit has blown up oil pipelines and installations, abducted officials, and killed personnel and official, including a Russian petrochemical engineer engaged by the Oil India Limited (OIL) in the state. OIL sources indicate that the number of explosions targeting oil and gas pipelines in 1996 was 1; 1997: 1; 1998: 1; 1999: 3; 2000: 3; 2003: 2; 2004: 7; 2005: 12; 2006: 2 (till November 23). Further, sources disclosed that the vital crude oil pipeline from Duliajan through Bongaigaon in Assam, to Barauni in the Begusarai district of Bihar, was repeatedly sabotaged by militants in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998, causing massive disruption to the oil industry. According to SATP data, 11 explosions were triggered by ULFA, targeting oil and gas installations in 2006 (till November 23). India produces about 30 million tonnes of crude oil annually, with Assam accounting for about five million tonnes of the total. The state has over 1.3 billion tonnes of proven crude oil and 156 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, of which about an estimated 58 percent of existing hydrocarbon reserves are yet to be explored.

In January 2006, ULFA sent alarm bells ringing in the state's industry and security establishment by slapping a Rs 5 billion (USD 112 million) extortion demand on the state-owned Indian oil major, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), forcing the authorities to intensify vigil on oil and gas installations across the state. Then, on July 3, 2006, the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, was served an extortion demand for Rs 1.5 million by ULFA. Further, on November 2, 2006, ULFA threatened to strongly resist OIL exploration of petroleum oil in the Brahmaputra basin. A statement issued by the group read: "The Indian government has for long been exploiting Assam's natural resources and now it plans to extract oil from the Brahmaputra. This is nothing but another clever attempt to take away local resources at the cost of our people… We shall not allow such a thing to take place." The threat followed an agreement worth USD 22 million signed by OIL with Kazakhstan Caspi Shelf, a Kazakhstan-based oil exploration firm, to conduct a 2-D seismic survey along 175 kilometres of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. Paresh Baruah, the ‘commander-in-chief' of ULFA, in a statement made on June 10, 2006, claimed that the attacks on pipelines were carried out ‘in protest against' the tightening of security around oil installations, which was to "facilitate the plundering of Assam's natural resources."

ULFA's sabotage targeting the oil sector has coincided with opposition to oil exploration projected through a section of civil society organisations, especially certain environmental groups. Conservationists are worried about the possibility of oil exploration impacting on the survival of highly endangered freshwater dolphins and other aquatic species living in the Brahmaputra basin. While joining the campaign to block oil exploration in the basin, the ULFA found in such ecological issues an opportunity to legitimize its subversive operation targeting the oil industry. The outfit also identified, in its publication Freedom, another vulnerable ecological space, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, which could be affected by oil exploration. ULFA accused a British oil firm, Premier Oil, of harming the ecology of the Dihing Patkai Forest Reserve in the name of oil exploration.

The Central Industrial Security Force is currently responsible for the security of oil installations.However, it is concerned primarily with guarding the installations, leaving the pipelines – mostly underground – vulnerable to attacks.

Apart from the oil industry, other sectors like tea estates, the banking sector, railways and communications are also being subjected to disruption by the insurgents through extortion, abductions and violent attacks on a regular basis. The tea industry (the state has some 800 tea gardens) is another vital economic construct of Assam, with an output of 475 million kilograms, more than 50 per cent of the total national tea production of 928 million kilograms. Sections of the tea industry have blamed the union government and its recent peace initiatives (which collapsed on September 20, 2006) with the ULFA for the spurt in terrorist activities. One industry leader was quoted as stating: "In the last one month [September], as the Army officials moved out of the valley, the ULFA activists regrouped and we started receiving the extortion notices and the situation drastically deteriorated."

On September 17, the ULFA served an extortion note to the Nagrijuli tea estate in the Baksa District demanding Rs 10 million. On September 19, it served an extortion notice to a tea garden in upper Assam's Dibrugarh District belonging to tea major Mcleod Russel, demanding Rs 10 million. And on September 23, four ULFA cadres shot dead Haren Das, a manager of the Hailanga Tea Estate in front of his residence in Digboi town. On September 22, a policeman was killed in an encounter with the ULFA in Dibrugarh District, when a police team had gone to arrest an ULFA activist who had allegedly handed over an extortion notice of Rs 800,000 to the manager of Sessa Tea Estate. Earlier, the Ramanugger Tea Estate in Karbi Anglong district was closed down on July 5 following the abduction of its Assistant Manager, N. Bora, from his residence by unidentified militants. Even before the truce collapsed, the ULFA had reportedly stepped up extortion demands from tea plantations. Dhiraj Kakati, secretary of the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association, articulated the industry's concerns: "They're very vulnerable, living in isolated areas and working outdoors… They can't afford to pay — they can barely meet their own costs."

During his presentation at a meeting of the Strategy Group of the Unified Command in Guwahati on October 11, 2006, the General Manager of the Northeast Frontier Railway, A.K. Sanwalka, sought adequate security for the Lumding-Silchar gauge-conversion work. He said only 37 per cent of the work of the Rs 1,500-crore project had been completed. "Black Widow," an anti-talks faction of the Dimasa militant outfit Dima Halim Daogah (DHD), had been demanding a 10 per cent cut from every contractor involved in the project. It had also been serving extortion notices to others in the North Kachar Hills and Karbi Anglong areas of Assam.

The modernization of the oil industry lies at the heart of the development of Assam, since every region develops its own pattern of industrialisation depending on the type of natural resources it has. The oil industry and other economic sectors can only prosper when basic governance is assured, not only in terms of providing physical infrastructure, but also in ensuring adequate security for industrial enterprise against the anti-development agenda of violent non-state actors. Expressions of interest in the state from the corporate sector notwithstanding, such a situation is still far from the realities of the ground in Assam.

Sandipani Dash is Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal
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Post by shyamd »

Controversial security law to be changed - India PM
IMPHAL, India, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A controversial security law in northeastern India that critics say has been misused to kill and torture suspects will be amended, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), is intended to help fight the more than two-dozen insurgencies active in the remote area.

Human rights activists have demanded its repeal, saying it has been brazenly misused to kill, arrest and torture people on mere suspicion of being insurgents or supporters of the revolts.

Several movements have been organised in the past to put pressure on the government to repeal the law, including a six-year hunger-strike by a Manipuri activist who is currently in a hospital in New Delhi.

"I believe we need to consider some amendments to the act by modifying existing provisions or inserting new provisions, whereby it could be made more humane giving due regard to the protection of basic human and civil rights." Singh said on a brief visit to the state capital Imphal.

"The armed forces are here to enforce the rule of law, to punish the law breaker and ensure safety of Manipuris. Ocasionally, the acts of a few may have become the object of public resentment," he added.

Rebel groups, seeking independence of Manipur from India, called for a public boycott of Singh's visit. The streets of Imphal were deserted and schools and shops were shut in protest.

Singh said the federal home (interior) ministry was working on the proposed amendments.

Officials say more than 20,000 people have died in the decades old revolt in the tiny landlocked state which shares its border with Myanmar.

During a visit to India last month, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi urged India to revoke the law.
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Post by Kakkaji »

Delhi to go ahead with dam project-Remote control
Imphal, Dec. 2: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced that the Centre would go ahead with the Tipaimukh project. He added that Manipur’s Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) would be upgraded to the status of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
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Post by shyamd »

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Post by Victor »

For the second time, the Supreme Court has told the Centre that you can't have two immigration laws in the same country, one only for Assam and the other for the rest of the country. Untold damage has already been done over the past two decades, not only to Assam but to the whole of India, by the IMDT Act which has facilitated a deluge of illegal Bangladeshis who have mainly voted as a block for the Congress. The Supreme Court has also told the centre once again that it cannot protect its illegal Bangladeshi vote bank at the cost of local citizens and that its constitutional duty is to detect and deport illegals. It is almost a given that this is the last straw for the local Assamese who will watch what the centre does and then almost certainly descend into violence and chaos if nothing is done to detect and deport illegal BDs.

[quote]SC strikes down Foreigners Order ’06
The Assam Tribune, Guwahati. December 6, 2006.
From Kalyan Barooah
NEW DELHI, Dec 5 – In a major setback to the Central Government, the Supreme Court today struck down the controversial Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order, 2006, brought in haste by the Centre ahead of the Asom Assembly elections, and asked the State Government to set up the tribunals under the Foreigners Order 1964, within four months. The Supreme Court’s verdict, delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice SB Sinha and Justice PK Balasubramanyam in a packed court room, is the second blow to the Central and the State governments after the repeal of the IM(DT) Act. The notification was the outcome of the recommendation of the Group of Ministers constituted by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the chairman. The Order, notified on February 10 and was dubbed as a bid to bring the defunct IM(DT) Act through the back door, puts the onus of proof on the complaints, replication of a clause in the IM(DT) Act.

The Order was challenged first by Charan Deka of BJP and Sarbananda Sonowal of AGP, alleging violation of the Supreme Court verdict.

The Apex Court, which had reserved the verdict on May 5, this morning ordered scrapping of the Amendment Order describing it as unconstitutional. The Court ordered the State Government to expedite the constitution of the Tribunals as ordered in the IM(DT) Act order.

Justice Sinha read out the Operative part of the verdict and it was all over in matters of minutes. Interestingly none of the two petitioners were present in the court room, when the order was read out. The court room, however, was packed with advocates and media men. The Court also ordered the Government to pay Rs 25,000 to the petitioners, reimbursements of their expenditure for fighting the case.

The case had attracted the best of the legal brains given the stakes involved. Sonowal had retained the services of Ashok Desai, while Deka managed to pool the resources of Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad. Solicitor General GE Vahanvati represented the Government of India, while Asom Government’s standing Counsel hired the services of senior counsel KK Venugopal.

The Centre had defended the controversial Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Order, 2006 contending that it was aimed at preventing harassment to genuine Indian citizens in the name of detection and deportation. The separate procedure was needed in view of difficulties faced in identifying the illegal immigrants due to their ethnic similarities with Bengali speaking Indians.

The Centre contended that the notifications did not “in any wayâ€
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Surrender Swindle

Post by ssmitra »

From outlook

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fo ... oram&sid=1

Article has not been archived so I am posting the entire text
Surrender Swindle

Surrender of 809 BLFM militants is hailed as an epoch making event for Mizoram. The only problem? The group was supposed to be not more than 100 odd. And then the senor-most police official of neighbouring Tripura made a sensational revelation....

BIBHU PRASAD ROUTRAY

On October 23, 2006, 809 Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM) militants surrendered at Naisingpara relief camp in Kanchanpur sub-division in the North Tripura district. Three days later, amidst great fanfare, state home minister Tawnluia, state home secretary C. Ropianga, Chief Secretary Haukhum Hauzel, Director General of Police (DGP) Lalngheta Sailo and Assam Rifles (AR) officials formally received the BLFM cadres at Tuipuibari in Mizoram’s Mamit district. The surrendered rebels deposited 70 firearms, including AK series rifles, grenades, a mortar and explosives. Home minister Tawnluia declared that the state government would provide Rs 40,000 to each of the surrendered BLFM militants besides free rations for one year in transit camps at Damparengpui and Tuipuibari villages of Mizoram. He further declared, "Mizoram is one of the peaceful states of the country and our government must protect the image at any cost".

The event was hailed as an epoch making event for the state. Following the equally dramatic accord with the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) of April 26, 2005, the main provisions of which, till date, have remained unimplemented, the treaty with the BLFM was described as a major achievement in various circles, till the senor-most police official of neighbouring Tripura, the state that had hosted the Bru refugees since the October 1997 upheaval that had forced them out of Mizoram, made a sensational revelation. Director General of Police G.M. Srivastava, on November 4, disclosed that the surrender of the BLFM was a 'stage managed' affair. He said that some Mizoram officials in league with a section of Assam Rifles officials had enacted the drama by picking up some Bru youth from the relief camps. "The Assam Rifles is doing a commendable job in Tripura, but the Assam Rifles battalion in Kanchanpur is responsible for the surrender drama," he said. AR’s 18th Battalion is based in Kanchanpur.

Srivastava was only reiterating the obvious. Seven months earlier, on March 29, 2006, Mizoram home minister, Tawnluia, had made similar allegations against the AR battalion posted in North Tripura. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, he asserted that the AR battalion was helping BLFM militants. The BLFM is known to be no more than a breakaway faction of the dominant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), that signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mizoram government on April 26, 2006, when some 150 of its cadres laid down arms. The BLFM is not known to possess more than a handful cadres. An unidentified Mizoram intelligence official in November 2005 estimated the total cadre strength of the BLFM to be in the range of 100, and only a fraction of the foot soldiers were known to possess arms. Interestingly, the BLFM’s entire top leadership, ‘president’ Vanlalliana, ‘vice-president’ Vanrama, ‘army chief’ Romawia Meska and ‘lieutenant’ Lallawma, had been arrested in April 2006.

Although some reports indicated a measure of increasing sophistication in BLFM ranks, it remains rather incredible that the outfit could increase its cadre strength eight fold. BLFM’s activities give no suggestion of such an augmentation of force. The outfit, which wanted to negotiate a separate peace deal with the Mizoram government after the BNLF agreement, had engaged in a single incident of abduction in 2005 and three incidents, including an abduction, an attack on a Mizoram Armed Police (MAP) camp and an encounter with the Mizoram Police in 2006. Interestingly, till the first half of 2006, the Mizoram government was adamant about not entering into any negotiation with the BLFM, which it considered only of "minor nuisance value".

In May 2006, an indication of the impending surrender by the BLFM had been provided by a ‘circular’ distributed by the outfit among the refugee youths.It said that two former BLFM cadres, A. Toisarai and Lalrinkima Molsoi, were in charge of ‘recruiting’ members solely for the purpose of making them surrender before the government to get the benefits of rehabilitation package. The circular demanded a ‘contribution’ of Rs 3,000 each for such ‘recruitment’, in addition to an ‘entry fee’ of Rs 200. The recruits had been promised Rs 90,000 as the rehabilitation package that would be provided by the Mizoram government.

A further indication of the fraud that has been orchestrated was provided by a Mizoram Police official. On October 26, Mizoram Superintendent of Police (Crime Investigation Department) Lal Dhina disclosed, "Initially there was a list of 757 BLFM militants, who were willing to shun the path of violence, but finally the number rose to 802." state Home Secretary C. Ropianga, on November 1, stated at Aizawl, "We earlier thought the BNLF to be a 100-member group, but it turned out to be an 800-plus outfit."

It is not clear whether the recent ‘drama’ by the Mizoram government is intended at pushing forward the unimplemented April 2005 deal with the BNLF that was supposed to have paved the way for the repatriation of the 40,000 Bru refugees from the six relief camps in North Tripura. On April 5, 2006, the Mizoram government had informed the Union government that it would initiate repatriation of Bru refugees only after the BLFM lays down arms and eschews violence. The state government, it appears, had managed to convince New Delhi about the actually missing-link between the repatriation issue and supposed threat arising out of BLFM activities, a gross exaggeration of the capability of the BLFM.

There are indications, however, that the move to repatriate the Brus has already provoked some opposition in Mizoram. On November 15, 2006, the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) and Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), passed a resolution in Aizawl that said that, unless the credentials of the members of the BLFM were verified, both the organisations would not accept these people as bona fide citizens of Mizoram. It is highly unlikely that the state government will be able to go ahead with its proposed deal with the BLFM, until it finds a way to placate organisations like the YMA and MZP.

The union ministry of home affairs (MHA) reaction to the apparent fraud in Mizoram has, typically, been silence. Each ‘surrender’ is an achievement for New Delhi, and it matters little whether or not such events contribute in any manner to the resolution of conflicts in the region.

Bibhu Prasad Routray is Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal
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Post by Kakkaji »

DHD guns for security
Silchar, Dec. 9: Pro-talks Dimasa militant group Dima Halam Daogah today offered to provide security cover to personnel engaged in the conversion of the 2,010-km metre gauge track running through the Barail range in North Cachar Hills.
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Post by Tilak »

India, Bhutan demarcate border
Guwahati, India, Dec 14, IRNA
India and Bhutan have formally demarcated their 699 km long border with the two Asian neighbours signing the final strip maps, 45-years after the process for settling the boundary began, officials Wednesday said.

A Bhutanese foreign ministry official said officials of the two countries Tuesday signed the "mutually demarcated border" maps at a meeting in capital Thimphu.

"This is indeed a landmark agreement as the two countries had mutually agreed to demarcate their borders without any differences in opinion", the Bhutanese official who wished not to be named said by telephone from Thimphu.

India's ambassador to Bhutan, Sudhir Vyas, and the kingdom's secretary for international boundaries, Dasho Pema Wangchuk, signed the border agreement.

"This is a mutually agreed boundary between the two countries.

This line is not a border, it is a marker of friendship between our two countries", the Indian ambassador was quoted as saying by Bhutan's national newspaper Kuensel.

Bhutan shares borders with the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh in the east and Sikkim in the west and Assam and West Bengal in the south. The Himalayan kingdom also shares border with Nepal and China.

The two countries have decided to erect border pillars and markers to define the boundary. The India-Bhutan border is now unfenced and separated by concrete pillars in some places.
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Post by Anabhaya »

KOLKATA: In keeping with a promise made a year ago, Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuck has abdicated in favour of his 26-year-old son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, taking the first step towards ushering in democracy in the Himalayan kingdom.
Bhutan king gives reins to son

His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck becomes the fifth Druk Gyalpo
It was not possible to list the phenomenal successes of His Majesty the King’s reign that allowed Bhutan to stand proud in the comity of nations. The Bhutanese people enjoyed a better quality of life than ever before, the security and sovereignty of the country was assured, and the world admired Bhutan’s enlightened policies that helped preserve its unique traditions including the pristine environment, rich culture, and principle of Gross National Happiness.

There could never be a more fortunate generation of people, he said.
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Post by Vasu »

Assam’s Bangla eviction bill runs into crores

[quote]Rs 405 crore. That’s how much it cost the Assam government to identify and deport 2,221 illegal Bangladeshi migrants over almost two decades. The statistics was revealed in the Assembly last week by Assam Accord Implementation Minister Bhumidhar Barman as the opposition questioned the government’s action in evicting illegal migrants. Broken down, that means the state spends more than Rs 18 lakh to detect and deport every Bangladeshi.

The bill, however, also includes identification of 9,149 people as infiltrators; of them, 2,643 were identified under provisions of the now defunct IMDT Act; 4,736 under provisions of the Foreigners Act. The largest number of immigrants declared foreigners were identified in Nagaon district. Karimganj and Dhuri showed more migrants having entered in recent years and a few who had returned to infiltrate. There seems no respite for the exchequer, though. The Assam Accord Implementation Minister admitted that infiltration of Bangladeshis was a “continuous processâ€
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Post by shyamd »

Army plan for India city peace

Gorkhas Demand Separate State, Recognition in India
Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh organized a national council meet and convention, December 18-20, at LTG Auditorium, New Delhi, urging the Indian Government to recognize their contribution towards nation builing and take measures to socially, culturally and intellectually empower the 10 million-strong Gorkha community in India.

New Delhi (Christian Today) - Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh organized a national council meet and convention, December 18-20, at LTG Auditorium, New Delhi, urging the Indian Government to recognize their contribution towards nation builing and take measures to socially, culturally and intellectually empower the 10 million-strong Gorkha community in India.

Chief Minister of Delhi, Ms.Sheila Dikshit was the chief guest at the convention.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries, Santosh Mohan Dev, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Northeast Affairs, P.R. Kyndiah and Union Minister for Labour, Oscar Fernandes were amongst those who spoke on the occasion.

Tanka Bahadur Rai, Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly, inaugurated the convention.

Several academicians and intellectuals spoke on the occasion recognizing the conribution of the Gorkhas towards nation building and supported their claim.

About the Gorkhas in India

Contrary to popular perceptions that the Gorkhas are citizens of Nepal residing in India, Indian Gorkhas have lived for generations in India, the areas which they inhabited having been ceded to the British by regimes in parts of Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim in pre-Independence eras. The Gorkha community, which came with the land and culture, accepted India as the motherland and added to the country's rich diversity. Gorkhas played citizens' role in the Independence movement, with many of them being martyred during the years India fought to free itself from colonial yoke.

Thousands fought in the ranks of the Azad Hind Fauz, while two Gorkha nationalists were participants in the Dandi March led by Mahatma Gandhi. An Indian Gorkha was a member of the Constituent Assembly. Post-Independence, many Gorkha soldiers have given their lives for the country in the wars that India has fought against aggressors and in countering terrorism in different parts of the country.

The mother tongue of the Indian Gorkhas is Nepali, a language that is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a national language.

The mother tongue of the Indian Gorkhas is Nepali, a language that is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a national language.

About Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh is a representative body of Indian Gorkhas. As a non-political social organization, it reflects the thoughts, aspirations and expression of over 10 million Gorkhas who are citizens of India. The Parisangh was established in 2001. It has its headquarters in Siliguri in Darjeeling district in West Bengal and unit offices in almost all regions of India.

The Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh represents the will of the Gorkha community, not only in voicing their varied aspirations and demands in the country of their birth, but also in ensuring that their contributions to nation building are not uninformed to their nation and their fellow countrymen.

As a first step in this regard, the Parisangh took up the project to instal the statue of Shaheed Durga Malla in the precincts of Parliament House in New Delhi. A Gorkha born in Dehradun, Shaheed Durga Malla fought against the British in the Azad Hind Fauz and was hanged in Delhi in 1944. His statue, donated by the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the Parliament House complex on December 17, 2004 in the presence of the Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, then BJP president L K Advani and other Union ministers and members of Parliament.

The Parisangh has also met separately with President APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil in 2006 to apprise them of the issues related to Indian Gorkhas.

In its current programme, the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh has taken up seven issues as being vital for the social, cultural and intellectual empowerment of Indian Gorkhas:

· A separate state within India that will protect their identity as Indian citizens as well as ensure that their role in the Freedom Struggle, in nation building and in securing the country against external forces does not get subsumed.
· Protection of the rights of workers in the tea and cinchona plantations and the reform of the Plantation Labour Act of 1951 to ensure this.
· Protection of the rights and securing of the future of bonafide Indian Gorkhas in the states of North-east India.
· Commissioning of a Gorkha channel on Doordarshan for the Nepali-speaking Indian population, with telecast centres at Delhi, Darjeeling and Guwahati.
· Nomination of eminent Indian Gorkhas as representatives of the Government of India, including as governors, ambassadors and in prominent posts in government institutions and bodies.
· Ensuring Indian Gorkhas all the rights and allowances as applicable to linguistic minorities.
· To confer on the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh the prerogative of issuing the 'Gorkha Certificate,' a prerequisite for Gorkha candidates intending to join the Armed Forces, the Police Service and paramilitary forces.
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Post by Kakkaji »

X-Posting

Private giants make a beeline for signing MoUs with Arunachal
Itanagar, Dec 27. (PTI): The discovery of a multi-coloured new bird in Arunachal Pradesh this year earning recognition from an international body proved to be the harbinger of growing prosperity for this border State as big private companies as well as Public Sector Units made a beeline for the first time for development of mega hydel projects.

While Reliance Energy, Jai Prakash and D S Constructions signed MOUs on February 22 for five mega projects in Siang basin, Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde visited Itanagar on September 21 to the witness the signing of MOUs by NHPC, NTPC and NEEPCO with the State Government for several projects.

The State in a few years will become 'power house' of the country and the royalty from the generation of hydel power would take the economy of the State to the level of some developed countries in near future, Chief Minister Gegong Apang declared after signing the MOUs.

State Power Minister Dorjee Khandu said even entrepreneurs from Japan, Canada, Switzerland evinced keen interest in developing more hydel projects as the State has a total hydro potential of 65,000 MW as identified by the Central Electricity Authority and only around 20,000 MW has been covered by the MOUs signed so far.

Besides getting importance for its huge potential to supply power to Delhi and other power starved areas in the country, Arunachal Pradesh also hogged the attention and support of the entire nation after Chinese envoy Sun Yuxi claimed in a television interview just before the visit of President Hu Jintao to India that the entire 84,000 sq km area of the state is a Chinese territory.

However, the prompt rejection by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the subsequent clarification by Beijing toning down the views of the envoy saying the solution to the vexed border problem will be expedited became reassuring to the people of the State.

The armies of the two giants opened a new low altitude Border Personnel Meeting point (BPM) at Kibithu in Anjaw district, a day before the arrival of Hu in Delhi on November 19.

The Arunachal Government in anticipation of a positive response from the China to agree to reopen traditional border trade, discontinued since 1962 war, has improved roads from Assam, to Kibithu and Tawang, two BPM points in the State nearly 1000 km apart along its border with China.

The Defence Ministry has also sanctioned several border roads this year to improve the surface communication in Arunachal.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the green field airport project at Itanagar this year to put the state on air map.

For the first time in the country, a private public partnership programme in running Primary Health Centres was launched in Arunachal on experimental basis under the National Health Mission and renowned NGOs like Karuna Trust of Karnataka, Future Generation and Voluntary Health Association.

Encouraged by the success of the NGOs in running PHCS even in remote areas, the State Government has decided to handover management of some primary schools to tribal village councils and NGOs.

The State witnessed agitations over the Rs 160 crore State Apex Cooperative Bank scam and a Rs. 4 crore donyi polo lottery scam.

The State Cabinet has decided to hand over the bank scam to CBI for investigation and banned all private lotteries following these agitations.

The cabinet also decided to start the process of separating judiciary from the executive at the district level.

Arunachal lived upto its reputation as being the only peaceful State in the troubled North East without any major law and order problem this year.
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Post by shyamd »

:twisted:
Opinion poll rejects ULFA demand
In the first ever opinion poll conducted on ULFA's demand for a sovereign Assam, a whopping 95 per cent people gave the thumbs down.

The Assam Public Works, a body formed in 2000 comprising family members of ULFA cadres, has been mobilising public opinion against the outfit.

Last September they started a signature campaign across nine districts. The question asked was "Do You Support the Demand of Sovereignty of Assam by ULFA?"

Of over twenty-five lakh votes received, more than twenty-four lakh people said an emphatic no.

Set back for ULFA

The results indicated that the general public is clearly not interested in the ULFA's demand.

"It's a big slap on ULFA`s face, today's result says that. Now there is only one way for them - they should come down for talks," said Ahbijit Sharma, secretary, Assam Public Works.

Public opinion against the ULFA has been largely muted. Though the majority believe that the ULFA doesn't represent the aspirations of the common Assamese, it's only now that citizens are speaking out.

"The message of this plebiscite should go to the rest of the districts of Assam so that Assam will see one day the complete annihilation of Ulfa and they will bid farewell from the political scene of Assam," said D N Chakraborty, editor, Dainik Asom.

"I consider ULFA to be a jackal. But even a mad rabid jackal can kill a man, so just like a rabid jackal they may hit me and kill me, but I am not afraid to be killed by a mad rabid jackal," Chakraborty added.

The ULFA has so far not shown any interest in talks with the government. It has continued with extortions, abductions and killings.

With people now openly signing against them, the ULFA can no longer claim a mass base. It's time for some serious introspection.


Suspected ULFA militants kill 16 people in Assam
Kakkaji
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Post by Kakkaji »

shyamd wrote::twisted:
Opinion poll rejects ULFA demand
In the first ever opinion poll conducted on ULFA's demand for a sovereign Assam, a whopping 95 per cent people gave the thumbs down.


Given that ULFA has such a minuscule level of support in the population, the Government can afford to be ruthless in eliminating the ULFA cadres. There is no need for pussyfooting.
Muppalla
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Post by Muppalla »

It is too much of terrorist activity in Assam by ULFA.

48 killed in ULFA rampage

GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI: In a chilling message that it was going to make good its threat of stopping migrant labourers, ULFA extremists orchestrated a three-hour orgy of violence in Upper Assam killing 48 people — mostly from Bihar and West Bengal — on Friday night.

The violence continued on Saturday evening. Militants barged into Congress leader Ajit Deori’s house in Mohong village, bordering Arunachal Pradesh, and shot him dead.

Although officials said they were still groping for a motive for Friday night’s carnage, it was clear the separatist group, battered by renewed military operations after peace talks failed and losing popular connect, wanted to pick on soft targets to show it hasn’t abandoned its war.

The bloodshed marks a major humiliation for the Centre, which has tried to hold talks with the outfit despite clear indications that the group isn’t interested. The killings came a day after Union home secretary V N Duggal visited Guwahati for a security review and declared Assam safe for national games next month.

In nine near-simultaneous raids, ULFA militants mowed down 34 people in Tinsukia, which has a sizeable Bihari population, eight in two separate incidents in Dibrugarh district and six in neighbouring Dhemaji. Tinsukia bore the brunt with six incidents, the biggest at Sadiya where 13 people were shot. Of the 48 victims, seven were teenagers.

Most killings occurred between 6.30 and 9.30 pm. The victims were mostly kiln workers and milkmen.

In a separate attack, ULFA also exploded bombs on rail tracks as the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express was passing.

The train’s AC and water tanks were damaged, but there were no casualties.

Assam’s government has sought 90 companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre and decided to send 24 companies, currently deployed in Karbi Anglong, to Upper Assam.
Victor
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Post by Victor »

Kakkaji wrote:
shyamd wrote::twisted:
Opinion poll rejects ULFA demand

Given that ULFA has such a minuscule level of support in the population, the Government can afford to be ruthless in eliminating the ULFA cadres. There is no need for pussyfooting.
As an Assamese, I say *absolutely!* and along with other Assamese on BR have said so for years.

But the central and state govt pussies will pussyfoot anyway in order to maintain their bloody gaddis.

That self-centered b!tch Raisom Goswami deserves a public thrashing with sandals for encouraging "peace talks" with these traitorous thugs.
Ujjal
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Post by Ujjal »

I'm all for banning/revoking/restrictions/seizure of NRAs' (Non-Resident Assamese) Indian properties, passports, bank accounts etc. - some of whom (0.0001% ) are indirectly financing ULFA's terrorist acts.
Singha
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Post by Singha »

piss talk and ceasefire gave ulfa a 1 year holiday to regroup and gather their strength.

sections of ulfa who are pro-talks cannot come forward until rajkhowa and esp paresh barua are eliminated or die of natural causes. paresh barua and his goons like prabhakaran are entirely opposed to any sort of compromise.

thats because with gunpower they rule over large criminal empires in Indo-BD sector now, wielding $$ and power far far more than say a MLA or MP which is best overground terrorists who rejoin the 'mainstream' can ask for.

they need to be put down before any more damage is done. the chaos in BD offers a good opportunity for India to take advantage.
Raju

Post by Raju »

What is the role of one Indira Goswami during the Centre-ULFA biss talks ?? Why was she so interested to be mediator between talks with a terrorist organization sponsored by extra-national intelligence elements ?? Why did she agree to be the public face of ULFA ??
Singha
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Post by Singha »

delhi based longtime professor in DU. convenient person for the real culprits the assam based "citizens group" that talked to both sides. all of these people are hardcore ulfa sympathizers - intellectuals, writers, a fake HR campaigner, a retired engineer.....pretty much handpicked and stamped with dhaka approval.

realpolitik dictates that Govt does have to talk to all manner of scumbags(like musharaff and the saudis) and thats the case here.

GOI never gave in to the demand of ULFA that talks have 'sovereignty' on the agenda though they did agree to meet in a neutral venue (thailand).
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