North East & Eastern Himalayan: News & Discussion

[Anindya]

From today's Pioneer

That's our land too

Dil se: Meenakshi Rao

Just the other day, a prominent Assamese businessman from Guwahati expressed the desire to invest a bulk of his money in Himachal Pradesh. Assamese people, by tradition, are known to either live their whole life in Guwahati or come to Delhi for studies and work or simply immigrate abroad. States like Himachal do not figure in their trajectory.

So, it was surprising why this gentleman thought of an out of his world place like Himachal to put his millions into, that too in a venture far removed from his core business. The reason was not far to locate. After a lull in insurgency first triggered by the AGP coming to power and then lingering on for some time, terror is now back, that too in a virulent form of opportunism more than a movement for any so-called cause. Massacres, blasts, extortions and links with the ISI have become part and parcel of the State in a year that the nation celebrates its 60 years of Independence.

People no longer venture out two days before and after I-Day and prefer to stay away from market places on holidays, fearing a strike. Doctors do not want to earn much, lest they figure in the insurgents' extortion list and businessmen like this gentleman would rather show up as a bankrupt corporate house than robust enterprise. Life is quite a menace in itself. And death is something that looms larger than the monsoon clouds over N-E.

Added to this is the unforgiving angst of the people over the neglect by the rest of India. Do we really need to lose the confidence of such a sprawling territory in our own nation? The political class does not care and social organisations are too scared to go in.

Infrastructure in N-E is something that the modern generation is explained only in textbooks and the region's economy is on a perpetual poverty anthem. Government servants have not been paid for months and jobs stopped coming decades back. With the youth frustrated and cut off from the economic boom of the rest of the nation, guns are the easiest to pick up. The entire N-E, this gentleman agitatedly said, has all but slipped out of India's hand "much, much more than Kashmir has."

The failure of successive Indian Governments to amalgamate a socially different but territorially linked region has been consistent, blatant and unwarranted enough for one to say they deserve to lose this frontier. But a nation is not just about the political class which rules it but also of its people, sovereign pride, nationalistic togetherness and unity despite the diversity, as India touts at international fora.

But they are hollow as hell, all those claims. Most of the N-E is out of hand. Votebank politics has let the demographic change turn into a monster with a virtual Bangladeshi takeover. The Muslim population in Assam alone has increased by over 313 per cent in half-a-century, between 1951 and 2001. The ISI has taken control of big insurgent groups, most of who had formed to fight the infiltration issue in the first place. In this duel for identity, a conscience has been lost - on either side. Remember, the Kargil War coffins also went to N-E. Their sons died too for the independence of our nation. Maniram Dewan, Piyoli Phukan and Piyali Barua were hanged for the Sepoy Mutiny. Martyrs like Kanak Lata, Kushal Konwar and Bhogeswari Phukanani gave their lives for the Mahatma's cause. Their sacrifices seem to have gone in vain.

A politician once infamously said about Arunachal: "It is so far away. If the Chinese want some of it what is there in giving some away." If distance was this man's criterion for making Arunachal a sacrificial goat for a war not won, then perhaps we should know that from Delhi, Kohima is just 2298 km away as opposed to Kanyakumari which is 2742. If difference in culture is the reason, what could be more far removed than a Keralite in Kozikode from a Punjabi in New Delhi? And if resources were the reason, well, 60 years after Independence, six of the seven State capitals in the N-E are not connected by rail; Itanagar, Kohima and Shillong do not have proper airports; N-E has to import essential goods worth nearly Rs 3,500 crore annually; two-thirds of India's tea production and a substantial part of oil is produced in the region but not even a tiny percentage of the profits is re-invested there; out of the Rs 50,000 crore plus sanctioned by financial institutions, Assam gets a measly Rs 114 crore, Nagaland Rs 4 crore and the rest of the States not a single paisa. Assam's internal debt is a staggering Rs 10,000 crore.

If Sir Cyril Radcliffe isolated the region by drawing the Radcliffe line all those decades back, all Governments of free India have made rigorous isolation of the region a fine art. Perhaps, we can spare a thought on where we are headed or how close Bangladesh and China are to a complete takeover of a neglected region and its neglected people.

And once we realise that, Editors of mainstream dailies will stop consigning the resurgent massacres in N-E to inside pages, next to daily rapes, daily thefts and daily diaries.

[Anindya]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6958188.stm

Migrants hounded in Assam
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Guwahati, Assam


A day after heavily-armed guerrillas killed his neighbours, Abhay Ram packed his belongings into a truck and left his home for two decades in Assam's picturesque Karbi Anglong hills.

Many like him have already boarded trains for their ancestral villages in Hindi-speaking states like Bihar to escape the mayhem unleashed by the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) and other tribal militias in the state.

More than 30 Hindi-speaking settlers were killed in Karbi Anglong district alone this month.

Four times as many of them have died in similar attacks elsewhere in Assam since the beginning of this year.

But several hundred kilometres to the north, near the town of Dibrugarh, Shujat Ali is also leaving after being branded an "illegal migrant" from Bangladesh and served with a "notice to leave Assam" by local youth groups.

"I don't know where to go? My ancestors may have come from eastern Bengal [now Bangladesh] but I was born in Assam," says Ali, as he boards a train for western Assam.

"This is my land, I am no infiltrator, I will not leave this state," he says.

Growing violence


Across the state, Assamese vigilante groups are hounding out the likes of Shujat Ali with renewed gusto.

Many are taking shelter in older camps sheltering Muslims displaced in earlier waves of ethnic cleansing.

Bombs are also exploding near mosques and in Muslim-dominated areas.

"All illegal migrants from Bangladesh have to be expelled from Assam. Otherwise we will launch a huge agitation soon enough," says Sammujal Bhattacharya, the "chief adviser" of the All Assam Students' Union (Aasu), which led a powerful campaign against illegal migrants between 1979-1985.


That movement degenerated into fierce ethno-religious bloodletting and left more than 3,000 people dead - almost half of them in a cluster of villages around Nellie.


An accord the Aasu signed with the Indian government finally ended the mayhem.

"The governments in Delhi and Assam have not implemented the Assam Accord. It has not expelled the infiltrators because they are a big vote bank," thunders Mr Bhattacharya.

He has called upon all Assamese to join "one last battle" against the illegal migrants.

Old conflicts

Mr Bhattacharya and his supporters were emboldened by an order of the Indian Supreme Court last December which scrapped a controversial piece of legislation that was seen as a safeguard by the minority groups against arbitrary action by an Assamese-dominated administration.

Rich in resources, Assam is India's leading tea-producing state and its third largest producer of oil and natural gas.

But it has failed to grow economically because its unending ethno-religious conflicts have kept away investors for nearly 30 years.

And now, Assam's old conflicts are threatening to get worse.



Even as Assamese and tribal separatists are killing Hindi-speaking settlers to drive them away, powerful student and youth groups in the state are preparing to launch a full-scale campaign to throw out alleged illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

And tribal militias continue to fight each other over conflicting homeland visions.

But this time, the so-called migrants are determined to fight it out.

"The harassment of our people has to stop. Their roots may be in what is now Bangladesh, but almost all of them were born in Assam. So why should they be thrown out," says Badruddin Ajmal, chief of Assam's nascent minority party, the United Democratic Front.

Provoked

The acrimony recently hit fever pitch when one of the UDF's top leaders called for separate autonomous councils for Muslims in western Assam - along the lines of one created for Bodo tribespeople in the state.

The UDF distanced itself from the demand but the Assamese groups have been sufficiently provoked.

Even the Ulfa, which avoids the shrill anti-Bangladesh rhetoric of other Assamese regional groups and targets the Indian government instead, warned Mr Ajmal "not to play with the sensitive social fabric of Assam".


Local journalist and one of the mediators for the Ulfa, Ajit Bhuiyan, blames the Indian government for the current situation.

"If a breakthrough had been achieved in the negotiations with the Ulfa, Assam would have returned to the road of peace. But now it is back to square one," he says.

Talks broke down last September and military operations were resumed against the Ulfa, which hit back with serial bombings and attacks on Hindi-speakers.

Assam's Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, increasingly caught in the crossfire between Assamese radical groups and those representing minorities, has appealed to the Ulfa to return to talks.

His invitation has yet to be taken up.

And while the UDF accuses Mr Gogoi of trying to crush the party and of failing to protect Muslims, the Assamese groups allege his government is "sacrificing" Assamese identity and turning a blind eye to illegal migration.

[sanjaychoudhry]

India's tribal chiefs to honour Al Gore with award

A group of tribal chieftains in India's north-eastern Meghalaya state have decided to honour former US vice president Al Gore with a "global award" for his role in creating awareness about climate change, news reports said Friday. The award was announced by the Grassroots Democracy Advisory Council, a group comprising an estimated 3,000 kings and tribal chieftains from the three main tribes in Meghalaya - the Khasis, Garos and Jaintias, INS news agency reported.

The council has invited Gore to receive the award at a ceremony on October 6 at a site at a sacred forest near Mawphlang village.

"We were greatly inspired after watching Gore's Academy award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth and decided to honour him for his concerns about the dangers of climate change," Robert Kharshiing, the council's chairman said.

The organization was set up to fight for constitutional recognition of the traditional institution of kingship in the predominantly Christian state of 3.1 million people bordering Bangladesh.

"We hope the award will draw global attention to the serious problem of environmental changes facing the world today, including our own region that is located on the Himalayan belt," said Kharshiing,who is a member of India's Parliament.

Melting of glaciers, polluting of rivers and other forms of degradation were affecting the region, Kharshiing said. "Associating with Gore could help us highlight the serious climate change afflicting us," he added.

The impact of climate change on the region was already evident, he said, with two small villages - Sohra (earlier known as Cherrapunjee) and Mawsynram - which were once among the rainiest places in the world but now receive scanty rainfall.

Kharshiing said an estimated 300,000 people were expected to attend the event planned in October and several top Indian economists and environmentalists were scheduled to give lectures on development and climate change.

"We were told from Gore's office that he was humbled after hearing about the award. We hope he would accept our invitation and personally come to receive it," he said.

"We have decided to give a certificate, a citation, traditional gifts besides a token cash amount to Gore."

There was no official response from Gore's office on whether he would attend the function.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/100504.html

[Kati]

A bong represents Meghalaya, gives a healing touch .....in a tussle between the tribals and "immigrants"

=============================================

Amit Paul, Meghalaya’s Brand Ambassador for Peace

Patricia Mukhim

When Shillong lad Amit Paul reached the top three slot of Sony Television’s reality show, Indian Idol 3, on 31 August, the people of Meghalaya rejoiced. The week before, Amit was pushed into the danger zone despite having performed exceedingly well, mainly because winners are declared on the basis of votes polled by mobile SMSs and landline telephone calls. It rankles that somebody with talent should be pushed out merely he/she does not get enough votes. But those are the rules of the game in the furiously market driven electronic media today.
However, Amit’s entry into the danger zone spurred a major public campaign to garner support for him. Under the banner of the Shillong Arts and Music Lovers’ Forum, a series of meetings were held in every corner of Shillong. Giant screens were put up at vantage points in the city to drum up support for Amit. People were out on the streets watching Indian Idol 11 days ago. Such was the public demand that MLAs from different constituencies had to sponsor public call offices from where people could vote from 9 pm on a Friday night well into the wee hours of Saturday.
Mawlai, a locality in the Khasi heartland, known for its ethnocentricity and non-tribal bashing, became Amit Paul’s most ardent admirer. Its MLA, PT Sawkmie, is sponsoring 50 PCOs because of public demand. Amit is like a balm that is healing past wounds and bringing people of different communities together. Some elderly Bengali women approached their MLA, RG Lyngdoh, to sponsor a couple of PCOs in Laitumkhrah. Their take was that Amit fervour had brought in such a feeling of oneness that for the first time ever they were able to visit Mawlai and dance with the people there during the Amit campaign.
Last Monday the Indian Idol wannabe visited his home town, Shillong, together with the Sony team. At the entry point to Meghalaya, Amit was greeted by young men and women dressed in full traditional Khasi, Jaintia and Garo attire. By the time he entered Shillong, the city was in a tumult never witnessed before, not even when the highest dignitary of the country came calling. Security became a major problem as fans tried to get a glimpse of their hero. Amit visited his alma-mater, St Peter’s School, and addressed students there. He then headed towards Mawlai where a grand reception awaited him. Amit had to don the full attire of a Khasi warrior complete with turban and waistcoat. He performed a few Khasi dance steps and won the people’s hearts when he sang a Khasi song, Nga dang iai kynmaw iaphi baieid ( I remember you, my love). At Mawlai, almost 20,000 people had gathered to welcome Amit.
But he was not prepared for the mass hysteria at JN Stadium where over 40,000 people had gathered to welcome him and see him perform his favourite numbers, Nasha yeh pyar ka nasha hai and Pehla nasha pehla khumaar, amongst others. A natural performer, Amit wooed the crowd, asking them to sing along, speaking to them in his usual gentle tone, asking them to support him. “All this time I was performing for myself. Henceforth I shall perform for Meghalaya, for my people,â€

[Raju]

IBN reports that commander of ULFAs 'crack unit' Prabal Neogi has been arrested from Tezpur in Assam by the Assam Police.

[Paul]

Ground prepared to facilitate easy flow of Thai investments into N-E

Notifications by Industrial Policy and Promotion Dept issued: Minister

Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar

Mohan Padmanabhan

Kolkata, Sept. 21 As a prelude to attract investments into the North Eastern region from Thailand in a big way, especially in infrastructure development, all necessary notifications by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, have been issued.

Under the new North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007, capital investment subsidy for plant and machinery (for units coming up in North East) has been enhanced from 15 per cent to 30 per cent, and the limit for automatic approval of subsidy at this rate is now Rs 1.5 crore per unit, as against the Rs 30 lakh which was available under NEIP, 1997. For subsidy higher than Rs 1.5 crore but up to a maximum of Rs 30 crore, there will be an empowered committee chaired by Secretary, DIPP with Secretaries of DONER, Expenditure, Representative of Planning Commission and Secretary of the concerned Ministries of Government of India as its members as also the concerned Chief Secretary/Secretary (industry) of North Eastern States where the claiming unit is to be located.

Proposals which are eligible for a subsidy higher than Rs 30 crore will be placed by the DIPP before the Union Cabinet for approval.

Pointing out that mainstream investors within the country were shying away from investments in North East, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Department of North Eastern Region (DONER), Panchayati Raj, Sports and Youth Affairs, told Business Line here on Friday that all out efforts were being mounted by DONER and the related agencies of the Government to make the forthcoming four-day North East Trade and Investment Opportunities Week programme in Bangkok a big success.

He said the ground has been prepared to facilitate investments to flow into the North East from Thailand, especially in areas such as construction and road-building. Six Chief Ministers of the NE States, excluding Sikkim and Tripura, were favourably inclined to participate at the Bangkok meet, and necessary PMO and MEA clearances would be sought for this, said the Minister.

Asked on the composition of the final team, the Minister said besides representatives of the companies which issued EOIs at the joint business meet sometime back, and trade delegations, there would be representatives of all stakeholders in the North East including central infrastructure development agencies such as NHAI and others. A 30-member delegation of Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) is also expected to participate.

Look East Policy Meet


Mr Aiyar said a major closed door meeting on the Government’s ‘Look East’ Policy has been called for October 15, in which all eight Chief Ministers of NE States and other high officials would be participate.

Besides this, the NEC is planning to conduct a two-day meet on November 21-22 to formally adopt the final `Vision 2020’ document prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

[Rye]

link

Without Myanmar to assist India, Manipur is a goner.

Looks like the NE terrorist groups have representatives in the INC --- MMS must be so proud, seeing as he is the "sitting MLA" (but behaves more like a "sleeping MLA") from Assam.

MANIPUR
The Itchy Backs
The nexus, rooted in ethnicity, between establishment politicians and militants would be tragic if it had not become almost routine in the Northeast. ...
Bibhu Prasad Routray

The nexus between establishment politicians and militants would be tragic if it had not become almost routine. On August 17, 2007, Manipur Police personnel raided the official residences of three Members of the state's Legislative Assembly (MLAs), identified as W Brajabidhu, Bijoy Koijam, K. Meghachandra and a former MLA, N Sovakiran. These raids led to the arrest of 12 militants belonging to different insurgent groups operating in Manipur. An M-16 rifle, a 9mm pistol, live ammunition and a number of extortion notes were recovered from the house of one of the MLAs. Addressing a subsequent press conference, the state's Director General of Police (DGP), Y. Joykumar Singh, said that the MLAs, all belonging to the Congress Party, were present in their houses during the raid and were unapologetic about the arrests. The MLAs later described charges of collusion as baseless. Till the writing of this report, no action had been taken against the errant politicians. (Shivraj Patil and Manmohan Singh -- the dynamic duo -- protecting terrorists and miltants from the GoI as usual)

For years, Manipur has been wracked by an unending militancy, with some 15 active outfits presently operating in both its valley and hill areas. While militancy has shown signs of decline in some states of the Northeast, Manipur's tryst with militant violence remains unrelenting, impacting on all the nine Districts of the state. For two successive years, 2005 and 2006, Manipur has been the most violent theatre of the conflict in the Northeast with 410 and 311 fatalities respectively. Assam, with 11 times the population, and 3.5 times the land area, accounted for 254 and 242 fatalities over the same period. Available data portends an equally dreadful year 2007. According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the first six months of the current year recorded 184 fatalities, including 40 civilian and 25 security force (SF) deaths. The Institute for Conflict Management database indicates a total of 295 fatalities till October 10, 2007.

The vacuum in governance is both a consequence and cause of militancy in Manipur. The civil administration has ceased to function across vast stretches of the state and intermittent military operations have had little impact on the level of militancy. The militants have carved out several more or less 'liberated zones' within the state and also operate from neighbouring Myanmar's Sagaing Division, carry out attacks targeting civilians, SF personnel and government servants, and run an enveloping extortion network across the state--extending right into the capital city--with impunity.

Certainly, politicians in the state are under tremendous pressure, and militant attack on leaders and party workers have been a recurrent phenomenon. Over the past months, such incidents have included:

June 10: A girl, identified as Nabizam alias Baby alias Boilar, sustained injuries in a grenade attack by unidentified militants at the residence of a former legislator, Abdul Salam, at Hatta Golapati in the Imphal East District.

July 22: At least six armed militants waylaid the Wangoi legislator, Salam Joy Singh and his five-man Police escort at Irom Meijrao, under Wangoi Police station in the Imphal West district. The militants overpowered the escort personnel and decamped with their service weapons.

July 29: Unidentified militants fired some rounds at the residence of the legislator Thangjam Nandakishore in connection with a monetary demand at Thambalkhong in the Imphal East District.

August 2: Suspected militants hurled a bomb at the residence of legislator Joy Singh at Kakwa in the Imphal West District, though no causality was reported. Singh had objected to the militants' demand for a percentage of the MLA's Area Development Fund.

August 7: A group of ten suspected militants attacked the convoy of state Education Minister L.
Jayentakumar, and MLAs, Dr. M. Ratankumar and Th. Lokeshor, near Khudengthabi and Lokchao on the Imphal-Moreh section of National Highway (NH)--39, though the targets escaped unhurt.

August 8: Suspected militants hurled a grenade at the private residence of Congress Party MLA, Moirangthem Oken Singh, at Heirok in the Thoubal District. The grenade landed on the outhouse but did not explode.

August 20: Suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at the residence of a legislator, L. Nandakumar Singh of the Congress party, at Nagamapal in the Imphal West District. The grenade failed to explode.

September 14: Unidentified militants attacked the residence of MLA and Chairman of the Manipur Pollution Control Board, E. Dijamani Singh, at Hiyanglam in the Thoubal District. No injury was reported.

In militancy-ridden Manipur, buying peace with the militants is commonplace and is seen across the political spectrum simply as a strategy of survival. The nexus between politicians and militants is, consequently, pervasive. As former Manipur Governor Ved Marwah expressed it, "There are hardly any politicians in Manipur of any stature who do not have links with the insurgent groups."

In December 2005, the then Army Chief J.J. Singh stirred a hornet's nest by claiming that Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh had paid a 'donation' of INR Five million to the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) and INR 10 million to the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The Chief Minister and the KYKL rejected the allegation. However, while describing the charge as "forgery, cheating and political victimization", the KYKL admitted that it receives financial help from 'different people', including politicians, though "not as much as INR Five million from a single individual".

In addition to Ibobi Singh, there is a long list of politicians, including Chief Ministers, who have been similarly accused of buying or attempting to buy peace with the militants. In the late 1980s, the then Manipur Governor, General K.V. Krishna Rao, accused then Chief Minister Rishang Keishing of contributing INR Three million to the coffers of the then undivided National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). Keishing's linkages with the Naga militants found mention in another state Governor's report, when Lieutenant General V.K. Nayyar accused him as well as another senior state politician, R.K. Dorendro, of financing the NSCN. Keishing, during another stint as Chief Minister in the mid 1990s, was accused of supplying uniforms to the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN (NSCN-IM). Investigations into this incident were allegedly hushed up and the blame was eventually pushed off on to a Manipur Rifles Commandant. In 2000, at least five state Ministers were accused of reportedly contributing funds and official vehicles to unnamed militant outfits and even participated in the funerals of militants killed in encounters with the SFs. A state government inquiry was ordered, but was never completed.

Both politics and militancy in the Northeast are rooted in ethnicity and the nexus between the two power centres is inherently linked to such primordial loyalties. Both militants and politicians share a common support base. Instead of choosing to confront each other and erode the support base, both tend to collaborate and benefit from the prevailing state of affairs. In 2003, Manipur Power Minister Phungzathang, belonging to the Zomi tribe, provided two vehicles and a sum of INR 260,000 to the militants of the Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA). Similarly, the Naga MLAs in Manipur have often openly spoken in favour of the NSCN-IM's demand for the merger of Naga-inhabited areas of the state with Nagaland.These politicians have periodically led delegations to the highest echelons in New Delhi in support of these demands.

New Delhi's intermittent attempts at breaking the nexus display a lack of sincerity. In 1997, an 'action plan' drawn up by the MHA, following then Prime Minister I.K. Gujral's visit to the Northeast, proposed a vigilance system to monitor the politician-militant nexus in the region. In 2001, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee decided to set up a judicial inquiry into the charges of the politician-militant nexus in the region. Nothing has been heard of either 'initiative' since the respective announcements. In August 2007, reports unveiled another of New Delhi's proposed mechanisms to counter the nexus and the militant extortion network. The proposed mechanism involves setting up of local units of the Enforcement Directorate (An agency under the Ministry of Finance, which investigates financial irregularities) and in coordination with the banking sector, to evolve an anti-dote to the thriving problem. It remains to be seen whether this new proposal will have any eventual impact on the ground, or whether it will go the way of its predecessors.

The nexus between politicians and militants has conveniently been described as a natural corollary to Manipur's thriving militancy. Notwithstanding occasional action by the enforcement agencies--as in the present raids and arrests--these linkages have sustained militancy for decades, providing the militants a steady source of finance and at least some safety from SF operations. Stringent punitive action could have been a decisive deterrent to such alliances. Regrettably, errant politicians have, so far, retained complete immunity against the 'long arm of the law'.

[Kati]

NSCN hits YouTube with American ‘ambassador’
NISHIT DHOLABHAI, The telegraph, Kolkata, Nov 5, 2007

A grab from the YouTube clip

New Delhi, Nov. 4: The NSCN (Isak-Muivah)’s well-oiled publicity machine has flooded the video-sharing Internet site YouTube with pro-Nagalim propaganda, including a two-part interview with an American sympathiser who is introduced to viewers as the “honorary ambassador to Nagalimâ€

[svinayak]

[quote="Kati"]NSCN hits YouTube with American ‘ambassador’
NISHIT DHOLABHAI, The telegraph, Kolkata, Nov 5, 2007

A grab from the YouTube clip

New Delhi, Nov. 4: The NSCN (Isak-Muivah)’s well-oiled publicity machine has flooded the video-sharing Internet site YouTube with pro-Nagalim propaganda, including a two-part interview with an American sympathiser who is introduced to viewers as the “honorary ambassador to Nagalimâ€

[Kati]

Assam--ULFA’s Rising Anxieties
Wasbir Hussain
Member, National Security Advisory Board, India; Associate Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management, New Delhi

In the ongoing battles to win the ‘war’ between the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the security forces in Northeast India’s Assam State, the Government seems to have registered a distinct advantage. There is a growing impression that the ULFA — among the region’s most potent insurgent groups — has been hit by a possible ‘conflict fatigue’, resulting in its cadres surrendering to the authorities by the dozens. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has disclosed that between September 24, 2006 — when a temporary truce between the authorities and the ULFA ended — and October 31, 2007, a total of 655 ULFA militants have surrendered to the authorities across the State.

The latest mass surrender took place November 1, 2007, when 64 ULFA militants, including Ujjwal Gohain, ‘finance secretary’ of the group’s crack Myanmar-headquartered fighting unit called the ‘28th battalion’, gave up before Police, Army and civil administration officials at an Assam Police base in Guwahati. A week earlier, on October 23, 2007, 31 ULFA rebels had surrendered in a function at an Army brigade headquarters near Guwahati. Fourteen militants each from the ULFA had surrendered on two earlier occasions — at the Army’s 2nd Mountain Division headquarters in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh District on October 29, 2007, and before the Assam Police in Guwahati on September 6, 2007.

The ULFA may prefer to dismiss these surrenders as nothing but ‘dramas’ stage managed by the Government, but the rebel group cannot ignore the fact that it is fast losing its cadre strength. In addition to the surrenders, quite a large number of ULFA militants have either been killed by security forces or arrested. In just a year, starting September 2006, in the three eastern Districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar, under the jurisdiction of the 2nd Mountain Division (and not in the whole of Assam), Army troopers on the ULFA trail killed 51 militants from the group and captured 95 others. The police and the paramilitary have also neutralized a number of ULFA militants in independent operations. It must be noted that more than 90 per cent of the militants neutralized over this period belong to the ‘28th battalion,’ which has staging areas across the international border in Myanmar, according to Army sources.

"You must take note of the fact that ULFA rebels are surrendering despite the peace efforts breaking down," Chief Minister Gogoi told this writer. The Government is evidently suggesting that the ULFA rank-and-file are tiring out with no end in sight to the insurrection for an independent homeland that is already 28 year old. Strategists within the Government and its security agencies would like to believe that the ULFA is cracking up because the authorities have given out enough indications that they are not in any hurry to resume the peace process with the rebel group. Fresh appeals to the Government by groups and individuals known to be pro-ULFA have, so far, been ignored both by the central and the State governments. Peace efforts, which began in September 2005 with the ULFA appointing an 11-member negotiation panel called the People’s Consultative Group (PCG), broke down a year later, after three rounds of talks, with both sides putting up conditions and counter-conditions.

A complex of factors is believed to have triggered the present spate of surrenders, including:

An apparent disconnect between the group’s topmost leaders, based outside Assam, and local commanders;
The apparent failure to hold the ULFA’s ‘general council’ meeting since 1998, and the failure to reassure Assam-based leaders through telephonic contacts with ‘general council’ members;
The absence of safe sanctuaries, after the ULFA’s expulsion from Bhutan following the Royal Bhutan Army blitzkrieg in December 2003;
The inability to consolidate ULFA bases in Myanmar because of improving ties between New Delhi and Yangon;
The unpredictable response of the new Army-backed dispensation in Bangladesh, making long-term operational plans from sanctuaries in that country difficult;
The attraction of the Government’s new rehabilitation policy, in place since April 2005, which provides each surrendered rebel a monthly stipend of INR 2,000 for a period of three years, training in a vocational skill of choice, and a fixed deposit of INR 150,000 for each surrendered militant, under the care of security agencies, to be made available at the end of the three year period.
The cumulative reverses faced by the ULFA are expected to impact on the organization in a number of ways. Security agencies are of the opinion that the rebel group has already been ‘outsourcing’ risky jobs like planting explosive devices to prevent its cadres from being killed or captured. The group could also be forced to recruit cadres who may not be ideologically motivated to be a part of its operations, and who may, consequently, quit at any time. Moreover, reports of surrenders at regular intervals have the potential to give out signals that could make even the ULFA’s unflinching over-ground supporters lose faith in the organization, and force the leadership to engage in a measure of introspection.

In any analysis of the ULFA’s strengths and weaknesses, it is important to arrive at a figure of the number of cadres in the group. Some reports, quoting Army sources, had put the number of ULFA rebels at 3,000 at one stage, while others reports have put the number at anything between 4,000 and 6,000. By contrast, however, official Assam Police figures (obtained by former State Home Commissioner T.L. Baruah under the Right to Information Act) claim that between 1998 and 2005, a total of 3,324 ULFA militants had surrendered to the authorities. Adding to these the number of ULFA militants who surrendered between September 2006 and October 31, 2007 (655, as stated by the Chief Minister), the total comes close to 4,000. In this simple arithmetic, militants who may have surrendered between January and September 2006 have not been taken into account, nor have the numbers of militant captured been included. Further, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal database, a total of 1,950 militants were killed over the 1998-2007 period (till October 31, 2007), a large majority of them belonging to the ULFA. Clearly, with a constantly shrinking recruitment base, this scale of attritional losses will bring unbearable pressure to bear on the organization and its capacities to sustain the insurgency.

Evidently, the ULFA will have to orchestrate some ‘drama’ of its own if it is to survive. The probabilities of high intensity strikes, even if these involve ‘stealth bombings’ on soft targets to demonstrate its strike potential, would, consequently, increase in the proximate future. There may also be a vigorous demand for resumption of the peace process by certain groups across Assam. There is an obvious uncertainty regarding what will follow, though it is clear that the continuing reverses do not spell a necessary beginning of the end for the ULFA insurgency in Assam. That is principally because the issues behind the rise of the ULFA, ever since its formation on April 7, 1979, still remain to be tackled. And the group’s slogan of the ‘political’ and ‘economic’ independence of Assam can only be met or addressed politically. Had a purely military solution been possible, the ULFA militancy should have been dead and gone after 17 years of a sustained counter-insurgency offensive under a Unified Headquarters of the Army, Police and Paramilitary Forces. Nevertheless, the Government now appears to be in a position of dominance, and it remains to be seen if this can be translated into a final resolution of the problem, or will prove to be just one of the transient dips in the trajectory of insurgency in the State.

http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/inde ... ssessment3

[SwamyG]

Recently somebody forwarded me the article described in the Link

[svinayak]

Recently somebody forwarded me the article described in the Link

sikkim anonymous said...

The author's account brought a tear to my eyes and memories of dark days that I would rather forget. Excellently written and explained but it will not bring back Sikkim from a death like grip of India.

This is similar to the annexation of the Kingdom of Manipur (NE India) almost 30 years before by hoodwiking the Raja of Manipur.

I fear for my Nepali friends that after 30 years and in their old age they too will have similar regrets, for, and paraphrasing George Santayana (1863-1952), "Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it." Nepal is best off protecting its old constitution and reforming its institutions than throwing out the baby with the bathwater. It is not the constitution that did not work: it was the venal politicians that made sure that it did not work.

Therefore one cannot say, A Priori, that a new constitution and a new setup will guarantee a better, happier and a developed Nepal. Old communist and socialist models do not work. Better to try evolution than revolution.

So beware of Greeks bearing gifts. And this time, I hear the Greeks have even already given Nepal a gift of multiple drafts of new constitutions.

[Victor]

20 killed as Guwahati erupts in violence, army out
[quote]the Adivasi students’ union members after holding a rally at Beltola demanding ST status tried to march towards the assembly at Dispur. When they were stopped by policemen at the lastgate area, the agitating students attacked and injured a magistrate.

The students, armed with bows, arrows and lathis, vandalised private property and shops and set several vehicles ablaze turning the area from Dispur to Bashista into a â€

[Rudranathh]

The so-called 'peaceful' tribals had come armed with bow and arrows for a 'peaceful' procession.

The video showed on timesnow tv shows that when the tribals were returning after the procession they started attacking the passerbys and looting the shops on the way.

It took a while before the locals understood that this was not a some political incident and that the tribals had come prepared for this and then the locals paid the tribals in the same coin. The locals picked up sticks and gave the looters a nice beating before the police came and bundled the looters into the police vans.

[sanjaychoudhry]

The AllAdivasi Students Association of Assam(AASAA) central vice president Mr Raphael kujur and chief organising secretary Mr Bosco Chermako represented AASAA in united Nations working group on Indigenous populations held from 18th july 2005 to 22nd july 2005 at the office of the UN high commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, switzerland.

Same thing is happening in Chattisgarh. It is the same familiar story -- Tribals and Dalits will be converted by white christians and then their leaders will become cultural slaves of white man and do his bidding on international stage against their fellow Indians. If Whites succeed in changing religious profile of tribal areas of central India, there will be hell to pay for us. Chritianised tribals will become unmanagable and 1947 will be repeated. Indeed, this is what Whites are angling for. Fools and their land are soon parted.

[ramana]

From The Telegraph Kolkota, 28 Nov 2007

SO NEAR, YET SO FAR
- Development in the Northeast still awaits targeted planning
KRISHNAN SRINIVASAN
The author is former foreign secretary of India



All that is special


The Indian Northeast region, comprising about 5 per cent of the land area and 8 per cent of the population of the country, is one of the most complex in Asia, with about 200 ethnic groups, languages and dialects. These societies have lived in isolation not only from the rest of the country but also from each other, and both legal and illegal migrations have created new fault-lines in traditional societies. The whole area, where parochialism transcends nationalism or even regionalism, is in painful transition, trying to learn tolerance of other ethnic groups and adjust to the concept of planned development.

There is a tendency to assert that the Northeast is not ‘integrated’ with the rest of India because of ethnicity and insurgency, but this is only partly true; Arunachal Pradesh, which has the biggest number of tribes, is peaceful, while Manipur, which is prey to secessionist groups, is otherwise well integrated in terms of arts, culture and sports. Nagaland is the only state where militants are not reconciled to their tribal space being part of the Indian Union, though even there many people see benefits when compared to neighbours like Myanmar and Bangladesh.

There is another aspect to human integration: 90 journalists from Assam alone work in Delhi, 10 per cent of the information technology sector people in Bangalore are from the Northeast, hospitality sectors all over India look for and employ young people from the Northeast because they speak good English. Five thousand young persons from the region each year go to other states to find employment.

The Northeast comprises eight states with only 1 per cent bordering India — the rest of the borders are with Myanmar, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. India’s trade with the countries bordering the Northeast has gone up five times, but no impact is seen in that region because this commerce is through the seaports. The five-nation Bimstec was supposed to help the Northeast, but there is a lack of connectivity that precludes the opportunities leading to results.

Our import substitution economy after 1947 deprived the North-east of its natural markets, as did the 1971 Bangladesh war. There are massive imports into the region, and Chinese consumer goods are to be seen in every marketplace. The exchange rate is unreasonably low for Chinese imports and these goods have obviously not come through established channels. Illegal trade and smuggling exist because there is no trade facilitation.

There are three points for border trade with China at places where there is no dispute regarding the boundary; Lipulekh in Uttaranchal opened in 1993 and Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh in 1994. I led the Indian delegation to Beijing in 1994 that proposed the opening of Nathu-la to the Chinese. It then took nine years for the memorandum to be signed, and a further three for the border point to be opened for trade.

For 58 years after the Younghusband expedition of 1904, Nathu-la had been the main artery between India and China and made possible 80 per cent of the trade between the two countries. The expectation was that by 2010 trade at Nathu-la would represent 10 per cent of the total Indo-Chinese trade, namely $1 billion. Why 2010? Because the Border Roads Organization said it would take as long as that for the one-track road to be made into two lanes. Considering that India and China are among the two fastest growing world economies, and with Tibet itself growing at 12 per cent, Nathu-la should improve prospects for the whole Northeast, which has been left behind at about half of India’s growth rate.

However, the optimistic prospects envisaged for Nathu-la trade and its beneficial effects have not materialized, and do not look as if they ever will. If the Northeast opens up, would it be primarily for our exports or only for imports of cheaper Chinese goods? This question seems to obsess the decision-makers in New Delhi, who always want to play safe.

Progress in the Northeast depends on the creation of assets in power, infrastructure and opportunities. India may be looking East but evidently not to our own Northeast. The shocking fact is that 97 per cent of the natural resources in the Northeast, such as hydroelectricity, biodiversity and minerals, is not exploited. There is practically no private sector involvement. The entrepreneur does not need tax breaks and incentives from the state. What he looks for first are raw material sources, the potential market and logistics.

Tourism could transform the Northeast. Ethnologically and linguistically, the Northeast has historic links with south-west China and the Mon-Khmer peoples in Myanmar and Thailand. The structures for tourism are poor, but infrastructure is equally poor in south-west China, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, which are all also landlocked. Yet those countries and regions attract manifold numbers of tourists; Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet and Myanmar surpass by far the tourist numbers to the Northeast. There has been no use made of specialized promotion, such as adventure, veterans of World War II, wildlife, spiritual or other nostalgia (for tea planters and missionaries) or eco-tourism. Air connectivity to the neighbouring countries does not exist, and in the permit raj of inner line, restricted area, and protected area, permits are a serious obstacle.

The North Eastern Council was set up as long ago as 1971 and has been revamped many times since. Health and education are identified as priorities, along with employment, good governance and food security. The public’s interest in participating in development is high. But while multiple recommendations are drawn up, little or nothing is seen on the ground.

The Centre’s response has characteristically been, as in Kashmir, to throw money at the problem with no consideration of outcomes or accountability. In addition to the allocations in the state plans, there are funds from the NEC, and Central ministries since 1998 have allocated a non-lapsable 10 per cent of their budgets for the Northeast. There is reimbursement of expenditure incurred by northeastern states on security-related issues, funds for the modernization of the police, border areas development grants and other sources of funding too numerous to mention. Yet the minimum identified needs have not been met despite the massive funds poured into the region. With this cornucopia of funds, there has been great seepage and massive corruption. Effective measures to prevent this have neither been devised nor executed. Pumping in funds leads to distortions in the economy unless there are investments in real assets. The shift from agriculture to industry and services is going at a snail’s pace even compared to the rest of India.

There are legitimate fears of loss of identity — and the demand by various ethnic groups for increasingly more autonomy continues and has to be addressed. The need to protect the socio-cultural and religious practices of the various ethnic groups and to give them an effective say in running their own institutions has often been underlined. But there is no adequate devolution to the minority tribes in the autonomous areas and funds are not released directly to the autonomous councils.

The various ethnic fractures prevent cooperation in anti-militancy drives. The Union government has to deal with combating the 30-odd active militant groups both because of the states’ reluctance to get involved owing to the alleged lack of financial and human resources, and the Centre’s suspicion of the state governments’ ability to keep intelligence reports confidential. Even to resist illegal migration, HIV-AIDS and drug trafficking, there is little cooperation between the states. In other words, there is a lack of trust and faith all round.

This is the reason that so many aspects of governance in the region have been left to the supervision of the army, and the prolonged deployment of the military, which is unfamiliar with the local terrain, language, culture and social ethos, has led to serious recriminations and alienates the local people. After 50 years of existence in the Northeast, the armed forces act is viewed as tyrannical and it inspires hatred.

The Union government might want to look East but most of its bureaucrats in the region look West. Admittedly, life is difficult, and education facilities are limited. There are restrictions on the acquisition of property by ‘outsiders’. The result is that there is no long-term commitment on the part of the civil service. An administrative and police service for the region composed exclusively of officers from the Northeast is long overdue.

[Sidd]

Behind the image of woman stripped, story of a 16-yr-old girl, her Board exams next year

[Rudranathh]

Nagaland CM urges Centre to connect all NE state capitals

12/19/2007

New Delhi, Dec 19 (UNI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today said the plan to connect all the state capitals of the region through the North East Express should now be made a reality, even if it meant a private public partnership.

Participating at the 54th Meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) here, Mr Rio urged the Centre to expedite the construction of the railway line from Dimapur to Kohima and setting up of a new green field airport at Chethu (Kohima).

He said the region could be marketed as a common tourist destination and attractive tourist circuits should be worked out and publicised through the Internet. ''In this regard the proposed creation of North East Tourism Development Council is a welcome step,'' he added.

Specifying another priority area of opening of trade with the South East Asian countries, Mr Rio said it would not only boost economy but also remove the sense of ''isolation and neglect'' felt by the people of the region. ''In this connection, the Look East Policy of the Government needs to be better defined and crystallised into specific action programmes so that it does not remain a mere policy statement or attractive slogan. This would require restructuring of the various policies of the country, including the foreign policy,'' Mr Rio said.

Among other issues he spoke about were non-implementation of Prime Minister's package for Nagaland like revival of a paper mill, four laning of NH 39 and employment opportunities.

[Rudranathh]

NE has most millionaire households: Study

The North-East has more millionaire households than other regions of the country, even though a vast majority of the people in the region do not have solid roof over their heads and two square meals to eat, leave alone other basic amenities.

The North-East region has a higher proportion of millionaire households (5.1%) than any other region in the country. This was disclosed by Indicus Analytics in its yet-to-be-released report — Housing Skyline of India 2007-08.

This organisation collates data on several parameters related to housing and households for India’s top 100 urban centres from a variety of sources. The North-East is followed by northern (4.6%) and western (4.2%) India.

South India has only 3.8 % of urban households in this high-income bracket, which is just a touch lower than the average of 3.9% for all 100 cities. Central India, which includes cities in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, does better than the east, while the lowest proportions are for the cities off the mainland that is in Andaman and Lakshadweep.

Among them the 100 cities have just over 1.5 million households with Rs 10 lakh-plus annual income. In absolute terms, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat and Chandigarh are all ahead of Chennai and Hyderabad.

Interestingly, going by the proportion of households in different cities that are in the million-plus annual income bracket, Chandigarh emerges a clear No 1 with over 15% of families.

Silvassa, capital of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, is in the second place followed by Rupnagar in Punjab, Kohima in Nagaland and Goa.

Patiala, Jamshedpur, Jalandhar, Thiruvananthapuram and Shimla round off the unexpected top 10.

Coming to metros, Bangalore has the highest proportion NE has most millionaire of millionaire households but it’s only about one in 15 families in the Karnataka capital that are in this elite club, which puts the city in 17th place on the list followed by Delhi (40), Mumbai (52), Chennai (67th) and Kolkata (91st), the report said.

Data indicates that despite poverty and backwardness wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few in the remote and backward northeaster region.

[Rye]

Most of the millionaries in the NE have gotten their wealth from graft and/or crime/terrorism, obviously, given the complete lack of industry in the NE for such wealth generation.

[Rudranathh]

Most of the millionaries in the NE have gotten their wealth from graft and/or crime/terrorism, obviously, given the complete lack of industry in the NE for such wealth generation.

Sir, some may have made money by illegal means but dont accuse every rich person from that region to have earned money through such means. I know atleast one person whose family have gained wealth through hard work in the agriculture sector and are in no way connected to any group.

[Rye]

Rudranathh ji, sorry if I was not clear. Clearly, there are some of them who own tea estates and so forth, who got wealth the legitimate way. I am willing to be corrected if there are an enormous number of such private estate owners, but I vaguely recall that most of the estates had been consolidated and were run by Indian and foreign MNCs. If that is the case, then it is hard to see how so many millionaires can be created in a place where is poverty and unemployment and no industry and excessive illegal immigration....please enlighten if you have better information.

[Singha]

most of these millionaires are government employees onree. there are entire colonies in GHY built up in last 20 yrs with swank homes. I nearly got a heart attack in my last trip seeing one such newbie area. 2000 sq ft is large by metro standards ..... there 2000 sq ft homes were NOTHING....large homes, large plots of land, ....extensive gardening.
the scale of graft increases in the hill states and there aint no income tax
or any form of IT efforts there. add in incomes from smuggling, drugs, protection rackets, slave trade, ....

with the retreat of ulfa into a skulking mode all the wealth stolen over
20 yrs has come out and GHY is booming in retail and construction.
quality of new buildings is on par with BLR.

all the smart girls in levis and shirts strutting around DU elite colleges
and lecturing people on morality and citizenship are really the daughters
of common thieves...who betrayed the trust of millions and the money
people like my dad paid as IT. he couldnt even save enough to buy a
small plot before passing away.

change might happen if roads and rail links into and within the region
are improved under NHAI phaseX and trade with PRC opened up.
thieves will lot but pie will be bigger.

[Victor]

It would be interesting to know which states out of the seven in the NE actually have the most millionaires. The fact that Kohima is the 3rd richest city in the country gives us some inkling. Even though it is no more than a remote, hard-to-reach collection of shacks in the hills with no industry or visible source of income, its people regularly shop in London, New York and Bangkok and are better dressed than in any other state. I have seen first hand how Delhi pacifies a gun-toting, Bible-thumping Naga—it simply stuffs rupees into his nether regions. One common way of doing this is to hand out “contractsâ€

[Paddington]

The poorest state in India today is Bihar. Where is the government aid package for Bihar? Maybe it's because Biharis aren't threatening revolution. Maybe it's because Biharis aren't committing pogroms against Indians from other parts of the country.

Basically India has become a country where you only get something if you whine loudly and/or become violent. Everyone knows about all the aid Kashmir gets.

But what about Punjab? Punjabis complained bitterly about their state being divided, then they whined some more about not having jobs and committed acts of brutality and rebellion. So what do they get? The Green Revolution was made a national priority because of all the disgruntled Punjabi youths. Something like 99% of Punjab is irrigated thanks to project that every Indian paid for, whereas only half of Bihar is. Punjab's prosperity today is in large part due to the fact that they whined and threatened so much retaliation that the Central Government paid them off by using taxes collected from all Indians to make development of Punjab a matter of #1 national priority.

Maybe if Biharis started slitting the throats of non-Biharis passing through the state, the Central government would respond by developing the infrastructure, a "Green Revolution", and lots of cash payouts to keep everyone happy. That's the kind of country India is.

[Rye]

Deleted.

[JCage]

But he has a point. Its a fact of life that whenever insurgency or viva le revolucion begins, the idiots in New Delhi then flood the area with money, macadam and manpower. Till then, they dont G.A.S. as the saying goes.
With Maoism on the upsurge, I wonder which states the IA will be sent to next, and which states elite will then wander around in Pajeros and Mercedes while the rest of the population simmers in discontent.

[Victor]

Actually, Viva la Revolucion has done precious little for the NE over the last 60 years and it looks like doing more of the same for the foreseeable future. By default, Delhi has maintained an indifference to the NE states—“if you cause trouble for the country, you can play with the monkeys and eat bamboo shoots as long as you likeâ€

[Rudranathh]

Centre extends ceasefire with Dima Halam Daogah
December 31st, 2007

United Liberation Front of AssamNew Delhi, Dec 31 : The Central Government has agreed to extend the ceasefire with the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), a militant outfit operating in Assam, by another six months

"Suspension of Operations (SOO) agreement between the security forces and the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), a militant outfit operating in Assam, has been extended for a further period of six months up to June 30, 2008," a government release said.

The extension follows a tripartite meeting of the representatives of the Central Government, Assam Government and the DHD on December 27

The SOO agreement between DHD and the security forces has been in operation since January 1, 2003. The current pact expires today. (ANI)

[Rudranathh]

Three ULFA terrorists killed in Assam encounter
December 31st, 2007

Guwahati, Dec 31 (ANI): Three terrorists belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) were killed and another injured in an encounter with security forces in the Dibru-Saikhowa Reserve Forest area.

The killed terrorists are believed to be fresh recruits who had returned recently from Myanmar to carry out a major strike in the state.

Acting on a tip-off that five to six terrorists were camping in the area, the Army launched an operation, defence sources said.

A pistol, two grenades, 400 ammunitions of various kinds and two Improvised Explosive Device (IED’s) have been retrieved from the encounter site. (ANI)

[ramana]

From The Telegraph, 10 Jan., 2008


Damage Control


[quote]
DAMAGE CONTROL
- The Northeast will prosper only when its people reject terrorism
J.J. Singh
The author is former chief of army staff


As you revolve the globe, each part of it becomes the centre at some stage. So also is the case with the northeast of India. How many of us see it in such a perspective — as the centre of that region? When the sun rises over India, its rays fall over the Northeast at least an hour before they do on Delhi. For a moment, look at the map with Guwahati and Shillong as the hub. If one were to draw an arc with 1,000 km as the radius, the circle would encompass eight countries and also include cities like Calcutta, Dhaka, Varanasi, Kathmandu, Gangtok, Thimpu, Lhasa, Kunming, Mandalay, Chittagong and the border areas of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Therefore, this area assumes geo-strategic importance as the land link between India and the Far East. Can the Northeast regain its past glory and become the focal point of commerce, trade, arts, culture and education of this region? This should be possible provided the people lend their support to the government in ending the scourge of terrorism.

Historically, the Brahmaputra basin is a land inhabited by an ancient civilization. It has a vibrant culture and was once a flourishing centre of trade.

The Northeast has great natural resources in terms of minerals, coal, oil, forests and so on. A large area is yet to be explored. It produces a huge quantity of tea and fruits like pineapples, oranges and leechies. Bamboo, cane, ginger, other herbal and medicinal plants are found in abundance. There is tremendous scope for these natural products to be exploited commercially. Handicrafts of the area are a novelty. Industry needs to be encouraged to set up units so that prosperity comes to this region. The creation of jobs would result in gainful employment of the youth, and keep them away from the path of violence. Unfortunately, the violence and lawlessness deter important national and multinational industrial houses from investing in the area.

The people are handsome, sincere, hardworking and proud of their culture. The graceful Bihu dance of Assam leaves one in a trance. Mizo belles display great precision and nimblefootedness when they do the bamboo dance. The culturally-rich Manipuri dance and the tantalizing swirls and turns which the drummers perform have a tremendous impact on the viewer. What to say of the martial dances of various tribes and the reverberating sound of the log drums accompanied by the battle cry of the warriors! These are simply stunning. The people have a great love for music; indeed it is there in their blood. One evening in 1965, while trekking to a small hamlet called Khanjangkuki in Phek district near the Indo-Myanmar border, I heard someone strumming on the guitar. The wonderful and melodious sound of music was indeed mesmerizing, particularly in such a remote and quaint little village. The young musician was studying in Shillong and happened to be visiting his family on a holiday.

The Northeast could be the focal point of sports as well. Sportspersons of Manipur and Assam have won acclaim in national and international sports competitions and done India proud. The people are endowed with a natural talent for sports such as football, boxing, judo, karate, wrestling, weight-lifting, shooting and archery. In fact, they have traditional expertise in the use of spears, dahs, crossbows and arrows and have displayed great prowess as hunters and warriors in the past. We need to develop state of the art infrastructure and sports facilities so that the youth can be facilitated to excel and achieve international standards.

The Brahmaputra river is navigable from the Bay of Bengal right up to Dibrugarh. It has important cities like Dhubri, Guwahati and Dibrugarh, besides some others in Bangladesh, located on its banks. It can be developed into a major artery for movement and transportation of people and goods, as is the case with the Amazon. The modern river port at Manaus in Brazil, almost 1,500 km inland from the Atlantic Ocean, is truly impressive. The Northeast is connected by road, rail and air as well as by rivers. However, the great potential of linking this area by transnational highways, railways and waterways has remained unrealized. Imagine the benefit that would accrue to the people if there were an international highway and transnational railway connecting Calcutta with the rest of this region and going on to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, thereby facilitating trade, commerce and movement of people. This would also be in keeping with India’s ‘Look East policy’.

The natural beauty of the Northeast is awesome. If properly addressed, it is a factor which can make the region an international tourist destination. Where can one find enthralling mountainscapes and cool alpine climate on the one hand, and giant water bodies, rivers, torrential rainfall and primary tropical forests on the other? The region can offer tourists diverse and unparalleled experience such as one gets in Switzerland, Brazil or Bali in Indonesia. Unequalled opportunities for mountaineering, trekking, river-rafting, studying the rich flora and fauna and the diverse wildlife make this region unique. Boat cruises on the Brahmaputra would be exciting and memorable. Although a lot of tree cover has been lost due to the denuding effect of “jhoomingâ€

[sanjchopra]

Series of bomb blasts rock Bhutan, one hurt

GUWAHATI: Four bomb blasts rocked the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on Sunday, including one in the capital Thimphu, and a woman was injured, a spokesman for the Royal Bhutan Police said.

The blasts came as the Buddhist nation prepared to shift to democracy after a century of absolute monarchy by holding its first ever general election on March 24.

The bombs -- planted in a vegetable market, near a restaurant and close to a government guest house -- failed to cause much damage to properties, except shattering a few window panes, police said.

Nepal-based Maoists were suspected of involvement.

Many ethnic Nepalis in Bhutan were not given the right to vote.


Tens of thousands fled Bhutan or were expelled in 1991 for protesting against discrimination and demanding democracy.

Some angry Nepalis, along with refugees, have formed armed groups and threatened to disrupt the vote next month. "The Bhutan Tiger Force, Bhutan Maoists Party, and Communist Party of Bhutan based in Nepal are suspected to be behind these explosions," the police spokesman said.

Apart from Thimphu, the blasts took place in the districts of Samste, Chukha and Dagana. Police later found another unexploded bomb during searches at Dagana district.

[derkonig]

there goes the neighborhood..the last/only decent country in our backyard is all set to fall to maoists, hans & EJs now...
just gr8.

[Rudranathh]

Baichung, five others from NE get Padma awards

Friday, January 25, 2008

New Delhi: India's football Captain Baichung Bhutia is among six Padma Shri awardees this year who hail from the northeast. Bhutia, from Sikkim, led the country to victory at the Nehru Cup tournament last year.

Three persons from Assam - Jatin Goswami (Art), Sheela Barthakur (Social Work) and Surjya Kanta Hazarika (Literature and Education) - and two from Manipur - Sabitri Heisnam (Art) and A. Jayanta Kumar Singh (Medicine) - have also bagged the Padma Shri.

Goswami, an exponent of the Sattriya dance form, is regarded as a living legend in the field. He has given several performances at national and international levels. Barthakur was the founder of the Sadou Asom Lekhika Samaroh Samiti, a women's literary organisation.

Hazarika is regarded as a pioneer in the state s education and literary field. He is the chairman and managing trustee of the Guwahati-based S H Educational Trust. Heisnam is considered as one of the most accomplished woman artists in the contemporary Indian theatrical scene. Singh has been given the Padma Shri for his pioneering efforts in the field of medicine.

[Anindya]

Assam: Army officer, two ultras killed in encounter

K Anurag in Guwahati | January 27, 2008 | 17:49 IST

An Army captain and two militants from the United Liberation Front of Asom were killed in a fierce gun battle in Assam on Sunday. The gunfight, led by personnel from the 7/11 Gorkha Regiment, took place at Borpathar in Tinsukia district of eastern Assam.

Acting on a tip off, the Gorkha Regiment raided the Mechaki reserve forest area at Hankhati where the militants, including hardcore ULFA ultra Joond Bhuyan, were sheltered. When the militants opened fire at the approaching militants, the securitymen retaliated and heavy exchange of fire continued for nearly an hour.

Captain S K Chowdhury, who received the Sena Meda on Republic Day for his outstanding service to the nation, was seriously injured during the encounter. He died on his way to the hospital.

Two ULFA militants also died in the encounter while Bhuyan was hit by a bullet, but managed to escape. The slain ULFA militants were identified as Chandan Dohotia and Tutu Moran. Army personnel recovered one AK 47 rifle, two magazines with 100 rounds of live ammunition and an improvised explosive device fitted with 5 kg of explosives from the encounter site.

The Army rushed additional troops to the area to continue its search operation.

http://www.rediff.com//news/2008/jan/27assam.htm

[Rony]

ISI spreads a net in Northeast India

India has largely turned a blind eye to militant groups operating in its far-flung Northeast, the growing Islamisation of the region provides more than enough reasons for New Delhi to start paying closer attention to its Northeastern border. Stratfor has been closely monitoring the growing nexus between India´s Northeastern insurgent outfits and militant Islamist groups that regularly traverse India´s extremely porous border with Bangladesh.

The Northeastern region is no stranger to banned armed groups and their destructive activities, but the recent development where it has emerged that the Pakistani agency has engaged scores of its operatives in the region and also sponsored a number of indigenous armed groups has come as a shocking revelation.

But unfortunately for the people of Northeast, a most influential armed group of Assam has reportedly maintained close links with ISI. The local media quoting different government and non-government sources claimed that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is in touch with Islamic terrorists too. Launched in 1979 with the aim to make Assam an independent country, the banned armed group is blamed for numerous killings, explosions, kidnappings and a huge number of extortion cases.

But what is appalling for the people of the region is that not less than 20 native militia groups have come closer to ISI. It was disclosed during the interrogation of an ISI operative, who was arrested by the Assam police in Guwahati on December 14. More shocking revelation for the entire nation is that the alliance has slowly pushed the insurgents groups into the clutches of Islamic militants.

The Assam police termed it a big catch in its counter-terrorism operations in the Northeast.The arrested ISI operative was identified as S.M. Alam alias Mujibullah Alam alias Asfi Alam. Hailing from Ajampur village under Uttara police station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Alam (35) has been recognised as an important functionary of the ISI incharge of Assam and the Northeast.

Brig. (retired) Dr S.P. Sinha, who served Northeast for many decades, claimed that the ISI had now formed a new base in Bangladesh to carry on anti-India operations. In his recent book titled Lost Opportunities: 50 years of Insurgency in the Northeast and India´s Response, Dr Sinha, who led the Gorkha Rifles, also narrated that Pakistan had shifted nearly 200 terrorist training camps from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to Bangladesh.

His comment is supplemented by a senior Bangladeshi journalist. "The Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) has been actively operating in Bangladesh under a number of cover-ups. In recent months, a large number of former army officials from Pakistan have come to Bangladesh to work for different business groups. Most of the top figures in these companies are either former military personnel or well connected to the Pakistan Army."

The journalist, who sought anonymity added, "Personally I believe, these Pakistani Army officials are not retired personnel. They might be important officials of the ISI. My information is a huge amount of profit of those companies goes to the hidden activities of the agency. I suspect, the ISI has a significant amount of shares in those companies (including one mobile phone service provider) working in Bangladesh."

"A few companies owned by foreign nationals have emerged as a major base for the ISI in Bangladesh." Naming one, Chowdhury, a pro-Pakistani politician in Bangladesh, the journalist alleged that the controversial person had business tie-ups with these companies. "He (Chowdhury) has also links with many Northeastern militants including ULFA and is suspected to be involved with an armed gang in the hill tracts of Chittagong," the journalist added.

Weeks ago, a reputed US intelligence think-tank reported about ULFA´s increasing financial enterprises with Islamic militant groups. Stratfor, in one of its analytical reports stated that ULFA leaders preferred to maintain their financial network with Pakistan´s intelligence agency and ´its financial enterprise and strong links with Islamist militant groups have made it a threat that New Delhi will not be able to ignore much longer´.

The report also added that ´though India has largely turned a blind eye to militant groups operating in its far-flung Northeast´, the growing Islamisation of the region provides ´more than enough reasons for New Delhi to start paying closer attention to its Northeastern border´. Stratfor has been closely monitoring the growing nexus between India´s North Eastern insurgent outfits and militant Islamist groups that regularly traverse India´s extremely porous border with Bangladesh.

Shri J.P. Rajkhowa, a bureaucrat turned media columnist, while quoting intelligence reports, stated that over 20 jehadi groups including Muslim Tiger Force of Assam, Muslim United Liberation Force of Assam, Muslim United Liberation Army, United Muslim Front of Assam, United Islamic Reformation Movement of India, Muslim Security Force, United Liberation Militia of Assam, Muslim Security Council of Assam, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami, People´s United Liberation Front, Revolutionary Muslim Commandos, Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, Students´ Islamic Movement of India, Laskar-e-Taiba, etc. are active in the region. "All these groups want to carve out an Islamic state of Assam," he commented.

"We have had occasion in the past to hammer the fact that both the ISI and the fundamentalist and terrorist organisations based in Bangladesh have taken a solemn vow to create a greater Islamic state in the subcontinent by including in it Assam and other suitable areas of the Northeast," said an editorial of The Sentinel, another important English daily of Northeast. "So why does not the State Government (of Assam) wake up to the reality, admit to having provided an opportunity to the ISI-jehadis combine to freely operate in the State" the editorial asked. It concluded with criticism of Tarun Gogoi and his Congress party-led cabinet as the government intelligence agencies were outsmarted by the ISI, and asserted that "an arrest or two will just not do. The government must be able to break the whole ISI network in the State."

[AjayKK]

The PM shri MMS is in Arunachal Pradesh on a 2 day visit.

"The sun kisses India first in Arunachal Pradesh. It is our land of rising sun," he said addressing a public meeting on his first day of his maiden visit to this border state, parts of which China claims are its territory.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced a Rs 500 crore relief package in case of damages done due to bad weather . to boost the economic development of Arunachal Pradesh

Moving a step further, Prime Minister said that there was ample scope for tourism, micro and mini Hydel projects in the state. He promised to connect Arunachal Pradesh with other states by developing its infrastructure and improving road and rail connectivity. For the purpose he announced a daily chopper service between Guwahati and Tawang.

Giving further boost to the state’s development, Manmohan Singh said the construction work for 1840-km long trans-Arunachal Highway from Bomdila would start soon. He also announced the construction of a green-field airport in the region in the days to come.

“The UPA government in Centre will do everything to ensure basic amenities like clean water and regular electricity supply to its people especially in Itanagar,â€

[Rye]

Methinks the GoI is finally getting serious. While there is a lot of whining about the PM on these here threads, it is very apparent that he is working faster than other PMs before him in terms of fixing issues concerning our immediate neighbourhood.

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=540872

North east must have permanent peace, says PM

Amitabha Roy Chowdhury

Lohitpur (Arunachal Pradesh), Feb 1 (PTI) Concerned over the problems of militancy and insurgency in the north east, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said it was imperative to have lasting peace in the region.

"It is imperative that permanent peace is established in the north east," he said addressing Army and ITBP jawans here and those who came from the far flung Kibithu area for 'barakhana' (lunch) with the Prime Minister. While Kibithu is on the China border, Lohitpur is on the boundary with Myanmar.

Seeking to boost the morale of jawans braving hostile weather conditions in inhospitable terrains, Singh said that apart from guarding the borders, they were fighting terrorism and insurgency. "This is a challenging task," he said.

Referring to the transit problems faced by jawans, Singh announced a grant of Rs.60 lakh to upgrade the transit facilities at Dehan, Senge, Likabali and Missamari.

He also announced a grant of Rs.30 lakh for setting up satellite telephony at Subansiri, Siang, Seam, Lohit and Debang valleys to improve telecommunication with the rest of the country.

The Prime Minister said he had instructed senior officials to bring to his notice whatever more was needed to address the problems faced by the personnel. "I will see that the requirements are met," he said.

"As the sentinels of the nation, you should get all facilities as a matter of right," he added.

The Prime Minister said he was proud to say that the nation was prepared to face any challenge because of the brave jawans. "To ensure peace, it is very important that the nation is strong," he said.

Singh lauded the security forces for their great service in fighting terrorism in the region and added that people had great faith in them for facing challenges boldly.

"I believe your sacrifice and selfless service has enabled the government to face security related challenges and to create an appropriate atmosphere for development," he said.

The Prime Minister spoke of the valour and bravery of the jawans posted in remote areas to safeguard the nation. "I salute the jawans who have made great sacrifices," he said.

Citing the tremendous progress made by the country in the field of science and technology and referring to the strong economy, he said the standard of living of the people has improved. "These have added to the strength of the forces too and they can face new challenges more effectively."

"Today our force occupies an important place in the world. Our armed forces have used new technology to make them more strong," he said adding their sense of dedication and sacrifice has helped the country emerge from difficult times.

The Prime Minister said he was confident that the jawans would face new challenges with full preparation.

Singh told the jawans they were lucky that the first rays of the rising sun touched this part of the country. "It is a matter of great pride for me that I am standing on the north eastern corner of our great country," he said.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh, Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor were present at the 'barakhana'.

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[A Sharma]

Rs.900 mn package for troops on China border: PM

Lohitpur (Arunachal Pradesh): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday announced a huge Rs.900 million package for infrastructure development and communications links for soldiers located in forward posts along the country's border with China in this state.

"The Indian Army plays an important role in the world. There has been considerable improvement in our army due to technological advancement. The transit facilities for troops needs improvement and a package of Rs.600 million is announced for improving transit facilities at Dehan, Siang, Siyom, Likabali and Missamari (all forward posts)," the prime minister told soldiers at Lohitpur, a border post in Arunachal Pradesh.

Singh also announced Rs.300 million for providing satellite telephone service for soldiers located at high altitudes. "The communication facilities need improvement as it is very difficult for troops to speak to their relatives. A package of Rs.30 lakhs (Rs.3 million) is announced for improving satellite communication facility in the valleys of Subansiri, Siang, Lohit and Dibang," the prime minister said.

Singh said India was prepared to meet any challenge although he refrained from spelling out what the challenges were.

"Today, we are ready to face any challenge. It is mandatory to make our nation strong to maintain peace," he said.

The prime minister left for New Delhi Friday afternoon wrapping up his two-day visit to the frontier state.

[vivek_ahuja]

This infrastructure development thing is worth 60 Crore Rupees or around 15 Million dollars. So, how much development does that translate to?

announced for improving transit facilities at Dehan, Siang, Siyom, Likabali and Missamari (all forward posts)

And that's the bottom-line here. This money will only improve the five locations mentioned. In a technical sense this is all in a tactical purview, not a strategic one. So it might be wise to not get carried away here. It is going to take at least an order of magnitude more amount of money to even get the momentum required for balancing in a few years time, the level of development done by the Chinese over decades.

If I were more cynical, I would even call this money a vote related thing of some kind or another. Maybe to create a vote bank or something in that region.

Nevertheless, it does have some psy-ops value, given that the Indian PM is saying things like this while touring the "disputed" region. Kind of trying to embarrass China or something...but even this level of thinking requires a leap of imagination on my part.