Tingplik Express

Press Release
Naga International Support Center
Amsterdam, August 10 2008

Those in Nagaland responsible for committing these Crimes against Humanity must be apprehended; those responsible for harboring the culprits must be held accountable

In sharp contrast to Peoples themselves the Government of India is convinced that the Nagas of the states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur are part and parcel of India. With respect to that the Government of India is responsible for upholding justice and peace. Yet, it tolerates designated camps of fighters with which it has agreed to a cease fire and let them operate freely; even if these fighters openly declare war on an entire tribe.

The Khaplang Group served the Tangkhul Tribe with a quit notice and in the wake of that many a Tangkhul and members of other tribes have been mercilessly killed. Because the designated camps of the Khaplang group are protected by Government Forces both the state Governments of the stated mentioned as well as the Central Government of India in Delhi are directly accountable for tolerating these culprits to operate in this despicable manner.

Therefore:

The Naga International Support Center urges the Government of India to drastically change its policies, to severe its ties with those it has protected and to restore law and order in the land of the Nagas.

The Naga International Support Center also calls on the Security Council of the United Nations Organization and stresses imminent intervention is needed. Even though a relatively small conflict this conflict, due to crimes against humanity being committed, will spin out of control with insurmountable repercussions long term psychological as a result. And this with a decade old peace talks aimed at reaching an honorable solution.

When the Government of India does not control the horrific situation Crimes against Humanity will persist and long lasting psychological scars will be the heritage of future generations Nagas; ethnic cleansing and indiscriminate killing are Crimes against Humanity.




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GUWAHATI, Aug 9 – The influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh poses a grave threat to the indigenous or tribal population of Assam, which actually undermines their cultural and economic identity. However, inflow of non-indigenous people from within the country too could play an equally negative role in damaging the cultural, linguistic and material basis of the indigenous communities. This was a view expressed by Anjali Daimari, the advisor to Indigenous Women’s Forum of North East India (Assam Committee) while addressing a press conference to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.

“Both the threats have to be recognized because of their ramifications on a number of key areas, including possession of land and property, language and culture, and livelihood options regarding indigenous people…All of these stand to be affected if tribal people have to endure more and more people occupying their areas,” she noted.

Daimari said that a “better mechanism than the one currently in place was required,” if illegal Bangladeshi migrants were to be deported from India. She said that it was up to the Government to identify and expel illegal migrants as the present practice of identification by certain groups could not be expected to continue for long.

On the issue of conversion vis-à-vis the identity of indigenous people, she revealed that it could not be a serious threat, because, “in most cases the tribal way of life continued even if there was a change in religious belief.”

Referring to recent developments in Majuli, she pointed out that even though conversion was taking place in a particular community, it was not members of that community who had spoken against it, but outsiders who had their own reasons for doing so.

She, and the Indigenous Women’s Forum of Northeast India were united in the belief that the fate of indigenous people of Northeast India and the rest of the country depended to a great extent on India accepting and adhering to the term ingenious or tribal.

“The status of indigenous or tribal people would definitely go up if they were recognized in the manner they were in Nepal or Philippines, only two countries of Asia which had such a system,” she mentioned.

Daimari believed, there was a need to identify the real indigenous people, and come up with a strategy in consonance with that of the International Labour Organisation, which had made sustained efforts to protect the interests of indigenous people across the world.

Emphasizing the need to understand the term “indigenous or tribal people”, the Indigenous Women’s Forum of North East India stated that a modern understanding of this term would have to take into account several factors like historical continuity, strong link to territories and natural resources, distinct social, economic or political systems, among others.




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By Jagdamba Mall

In the process Naga society has suffered a huge loss in terms of life and property without any gain. If various survey reports informed through media from time to time pertaining to the adverse psychological effect on adolescent mind of young generation of insurgency affected communities are correct, the vital section of victim society is very badly affected.

The tough stand taken by Smt Indira Gandhi after the collapse of Cease-fire Agreement, 1964 and signing of Shillong Accord 1975 under compelling circumstances to avoid the further loss of Naga lives, caused despair and delusion in some hardcore demagogues in Naga guerilla camp.

The violent killings between warring factions in Nagaland find some similarity to what has already happened in other parts of the world or in some states of our country as well. The Christian countries helped the Naga insurgency through their churches planted in every nook and corner of Nagaland. But this game plan could not succeed. It is very often stated that nearly 40,000 Nagas perished in this fight, some with security forces and mostly with rival factions.

The tough stand taken by Smt Indira Gandhi after the collapse of Cease-fire Agreement, 1964 and signing of Shillong Accord 1975 under compelling circumstances to avoid the further loss of Naga lives, caused despair and delusion in some hardcore demagogues in Naga guerilla camp led by Phizo from his London abode under the banner of Naga National Council (NNC). This discontent mounted when Phizo refused to disown the Shillong Accord 1975, the signatories of which included his own brother Kevi Yalie. The church failed in their endeavour for this crisis management. The Christian supporters in Christian countries could also not vent a tangible ray of hope of materialising the NNC’s declared dream-Naga sovereignty. Because of this, a section of NNC guerilla leaders disenchanted with Christian model of solution or crisis management, opted for communist model.

These disillusioned NNC leaders crossed the international border and sneaked into Chinese territory via Burma, now Myanmar. It is not that they had come in China for the first time. Earlier also, they had got arms training in China. But this time, they had come with a view to adopt a communist model of creating mayhem and to acquire matching arms training and psychological war-fare. While doing so, they, the frustrated block, might have, thought to muster pro-active support of China while the remnant NNC under Phizo would command the support of Christian countries through Michael Scott, Billy Graham and other foreign missionaries. The detractors of Phizo and his NNC perhaps thought that Christian forces mobilised by Phizo and communist forces to be mobilised by discontented group then under training in China, could join together against India. In fact, Smt Indira Gandhi had said during six rounds of talks in 1965 that she was prepared to give anything except sovereignty but NNC leaders refused. They did not mention anything about greater Nagaland. After their training in guerilla war-fare with special thrust on mountain and jungle fight, a separate guerilla organisation coined as National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was formed in 1980 under deep influence of Chinese communism with Isak Chishi Swu (a Sema Naga from Nagaland) as its chairman, S.S. Khaplang (a Hemi Naga from Myanmar) as its vice-chairman and Thuingaleng Muivah (Tangkhul Naga from Ukhrul district of Manipur). When they sneaked into Bharatiya territory in Nagaland, a fierce fight between NNC and NSCN was the order of the day. This slaughter drama was also enacted in Naga inhabited areas of Myanmar.

The church and priests were the first causalities. Several churches were demolished and many Padris were killed. These factional fights were regularly reported in local English weeklies.

Though NNC was under Christian doctrine and NSCN was under communist influence, there was a section of guerillas in both the camps—NNC and NSCN—who had some quantum of influence of native ethos though dormant in their mind during eighties and nineties. This dormant influence of native Naga ethos handed down from generation to generation by Naga forefathers appears being revived and rejuvenated now. This section of Naga society found in NNC and both the NSCNs are presumably realising that by experience it appears to them that neither Christian model nor communist model has succeeded in resolving the problem. And in the process Naga society has suffered a huge loss in terms of life and property without any gain. If various survey reports informed through media from time to time pertaining to the adverse psychological effect on adolescent mind of young generation of insurgency affected communities are correct, the vital section of victim society is very badly affected.

They suffer a loss of enthusiasm to advance and climb up. In Nagaland, it is equally applicable to Naga youths of both the genders. Naga mothers and sisters are worst sufferers.

The independent thinkers, writers, reputed persons in the field of journalism and selfless Naga social workers (but never the NGO owners) though Christian by faith, have started preparing the profit and loss statement of adoption of Christianity followed by Naga insurgency. When they notice minus return against huge investment in terms of man, money, religion, culture and native ethos, they get bemused and disheartened. This type of independent thinkers are also in NNC and NSCN. This native Naga doctrine is also a force to reckon with. Thus, the present factional fight is not so simple to analyse. This is a tri-dimensional ideological war between Christianity, communism and native Naga doctrine. Nobody in the world can sail two boats at a time. But Nagas wish to sail three or more boats at a time. They wish to prove to be a devout Christian to please Christian countries; they want to prove that they are also staunch followers of communism (Maoism) to please China; they do not want to antagonise Hindustan as well because they will starve without the help of Hindustan. At the same time, they wish to preserve Naga identity.

The church leaders were once very respectable beyond doubt. The Christian people were obeying them. They (Naga Christians) genuinely repented for their mistakes in confession services in front of them in churches. But this is not so today. The forced conversion, programmes like Shisha Hoho, the church’s insistence on declaration of Nagaland as dry state and their failure in the following same by themselves, their involvement in Naga insurgency and Naga politics in the state, partisan behaviours, greed of money, lack of spirituality and love for carnal pleasure etc have tarnished the image of Naga, deacons and pastors. Now, they are treated as simply paid servants with assigned duty to conduct church services and speak of Bible. This is the reason any call given by church leaders pertaining even to Naga reconciliation or church programmes is not taken seriously which was not so a decade ago. They have lost people’s trust because they, themselves, don’t follow what they ask others to abide.

Missionary work in Nagaland
With a view to show that they are also very busy in their ‘holy’ work, the church in Nagaland is engaged in training 10,000 Naga missionaries for saving Hindu souls in UP, Bihar, Bengal, Arunachal, Sikkim, Asom, Manipur and neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and China.

Same is the case with Naga political leaders. These selfish Naga political leaders are using different underground factions in winning elections and once they occupy the political throne they start repaying them.

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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama, speaking on board his campaign plane as it headed to St. Louis on Saturday, continued to defend his position on Iraq -- and questioned reporters' parsing of his words.

"I am surprised at how ... the press ... I'm not trying to dump on you guys, but I'm surprised at how finely calibrated every single word was measured," Obama said.

"I wasn't saying anything that I hadn't said before. That I didn't say a year ago. Or when I was a U.S. senator. If you look at our position, it's been very consistent. The notion that we have to get out carefully has been a consistent position," he said.

"The belief that we have a national security interest in making sure Iraq is secure, I've been saying consistently," he added. Noting "the worst-case scenarios and the parade of horribles that has been trotted out by [Sen.] John McCain and others about genocide if we left," he said he has always reserved "the right to protect people from genocide."

"So a lot of these statements that I've made have been entirely consistent," Obama added.

Late Saturday afternoon, McCain's campaign responded to Obama's comments.

In a statement, campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said, "We are all absolutely committed to ending this war, but on Thursday Barack Obama's words indicated that he also shared John McCain's commitment to securing the peace beforehand. What's really puzzling is that Barack Obama still doesn't understand that his words matter."

In North Dakota on Thursday, Obama denied that he's shying away from his proposed 16-month phased withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq, calling it "pure speculation" and adding that his "position has not changed."

However, he told reporters questioning his stance that he will "continue to refine" his policies as warranted
Presumably unhappy with the media's coverage of his earlier statements on Iraq -- and after the Republican National Committee issued attack e-mails asserting he's "reversed" his position -- Obama called a second news conference later Thursday to reiterate that he is not changing his stance.

Obama placed some of the blame for the confusion Thursday on the McCain camp, arguing they "primed the pump with the press to suggest that somehow we were changing our policy when we hadn't."

The McCain campaign responded after the second news conference with a statement accusing Obama of reversing his position on Iraq.

"There is nothing wrong with changing your mind when the facts on the ground dictate it," the statement said. "Indeed, the facts have changed because of the success of the surge that John McCain advocated for years and Barack Obama opposed in a position that put politics ahead of country."

While he didn't specifically refer to the Iraq flap later Saturday, Obama touched on how he could be a better candidate.

"One of the things I've always tried to do is learn from mistakes and get better, and I think we've run an awfully good campaign and I think if I hadn't been a pretty good candidate, I wouldn't be standing here. But that doesn't mean I can't get better, that my answers can't be crisper, that I can't be more precise," he said.

In a speech before the African Methodist Episcopal Church convention in St. Louis, Obama launched a lighthearted -- and possibly pre-emptive -- strike at reporters when he talked about government working with religious organizations.

"Now I've talked about faith-based groups and individual responsibility for years," he said. "By the way, I just had to mention for the reporters in the room. I've been talking about this for a couple years now. Don't think this is new!"

Also Saturday, an Obama spokeswoman told reporters that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and Sen. Hillary Clinton will appear together at three fundraisers next week in New York.

Two of the fundraisers on Wednesday night are aimed at raising money for Obama's Democratic presidential campaign, and one is to try to retire the debt from Clinton's failed effort to win the nomination.

On Thursday morning, they appear together at a women's fundraising breakfast for Obama. All of the events are private.

"I want to make sure that we're providing Sen. Clinton with some help just as she is going out of her way to campaign on our behalf. We're gonna be united," Obama said Saturday.

Obama has made a push to help the New York senator retire her campaign's massive debt. He asked top contributors in June to help Clinton retire her campaign debt of $22 million, about $12 million of which she loaned to the campaign.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, both made the maximum legal donation to Clinton's campaign after it ended.

Winning candidates often work to help retire the debts of those they defeated once nomination races end.

After the New York events, the two will have appeared together five times since Clinton ended her quest for the nomination in June.

Obama announced in June he would not take public funds for his presidential run, making him the first general election candidate to do so since public financing was instituted in the 1970s.

By doing do, he passes up more than $84 million in public funding, but frees himself from a cap on spending. Obama has raised more than $270 million. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has raised about $100 million as of the end of May and is expected to take public financing.

McCain was off the campaign trail Saturday, resting with his family at his home in Sedona, Arizona.

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OUR CORRESPONDENT
Kohima, July 5: Clashes between the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN near Dimapur claimed two more lives today.

The killings come close on the heels of visits by special secretary (internal security), M.L. Kumawat and joint secretary (home) in-charge of Northeast, Naveen Verma, to Nagaland to review the security situation in the state. The two home ministry officials also met chief minister Neiphiu Rio.

The NSCN (K) today alleged that heavily-armed NSCN (I-M) cadres had attacked its hideout at Hetoi village in Dimapur district killing one of its cadres. A civilian was also killed in the exchange of fire that lasted for nearly an hour.

Police have confirmed the deaths but the identities of the victims are yet to be ascertained. The NSCN (K) cadre died on the spot while the other person succumbed to his injuries later.

Hetoi is not far from Vihokhu village where the NSCN (I-M) destroyed the camp of its rival faction on June 26.

Tension prevails because of the presence of cadres of the two warring factions though the district administration has rushed India Reserve Battalion and the police to disperse the militants.

Blaming the rise in extortion and abduction on its rival faction, the NSCN (I-M) said it was determined to flush out cadres of the rival camp from the area and would in no way allow any designated camp of its rival group in Dimapur district.

More than 100 non-Naga affluent businessmen have been abducted for ransom allegedly by the NSCN (K) cadres.

The NSCN (K) today said it would oppose any move to replace Kumawat as chairman of the ceasefire monitoring group of the NSCN (I-M) and the ceasefire supervisory board of the NSCN (K).

Kumawat’s is a temporary appointment.

The Nagaland government has asked the Centre to appoint a permanent chairman of the ceasefire monitoring group and ceasefire supervisory board who would be based in Nagaland.

The NSCN (I-M) is opposed to Kumawat and has vowed not to attend any more ceasefire group meeting under his chairmanship.

Arms seized

Excise officials at a checkgate at Vairangte in Mizoram today intercepted a Silchar-bound Bolero (ML 05 D 1186) and seized seven AK-47 rifles and a rocket launcher with one shell from a secret chamber, says a staff reporter from Guwahati. The officials grew suspicious when the driver stopped the car just short of the gate and ran away. The incident comes close on the heels of seizure of several AK-47 rifles and a huge cache of ammunition and cash from a truck in Mizoram recently.

The consignment was meant for the Gorlosa group of the Dima Halam Daogah.



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Shillong, July 4 (IANS) The seventh Indian Institute of Management started imparting lessons here Friday, becoming the first IIM in the northeast. Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy would do the formal inauguration in the evening.

The institute, which would connect the region with the world's growing marketing and management realities, is named Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management. It will functioning in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) campus for the time being.


'This is a dream fulfilled for the people of the region and we hope this prestigious institute would contribute to the manpower of tomorrow, not only in the northeast, but also in the whole country and abroad,' the chief minister said.


IIM Shillong is the seventh IIM in the country after Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode.


Initially, 60 students, who cleared the the Common Admission Test (CAT), will attend the institute's flagship programme - Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM).


The intake of students will be subsequently increased to 120 in the third year and 180 in the sixth year. The permanent campus, currently under construction, is spread over a sprawling 120 acres provided by the Meghalaya government.


'The institute would provide a new impetus to the quality management education in the northeast with its mission of modernising and globalising the country through the promotion of higher education,' Roy said.


The institute would later introduce courses like tourism and hospitality management, tele-services and telemedicine, information systems and technology, and subjects such as horticulture, besides hydel power.


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New Delhi: Northeast India generally brings to mind two diametrically opposite images — the first, a picturesque region abundant in forest and rivers, and the second, a terrain bludgeoned by bullets, bombs and bloodshed.
Geographically knitted to the mainland by a slender land chain called the Chicken’s Neck, the northeast has always remained a politically isolated mass. Inhabited by heterogeneous tribes and sub-tribes of Aryan and Mongoloid origins, the region has been rocked for decades by insurgency, with several terrorist groups either demanding sovereignty or separate statehood.
Unabated violence has exacerbated under-development in the region and has fostered socio-economic problems such as unemployment, rising crime rates and drug addiction. The last of the three has, in turn, fostered another alarming situation that the northeast is now being forced to deal with — a rapidly increasing HIV-infected/AIDS population.
How serious is the problem?
The first case of an intravenous drug user (IDU) being infected by the HIV virus was detected in Manipur in 1990.
The state shares its international borders with Myanmar, a country that falls in the dreaded Golden Triangle. With a 350,000-sq-km area thriving on illicit drug trafficking along the Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand route, the vulnerabilities of Manipuri youth, given the porous borders, have been intensified.
The neighbouring state of Nagaland shares a similar fate. According to the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO), which is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV/AIDS control programme in India, both Manipur and Nagaland are highly prevalent states with high infection and vulnerability. Assam is also highly vulnerable but in the low prevalence category, as are Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.
The lack of proper awareness and education about HIV has seen infected persons transfer the virus to their sexual partner and unborn baby. The malady has, in the past few years, shifted to the rural areas where stigma and discrimination invariably render the infected person a social outcast.
Red Ribbon Express in NE
It’s a train with a mission. Its passengers, traveling across the country on a year-long journey to create awareness about HIV/AIDS in the interiors, found that people in the north east were still highly ignorant about HIV transmission.
Bijano, counsellor at the Dimapur Civil Hospital, admits that despite aggressive campaigns and information dissemination across different media, including radio and television, awareness levels continue to be abysmal.
“Many people do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS. For them both are synonymous. It is tough explaining it is not contagious and that lack of knowledge could lead to cruelty, humiliation and ostracization of those whose positive status is known,” says Bijano.
Remoteness, non-industrialization and lack of infrastructure make it difficult for NGOs and health providers to be consistent in their service delivery. Also, the law and order problem, compounded by rising unemployment, has made the youth more susceptible to substance abuse and risky behaviour such as indulging in unsafe sex and sharing needles while shooting addictive drugs.
Voices from the region
Father Joe Ngamkhuchung, chief functionary of the Dimapur-based NGO, North Eastern Drugs HIV Training Centre drew attention to the situation in Nagaland, saying, “Transmission through the sexual route is as much as 60% and unless sex education is made mandatory, ignorance will most certainly not be bliss.”
Father Joe NgamkhuchungEfforts have been made by agencies to attract people from blocks, sub-divisions, panchayats and zilla parishads and make them participate in the country’s battle against HIV/AIDS. Self-help groups and mahila mandals have been mobilized to create awareness among women, so as to minimize the ‘feminization of the epidemic’.
J.S. Rao, project director, Assam State AIDS Control Society said there are an estimated 10,700 HIV/AIDS cases in the state. Extensive training programmes have been held with medical personnel to ensure there is no bias and discrimination. Focus has also been on busting myths and misconceptions relating to the infection spreading through touch, sharing vessels or using the same bathroom.
Outlining plans for Assam in the next financial year, Rao said, “We will identify places with high migrant population, IDUs and commercial sex workers along with NACO. The attempt would be to mainstream and integrate people with HIV/AIDS into society and to step up our intervention with the high risk groups like truckers, for whom Guwahati is the entry point to the entire Northeast.”
Jahnabi Goswami, general secretary of Indian Network for People living with HIV/AIDS (INP+) and treasurer, Assam Network of Positive People (ANP+), felt that the states in the northeast are more cut-off than other parts of India. Even local NGOs find it difficult to work for long stretches because of factors like inaccessible terrain, low funding and lack of infrastructure.
“NACO’s programmes revolve largely around spreading awareness in order to reduce HIV infection. Not enough emphasis is being laid on issues of basic care and support like rehabilitation and nutrition,” said Father Joe Ngamkhuchung.
Non-existence of programmes post-antiretroviral therapy (ART) is another area that requires urgent attention. “Patients who feel better after visiting the ART centres often ask for some kind of employment to sustain themselves. Unfortunately, such programmes ran either by the central or state government. Training in small-scale industry programmes such as piggery, duckery and fishery should be conducted to help people earn their livelihood,” he added.
Currently there are 35,000 unemployed youth in Nagaland. Post-ART people should have the option to pick up work that is aligned with their medical condition. Employers need to be sensitized to ensure that the person is not victimized or robbed of his livelihood. “Lack of mid-way homes where those on ART treatment can stay, receive counseling and engage themselves gainfully are the need of the hour,” Ngamkhuchung said.

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INDIA: Up to three airlines are bidding for the right to operate a dedicated regional airline for India's north-eastern states, the Press Trust of India reports.
One of the bidding airlines is state-run Alliance Air (now renamed Air India Regional after its merger into Air India), the other two are Universal Empire and Ace Airlines .

"Three airlines have participated in the tender for the regional airline," Minister for Development for North-Eastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyer told the PTI.

The government wants the airline to use Guwahati as its hub and serve 11 regional airports currently operational in the region, including Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar, Dimapur, Imphal, Agartala, Aizawal and Bagdogra.
In return, the winning airline will be eligible to receive government subsidies from the North Eastern Council, which wants a regional air service operational by the end of this year.

The PTI reports that 25 new airports will be built under a five year plan and a projected 400 monthly flights operational by the end of next year.


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NEW DELHI, Jul 2: The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said that all-round development of the north eastern states was the topmost priority of the government and announced its decision to link all state capitals in the region by rail lines.

Emphasizing that connectivity and infrastructure development was the cornerstone of development in the region, the Prime Minister said the government had taken several initiatives to bridge the infrastructure gap including an ambitious road-building programme for the north east region. He was addressing the ceremonial function of the release of the North Eastern Region Vision 2020 Document at the plenary hall of the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today at 10.30 am.

He said, "The north eastern region is the land of rising sun for India. The time has come for the sun to shine on it and shine brightly. This Vision 2020 defines the path to that bright future."

Referring to the initiatives being taken in Manipur, the Prime Minister highlighted that work on the Tipaimukh and Loktak downstream hydro electric projects costing about Rs. 6,000 crores and Rs. 800 crores respectively had been expedited. The Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line, which would put the Manipur valley on the rail map of India, had also been sanctioned as a National Project for Rs. 727 crores.

Stating that violence had been the recurrent theme of discourse for the north east for too long, the Prime Minister appealed to all the patriotic people of the region to work together to create an environment of peace and security to improve the quality of life of all people.

Manipur Governor Dr. SS Sidhu stated that the Vision 2020 provided the road map for economic development of the north eastern region by 2020 and also the integration of the region.

The Governor also emphasized the need for strengthening infrastructure, improvement of road networks and power, maximizing self-governance etc. for a good future of the region.

All the Governors and chief ministers or representatives of the all north eastern states were dignitaries at the function. Manipur Governor Dr. SS Sidhu and Speaker of the Manipur legislative Assembly were among the dignitaries on the dais.

The hall was packed with students and youths of the north eastern states. MLAs and senior officers of the Manipur government also attended the function.


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Shillong, July 3 (PTI) A study by the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) on the genetic characteristics of the inhabitants of India's Northeast considered as a 'malaria zone' - may open up a fresh lead among researchers to develop a new drug for the mosquito-related disease.
The ongoing study has found that deficiency of enzyme G-6-PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase), which helps red blood cells (RBCs) function normally is a common sex-linked trait in the region, M Arabind Singh of the ASI's Northeast Regional Centre told PTI on the sidelines of an exhibition here.

G-6-PD is one of many enzymes that help the body process carbohydrates and turn them into energy. It also protects red blood cells from potentially harmful byproducts that can accumulate when a person takes certain medications or when the body is fighting an infection.

The ASI study detected cases of disorder like jaundice among those G-6-PD-deficient persons who had intake of chloroquine. "Though researchers have found evidence that the parasite that causes malaria does not survive well in G-6-PD-deficient cells, yet it is seen that the enzyme's deficiency results in other disorders after a person consumes drugs like chloroquine," Singh said, quoting the study.

As per the study, there was a high incidence of G-6-PD -deficiency among the Amgami Nagas (27 per cent), Mikir Rabhas (19 per cent) and Khasi-Garos (9 per cent). PTI


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The Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has said that North Eastern States are a priority area for revamping of health infrastructure. Keeping in mind the special needs of the region, the Central Government is actively considering revised guidelines for North East with regard to establishment of medical colleges, the Minister assured the Meghalaya Chief Minister, Shri Donkupar Roy who called on him late evening yesterday.

Dr. Ramadoss said that the relaxation regarding number of beds and patient load are under consideration for establishing medical colleges in North Eastern region. With regard to the State’s request for change in selection criteria for North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong, the Minister said that the proposal will be considered in the context of norms and requirements of similar autonomous institutions established by the Government of India.

The Minister encouraged the Meghalaya Government to establish nursing colleges to meet the growing requirement. The Central Government will provide due support for such colleges.

Recognizing the mosquito menace, Dr. Ramadoss emphasized an improved infrastructure for malaria control. He assured the Chief Minister that the Union Government is actively working to ensure malaria offices in all the districts of North Eastern States.

The Chief Minister who was accompanied by the State’s Health Minister, Dr. A. Pariong appraised the Union Health Minister about the status and requirements of the State Health infrastructure. Dr. Ramadoss reiterated the need for sincerely implementing the initiatives under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). He asked the Chief Minister to personally monitor the progress of the NRHM in the State and suggested that a review of the programme should be conducted at the Chief Minister level every three month.


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PUSH FOR DEVELOPMENT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Mani Shankar Aiyar, releasing the ‘North Eastern Region Vision 2020’ document in New Delhi on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: All capitals of the northeastern States will be linked by rail, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Wednesday.

Infrastructure deficiency in the region remained a major concern. So infrastructure projects there were given the status of “national projects” with a special funding pattern.

“Airports are being modernised and new ones are being built. An ambitious programme of road building has been taken up under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme and Rs. 31,000 crore is being invested in roads in the 11th Five Year Plan period. There are relaxed guidelines for rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana so that even the farthest hamlets on the border are linked by road.”

The Prime Minister was releasing a document, “North Eastern Region Vision 2020,” which has been approved by the Northeastern Council. It envisages a slew of development schemes.

“Let development be the leitmotif of the region now. For too long has violence been the dominant recurrent theme of discourse on the northeast. It shall, and it must now be development and inclusive development … violence has no place in our society and our culture.” There was no grievance that could not be represented through the ballot.

Along with infrastructure development, focus should be on agricultural and rural development in the northeast, which “requires a second Green Revolution specific to the region.”

Referring to disadvantages faced by the region because of geography and the history of partition, Dr. Singh said: “History and geography cannot be changed but the constraints they impose can be broken.”

The northeast is the land of the rising sun in India. “The time has come for the sun to shine on it. Vision 2020 defines the path to that bright future.” The United Progressive Alliance government had made connectivity and infrastructure development the cornerstone of regional development in the northeast, he said. The vision document, running into two volumes, seeks to alleviate poverty in all its dimensions and emphasises that the “Look East Policy” should focus on the northeast.



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Improve Criminal Justice Safeguards, Provide Legal Counsel for Terror Suspects
(Paris, July 2, 2008) – In its effort to fight terrorism, France routinely arrests and prosecutes people for being associated with possible terror suspects, undermining international fair trial standards, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
“Using the criminal justice system is the right way to fight terrorism,” said Judith Sunderland, Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But prosecuting people because of who they know and what they think sacrifices basic rights, and that is wrong in principle and dangerous in practice.”

The 84-page report, “Preempting Justice: Counterterrorism Laws and Procedures in France,” looks at how France uses a vaguely defined ‘terrorism association offense’ to arrest large numbers of people based on minimal evidence. Human Rights Watch documented credible allegations that terrorism suspects are subjected to oppressive questioning in police custody, linked to a policy that delays a suspect’s access to a lawyer. Many suspects go on to spend long periods in pre-trial detention. Human Rights Watch talked to two dozen people caught up in terrorism investigations and trials, and conducted interviews with counterterrorism officials and judicial authorities.

The lack of appropriate safeguards within the criminal justice system puts France on the wrong side of human rights law.

France is renowned for its preemptive criminal justice approach to countering terrorism. Specialized prosecutors and investigating judges work closely with police and intelligence services to break up alleged networks before they commit a terrorist attack. But reliance on the broad offense of “criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking” means that large numbers of people are arrested on the basis of minimal evidence and detained for extended periods. Prosecutions are often based on intelligence material, including from countries with poor records on torture, which defendants cannot effectively challenge.

“France is too eager to set aside rights for the sake of efficiency,” said Sunderland. “To be a real leader, France should uphold rights while confronting terrorism.”

Human Rights Watch will discuss its findings and recommendations during a round-table on human rights and the fight against terrorism in Europe at the Third World Forum on Human Rights in Nantes, France, on July 2.

Safeguards in police custody are a particular concern. Terrorism suspects can be held for up to six days in police custody. Suspects can only see a lawyer after three days of police questioning, undermining the right to an effective defense and putting detainees at risk of ill-treatment. When they do finally see a lawyer, the visit is limited to 30 minutes and the lawyer usually knows almost nothing about the reason for the arrest. By law, police do not have to tell suspects that they have the right to remain silent, and anything they say can be used against them if charges are filed.

Rachida Alam, 34, was arrested along with her husband in May 2004. She was subjected to 25 hours of interrogation during her three days in police custody without once seeing a lawyer. A diabetic, Alam had to be taken to the detention facility’s hospital three times.

Human Rights Watch interviewed suspects who said that sleep deprivation, disorientation, constant, repetitive questioning, and psychological pressure are common in police custody. Human Rights Watch also documented credible allegations of physical abuse.

Emmanuel Nieto, 33, was arrested in October 2005 largely on the basis of statements made by a man detained arbitrarily in Algeria. Nieto claims he was subjected to physical abuse at the hands of the police during his four days in custody, including being punched, forced to kneel for long periods of time, and grabbed by the throat. He was questioned for a total of 45 hours in 13 different sessions.

Suspects charged with terrorism offenses are usually remanded to long periods of pre-trial detention. A reform from 2001 allowing decisions on custody to be made by a separate “liberty and custody” judge has made little difference in limiting pre-trial detention in such cases.

The breadth of the terrorism association offense can lead to a conviction based on a low standard of proof and weak evidence such as that suspects know each other, are in regular contact, or share particular religious and political beliefs.

Interviews with French counterterrorism officials, terrorism suspects and their families, and defense lawyers suggest that France’s approach risks alienating Muslims, potentially radicalizing individuals, and eroding trust in law enforcement and security forces. Neighbors are less likely to tip off the police about suspicious behavior if they don’t believe the accused will be treated fairly.

“Sarkozy has called the fight against terrorism a ‘battle of ideas,’” Sunderland said. “The way to win that battle is to ensure that countering terrorism doesn’t come at the expense of the human rights of suspects.”

The report contains concrete recommendations to the French government to strengthen safeguards in the criminal justice system, including:

• Making the offense of criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking more precise and requiring proof of intent to participate in a plan to commit terrorist acts;
  
• Improving safeguards in police custody, in particular access to a lawyer from the outset of detention and during all interrogations;
  
• Reinforcing the role and independence of the “liberty and custody judges;” and
  
• Ensuring that evidence obtained under torture and ill-treatment, including from third countries, is inadmissible in any criminal proceedings.

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NEW DELHI, July 1 – Up-set with gross violation of the ground rules in Nagaland, the Ministry of Home Affairs has rushed a team of officials to Dimapur to hold meeting with the ground rule monitoring group with both the factions of the NSCN. The Central team headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security), M.L.Kumawat and joint Secretary (North-east), Navin Verma visit comes after a series of factional killings rocked the State. The Home Ministry team is slated to hold separate meetings with NSCN (I-M) and Khaplang factions.

The mechanism worked out to monitor the implementation of the ground rules, include a ceasefire monitoring group with I-M faction and a ceasefire supervisory board with rival Khaplang faction.

The meeting is crucial in the backdrop of the recent incident at Vihokhu when NSCN (I-M) ran over a camp of its rival 10km from Dimapur, leaving five dead and several injured.

The Dimapur meeting scheduled for Wednesday is, however, unlikely to be attended by the I-M faction. They had also walked out of the June 12 meeting in protest over change of the chairman of the CFMG, Lt General (retd) RV Kulkarni. The Centre did not extend the services of the chairman. He had served for seven years.

They have opposed the appointment of Special Secretary Internal Security as chairman without consulting them. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, meanwhile, wrote to the Home Ministry expressing his concern over the threat to the ongoing peace process of ceasefire, seeking urgent intervention of the Centre.

Significantly the meeting tomorrow also comes after the Chiang Mai peace summit between the two factions. The meeting was organised by Forum for Naga Reconciliation in Thailand last month.


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ScienceDaily (July 1, 2008) — North-east India has always been a hotspot for population geneticists due to its unique, strategic geographic location and the presence of linguistically, culturally and demographically diverse populations practicing varied occupations (from hunter-gathering to settled agriculture).

There are an estimated 532 tribal communities who inhabit the different geographical regions, who vary in their morphological features and ethnic origins (Australian, African, East Asian) of varied cultural features and who belong to three linguistic families (Austro-Asiatic, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman). These are important in understanding the genetic history and peopling of the Indian subcontinent, and to derive further insights into the antiquity and past human migrations to other parts of Asia and their genetic relatedness.

In a new study, Dr T.S. Vasulu and colleagues at the Indian Statistical Institute examine, for the first time, the genetic status of sub-tribes of one such remotely located tribal cluster -- the Adi, a Tibeto-Burman-speaking tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in the north-east of India. Based on 15 autosomal microsatellite (STR) markers, the authors studied the genetic affinity, differentiation and sub-structuring among six Adi subgroups, as well as their genetic affinity with other, neighbouring, Tibeto-Burman-speaking tribes of India and with the linguistically divergent east and south-east Asian populations, with whom they share common ethno-historical and cultural attributes.

The researchers investigated to what extent the six Adi subgroups are genetically divergent or affiliated. The results of the pair wise and locus wise comparison indicate that of the six groups, the Adi Pasi Upper sows significantly differ from others in case of two loci: D7S820 and D13S317, whereas locus D8S1179 shows no significant differences between the six groups compared.

However, the overall results of the AMOVA and STRUCTURE analyses based on the 15 autosomal STR loci indicates a low degree of genetic differentiation and the least sub-structuring among the sub-tribes. This indicates that the recognized subgroups are more geographical and cultural constructs and show the least genetic differentiation, although the clustering tree shows some tendency for the Adi Pasi Upper to deviate from the rest.

A comparison with the 16 Tibeto-Burman-speaking tribes of the neighbouring region in northern and north-eastern parts of the country as revealed by the cluster analyses indicates geographically proximate populations forming a close cluster. This is to be expected if these populations have indeed diverged from a common source after their settlement in different regions of the country in the recent past.

In a comparison of the 50 populations (including populations from east and south-east Asia) for genetic diversity based on the autosomal loci, the resultant clustering tree showed some of the Tibeto-Burman tribes clustering with the populations from Tibet and China and whereas other Tibeto-Burman tribes of India cluster with linguistically different Southeast Asian populations.

These results support the possibility that Tibeto-Burman populations have derived from more than one common source. Overall, the Adi and other Tibeto-Burman speaking populations of India are regionally well differentiated and exhibit genetic affinity with the neighboring populations of East/Southeast Asia, based on their shared ethno-history. However, a clearer picture may well emerge from the analysis of increased number of informative genetic markers and from the uniparental markers like mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome.


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Newmai News Network

Imphal, Jun 30: Six Independent Naga MLAs in Manipur have expressed that the recently concluded peace conclave convened by Forum for Naga Reconciliation and participated by both the NSCN-IM and NSCN-Unification representatives at Chiang Mai in Thailand, was a symbolic step to end divisive forces "within and outside".

The six Naga MLAs are Morung Makunga, Awangbow, Danny Shaiza, K.Raina, W.Keishing and Dr Khasim Ruivah.

In a joint statement, the Indepenent MLAs said, "Rising above the bitterness that exists in every Naga family, the initiative of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation to resolutely address reconciliation process to a rightful conclusion deserves appreciation across Naga homeland".

The six MLAs also stated, "The joint declaration of the NSCNs at the Chiang Mai Naga Peace Conclave is a symbolic step to end divisive force within and outside.

The Naga people are assured another oppurtunity to ward off the misgivings, divisions and confussion created by adversaries".

The statement then expressed optimism by saying that the positive dicision of the NSCNs and other organisations involved in the Chiang Mai Peace Conclave "for realistic peacefull environment and situatiuon in the Naga areas is a radiant hope for new generations".

"We expresss our attribution to the noble venture of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation in contributing to shape the desnity of the Nagas. We also congratulate the God given providence and wisdom of the national workers to end divisions through reconciliation and work together to find amicable settlement for the Nagas." concluded the statement.


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Newmai News Network

Imphal, Jun 29: Even as the United Naga Council (UNC) is all set to hold its general assembly at Senapati headquarters on July 2, the Zeliangrong Union, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland (ZU-AMN) has raised strong objection against the UNC saying that the latter has been ignoring the Zeliangrong body in many ways.

The ZU-AMN also accused the Acting President of UNC as responsible for the current state of affairs.

The ZU-AMN was irked when the UNC has been inviting the Zeliangrong Boudi (ZB) to various occasions of the UNC while ignoring the ZU-AMN.

"ZU-AMN had made a complain on February 26 this year to the UNC for not inviting the ZU (AMN) in the UNC functions and meetings. The 83 years old ZU (AMN) has been an original component unit of UNC since its inception in 23rd April 1981. The UNC has not given any reply to the said complain so far," said the statement of ZU-AMN.

The statement said that the ZU-AMN had raised an objection against UNC`s invitation to an "unrecognised body called Zeliangrong Boudi" which was formed only in November 15 2007 by Ningtangpou, who had been "impeached from ZU Office". The Zeliangrong Boudi is not a component unit of the UNC under the UNC constitution, said the statement.

The Zeliangrong body then stated that the above matter had been put up in the UNC meeting of June 27, 2008 by a team of ZU consisting ZU ex-president D Athuibo (ex-MLA), ZU ex president Dm Nganthonang (Ex Chairman, Tamenglong District Council and ex-vice president Naga Hoho), ZU ex-president D Dikambui (ex-Chairman, Tamenglong District Council), ZU vice presidents and secretaries, chairmen of its constituent units and vice chairman and general secretary of Zeliangrong Cultural Council attended the special meeting of the UNC.

The ZU team also has pointed out that under the UNC constitution, the ZU which is the original component unit of the UNC has the right to nominate representatives to participate in the ensuing election of UNC. "And the persons nominated by ZU should only be allowed to contest or vote in the UNC election. The Zeliangrong Boudi which is a new private body organised by some unauthorised persons cannot be allow to participate in the UNC election under the UNC constitution," pointed the ZU-AMN.

The ZU team also pointed out that UNC present `Acting President` Samson Remmei is not a representative of Zeliangrong people because he has not been deputed by the ZU to the UNC.

"This is also a violation of UNC constitution. In fact, Mr. Samson is a person black-listed by the ZU in its Union Assembly resolution of dated 14th December 1991. Therefore, he cannot be nominated to represent the Zeliangrong people until and unless he made an apology for his mistake to the ZU. So far, he had not tender any apology. The present problem was created by the Acting President of UNC, who accompanied the removed president of ZU K Ningtangpou and his gang to pressure upon the GPRN set up to recognise the Zeliangrong Boudi as an apex organisation of the Zeliangrong people but failed. The indulgence of the acting president of UNC is nothing but to get rid of the remark earned by him for his anti Union activities," alleged the strong worded statement of the ZU-AMN.

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GAUHATI, India (AP) - At least seven people were killed in fighting between rival rebel factions in India's remote northeast, police said Friday.
A group of Naga rebels attacked a rival group's camp with automatic weapons near Dimapur, Nagaland state's commercial hub, on Thursday, superintendent of police Leiremo Lotha said.
Fighting between Naga rebel groups has
left at least 40 people dead in Nagaland state in the past six weeks, Lotha said.
Five of the seven victims have been identified as members of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Unification) faction, he said.
The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland claimed responsibility for the attack.
«Our cadres set fire to all the vehicles at the NSCN (U) camp» as well as the huts there, spokesman Vikiye Sumi said in a statement. Police did not immediately confirm that the camp had been set on fire.
The rebel groups are fighting for an independent Naga homeland comprised of areas inhabited by Naga tribespeople in India's northeast, but there have been clashes between the various factions as each tries to gain local supremacy.

The clashes intensified after some fighters broke away from the Isak-Muivah faction last November.
The Isak-Muivah faction and another faction headed by S.S. Khaplang have reached cease-fire agreements with the Indian government.
About 2 million Nagas live in northeastern India, a region of myriad ethnic groups that has been plagued by dozens of insurgencies.

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New Delhi, June 24 (Agencies): The Naga Lawyers’ Guild, Delhi, has served a legal notice to the management of a lounge bar in GK-1 for allegedly refusing entry to a Naga woman photographer because she did not have the “right profile”. The notice has categorised this incident as a “willful and deliberate discrimination on the basis of caste, sex, creed and region”. The notice also says the management of the bar — Urban Pind — asked the woman to reveal her nationality. “When told she was an Indian from the North-East, she was bluntly refused entry,” the notice reads.
Bar owner Kashif Farooq, however, said he was yet to receive any legal notice. He denied the charges against the management saying, “Profiling is based on dress and behaviour and not region”. He said on Thursdays — the incident took place last Thursday — are ‘expat nights’, evenings for foreigners working in India. Farooq said, “Over 200 people were turned away because of this last week.” He added: “We have six employees from the North-East.”
The photographer was to meet two friends — a South Indian publisher and a German employee of a development bank — at Urban Pind. “I was stopped at the gate because I did not have a good profile,” she said. Her advocate, K Enatoli Sema of the Naga Lawyers’ Guild, said the manager, Tahil, turned her away after being “told that she was from the North-East”. The photographer added she was stopped at the gate, while others — not all foreigners — were let in.
The photographer also said she was dressed sensibly in trousers, a top and scarf. She added, “It was deeply embarrassing, since the place was crowded. Finally, my publisher friend called up another friend who happened to know the owner and I was allowed in. But by then, I had been humiliated enough and decided to leave.”
The legal notice reads: “She was told by the manager that it was ‘policy’ not to allow entry to people who weren’t of the ‘right profile’. Asked why other women, including Oriental women of other nationalities, were being allowed entry... the manager said... it was the ‘policy’ laid down by the general manager.” Sema alleges there has been another instance of a Naga man being denied entry to the same lounge bar.
The photographer, who has lived in Delhi for 10 years, said: “When such discrimination happens, and it happens very often, we are forced to step back from the mainstream.” Stephen Yanthan, president of the Naga Lawyers’ Guild, has said they will take legal steps unless the lounge bar apologises.

‘Such discrimination cannot be tolerated’


Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 24
The lawyer representing the discriminated Naga photographer, Advocate Enatoli today asserted that such kind of blatant discrimination against innocent persons cannot be tolerated since everyone is entitled to basic Human Rights and dignity. Besides, discrimination infringes on the Fundamental Rights of a human being to live with dignity as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
Speaking with The Morung Express from Delhi this evening, Advocate Enatoli said that the Naga Lawyers Guild has specified a one-week time to the lounge bar to tender an unconditional apology and publish it in the Media. It must also declare that the lounge will not have such a ‘policy’ she said.
However, Enatoli disclosed that the management of the bar have told journalists in Delhi that it will not tender an apology since nothing ‘wrong’ was committed. Enatoli said if the bar refuses to tender an apology then the matter will be fought in the court and even take up the matter with the National human Rights Commission and the National Minorities Commission.
Enatoli also disclosed that the national news channel, NDTV is doing a story on the matter which will be telecast on Wednesday on its regular feature, ‘Verdict’ in which the opinions of some concerned Naga people in Delhi are to be featured.
The Naga Lawyers Guild is a group formed by a group of advocates with the objective of representing the people of northeast and the Nagas in particular and also the public during times of need, Enatoli informed.
An editor of a publishing house, who is a south Indian lady was with the victim on that night. Requesting not to be named, she categorically termed the whole incident as “the worst kind of discrimination” and said to have been devastated that such an incident would happen in a nation that claims to be the world’s largest democracy.
Confessing that she has a lot of friend from the northeast region, the Editor said that she was angry Thursday night when her friend was not allowed into the lounge bar because she did not have the “right profile”. The Editor lamented that when the northeast is being tried to be integrated into the country, such kind of incident would alienate them more.
Advocate Enatoli Sema, representing the victim, disclosed that the Editor was the one who took a lot of initiative in motivating Naga Lawyers Guild to take up the matter, and at the same time acknowledged the role played by the Editor of the publishing house in rendering support to the people of northeast in the capital.
It may be noted, that discrimination of people from remote northeaster region in mainland India, especially Delhi has been a regular feature for the past many years.




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Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Dimapur, June 21: The NSCN-IM also hurled another allegation that UNLF talked of common enemy but feigned ignorance of the Kukis once used by the common enemy to fight against the Nagas which eventually set off the ethnic war.

"In the same fashion, the UNLF is finding pleasure to rake up the Naga-Kuki ethnic clash when it talked of common struggle.

This is derogatory of UNLF's stand.

Is this an example of revolutionary sincerity? What is common goal or common struggle when there is no revolutionary credibility and honesty? Pretension is not the trait of honest revolutionary movement.

A risky affair it will turn out to be when blindly taking the plunge," cautions the NSCN-IM statement.

"All said and done, NSCN never believes in force union or force marriage.

For obvious reasons the alienation of the Naga people from such theoretical concept is unquestionable.

Under the present scheme of things, to indulge in such idealism is the remote option for the Nagas.

The UNLF should think of some basic changeover of its socio-political outlook before it comes out with such overtures to the NSCN on the issue of common struggle," concluded the NSCN-IM statement.






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Nirendra Dev

NEW DELHI, June 14: Amid sporadic turf war among various Naga militant factions claiming several lives, the Centre has sought reports from the state governments in Nagaland and Manipur and directed them to take corrective steps.
A letter was sent to the chief ministers, Mr Neiphiu Rio and Mr O Ibobi Singh, late last month seeking detailed reports on the growing number of group clashes. In the latest round of factional fighting, two people, including one home guard personnel, were killed near Kohima super market area yesterday.
The Centre now intends to undertake a joint crackdown on militant groups along with Myanmar.
The Indian government recently sent to Myanmar a list of Indian militant groups ostensibly operating in that country. Besides the Naga groups, the list includes Manipur-based groups and the ULFA as well. Sources said the government is still awaiting a response from the eastern neighbour.
The newly elected Congress leader of the Opposition in the Nagaland assembly, Mr Chingwang Konyak told The Statesman over phone from Kohima that law and order situation in Nagaland is deteriorating fast. “The state government is just directionless,” he alleged.
The Centre fears that the group clashes in Nagaland could erupt into a major ethnic feud. In two separate rounds of gun battles, on 16 May and 3 June, at least 24 militants, mostly from a particular Naga tribe, were killed by NSCN (IM) activists near Chumukedima in close proximity to the state’s commercial hub of Dimapur.
Central agencies are meanwhile keeping fingers crossed as the NSCN (IM) chairman Mr Isak Chishi Swu recently had a telephonic conversation with his estranged compatriot in the undivided NSCN and now chairman of the rival group, Mr S S Khaplang. The development, said to be aimed at seeking “unification” of factions, northeast watchers suggest, could change the various intricacies of Naga militancy as well as the state politics riddled with tribalism.
As the Tangkhul Nagas are pre-dominantly present in the hilly region of Manipur, the Centre also does not want to leave anything to chance on whether these could have repercussions in Manipur.
The Union home minister Mr Shivraj Patil is personally taking keen interest in the implemention of tri-partite talks between the Centre, Kuki militants and the Manipur government.
The fear is that the factional violence in Nagaland could leave its impact in Manipur as Tangkhul Nagas and Kukis are infamous for their “love-hate relationship”.




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Donors Should Act to Stop Crimes Against Humanity
(Nairobi, June 12, 2008) – In its battle against rebels in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Region, Ethiopia's army has subjected civilians to executions, torture, and rape, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The widespread violence, part of a vicious counterinsurgency campaign that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, has contributed to a looming humanitarian crisis, threatening the survival of thousands of ethnic Somali nomads.

The 130-page report "Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the Ogaden Area of Ethiopia's Somali Regional State," documents a dramatic rise in unchecked violence against civilians since June 2007, when the Ethiopian army launched a counterinsurgency campaign against rebels who attacked a Chinese-run oil installation. The Human Rights Watch report provides the first in-depth look at the patterns of abuse in a conflict that remains virtually unknown because of severe restrictions imposed by the Ethiopian government.

"The Ethiopian army's answer to the rebels has been to viciously attack civilians in the Ogaden," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "These widespread and systematic atrocities amount to crimes against humanity. Yet Ethiopia’s major donors, Washington, London and Brussels, seem to be maintaining a conspiracy of silence around the crimes."

Human Rights Watch researchers located and interviewed more than 100 victims and eyewitnesses to abuses, as well as traders, business leaders, and regional government officials located in neighboring Kenya, the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland in northern Somalia and in Ethiopia. The research, largely carried out between September and December 2007, was further supplemented with satellite imagery that confirmed the burning of some villages. In chilling accounts, witnesses and victims described to Human Rights Watch nightly beatings with the barrel of a gun, public executions, and the burning of entire villages.
The report describes the army's response to the April 2007 attack by the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) on a Chinese-run oil installation in Obole that killed more than 70 Chinese and Ethiopian civilians. During the peak of the army’s counterinsurgency campaign from June to September 2007, witnesses described how Ethiopian troops forcibly displaced entire rural communities and destroyed dozens of rural villages; executed at least 150 civilians, sometimes in demonstration killings to terrorize those communities suspected of supporting the ONLF; and arbitrarily detained hundreds of civilians in military barracks where they experienced beatings, torture, and widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence. Thousands of civilians fled the conflict-affected areas for neighboring countries. Some of the patterns of violence are ongoing, and Human Rights Watch believes its findings represent only a fraction of the actual abuses.

Ethiopian authorities also stepped up their forced recruitment of local militia forces, many of whom are sent to fight against the ONLF without military training, resulting in large casualty rates.

The rebel ONLF has also been responsible for serious violations of the laws of war, including the summary executions of Chinese and Ethiopian civilians during the April 2007 attack on the Obole oil installation and killing suspected government collaborators, which are considered war crimes.

Many civilians living in the conflict zone are nomads who must move to fresh grazing areas and regional markets to sell their livestock. Since mid-2007, Ethiopian forces have imposed a series of measures aimed at cutting off economic support to the ONLF, including a trade blockade on the war-affected region, restricted access to water, food and grazing areas, confiscation of livestock and trade goods, and obstruction of humanitarian assistance. In combination with the drought produced by successive poor rains, this “economic war” is threatening the lives of thousands of civilians, yet many of them lack access to food aid due to government manipulation of food distribution.

"The government's attacks on civilians, its trade blockade, and restrictions on aid amount to the illegal collective punishment of tens of thousands of people," said Gagnon. “Unless humanitarian agencies get immediate access to independently assess the needs and monitor food distribution, more lives will be lost."

The Ethiopian government did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s requests for access to the conflict-affected area, and has tried to stem the flow of information from the region. Some foreign journalists who have attempted to conduct independent investigations have been arrested and residents and witnesses have been threatened and detained in order to prevent them from speaking out. In July 2007, the government expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross from Somali Region, although it has since permitted some UN and nongovernmental humanitarian organizations to operate, albeit under tight controls.

The report also analyzes the Ethiopian government and international community’s responses to the continuing abuses. Ethiopia continues to deny the allegations but has yet to investigate them or hold anyone accountable. Human Rights Watch says that donor governments are failing to demand human rights accountability, despite the substantial economic aid to Ethiopia and its partnership in regional counterterrorism efforts.

Western governments and institutions alone, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, give at least US$2 billion in aid to Ethiopia annually, but have remained silent on the widespread abuses being committed in the Ogaden area. The US government, which views Ethiopia as a key partner in regional counterterrorism efforts, has failed to use its significant leverage, including military aid, to press for an end to the crimes.

Human Rights Watch called on major donors to press Ethiopia to end the violence and recommended that:



The US government should investigate reports of abuses by Ethiopian forces, identify the specific units involved, and ensure that they receive no assistance or training from the United States until the Ethiopian government takes effective measures to bring those responsible to justice, as required under the "Leahy law," which prohibits US military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.


The UK government and the European Union should condemn the abuses, publicly call on the Ethiopian government to investigate the crimes in Somali Region, demand that civilian and military officials are held accountable, and monitor development funding to ensure it is not being used for security operations.


"Influential states use many excuses – such as lack of information and strategic priorities – to downplay the grave human rights concerns in Somali Region," said Gagnon. "But crimes against humanity can't be swept under the carpet. Donor governments should reconsider their policies on Ethiopia until these abuses end and those responsible are brought to justice."

Witness accounts from the report:

"The soldiers came to Aleen, after they burned down Lahelow. Then they burned Aleen. We were there at the time. The soldiers arrived and ordered the people out of their homes. They gathered all of the people together. Then the commander ordered the village burned. The commander told us, ‘I have told you already to leave these small villages,’ and then they forced us out. Then they burned down all the homes. The houses are just huts, so it is easy to burn them."
– Villager, September 23, 2007

"I was taken away with two men, Hassan Abdi Abdullahi and Ahmed Gani Guled. First, they pulled ropes around the necks of the two men and pulled in opposite directions, and both fell down. They put me in a ditch while they were strangling the other two. One soldier tried to strangle me with the metal stick used for cleaning the gun [by pushing it down on my throat], but I twisted his finger until he released me. Then two other soldiers came and they put a rope around my neck and started pulling. That is the last thing I remember, until I woke up, still in the ditch. A naked body was on top of me, it was Ahmed Gani Guled, who was dead. I couldn't move out of the ditch until I was found by some women who came to the waterhole."
– Ridwan Hassan-rage Sahid, October 30, 2007

"They started beating me with the backs of their AK-47 guns. They hit me once with the gun in my face, and then started beating me. They also hit me with the gun barrel in my teeth, and broke one of my teeth. Then they started beating me with a fan belt on my back and my feet. It lasted for more than one hour. Then they tied both my legs and lifted me upside down to the ceiling with a rope, and kept beating me more, saying I had to confess. For two months, we underwent this same ordeal, being taken from our rooms at night and being beaten and tortured."
– Thirty-one-year-old shopkeeper, September 20, 2007

"They wanted to intimidate the rest of us, so they brought the two girls who they said were the strongest ONLF supporters. They made the rest of us watch while they killed the two girls. First they tried to get them to confess, saying they would kill them otherwise. Then they shot both of them with their guns. Their names were Faduma Hassan, 17, and Samsam Yusuf, 18. Both were students."
– Student, September 23, 2007

"We have a well in Qoriley which is surrounded by wire. The army has prohibited us from using it, so you have to sneak in at night. All these things have been imposed on us this year. At nighttime, we will try and get some water to store in our houses. But if the soldiers see you are fetching water, they can kill you."
– Villager, September 22, 2007

"If [the federal government] followed the law, it would be good, but even the law they’ve created is not being followed."
– Former regional court judge, December 5, 2007





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Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 06: The United Naga Council (UNC) and State's Naga Tribe Hoho along with sister organisations have reaffirmed support to the collective leadership of the NSCN (IM) in sustaining the ongoing peace process for an honourable settlement of the Indo-Naga political issue.

Representatives of the UNC, Hoho and 14 constituent bodies on May 31 attended an emergency consultative meeting at Senapati district headquarters wherein it was unanimously resolved to 'fully back' the collective leadership in taking forward the ongoing negotiation for solution of the decades old issue.

According to a joint statement of these units released today, the meeting 'once again reaffirmed full support to the collective leadership on the ongoing peace process with the Government of India for the final political solution based on the uniqueness of Naga history and situation that will be acceptable and honourable to the Nagas'.

"While honouring the motto of the Naga Hoho, Nagas are one, we are committed to peace and unity through reconciliation amongst the Naga family", it said while adding 'as such we once again reaffirm to uphold the Naga peoples' Convention resolution 8 and 9 of August 2001'. The NPC resolution concerns integration of all naga areas under one administration and iterates desire of the Naga people to live together without any compromise on the cherished goal.

In the backdrop of clashes between rival groups of the NSCN in Dimapur area that had claimed over 50 people including Tangkhul civilians and damage of properties, the bodies also appealed to all concerned to stop factional killings in Naga areas.

Moreover, people of the Naga community in general and students in particular pursuing different courses outside 'Nagalim' have been urged to remain calm and be free from tensions.

Nevertheless, the bodies cautioned the naga people to be wary of sinister designs by divisive forces and stay alert from false propaganda or rumours that is being spread in the aftermath of the Dimapur turmoil.

All differences within the family should be sorted out peacefully, it stressed.





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