Tingplik Express

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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