Dimapur, Mar 11 :The Gauhati High Court has directed the Centre as
well as the Nagaland government to ensure adequate security to the
prisoners languishing in the jails in Nagaland.
The court issued
the directive after hearing a PIL filed by a Guwahati-based activist,
Rajib Kalita, on Monday in connection with last week’s lynching of a
rape accused in Dimapur.
Kalita had sought an impartial probe into
the alleged rape incident. He had requested that the trial of those
arrested in connection the lynching of the rape accused be held outside
Nagaland.
The court has set a two-week deadline to the Centre and
the Nagaland government to respond to the PIL and pointed out that it
was the responsibility of Nagaland’s Inspector General of Prisons to
provide security to the prisoners.
“The family members of the
prisoners are concerned over safety and security inside the jails of
Nagaland,” advocate Bhaskar Dev Konwar said.
He also said the
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had submitted a preliminary report of the
alleged rape, received from the Nagaland government, to the court.
Meanwhile,
the police said the hunt for the ring leaders of the violent mob, who
had stormed Dimapur jail and took away the rape accused, was still on.
“We are going after the ring leaders, who have gone into hiding,” IG,
Wabang Jamir, told Express.
So far, 43 people have been arrested in connection with the lynching incident.
Meanwhile,
Dimapur, which is Nagaland’s largest town and commercial hub, is
limping to normalcy, with curfew being relaxed from 6 am- to 4pm on
Tuesday.
Bengali Muslims doing business here said a number of traders had fled the town over the past few days.
The community has a sizeable population in the town.
“Traders,
especially those who are staying with their families have started
leaving. They are worried about their safety. Their family members and
relatives are also insisting that they should go back to their
villages,” Hasmat Ali, a trader from Assam’s Barak Valley, told Express.
Protesters beating the accused in Dimapur.
Curfew was on Sunday clamped in Dimapur town of Nagaland and 22 people
were arrested in connection with the lynching of a rape accused, a
senior police officer said.Also, Internet and cellphone
text message services were suspended across Nagaland as protests spread
against the lynching of a rape-accused man.
Dimapur, Mar 9 :
Additional
Director General of Police (Law and Order) G Akheto Seema said curfew
has been imposed in Dimapur town from 3 PM Sunday till 12 midnight to
maintain peace. The preliminary medical report of the woman allegedly
raped by Syed Farid Khan, who was lynched, confirms that she had been
raped, the ADGP said.
22 people have been arrested in
connection with the lynching incident. The arrests were made since last
evening after going through the mobile video clippings during the
incident and interrogation was on, he said.
Khan
was arrested for raping the woman in Dimapur on February 24 and
remanded in judicial custody in the Dimapur Central Jail the next day.
On March 5, Khan was dragged out of jail and beaten to death. He was
today buried at his native village in Karimganj district of Assam amidst
tight security.
Rape victim says accused offered her Rs.5,000 to remain silent
Speaking
to Headlines Today, the victim said accused, Syed Farid Khan, had
offered her Rs.5,000 to remain silent about the incident. "I handed over
the money to the police and I expect justice from the Nagaland
government, " she said.
Syed Farid Khan, a 35-year-old
second hand car dealer, was accused of raping a 20-year-old Naga woman
on February 23 and 24 at different locations. Police arrested him on
February 25 and a lower court sent him to judicial custody.
The
victim also revealed that she filed an FIR and she knew the accused.
However, she didn't comment about what how mob killed him.
Kohima, Feb. 12 : The campaign to flush out "illegal Bangladeshi immigrants" from Nagaland has intensified after the Naga Students' Federation (NSF), the apex students' organisation in the state, decided to spearhead the movement.
After the NSF's decision, more principal Naga organisations joined the campaign to drive out "illegal Bangladeshi immigrants".
The drive against illegal immigrants was first initiated in Mokokchung district by students and an NGO known as Survival Mokokchung.
The Nagaland government has blamed Assam for the influx. The NSF said it would organise tours in all Naga-inhabited areas to create awareness on "illegal Bangladeshi immigrants".
During the tour, Naga student leaders will meet representatives of all apex organisations, administrations and members of municipal councils, town councils, youth organisations, women's organisations, students, wards and colony leaders.
The president of the NSF, Tongpang Ozukum, said they were not against any community or citizens of India, but their movement is against illegal immigrants. He said immigration from Bangladesh has become a serious threat to Naga society.
Nagaland has a large population of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Nepal and the authorities have failed to check them.
Most of the alleged Bangladeshi immigrants are engaged in agriculture sector in the plain areas and many are construction labourers.
They are also into businesses dealing with garments and electronic items. In Dimapur, the commercial hub of the state, most of the businesses is controlled by alleged immigrants who are mostly concentrated in New Market, Hazi Park, Railway Bazaar and Super Market areas.
Dimapur is not covered under inner-line permit (ILP) system and in its absence immigrants find it easy to enter the state. The NSF and other Naga organisations have been demanding streamlining of the ILP system.
The government has said most of the alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants possess Indian domicile certificates which make it difficult to detect the immigrants.
The minority community in the state too has expressed concern over entry of immigrants and decided to support the movement against them.
New Delhi, Jan 21 : “Songs of the Blue Hills”, a documentary on contemporary Naga folk music, has been invited to the North Carolina Global Film Festival in the US.
Directed by National Award-winning film critic and filmmaker Utpal Borpujari, the 2013 documentary will be screened this weekend at the fest, read a statement.
“Songs of the Blue Hills” takes viewers on a journey of contemporary Naga folk music practices and brings under the focus both the music and debate between purists and those who believe in experimenting with folk sounds.
Produced by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) of Union Ministry of Culture, the film has already been screened at many prestigious film festivals, including Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (China), Parma Internatonal Music Film Festival (Italy), 11th Eyes and Lenses Ethnographic Film Festival (Poland).
It has also been screened at New York Indian Film Festival, Gothenberg Indie Film Festival (Sweden), Visions du Reel (Nyon, Switzerland) and the World Music and Independent Film Festival (Washington).
The 96-minute film was part of the Indian Panorama at the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, in November last year.
New Delhi, Nov 21 : With his eyes set to have a peaceful Northeast to help
expand trade with South Asia, prime minister Narendra Modi has
instructed interlocutor R N Ravi to come out with a proposed settlement
that could be a final solution to the simmering Naga issue.
Sources said, Ravi, former chairman of the Joint Intelligence
Committee and ex-special director of Intelligence Bureau, has been asked
to try and clinch a solution preferably within a year to 18 months.
Unlike former governments, the emphasis this time is not on a
resolution but on a solution which, means the Centre is approaching the
issue with a hardened stand of pushing for a settlement on its own terms
and putting the onus to accept the proposal on National Socialist
Council of Nagalim -- Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM).
Getting rid of the baggage of previous UPA government
during which the last interlocutor R S Pandey and before him Ajit Lal
had worked hard in shaping up a proposed settlement, new interlocutor
Ravi is expected to start the negotiation afresh to find out and lay
down a new solution.
In an apparent indication to sound out Centre's tough bargaining
policy, Modi has chosen not to meet the NSCN-IM top leaders -- Isak
Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah who are camping in Lutyen's Delhi,
just a couple of kilometres from Prime Minister's house, for past since
mid-September.
This is the first time that the "proud" leaders have waited for so
long to meet the PM. The earlier PMs used to give them time rather
promptly.
This change also indicates if the Modi government is trying to tell
the rebel outfit that the solution would not hinge on a political
dialogue but within the given administrative framework which would
suggest a drop down for the NSCN-IM, considered to be most formidable in
the Northeast.
However, it will also sound out a clear message in general to all the
other insurgent outfits in the region that the government's stand would
remain tough, sources said.
Modi is expected to discuss the issue with chief ministers of both
Nagaland and Manipur during this visit to the Northeast in the end of
this month.
A key component of Modi's talk would be how to establish peace
between warring Manipur and Naga groups who are demanding autonomy of
the state's Naga-dominated hill districts and tackle NSCN-IM that wants
integration of the Naga areas under a single administrative umbrella.
Observers within the government say that the tough posturing by the
Centre could find answers for a lasting peace in the Northeast that is
necessary to take trade with ASEAN group of countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and PDR Laos etc.
A peaceful northeast can help India reach its aim of increasing the
bilateral trade with ASEAN to $ 100 billion by 2015 and to $ 2000 by
2022.
To take the trade to this level and beyond, Manipur can serve as a major gateway from border point of Moreh to Myanmar and beyond right up to the doorsteps of ASEAN countries.
"We are looking forward to conclusion of negotiations for an
ASEAN-India Transit Transport Agreement by 2015. The Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo
sector of the India - Myanmar – Thailand trilateral highway project
is expected to complete in 2016 and will create a new dynamics of
synergy of trade and cultural relations with South Asian countries,"
said an official of the ministry of external affairs.
By H. Chishi Kohima, Nov 20 : Once again the stage is set for world famous English band Smokie and Amercian guitarist Vinnie Moore to rock Kohima.
Smokie — a household name and all-time favourite band — will perform on December 3 at Indira Gandhi Stadium hockey ground and Vinnie Moore of legendary US rock band UFO will perform during the Hornbill International Rock contest on December 4 coinciding with the 10-day festival from December 1.
Smokie will also rock Shillong on December 5. The Living next door to Alice band will also visit the Hornbill Festival at Naga Heritage village, Kisama, on December 4 before departing for Shillong.
The band is on a worldwide tour and will perform in more than 50 venues next year.
Several hundreds of fans of Smokie and UFO from the neighbouring states of Manipur and Assam are also expected visit Kohima.
Smokie guys will belt out their all time favourites, Living next door to Alice, Lay back in the arms of someone, Don’t play your rock and roll, Babe it’s upto you, among others.
Moore will also be one of the judges of the Hornbill International Rock contest where several bands from the country and abroad will perform.
Before leaving Moore will also conduct a guitar workshop in Dimapur for Naga music lovers. “True rock legends are characterised by the fact that they not only have added several classics to the rock history, but that their musically output, after many years, still takes place at a constantly high level and there is always something new and fresh coming up. UFO meet all this criteria,” Moore said.
“I will definitely watch the performance of Smokie,” said a fan K.P. Angami.
The organisers of the show are making all effort to stage a well-mannered concert adding that security would be tight during the performances by Smokie and Vinnie Moore.
The
remote village of Longwa, with Myanmar’s dense forests on one side and
India’s rich agricultural lands on the other, is home to the fierce
Konyak Naga tribe. The largest of 16 tribes living in the remote
northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, the Konyaks were warriors with
brutal pasts, using inter-village fights to accede land and ascertain
power. As such, Konyak villages are situated on ridge tops, so they can
easily monitor and identify an enemy attack.
The last generation
From
the tribe’s conception centuries ago, until the gruesome practice was
banned in 1940s, the Konyaks were fierce headhunters. Killing and
severing an enemy’s head was considered a rite of passage for young
boys, and success was rewarded with a prestigious facial tattoo. With
the last headhunting case in Nagaland reported in 1969, older tribesmen
like Pangshong (pictured) belong to the last generation with these
striking facial tattoos.
Skulls of battles past
Bones
of buffaloes, deer, boars, hornbills and mithun (a bovine species found
in northeast India) decorate the walls of every Konyak house – prizes
from generations of hunting. During the tribe’s headhunting days, the
skulls of captured enemies were also prominently displayed, but once
headhunting was abolished, the skulls were removed from the village and
buried.
Spacious living quarters
Konyak
huts are made primarily out of bamboo. They are spacious, with several
partitions forming huge rooms for various purposes including cooking,
dining, sleeping and storage. Vegetables, corn and meat are stored above
the fireplace, in the centre of the house. Rice, the staple food of the
Konyaks Nagas, is usually stored in huge bamboo containers at the back
of the house. Pictured here, a Konyak woman named Wanlem breaks the rice
by beating it with a wooden log, readying it for a traditional sticky
rice dish.
One tribe, two countries
Longwa
was established long before the borders were drawn between India and
Myanmar in 1970. Not knowing how to divide the community between two
countries, officials decided that the border would pass through the
village and leave the tribe undisturbed. Today, Longwa straddles the
international border, with one side of the border pillar containing
messaging written in Burmese, and the other side written in Hindi.
International housing
The
border even cuts through the village chief’s house, prompting the joke
that he dines in India and sleeps in Myanmar.
Family gatherings
Konyaks
are still ruled by hereditary chieftains, locally known as “Angh”, and
one or several villages can come under each chieftain’s rule. The
practice of polygamy is prevalent among the Anghs and the chief of
Longwa has several children from many wives. Pictured here, several of
the tribe’s children gather around the fire.
Changing beliefs
Konyaks
were animists, worshipping elements of nature, until Christian
missionaries arrived in the late 19th Century. By the late 20th Century,
more than 90% in the state had accepted Christianity as their religion.
Today, most of the villages in Nagaland have at least one Christian
church. The church in Longwa is located in a vast field atop the ridge,
right below the village chief’s house.
Weekly traditions
Women wearing traditional Naga skirts return from church on a Sunday morning.
A disappearing culture
A
group of Konyak elders gather around the kitchen fire, chewing on
betelnut, roasting corn and sharing a light moment. With the invasion of
Christianity, many of the tribe’s traditional practices, such as
training young boys as warriors and educating them about the tribe’s
beliefs in dedicated community buildings called Morungs, have nearly
disappeared.
Decorative trophies
The
practice of wearing colourful beaded jewellery is also declining. In
the past, both men and women would wear elaborate necklaces and
bracelets. Brass faces were used in some of the men’s necklaces to
signify the number of enemy heads severed.
Change creeps in
Sheltered
from the reaches of modern civilization, Longwa is a picturesque
collection of thatch-roofed wooden houses. But the occasional tin roofs
and concrete constructions are tell-tale signs that change is creeping
into this rustic corner. What remains of this inevitable marriage
between past and present is yet to be seen.
Guwahati, Sep 22 : More than ten months after the last round of talks, a high-level delegation of NSCN (IM) leaders have arrived in the national capital at the invitation of the government of India for resumption of the Naga peace talks.
The delegation led by its chairman Isak Chisi Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah will first meet different officials before attending the formal discussions slated sometime next week. The delegation arrived in New Delhi on Saturday.
It was in November last year that New Delhi had held the last round of discussions, while a meeting with then prime minister Manmohan Singh, slated for December 6, 2013 was cancelled at the last moment. A delegation of the NSCN (IM) had visited New Delhi in March this year after the Centre had called off another round of talks in view of the Lok Sabha elections.
There have been speculations in the media in Nagaland about NSCN (IM) leaders also meeting Prime Minister Modi, especially in view of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee appreciating the “unique history of the Nagas” during his visit to Nagaland in July 2002.
The NSCN (IM) has been on a ceasefire with the government of India since August 1, 1997, following which it has held a series of discussions with New Delhi. While the group has dropped its demand for ‘sovereignty’, but it has maintained that it would continue to press for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas.
The group had earlier this month taken exception to the appointment of former IB special director RN Ravi as New Delhi’s new interlocutor in view of certain remarks made by him in an newspaper column in December last year. This had prompted new Nagaland governor and veteran BJP leader PB Acharya to clarify that Ravi’s article was written much before the new government was elected.
Guwahati, Sep 18 : Three weeks after the newly appointed Governor of Nagaland constituted a high-powered committee to probe illegal taxation in the state, the police have unearthed an organised network, controlled by NSCN(IM) cadre, who were illegally taxing transport and commercial vehicles. The network also involved 17 transport and goods companies.
The police action comes a year after NGOs and tribal bodies launched a statewide movement to check illegal ‘taxes’ imposed by different groups.
Dimapur Police additional SP Wati Jamir said the network was run from the offices of different transport and goods carrier companies. The anti-extortion team of the police said the racket ran into crores of rupees. Several persons have been taken into custody and offices of all companies under scanner have been shut down.
“Based on specific inputs, the investigating team Monday raided and searched the office of one M/S Freight Carriers (India) Pvt Ltd in Dimapur, which led to the recovery and seizure of 43 illegal lorry challans for trucks plying on the Guwahati-Imphal route through Nagaland,” Jamir said.
The police found that the challans had the signature of one John, a NSCN(IM) cadre. The managers of the company, Rajbir Sharma and Vikash Sharma, were taken into custody.
During questioning, the two managers admitted that “taxes” were collected from all Manipur-bound transport trucks by issuing the challans on the direction of the NSCN(IM) cadres.
The
United Naga Council is organizing mass rallies to push towards the
solution of the Indo–Naga issue, as well as to protest against
militarisation of Ukhrul area and the aggressive policies of the
Government of Manipur in terms of the ancestral lands of Naga people.
United Naga Council (UNC) has announced
its decision of launching mass rallies in the four Naga dominated
district headquarters of Tamenglong, Senapati, Ukhrul and Chandel on
August 30 [2014] to exert pressure on the Government of India for
expediting an acceptable and honourable settlement of the Indo-Naga
issue.
The rallies will also be in protest
against the alleged militarisation of Naga areas particularly Ukhrul
district by Government of Manipur by deployment State forces in alleged
utter disrespect of the Indo-Naga cease-fire as well as against
Government of Manipur's alleged disrespect for the democratic process of
tripartite talk on alternative arrangement which has been progressing
towards a logical stage.
The UNC further said the August 30
[2014] rallies will also be in protest against the unabated aggressive
policies of the Government of Manipur to encroach upon the ancestral
lands of the Nagas and tribal through Laws, Acts & Notifications to
subvert the protective provisions of the Manipur Land Revenue and Land
Reforms (MLR & LR) Act, 1960 .
In statement issued by its publicity
wing, UNC informed that after the rallies joint memorandum on all these
points of demand and protests will be submitted by the Tribe Hohos and
frontal organisations of the respective districts through the Government
of India agencies to the Prime Minister of India and also dispatched
through post.
UNC appealed to all churches, Christian
leaders, frontal and regional organisations, village chiefs and village
councils and village authorities, students and youth’s leaders to take
up the moral responsibilities for ensuring the maximum participation of
the people in the rally.
It also advised the Naga people to be
vigilant against any attempt of the adversaries to discredit the
peoples' movement for their political aspirations by sabotaging the
democratic civil action.
A group of people are seen drinking liquor
in one of the many clandestine establishments which sell alcohol in
Dimapur. Photo by Caisii Mao
By Imti Longchar
Dimapur, Aug 19 : Amidst
zealous and earnest debates flooding newspapers, social networking
sites and road side liquor joints on the fallacy that Nagaland Liquor
Total Prohibition Act (NLTP) 1989 is or not, a less perturbed illicit
liquor industry continues to rise to humongous proportions in commercial
hub Dimapur.
Under the guise of mineral
water wholesale shops and patently placing them under food restaurant
industry on their registration licenses, the spurious liquor business is
rising extraordinarily in all stretches of Dimapur.
Keen
observers point out how the commercial hub might have the highest
number of wholesale shops selling mineral water in the whole of North
East, coupled with an abnormal number of Indian cuisine hotels - most of
which does not offer even a plate of chapatti. More ironically, amongst
all the businesses dotting Dimapur, these shops are diligently the
first to open shutters in the morning (by 5 am), and the last to close
at night (11 pm) for its ‘customers.’
People
in the know (and who does not know?) counted nearly 500 illegal wine
shops in Dimapur and along NH 29 and rising. This figure does not
include restaurants which have liquor on their menu, or home/residence
based IMFL businesses inside the numerous colonies.
To
cite instances, a year or two ago, there was only one wine store, a
very renowned one, near Dhobi Nullah traffic point intersection. Of
late, it has tripled, flanking each other on the left and right of the
road.
Or along the neglected Signal road,
where setting up business was deemed a bad idea (except for a Punjabi
hotel prospering in mineral water business) because of the deplorable
road condition or so, nearly half a dozen wine stores have cropped up
and is doing brisk business.
Likewise,
be it City Tower, Nagarjan junction, Purana Bazaar, Burma Camp, 4th Mile
and elsewhere, the sprouting liquor hotels with its trademark mineral
water cartons and cold drinks decorated cupboards can hardly miss our
sight.
THE EARNINGS Lure of quick and
highly dividend earnings and unemployment can be attributed for people
venturing into the illicit liquor business, despite the knowledge of
prohibition. No regard for the law because everyone else is breaking the
law of prohibition can be another issue.
Owner
of a paan shop cum liquor joint was candid enough to reveal how one can
become a ‘lakhpati’ if one lasts a year into the business. “After that,
its snapping fingers for you,” he quipped. His bold declaration holds
water.
A personnel of the Intelligence
Branch revealed how during one of the recent routine closure of liquor
stores by authorities, a single wine shop could earn a whopping profit
of Rs 16 lakh by selling liquor to alarmed imbibers from 4 pm till 9 pm.
THE GANG The stretch of Shillong and
Guahati night bus boarding station (Blue Hill station) decorated with
high rise hotels, lodgings, and bus counters is infamous for its alleged
distinction of being a ‘syndicate’s haven,’ – meaning a hotspot from
where most networking of illicit liquor supplies allegedly originate.
A
source, working in the police department explains how the illegal chain
of the liquor industry is segregated into four components – syndicate,
whole-seller, retailer and home business makers. Syndicates are the main
suppliers to the whole-sellers, who, then sell to retailers and home
business makers.
Illicit liquor is also
supplied directly by kingpins at Lahorijan and Khat Khati under Assam
which, according to this source, is more cumbersome and risky for the
bootleggers. One key factor on how syndicates manage to operate the
illicit liquor business full swing may also be directly linked with the
license awarded by the State government to individuals or groups for
bonded ware house to supply liquor to Armed forces stationed in Nagaland
and Manipur, says the source.
With these
licences, purportedly bought with ludicrous amounts of bribes landing in
the hands of syndicates, trucks after trucks of liquor enter Nagaland
gate unrestrained. These consignments not only go to the Armed forces,
but flows directly into the general market, the source claimed.
“But
who can prove what when everyone- the excise, police, State government
officials, politicians, church members, public- from the top rung to the
bottom, are equally involved in the making of this industry?” he said,
implicitly pinpointing the reason why the NLTP Act has not been a
success or will never be.
NEW BREED OF LOCAL BREWERS The
roaring illicit liquor industry in Dimapur has also witnessed the rise
of a new breed of apprentice in the brewing business. There was a time
when local beer made of rice were mostly brewed and sold by local women
as means to survival and livelihood. And also with their contention that
drinking rice beer was Naga traditional way of life.
A walk around
Westyard (Rail bazaar) area or Dhobi Nullah would reveal otherwise. At
the bustling stretches of rice beer joints, swift and business minded
non locals sell local brew kept in large basins along with plates of dry
fried fish, fried blood cakes, mutton heads and innards.
Many
of these versatile non local businessmen have learnt the art of brewing
rice beer as means to employment. They also buy the fermented rice from
locals.
In a reverse scenario, local women mostly widows or those
with unemployed husbands have turned to sale of IMFL instead of the
local brew. “This is more lucrative and hassle free than selling rice
beer,” a woman who was into rice beer business, but now sells rum,
remarked.
Jorhat, Aug 4 : The
Wildlife Trust of India has the daunting task of finding the home of 62
star tortoises that were seized at Dimapur railway station last month.
A team from the WTI will collect blood and
tissue samples of the tortoises, now kept at the zoo in Dimapur to
ascertain their place of origin.
“The blood and tissue samples are
necessary to ascertain the location from where these tortoises
originated. By ascertaining to which sub-species they belong, we can
subsequently release these tortoises in the particular location or at
least near it,” N.V.K. Ashraf, the chief of conservation of WTI, told
The Telegraph today.
Ashraf said the Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans)
is a species found in dry forest areas in the northwest and
southeastern regions of the country and is quite popular in exotic pet
trade across the world.
“Thanks to the distinctively-marked and
highly-rounded shell, this species has become popular in the world’s pet
trade,” he said.
Indian star tortoises are medium sized, with the average adult rarely growing to more than 30cm in length.
The trade in star tortoises has been
banned under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) of Wild fauna and flora. The species is also protected under
Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which bans its
possession and trade.
The consignment of 62 tortoises was found concealed under fruits in two crates parcelled from New Delhi on July 12.
Sources said one of the tortoises managed
to sneak out of the packet, which attracted the attention of railway
officials. Subsequently, the wildlife crime control bureau seized the
two packets.
The principal chief conservator of
forests, Nagaland, M. Lokeswara Rao, said all the 62 tortoises were
alive and being kept at a special enclosure at Nagaland zoological park.
He said WTI had sought permission from the
forest department to collect blood and tissue samples of the tortoises
to ascertain the location from where they originated.
“We have given them permission,” he said.
He said this was the first time that star
tortoises, which are found in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, were seized in Nagaland.
Rao said a telephone number and an address
were mentioned in the two packets but there was no reply on the
particular telephone number.
“The address was also fake,” he added.
An official of the Wildlife Crime Control
Bureau told The Telegraph that the haul has established the fact that
Dimapur is used as a transit route to smuggle star tortoises to
Southeast Asian countries.
“The porous international border in
Manipur is being used to smuggle these star tortoises. We are probing
the incident,” he said.
The ministry of home affairs has said the
porosity of the 1,643km India-Myanmar border facilitates cross-border
movement of militants, illegal arms and drugs. “The border
(Indo-Myanmar) permits free movement regime up to 16km across the
border. This makes the International border extremely porous. The border
runs along hilly and inhospitable terrain, which grossly lacks basic
infrastructure and provides cover to the activities of various insurgent
groups and smugglers,” a ministry of home affairs report had said
recently.
Organisers of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo
aim to increase the global TV audience of the event to more than a
billion – with lucrative new agreements in China and India.
Brigadier David Allfrey, chief executive and producer of
the event, has unveiled ambitious plans to secure long-running
broadcast deals with the two countries. The move – expected to coincide
with the appearance of more Indian and Chinese performers in the event –
would see the number of viewers rise tenfold from its present level.
Plans
to greatly expand the global reach of the event were announced as it
emerged the Tattoo is set to sell out in advance for the first time in
five years – despite its opening weekend clashing with the Commonwealth
Games.
Organisers have revealed sales are running around 8,000
ahead of last year, with 97 per cent of seats already snapped up ahead
of yesterday’s official launch, when details of the programme were
announced.
Last year’s event did not sell out until around two weeks into the run at the Castle Esplanade.
The
Tattoo opens on Thursday night, with its dress rehearsal, with another
three performances due to be held before the Commonwealth Games in
Glasgow draw to a close on Sunday.
The event – which is being held
for the 65th year – has sold out for the last 15 years in a row, but is
viewed by a further 100 million people in around 45 countries thanks to
coverage filmed by the BBC.
Brigadier Allfrey said: “We are one
of four really big offerings that BBC Music record every year, along
with the Proms season, the Glastonbury Festival and Radio One’s Big
Weekend, and our programme is already licensed out to a huge number of
territories around the world.
“I have a real interest in the
developing markets, particularly in India and China, where there is an
enormous number of people who are tremendously interested in our
offering.
“We think there is a real opportunity to reach a
stronger audience by working with the two state broadcasters in each of
these countries.
“The real interest is in the years to come,
where Scotland’s relationship with these great economies is set to grow.
I want to make sure the Tattoo is presented to both Indian and Chinese
audiences in much the same way as it is in Australia, where the Tattoo
is shown every year on New Year’s Day.
“We want to ensure that
they take the programme every year, and in years to come we are talking
about acts from India and China. We are setting the conditions for
proper broadcast of those programmes, which we think will capture the
public imagination in those countries.”
Acts from South Africa,
the Caribbean, New Zealand, India and Singapore appear in this year’s
Tattoo, which runs until 23 August.
Highlights are expected to
include appearances from the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel
Orchestra, the iNgobamakhosi Zulu Dance Troupe, from South Africa, the
Nagaland Folkloric Group, from north-east India, and a group of Shetland
Fiddlers.
Just 3,000 tickets remain on sale for this year’s
event, but Brigadier Allfrey warned these were expected to be quickly
snapped up, despite the huge interest in the Games.
Film-maker Utpal Borpujari’s documentary, Songs
of the Blue Hills, seeks out lost Naga folk songs and finds their
revival among younger musicians
While setting chords to their famous hymn-like 1960 track, Let it be
me, the rock ‘n’ roll legend The Everly Brothers, not even in their
wildest dreams, thought that a tribal folk song in India’s Nagaland
would have the same chord structure. As for the contours and trajectory,
they never factored those in either. The song reached the seventh
position on Billboard charts as the English duo transformed popular
music of the ’50s and ’60s to create a musical legacy with those
gorgeous riffs, unique harmonies and “foreverly” arrangements. Even as
they were making their way to the Hall of Fame, far away in Nagaland,
Hoya He, a song from the Chakhesang tribe, was getting erased from our
musical consciousness. So when Nagaland’s classical pianist Nise Meruno
plays and croons both the songs in quick succession, highlighting the
similarity between the music from two different worlds — one from the
American idiom of popular music, and the other which is not so popular
in Indian consciousness, one is intrigued to find this folk song’s
relevance in today’s time. Thus begins a journey, which is the subject
of filmmaker Utpal Borpujari’s documentary, Songs of the Blue Hills.
Delhi-based Borpujari’s feature-length documentary takes one through the
music of various Naga tribes. The film by the Centre for Cultural
Resources and Training, which was shot and completed last year, is in
the competition sections of international film festivals at Gothenburg
and Washington this year and is being screened at Eyes & Lenses:
Ethnographic Film Festival, Warsaw and Ladakh International Film
Festival. “I have always been interested in tracing the roots of music.
This endeavour was to understand and find more and see what it would
throw at me,” says Borpujari.
The film seeks out folk songs of the Nagas that are lost or have
trickled down to the next generation. The arrival of the British over a
century ago was culturally helpful in some parts of the nation (they
facilitated many musicians such as Gauhar Jaan find fame by allowing
them to record), while they banned folk music of the Naga tribes calling
it spirit worship. “I’m a Christian and we were told that we would rot
in hell if we would sing our folk songs,” says Guru Sademmeren
Longkumer, a veteran Naga folk musician, in the documentary. But he
secretly documented some music over a period of time and created
collections. However, reading them was not easy since the Ao tribe had
their script written on leather strips. “Dogs ate them,” he says.
“The Nagas have faced many socio-political issues. Most tribes would
remain within themselves and not have anything to do with other tribes
or the rest of the world. Since the songs were orally passed down, many
got lost in the process,” says Borpujari, 45, who has included almost 20
songs from the Naga folk culture in the documentary. He met bands such
as Purple Fusion and Tetseo Sisters, who are reviving their legacy by
combining folk with pop, blues and jazz. “Some veteran folk musicians
have a problem with musicians wearing cowboy hats and ‘mixing’ their
music, but younger musicians believe that this is one way that their
legacy can be revived,” says Borpujari.
Collaborations and fusions aside, some banned folk songs are also
finding their way into choral hymns, which were considered sacrosanct
once upon a time. One finds various choirs including the one in Nagaland
Music Conservatory using lyrics and tunes from their folk songs and
singing them in hymn-like structures. “The young generation of musicians
are allowing this oral legacy to flourish, even in choral singing,
where it was once prohibited,” says Borpujari.
Mangalore: While I am writing this article, persons
and business names are not revealed, only for the fact that I don't want
any employees to get fired from their jobs because of their lack of
knowledge and courteousness.
I really don't blame the store employees
for their lack of customer service talents, but would blame the
owners/management for not training their staff handling various
departments about the company products, procedures and rules etc etc.
Sometimes when you apply for new mobile phone connection or any other
matter, you will be surprised at all the documents the staff ask for,
which actually is not needed and at same time its waste of your time and
energy running to xerox shops to make bunch of copies.
By the way when did Nagaland became a foreign country ? Why do you
need a visa to visit Mangalore? I thought Nagaland was still a Indian
state, but according to a authorized mobile showroom staff it is not.
Other day I was at the mobile showroom to pay my bill, but since the
automated paying kiosk was out of order, I stood in the queue inside the
store to pay my bill. At that time there were two youth, I guess either
from Tibet or Nagaland, trying to get phone service activated.
I could
hear the conversation between the youth and the store employee - at one
point I heard the staff asking them for their visa copies. The confused
youth with much argument with the staff left the showroom in a grumpy
mood.
Minutes later after done paying my bill, I approached the same staff
and asked where the youth were from, and she replied they were from
Nagaland.
Quickly I asked her again, then why were you insisting on
their visa copies, since Nagaland is not a foreign land.
She was all
puzzled and confused, and the manager who standing close by who heard
us, directed the staff to run outside and look if she could find those
two young youth from Nagaland, but all in vain. I bet they went to a
better mobile showroom. What a blunder the staff did, just to lose two
customers?
Another incident-- once again that too at a mobile showroom - my
American friend who was on a visit here for couple of months wanted to
see if he could get temporary SIM card. So I took him to the mobile
shop, where the staff asked him for his copies of passport, visa and
other travel documents etc - which he did.
After a while the store staff
came and insisted copies of Voter's ID or a ration card. What a dumb
question to ask a US citizen for a voter's ID and a ration card, when
she knew he was a American on a vacation with a tourist visa. We didn't
speak a word, instead left the shop, and later got him a SIM card under
my friend's name at a different shop..
Sometimes getting a new mobile phone service is much more difficult
than getting a passport or visa - too much hassles and too many
documents to be produced for personal verification. Like few months ago,
when I tried to get a new mobile service to be approved I went through
hell - after all copies of needed documents were submitted, and after
waiting for nearly 15-20 minutes, the mobile shop staff tells me that I
look fair on my passport and OCI (Dual citizenship) card, and I look
dark on my Karnataka State Drivers Licence. She wanted me to lighten the
photostat copies of my DL - I had to go back again to the xerox shop,
and after wasting nearly 10 copies, I finally got a perfect copy of my
DL photo to match my PP photo. I still don't understand why the photo
color mattered so much. I only wished the RTO office had a better camera
device to take personal images ?
With
Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit defiant despite being nudged by the home
secretary to step down and make way for an NDA appointee, the
government is considering transferring her to a smaller state.
New Delhi, Jul 9 : With the NDA government having hinted at naming new
governors mid-session, sources in the home ministry indicated that
gubernatorial appointments for around seven to eight states may be
announced shortly.
With Kerala governor Sheila Dikshit defiant
despite being nudged by the home secretary to step down and make way for
an NDA appointee, the government is considering transferring her to a
smaller state. Her new address may well be Nagaland, as Mizoram governor
Vakkom Purushothaman, who on Sunday was transferred to Nagaland, is
reportedly unwilling to accept the new assignment and may resign.
As many as five Raj Bhavans fell vacant following the resignation of
UPA-appointed governors, including B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar
Dutt (Chhattisgarh), M K Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani Kumar
(Nagaland) and B V Wanchoo (Goa).
Apart from these states,
there is a vacancy in Gujarat after the NDA government on Sunday
transferred incumbent Kamla Beniwal to Mizoram. If Dikshit is moved to
Nagaland, a vacancy would arise in Kerala as well.
Meanwhile,
the terms of some governors, including H R Bharadwaj (Karnataka) and
Jagannath Pahadiya (Haryana) are ending later this month.
The
NDA government's signal to certain UPA appointees in Raj Bhavans to step
down had evoked a mixed response. While some governors sent in their
resignations without much delay, others like Narayanan and Wanchoo
waited to be questioned by the CBI in the AgustaWestland scam before
quitting. Others like Beniwal, Dikshit and K Sankaranarayanan
(Maharashtra) refused to take the hint, with the latter two even asking
for a formal communication in case the Centre wanted them to resign
ahead of their terms.
The likely list of NDA appointees in Raj
Bhavans includes BJP veterans such as former UP Speaker Kesarinath
Tripathi, Punjab leader Balram Das Tandon, former MP Lalji Tandon,
senior party leader from Kerala O Rajagopal, former Union minister Ram
Naik, Delhi leader V K Malhotra and former finance minister Yashwant
Sinha.
Kalyan Singh too is being considered for governorship,
but the former UP CM is reportedly unwilling to quit active politics
yet.
Special Arrangement
FROM AFAR A Naga folk group in a still from the film
“Songs of the Blue Hills” looks at the contest between tradition and modernity in the music of the Nagas.
“All songs, be it of harvest, love, war and festivals,
were sung in the community dormitory for the youth,” says Guru Zachunu
Keyho, who has collected nearly 600 Chakhesang folk songs. He is
remembering the days before the coming of schools and churches in
Nagaland, when cultural wisdom was transmitted to the youth through folk
songs and dances, at the morung or dormitory. For Keyho, those days are
over. “Today’s youth don’t have any interest in these things. Thus,
with every generation, we are losing our songs and tradition.”
Tradition
is a word that recurs frequently in “Songs of the Blue Hills”, a new
documentary by film critic and filmmaker Utpal Borpujari, which journeys
through the music of Nagaland. Through interviews with musicians, music
teachers and ethnomusicologists, the film looks at what ‘tradition’
entails, who lays claim to it, and how endangered it is.
Although
popularly perceived as a single tribe, the Nagas comprise more than
40-odd tribes and sub-tribes, spread across North East India and in
Northwestern Mynamar. Like ethnic communities the world over, folk music
and dances are at the heart of Naga culture. Also, Nagaland is perhaps
the only State which has a Music Task Force, which functions under the
aegis of the State Government to promote music in the State.
“What
is very interesting is that since the Nagas do not have written history
– or the written word – traditionally, it is their folk music that
helps orally pass on their history from one generation to another,” says
Borpujari, who has previously made the documentary “Mayong: Myth and
Reality”. “The idea was to maybe make a 40-minute-odd-long film. But as
my team and I started researching and contacting people, I realised that
it was not going to be as easy as it sounded. Every day we found new
groups, new singers, and more and more interesting music.”
While
the culture Keyho describes passed with the coming of the missionaries,
whose influence coloured the music of the Nagas, lately there has been a
revival of folk music with several young groups taking to it. Some of
them are the Tetseo sisters, who belong to the Chakhesang tribe and sing
Li; Purple Fusion, whose members belong to the Ao, Lotha and Sangtam
tribes, and who borrow from the repertoire of each other’s tribes; and
Moa Subong and Arenla Subong, who blend their traditional Ao sounds with
rock influences.
While their efforts have not been
received enthusiastically by some folk practitioners, who worry that
fusion could destroy the “real Naga tradition and culture”, they are
convinced that fusion is also a way of keeping tradition alive. The
older and younger generation may disagree about the means of preserving
tradition, but they are both acutely aware of its importance, and the
need to sustain it.
In fusion, according to
musicologist Abraham Lotha, “Certain element of dilution is there but I
would see it in a positive light in terms of the artistes trying to be
creative in their musical talents, and in creating such kind of fusion
music there is a market for it too. So it does help spread Naga music
beyond the borders of the Naga areas.”
The film,
which has been screened at film festivals in Warsaw, New York,
Gothenburg and Kochi among others, had to be confined within the borders
of Nagaland owing to budget constraints, but Borpujari hopes to take
“this journey further into Naga singers in other parts of Northeastern
India, someday in the future.”
The system removes up to 99.99 % bacteria from water selectively without hampering other elements and taste.
Kohima, Jun 17 :
Nagaland minister for public health engineering department Noke Wangnao
inaugurated an innovative water technology project — solar-powered
water treatment unit — at Tsiesema village near Kohima on Friday.
Nagaland is the first state in the country to set up the unique
technology.
Wangnao said three similar projects had been
installed in three most villages most hit by water scarcity in Kohima
district - Tsiesema, Meriema and Kijumetouma.
At a time when the state
badly needed a solution to the water scarcity problem of the villages, a
Mumbai-based company developed a suitable technology which could
readily solve the water problem and produce good quality water, the
minister added.
A brief technical project report by Er
Kevisekho Kruse, Nagaland's chief PHED engineer, added that the Additya
Solar-operated Advanced Membrane Filtration system was designed to
produce pure drinking water.
The system removes up to 99.99 % bacteria
from water selectively without hampering other elements and taste.
It is
a fully automated, solar-operated water treatment unit with very low
power consumption and operating costs. The capacity of the system is
6000l per day.
Dzükou Tribal Kitchen, which serves Naga food, has
reopened in Delhi. The decor is the same and, thankfully, so is the
food, says Amrita Madhukalya
For those of you lamenting the demise of the
charming little Naga eatery that shut its doors late last year at
Delhi's Hauz Khas Village, Dzükou Tribal Kitchen is back. Housed in a
back alley of the tony neighbourhood, Dzükou had, arguably, the best
view. If you've ever relished their delectable Naga pork ribs, sighing
at the glorious sight of the sun going down on the Hauz-I-Alai while
birds hurried by to their nests, you'd agree.
Just so that you don't buy into a misreading: Dzükou is now no
longer at Hauz Khas Village. It has moved a few doors away to the Hauz
Khas Main market, which along with the neighbouring Safdarjung
Development Area (SDA) community market, has been the biggest
beneficiaries of the exodus of good eating joints from Hauz Khas
Village.
Adding its bit to the ever-growing universe of exotic cuisine in the
capital, Dzükou, in its new avatar, is spacious (it boasts of parking
space). But, once inside, you realise nothing much has changed. There is
the same mural of three Naga tea garden girls, and almost the same
menu. (Thank god for their pork ribs!)
The decor has changed a bit: interior designer Mukul Sood was roped
in to do up the place. The result is a very traditional Naga ambience,
with contemporary, minimalist chic. There is a six-seater and five
eight-seaters, with the provision for Naga shawl blinds to accommodate
more guests. There is a small fountain, where water spews from burnished
bamboo, and the ceiling is dhokuwa, sourced from Assam, a traditional
bamboo weave used as fences in village homes. The façade of a Naga hut
stands in one corner of the room to serve as a bar that is still to open
– the liquor licence is due soon. And there's a space for buffets,
which owner Karen Yopthomi informs me, will also start shortly.
The menu is currently the old Naga menu, and there are plans to
incorporate five dishes each from cuisines of all northeastern states.
We started with the smoked buff salad (Rs279), and the best-selling
Naga pork ribs (Rs349). As with most northeastern food, the meat has
just the right amount of chewiness and is smoked to perfection. The buff
salad is a wee bit hot, and comes with fresh greens like yam leaves,
Naga spring onions and fresh bamboo shoot. We were delighted that the
succulent and crispy pork ribs had not changed at all and was in top
form.
To wash down the starters, we called for the famed fruit beer
(Rs149) next. It tasted better and headier than the pale beers one finds
in Dilli Haat or in the eateries in North Campus, but we must warn you
that it was really sweet.
For the main course, we ordered smoked buff curry (Rs319), chicken
with fresh bamboo shoot (Rs319, there are alternatives of chicken and of
dry bamboo shoot), a side dish of rosep aon (dry, Rs169) and pork
anishi, a paste made of smoked yam leaves (Rs319). The smoked buff curry
is not for the faint-hearted, there are generous dollops of raja
mircha, known as the hottest chilli in the world, and fresh greens. The
chicken with fresh bamboo shoot was full of flavour, and again, a bit
hot. The rosep yon is an assortment of greens like bitter gourd, fresh
bamboo shoot, yam leaves, Naga spring onions, Naga beans, etc. Our
favourite amongst these was pork anishi — the smoked yam and the smoked
pork has a character of its own, and you will most possibly reach out to
more than one serving.
The mains also consisted of steamed rice (Rs99) and an assortment of
chutneys — a smoked chilli-tomato-onion paste, raja mircha chutney with
dry fish and raja mircha chutney with shredded beef (Rs129 each). It
will need a warrior to survive the chilli-tomato-onion paste, but the
raja mircha chutneys came with their own flavours. We strongly recommend
the one with that came peppered with slivers of crispy roast beef.
Dzükou will also host musicians from the northeast, who will come
and perform at the tiny platform.
The Tatseo Sisters performed last
week, and Alobo Naga might perform in the coming few weeks.
Karen, who takes special care of the food cooked in the kitchen,
sources her ingredients all the way from Nagaland. The smoked meats, the
yam leaves, the axhone, the dry mushrooms, the Naga spring onions and
the raja mirchi — all come to the capital on a train. And, I guess,
that's what makes Dzükou's food so authentic and straight out of the
lush valley in Nagaland. And oh, did we tell you that Naga food does not
use any oil to cook us this storm?
An ethnic Naga headhunter in the remote village of Cheme Khuk in Burma’s far north. (Photo: Andrzej Muszynski)
Kachin State/Sagaing Division, northern Burma — In the remote village
of Cheme Khuk in Burma’s far north, I am talking to a man who must be
one of the last ethnic Naga chief headhunters still alive today. Now in
his 80s, he recalls an episode from the last great war, when he was a
boy.
“I was in the jungle with my father and brothers,” the old chief
says. “Suddenly, we saw a white man with short black hair. My father
whispered, ‘It’s a beast, it’ll hurt us.’ We tied him up and he shouted.
We carried him to the village.
“All we found in his bag was a single book. There was no gun. Then my
father said, ‘He can’t do us any harm.’ We fed him. He got his strength
back. We gave him some rice for the road and seven bells to pay for
food along the way. He wanted to cook the rice in them. We explained
that he shouldn’t do that.
“We escorted him to the border of our land and he vanished into the
jungle, in the direction of India. We saved his life, and he was very
grateful to us.”
Many more incidents of this kind occurred during World War II in the
Patkai Hills on the border between Burma and India, inhabited to this
day by the Naga people. One of the most extraordinary but little known
campaigns of the war was conducted in the air over that territory. Burma
was being fought over by the Allied powers and the Japanese, who had
rapidly moved northward after taking Rangoon, pushing the British out to
India.
Finally the counterattack went ahead, and the sky was cut across by
British and American planes. The pilots performed incredible feats,
landing on swampy ground in the middle of the jungle or daring to fly
“the Hump,” one of the most dangerous flight paths over the Burmese
Himalayas to China. Many of them crashed into the mountains. Wreckage is
still lying in remote corners of the jungle, where Naga hunters
sometimes find it. I heard they have even come across pilots’
skeletons, still in the cockpit.
If the Japanese had crossed the Naga Hills and conquered India, and
if the Germans hadn’t been defeated at Stalingrad, Asia would have been
taken over by the Axis powers. But thanks to men like the pilot who was
saved by the Naga boy and his father, Burma was liberated from Japanese
invaders.
Who was the pilot? Did he survive? What book was he reading? I’m still looking for him.
Search Through Nagaland
I had never seen such a wild place, neither in Africa nor in the
Amazon, before traveling to the Patkai Hills, which are hundreds of
kilometers of dense, majestic jungle that climb skyward up steep slopes.
Here and there in the forest shadow hide Naga villages, lost in time.
I was traveling from Myitkyina, the state capital of Kachin State,
with a government guide and permits that included a precise plan of my
route. In the Kachin town of Shinbwayang, we rented off-road motorbikes
and set off on a crazy ride across the mountains, driving along the
legendary Ledo Road in a quest to find one of the last of the living
Naga chief headhunters.
This road tells a story of human madness. When the Japanese took
Rangoon, the only source of supplies for the Allies in China was India,
but there were two mountain ranges, the Burmese Himalayas and the Patkai
Hills, standing in the way. People died like flies while building the
road, as it spans an area that is highly malarial. By the time they
finished, the war was over, and today the steel bridges still hang
undisturbed over winding rivers.
The road is now so overgrown with plants that it is essentially a
narrow mule path winding across the lofty mountains. Only a few drivers
from Shinbwayang are prepared to take on this sort of challenge. People
hire them to transport goods all the way to the Indian border at the
Pangsau Pass, which is where I was heading.
Traveling with my guide, I was unsure what I would find. We asked
people where we could find an old Naga shaman, since many old shamans
used to be chief headhunters. I lost hope after someone in a village
told me the last shaman from Pangsau died two years ago.
In every place we stopped, the villagers appeared to have given up
their traditional costumes.
Nobody wore loinclothes with traditional
bells. But their huts appeared to have hardly changed over the years,
with one exception: These days, there are no longer small human skulls
hanging on the outer walls.
Naga chief headhunters were legendary figures, inspiring terror among
neighbouring tribes, travelers, missionaries and soldiers. My guide, a
delegate of the tourism ministry, said the Naga stopped cutting off
heads in the 1960s, when the military regime took control of their
territory and made headhunting punishable by law. Christian missionaries
had earlier campaigned against the practice.
However, I heard another version of the story as well. According to
Shan people from nearby Hukawng Valley who venture into Naga territory
in search of wild elephants, which they domesticate, headhunting is
alive and well. “If you don’t warn them and you take away an elephant
without their consent, they’ll cut off your head,” one Shan person
warned.
From Naymung, in Sagaing Division, my guide and I set off westward
along a new dirt road, which led to the town of Lahe. The government
built the road two years ago, and it still isn’t ready to use: In many
places, it’s like a mountain track. But thanks to its presence, new
technology and western culture are rapidly infiltrating the hill tribes.
Corporations and armed groups have their eyes on the valuable timber
and natural resources here, and the government faces a major task of
protecting this wildlife reserve and the dying local cultures.
Eventually, my guide and I reached another village, Cheme Khuk. My
permits did not allow me to travel there officially, but I managed to
convince some local authorities to let me visit. Nevertheless, they sent
police officers on motorbikes to follow me.
The village, on a valley at the foot of a steep hill, looked utopian.
Rows of huts were surrounded by waves of greenery. Suddenly, however, a
disturbance broke the peace.
“Look over there, a naked man!” my guide yelled. “He saw us and ran into that hut.”
Separately, we saw a group of people coming toward us, walking single
file in a line. They wore caps decorated with animal horns and they
carried weapons. I was dumbstruck, as they stood there in front of us
without saying a word or cracking a smile. They all had lips as black as
coal from a root they chewed nonstop as a stimulant—quite distinct from
the betel nut that is so popular elsewhere in Burma.
“Man, you’ve got incredible luck!” my guide told me. Much to my
surprise, one of the men in line was an old Naga chief headhunter. He
had traveled here with elders from a village deep inside the jungle,
five days away on foot. The half-naked man who had run into the hut was
the oldest Naga of them all.
“They came here to visit their sons and families. They’re spending a few weeks here and then going back again,” my guide said.
That evening we met for a communal supper at the home of the
village’s Naga pastor. We sat around a bonfire, eating chicken and rice
spiced with chilli while drinking green tea. The headhunter said he had
not seen a foreigner since helping to rescue the pilot as a boy, though
he had later visited a village where he saw foreigners on television.
Telling his story, he wore a tiger skin cap adorned with bird
feathers and deer antlers. His nephew had given him the tiger skin. The
world’s biggest so-called tiger conservation area, the Hukawng Valley
Tiger Reserve, sits in Naga territory.
“Today there are fewer and fewer of them. The Lisu tribes hunt them
for trade,” the headhunter told me, referring to another ethnic group.
“The Naga feel a spiritual tie with the tiger,” he added. ‘They
believe tigers understand human speech. In each village there is someone
with a tiger’s soul. Killing a tiger means his death, too.”
But if a particular tiger is attacking people or cattle, the Naga
decide to hunt, often at night. After establishing its position, I was
told, a large group of villagers and hunters encircle the animal,
usually trapping it near a stream where they had earlier set a cage-like
trap.
As they tighten the circle, getting closer and closer, the tiger may
attempt to seek refuge in the cage, and when he does one of the most
skilled hunters attacks. Spears were used in the old days, but guns are
more common today. The man who kills the tiger is rewarded with half its
jaw, while the other half goes to the owner of the cow that had been
eaten by the tiger before its death.
The chief headhunter was also wearing bands of ivory drawn tight over
his muscles. In the past, he said, the Naga also hunted elephants with
heated spears. But only the elders ate the elephant and tiger meat. “The
Naga never hunt for money, or for no reason,” he said.
When I finally built up the courage to ask about hunting human heads, his response made my cheeks flush.
“We fought most of our battles with the Kachin, who occupied our
land,” he said. “To this day, there are heaps of boulders in the jungle
where the biggest battle took place. We cut off as many heads as there
are rocks.”
They set ambushes, he said. “We took knives and machetes into battle,
and brought the cut-off heads back to the village. Then there was a big
celebration.
“In one cauldron we boiled the human heads, and in another an ox for
the feast. We hung the boiled, dried-out heads above the doors and on
the walls of our houses. A captured head brought a Naga glory and
respect.”
As we left the village at dawn, I asked one of the other Naga men
what had become of all those heads from so many villages. Had they been
buried?
“They started taking them away and throwing them into the jungle,” he said.
One day, perhaps somebody will come upon them.
Please contact the writer if you have information about the fate
of the soldier in the headhunter’s story. This article was translated
from Polish to English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
By BRIAN FERGUSON
