Tribal Culture, A Source of Strength in Manipur Culture

Imphal, Apr 19 : Manipur is home to different tribes who live together in perfect harmony.  Located nearly 70 kilometers from Imphal, the Machi Block in Chandel District is surrounded by green mountains and is completely cut off from the modern world.

The 72 villages in the area that have a population of 24, 000, is mainly inhabited by the Marin, Kuki and Khoibu tribes. They live in houses made of tin and bamboo.

Their main source of income is weaving and farming. Banana, pumpkin, and rice are the main crops, cultivated. “We go to a factory at Mao to get seedlings of passion fruits for Rs.2 each. Our forefathers have been growing bananas for a long time. We are just carrying forward the legacy of banana cultivation,”said Maenai, local of the Machi village.

A luxurious lifestyle is not for these people, but basic amenities are.  They want potable water, good healthcare, education for the children and better roads.

Recently, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, a central scheme was implemented in the region with the aim of improving connectivity.  Likewise, the National Rural Heath Mission programme is also providing better health facilities to the region.

Locals opine that the government is actively involved in development works. “The Government is helping us with developmental work in our village. Roads and drains are under construction. We are hoping for further development of our village after the district council election,” said Kapingam, of the Machi village.

“The Government has introduced various developmental schemes in our village. But their proper implementation in various far-flung areas as yet has not been achieved,” said Hopson, another resident.  The Machi Block has a school too, which caters to the educational needs of the people.
Hockey is the favorite game of children here.

There is hope for development and progress from the forthcoming Manipur District Autonomous Council elections, which will be held after a gap of 20 years. People in the region are happy with the decline in militancy.

Locals opine that the situation has improved in the state. “There has been much improvement in the law and order situation in the area. The governance or the reach of an ability to access the villages has sufficiently improved in last few years. There is more effective domination by forces particularly Assam Rifles and other forces in Chandel district. I am grateful to that,” said H Dilip Singh, District Commissioner, Chandel District.
Kukis are even supporting elections and actively participating in Government programs.

“UNC is against the election. Only Nagas are against it, not Kukis. They have some grievances,” said Hopson, a local, Machi village. The tribals in Machi Block have witnessed a change in their lifestyle with the ongoing development work.  And things will only get better with time.

Incessant Rains, Thunder Storms Disrupt Normal Life in Assam

Guwahati, Apr 19 : In Assam, normal life has been disrupted following incessant rains and thunder storms since last two days. In Guwahati city, traffic on several roads has been disrupted due to water logging.

According to MET office sources, the city experienced two point one (2.1) centimeter of rainfall during last 24 hours. The overall temperature has been plummeted to around 20 degree centigrade.

Guwahati Correspondent reports that the foul weather in several parts of the State played spoilsport in the on-going week-long Rongalee Bihu festivity, compelling the organizing committees to draw their curtains ahead of the schedule. The Met office predicted more rains accompanied by strong gusts of wind in parts of the State in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, with one more person died, the number of the dead due to cyclonic storm in Mankachar area of the Dhubri district in the State has gone up to five. Over five hundred thatched houses in Mankachar and South Salmara sub-divisions of the district have been damaged due to the impact of the high-speed storm.

Burma's 'Forgotten' Chin People Suffer Abuse

By Sam Bagnall

The Chin people are one of the most persecuted groups in Burma

With elections being held in Burma later this year the country's "forgotten people" are appealing to the rest of the world for help.

The Chin people, who number roughly 1.5m and live mainly in the hilly west of the country near the Indian border, are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma.

Yet their plight is little known in the rest of the world.

Filming for the series Tropic of Cancer, presenter Simon Reeve and a two-man BBC crew managed to visit the area.

Risking capture and arrest at the hands of the Burmese army, who have around 50 bases in Chin State, they trekked through the jungle to a remote village.

"It was an extraordinary journey," said Reeve. "The villagers I met gave me horrifying accounts of the abuses they suffer at the hands of Burmese troops."

These stories appear to confirm recent research by US organization Human Rights Watch.

If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening

Cheery Zahau, Human Rights activist

After interviewing Chin refugees in neighboring India their report concluded that the Chin are subjected to forced labor, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial killings as part of a Burmese government policy to suppress the Chin people and their ethnic identity.

The BBC team was taken into Burma by Chin human rights activist Cheery Zahau.

Despite being on a Burmese army wanted list, Ms Zahau was prepared to run the risk of working with the BBC, which, like other western media organizations, is banned from entering Burma.

"If we don't speak up, if we don't tell the stories of the people under this repressive military regime, then no-one will know what's happening, and if they don't know they will not do anything," she said.

Christian persecution

The Chin are mainly Christians, having converted to the faith when the British ruled the area before independence after World War II.

The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'

Human Rights Watch

The persecution of the Chin dates back to the military takeover of Burma in the 1960s.

According to the US State Department, Burmese troops and officials have tried to forcibly convert the Chin from Christianity to Buddhism.

They have also destroyed churches, and arrested and even killed Christian Chin clergy, who now often work undercover.

The Chin also suffer from acute food shortages.

The United Nation's World Food Programme believes that food consumption in Chin State is the lowest in Burma. In recent years food shortages have been further exacerbated by a plague of rats, which have devastated Chin crops.

There is little in the way of medical facilities in Chin State. The villagers said that they had not seen a doctor for 10 years.

The Christian NGO Free Burma Rangers is one of the few sources of medical aid.

They give training to local volunteers who take basic drugs and medical equipment to the remote villages. The danger of running into a Burmese army patrol is ever present.

Free Burma Rangers give medicines to the Chin in secret

"If they catch us they will kill us," one volunteer inside Burma said.

In the neighboring Indian state of Mizoram, Chin refugees receive little help from the Indian authorities or aid agencies.

Instead they face discrimination and hostility, and are often forcibly repatriated to Burma.

"The Chin are unsafe in Burma and unprotected in India, but just because these abuses happen far from Delhi and Rangoon does not mean the Chin should remain 'forgotten people'," said Human Rights Watch in its report.

Burmese refugees from other persecuted ethnic groups who can flee from the south and east of the country into neighboring Thailand receive international help and assistance.

Human Rights Watch has called for better treatment for the Chin and for Chin refugees who arrive in India.

Burma's military rulers intend to hold an election later this year, but most opposition leaders are banned from taking part.

The most famous is Aun Sang Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the elections of 1990.

Burma's military leaders refused to accept the results and she has spent most of the last two decades in detention. The NLD says it will boycott these elections.

Amnesty International has warned that ethnic groups, like the Chin, face increased repression at the hands of the Burmese military.

The Burmese regime has previously denied repressing ethnic groups.

Tropic of Cancer is broadcast on BBC Two at 2000 BST on Sunday 18 April.

The writer is the Executive producer, Tropic of Cancer

Assam May Face Fresh Separation Demand

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Apr 19 : If immediate steps are not taken to check growth of fundamentalist forces and unabated infiltration to Assam and other parts of North East, India may face fresh demand for separation within the next decade, warned former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army, Lt Gen (retd) DB Shekhatkar.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Lt Gen Shekhatkar, who served in the Northeast as an Army officer in different capacities for about 20 years, said that though the fundamentalist forces are lying low at this moment, the region is virtually sitting on a sleeping volcano, which may erupt at any time and “one should not be surprised if a demand for separation comes up by the end of the year 2018.”

Lt Gen Shekhatkar pointed out that effective steps must be taken to prevent infiltration of foreigners to the region and a close watch must be maintained on the activities of the fundamentalist forces. He suggested that the suspected nationals should be denied voting rights and work permits should be issued to them. Stress should be given on education of the children of certain communities living in the backward areas so that they cannot be lured by the fundamentalist forces into their trap.

The former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army pointed out that there have been demands for inclusion of the Northeast in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh since the time of Independence and even today, the demand is raised from time to time. The fundamentalist forces and Islamic militant groups are now lying low but they have their “sleeping cells”, which can become active when they feel that the time is ripe for them to strike.

The militant groups backed by Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are still active and there is no reason for the fundamentalist forces to use their manpower to create disturbance in the region at this moment. But they may strike whenever they gain enough strength and there is urgent need for keeping a close watch on the situation, he added.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar said that apart from Assam ,which is the worst sufferer to the problem of infiltration, Meghalaya may face serious problems as the state is rich in minerals, including Uranium and the anti-India forces would definitely try to set strong foothold in the state. Meghalaya is also vulnerable to infiltration as most parts of the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border are still not fenced, he said.

The former Army officer expressed the view that Pakistan would definitely try to create disturbance in the region by setting up bases in Bangladesh and in the past also, such attempts were made. Though the present Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina is inclined towards India, she is also under pressure from different quarters in her own country and the possibility of Pakistan creating trouble in North East through Bangladesh in the days to come cannot be ruled out.

From the security point of view, he pointed out that the North East region is connected to the rest of the country only by a 22 kilometer wide stretch and if the fundamentalist forces manage to establish strong bases in Bangladesh, they may try to cut off the region from the rest of India. In such a scenario, India will be in serious trouble as it will not be possible to move essential commodities as well as troops to the region by air and China may also try to take advantage of such a scenario, he warned.

There is no denying the fact that the demography of Assam changed alarmingly over the years due to infiltration of foreigners and the sharp rise in the number of voters in some constituencies is a matter of grave concern. If the matter is not dealt with immediately, a time may come when the situation in the Northeast may turn out to be worse than even Jammu and Kashmir, Lt Gen Shekhatkar warned.

Continuity And Change

‘Shops in Imphal stay open later than usual. Some claim that this is an improvement’

By Patricia Mukhim

It was a pleasant surprise to be escorted to the swanky new Classic Hotel at Imphal, a few meters away from the Kangla Fort. The hotel is spick and span and serves an eclectic range of fruits for breakfast, including the exotic dragon fruit that you are unlikely to see anywhere else except in the hotels of Southeast Asia. Located in one of the cleaner surroundings of Imphal and close to the city’s premier business and commercial hub and office complexes, the Classic is something Imphal can be proud of. But does this suggest that things are slowly limping back to normal? That’s a difficult riddle to even attempt an answer to.

The state government recently organized a one-day seminar on Peace Dividends in this hotel. The ambience was in consonance with the theme. You can’t be talking peace in a place where you are likely to have to quarrel with the waiters and are in a state of continuous torment about the quality of room service. I believe the hotel belongs to a doctor who also owns one of the most reliable diagnostic centres in Manipur. This is quite an impressive combination.

Foreboding

This time one also noticed that the shops in Imphal stayed open later than usual. Some claim that this is an improvement. But as a regular visitor to Imphal you cannot miss the sense of foreboding. It is almost as if people are trying to defy something or someone in a spirit of foolhardiness born out of desperation. Every Manipuri knows that things can explode or implode and that the hopes they had built would turn to ashes. Yet they move about with a sense of purpose. You cannot but admire their “never-say-die” attitude. I know this sounds like an episodic narrative that is likely to be scorned by those who know better. But this is the liberty that a commentator enjoys. At the moment people are aware of the quit notice served by the Revolutionary Peoples’ Front (RPF), the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on all non-Manipuri's who had come to the state after 1949, asking them to leave Manipur by May 31. The PLA is ruthless and usually means what it says. Knowledgeable sources say the PLA is the only group which is allegedly funded by the Chinese. They claim that if any militant group in the region has the makings of a Maoist movement then the PLA definitely has those moorings.

The RPF has directed transporters not to bring in non-Manipuri's and also told the local people not to rent out rooms or sell land to them. Above all, it warns the locals not to allow non-Manipuri's to head any business organization in the state. The non-Manipuri's have written to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in this matter. They reminded him that in the past five years at least 32 non-Manipuri's, particularly those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh who run small business establishments, have been mercilessly gunned down. Militants have also gone on a door-to-door search in some areas and threatened people to leave or face bullets.

Wrong-footed

There is today a sense of panic among the non-Manipuri residents and while many wonder how they can leave behind everything they have built over the years, others have taken the soft option and left after disposing off their businesses in a distress sale.

The seminar on Peace Dividends, therefore, seemed a bit incongruous, conducted as it was under the shadow of this impending threat. Yet nothing much was spoken about this attempt at ethnic cleansing either by the local participants or by security forces, except a government official mentioning it in his presentation. But he, too, dwelt more on the diminishing returns of bandhs that are called by sundry organisations on the flimsiest of pretexts. The seminar pointed to the huge losses to the state exchequer every day a bandh is called. Somehow, you get the feeling that the Meiteis are deeply frustrated by the bandh calls on National Highway 39 that passes through Naga-inhabited areas.

Prof. Gangumei Kamei, a historian who retired from Manipur University, advanced his arguments that people are driven to the last resort of calling a bandh because the government is otherwise insensitive to their pleas. Manipur director-general of police Joykumar Singh and other senior bureaucrats, however, wondered why citizens do not take their grievances to the deputy commissioner or the superintendent of police before they insist on marching to the chief minister’s office.

The problem with all babus (and I include policemen in this category) is that by training they imbibe an arrogance which automatically alienates them from the people. Their body language, the tone and tenor of their voices, all suggest that they are the rulers while the citizen or the person (not man) on the street are to be governed in a way that only they know how. Participatory governance, the sine qua non of good governance in a democracy, is a new entrant into the dictionary of the bureaucracy.

Bureaucrat bane

Most bureaucrats consider it a waste of time to listen to people so how can they be expected to engage in participatory planning which are pre-requisites for schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)? What the bureaucrats would prefer to do is to outsource the entire responsibility to the village headman who in turn gives job cards to people and pays them Rs 40 out of Rs 100 for work not done. There is so little supervision on the NREGS that observant people who see this scheme being frittered away, warn that it is only a matter of time before the Red Corridor extends to this part of the world. Also, because the number of poor people slipping further down the poverty line each year is growing in absolute numbers in this region.

This is not to say that there are no good or responsive babus but their numbers are too few to make a difference in this country. You often wonder whether the Indian Administrative Service ever trains people to walk the last mile in the village or whether it grooms them to scramble for their creature comforts from day one and to order people around in conceited tones. To my mind the huge vacuum in delivery systems can be attributed to the bureaucracy. While talking of Maoism, it is amazing that no one actually holds the bureaucracy responsible for failure in governance.

MPs cutting across party lines while speaking of the Dantewada massacre in Parliament have urged the UPA government to bring in some urgent administrative reforms such as fixed tenures for officers and the police. The propensity of the IAS/IPS to scout and scrounge for Delhi postings has made a mockery of the all-India services because it is evident that their prime aim is to serve themselves.

While Manipur’s dystopia is multi-dimensional, it would be good to start looking for solutions somewhere. Soul-searching from the bureaucracy, the civil society, the security forces who have literally been demonised, the media as an interpreter of Manipur’s maladies and other important stakeholders such as the academia and intelligentsia is an imperative. For too long, people have blamed politicians for the messy affair that Manipur is today. Delhi, too, has received the sharp end of the stick. For a change why not give up the blame game and try the Gandhi exhortation — be the change you want to see.

In the gloom cast by the quit notice, can anyone expect tourists to come in and relax in Imphal?

(The writer can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com)

HIV/AIDS Awareness Workshop For Police Personnel in Manipur Held

Imphal, Apr 19 : Police personnel, including senior officers, here on Saturday participated in a daylong training programme on HIV/AIDS awareness. This workshop was conducted at camp of No.1 Battalion of Manipur Rifles in Imphal.

Presiding over the inaugural session of the programme, Manipur's Director General of Police, Y Joykumar in his address said the police had a major role in prevention of HIV/AIDS.

"I think all of us are aware, and I don't need to emphasis it, what kind of danger HIV poses for the entire mankind. And it is for this reason that this problem is being dealt on the global scene with efforts to contain and prevent further expansion or the spread of this ailment," said Y Joykumar, Director General of Police (DGP), Manipur.

Further, he noted, that the police must make a concerted effort to prevent discrimination of the people living with HIV/AIDS. According to the United Nations, 5.7 million Indians are living with HIV/AIDS, the world's largest caseload.

According to the recently published reports by the World Bank and other agencies, India will have to scale up prevention of HIV.

Ropeway Project Planned For Aizawl

Aizawl, Apr 19 : The Mizoram government has mooted a novel scheme to raise ropeways over a network of roads in the central part of Aizawl city, said chief minister Lalthanhawla last night over phone.

The scenic hilltop city is plagued with traffic snarls giving commuters a harrowing time everyday.

The chief minister said the longest of this proposed ropeway would be raised over a 2.5km stretch of roadway stretching from the Assembly building to the McDonald Hills in midtown Aizawl.

He said a team of civic development experts, belonging to a Gurgaon-based construction firm, has been conducting a survey in the city to prepare a blueprint for the project.

Such ropeways are now in operation in Meghalaya where they are mainly used to haul goods for cement plants.

The cost of this project would have to be borne by the Centre, Lalthanhawla added.

He said this scheme would be the “most feasible” alternative for Aizawl where the main roads are not wide enough and the construction of ropeways, also known as the skyways, is not expected to cost much.

The chief minister said the earlier Mizo National Front government, led by Zoramthanga, had also planned some other urban schemes like a flyover in the Bangkawn area in the northeastern part of Aizawl, the city’s the entry point from outside, and an underground tunnel along Burrabazar and Treasury Square. He said these projects did not make any headway as the civil engineers and architects perceived them as “too outlandish and bizarre”.

Sources in Aizawl today said the two experts from the ropeway firm, Mukesh Ralhan and Ramesh Sia, called on Lalthanhawla on April 15 in Aizawl to discuss the broad features of this project.

The engineering survey for this ropeway project would take at least six months.

‘Radio Assam’ Internet Service Launched

Guwahati, Apr 19 : VedantiNET, the broadband and application service provider of Guwahati promoted by SM Computer Consultants Pvt Ltd, has launched the service of first Internet Radio of Assam, ‘Radio Assam’, in the city.

Informing this at a press conference, Dr Sanjib Barthakur, director of SM Computer Consultants Pvt Ltd, said that the radio channel that functions on 24/7 basis, addresses the Assamese community worldwide with all frontiers of musical exposures that were being published during the last 90 years in the State along with discussions on various political, cultural, social and contemporary issues.

The URLs of the station are vedanti.com and vedanti.net and operates on a redundant manner. “Streaming audio signals with more compatible adaptation on the Internet is the essence of the performance of this channel keeping in mind the sudden explosion of FM radio stations all across.

Moreover, the conventional file player radio or music download concept has been overruled and replaced with a true streaming technology to incorporate its functionality,” he said.

The listener requires a PC/laptop with either a broadband or a narrowband Internet bandwidth link at a steady rate of not less than 32 kbps and should have Windows Media, Adobe Flash, Real, QuickTime or iTunes player pre-installed in the system. Mobile sets with GPRS or 3G connectivity may also access the radio channel.