6 Assam Girls Rescued From Mumbai Brothel

Dhubri, Oct 26 : Six girls from Dhubri who were sold off to brothels in Mumbai a few months ago were rescued and brought back to the district by police last night after they sniffed out the trafficking racket based on a father’s complaint about his missing daughter.

The hunt began after Hanif Ali lodged an FIR at Kharuabandha police outpost when his son-in-law returned from Mumbai without his daughter.

Ali’s daughter was married to Jehirul Islam of Kalapani village last year.

This July, the couple left for Mumbai along with two of Islam’s friends. They sold off the girl to one of the brothels at Indranagar in Mumbai’s Thane for Rs 25,000.

When his daughter did not return home from Mumbai, Ali smelt a rat and lodged the FIR.

The police swung into action and arrested Barak Ali and Nazrul Haque, the two men who had accompanied the couple to Mumbai.

Though Islam is still absconding, the police extracted enough information from the arrested duo.

With help from Maharashtra police, the Dhubri police raided the brothel and freed not only Ali’s daughter but also five other women from the district.

Dhubri superintendent of police Dipak Choudhury said this trafficking racket was a large one and was connected with many other rackets operating in other parts of the country.

“During our preliminary interrogation, we found that the Jehirul Islam group was connected with several woman trafficking rackets in Mumbai, Calcutta and Delhi,” Choudhury added. Trafficking of women from the state, mostly from poverty-stricken and underdeveloped villages in minority-dominated pockets, is assuming menacing proportions.

In September, two minors, who were sold to a brothel in Siliguri, escaped from the owner and reached Guwahati.

The police later said a 23-year-old woman, Tara Begum, promised jobs as household helps to the two girls, aged 12 and 13.

Begum took them to Siliguri and sold them off to a brothel owner.

The girls told the police that they were sold to a brothel in the Alu Patty area of Siliguri. They were forced to entertain clients who visited the brothel and when they refused they would be beaten up.

Unable to bear the torture, they finally plucked up courage and escaped. They went straight to New Jalpaiguri railway station. Local residents helped them board a Guwahati-bound train after they narrated their story and pleaded for help.

They also told the police that there were other girls from Assam who also wanted to escape from the clutches of those who run the racket.

In August, a 19-year-old girl from Nagaon jumped off the second floor of an Agra building to escape from a brothel after seven months of torture.

She fell in front of a grocery store and suffered minor injuries. Local residents quickly took her to hospital and later handed her over to police.

The teenager, who had left home in January with an acquaintance who promised her a job as a household help in Pune, was the fifth woman from Nagaon to be rescued from a brothel since June.

A study conducted by an NGO, Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD), some years ago, found that 48 per cent of the prostitutes in Khalpara, a red light area in Siliguri, are from Assam and three per cent from the other northeastern states.

Of them, 70 per cent are below 20 years, the study said.

According to the NGO, girls from different districts of Assam, such as Goalpara, Barpeta, Dhubri, Darrang, Sonitpur and Barak Valley, are trafficked to other parts of the country.

Hasina Kharbhih, team leader of the Impulse NGO Network, the first organisation to take up the issue of trafficking in the Northeast, said: “Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram are the worst affected in the region, followed by Manipur.”

Dial 108 For All Emergencies in Assam

By Umanand Jaiswal

Guwahati, Oct 26 : Assam is all set to have a single emergency helpline with the hugely popular 108 number that one now calls during a medical crisis, the favourite for the one-point distress response number.

Work on the proposed helpline was initiated by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority and the revenue and disaster management department on July 14 and a launch has been tentatively scheduled for November 14.

Those in the know said the project is aimed at integrating all helplines such as 100 for police, 101 for fire service, 108 for medical response, 1070 for disaster management control room into one number to cater to all emergency situations.

“In times of crisis it is difficult for a person in distress to remember the different numbers. Therefore, Dispur has decided to have one-point helpline for the whole of Assam. Dispur has given its nod to the project given its overall benefits,” one of them said.

The detailed project report, prepared by the P.M. Dastidar-headed core committee constituted by the disaster management department principal secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia, was submitted to chief secretary N.K. Das on September 4.

The committee, which has representatives from BSNL, AMTRON, Assam Police’s communication wing, Assam Fire Service Organisation and GVK Emergency Management & Research Institute (EMRI) that runs the 108 (Mritunjoy) service, had met four times to discuss issues related to the launch of the service and its financial implications.

The report suggests that the GVK EMRI will be the nodal agency to run the one-point emergency helpline service as it has the necessary infrastructure, the expertise, not to mention the popularity of its existing 108 number among the masses.

“Ours would have been the first state to launch the service in India but we were beaten by Uttarakhand, which launched the service on October 12. But the good thing is that ours would be more elaborate and systematic,” the source said.

Unlike the Uttarakhand model, the source claimed, the Assam model would see all the agencies involved in disaster/emergency management have dedicated telephone numbers to react instantly to calls made from the 108 number. “In Uttarakhand, one can make a call to 108 but the calls made by the latter to the necessary organisations may not necessarily get through easily or responded to. In our case, they will immediately know that it is an emergency since it will be routed through 108,” he said.

The November launch is, however, subject to the connectivity issue being resolved by BSNL. As many as 683 numbers of police stations, outposts, fire service, inland waterways, among others, will be connected to the 108 helpline.

Though no immediate manpower will be required to run the service by GVK EMRI, a growing number of calls could see an annual call expenditure of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 14 lakh which will have to be borne by the disaster management department.

Rice Production Takes a Hit in Manipur

By Sobhapati Samom
 
Imphal, Oct 26 : The recent flood in Manipur has destroyed standing agricultural crops in 20,000 hectares of the State’s agricultural fields. This is likely to affect the targeted rice production of the State, official sources here said.

Among the affected areas, Imphal East district remains the worst affected as water submerged 10,738 hectares of rice fields,124 hectares of vegetable farms and 11 hectares of spices, besides displacing 23,000 families under 55 villages.

One N Muhindro, a resident of Okram Chuthek in the district who use to get 40 bags of rice (50kg per bag) on an average from his rice field measuring half a hectare at Loumanbi Loukon field, is now planning to buy the same for the season as the recent flood had destroyed the standing crops.

“I had no option to buy the rice requirement for a season from somewhere else as my field is under water now”,the resident said. More than 23,000 families under 55 villages besides livestock including 1,089 numbers of cattle, 583 pigs and 3,600 numbers in poultry have been affected in Imphal East district alone, according to official sources.

The most destruction caused by the flood are also to the fish farms of the district and farmers have no means of blocking the fish from escaping from the farm ponds as the flash flood occurred, a total of 35 hectares of fish farms have been affected and the property lost is valued at Rs 35 lakh.

In a letter addressed to Commissioner,State Agriculture department, L Palendro Singh, Director,Agriculture department, it was estimated that standing crops in 20,081.10 hectares were damaged. Out of the total of the standing crops damaged, 18,189 hectares were in the valley areas while the rest (1892.10 hectares) were in the hill areas.

The State had targeted production of six lakh metric tonnes of rice this year. Last year, the State could not achieve the targeted rice production due to drought and consequently a scarcity of rice,sources added.

This report was compiled after officials of the Agriculture department conducted a joint field survey with the Revenue department in the last few days after the flood situation had improved.

As per the Agriculture director’s report, Imphal East district recorded the highest damage. Out of total paddy fields of 745. 30 hectares in the district, the flood damaged around 6,898 hectares. For the hill districts, where 745.30 hectares of paddy fields were damaged. Chandel district was the worst affected.

Not only the paddy fields, the floods also damaged potato and pea fields to the extent of 78 hectares, the report said. The district-wise reports of damaged crops was recorded as Imphal East (6898 hectares) Imphal West (4018 hectares), Bishnupur (2471 hectares), Thoubal (5106 hectares), Senapati (522.50 hectares), Tamenglong (158.50), Churachandpur (335.50 hectares), Chandel (745.30 hectares) and Ukhrul (130 hectares).

To cope up with the damages, the State Agriculture department is expected to provide Rs 30,000 for damage of crops by natural calamities to the farmers under the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme.

On the other hand, the department has started distribution of Rabi crop seeds like, pea, mustard and maize seeds to the farmers so that they could raise the off season and cope up with the damage they have suffered. But for this, the fields need to be dry by December this year”, a senior Agriculture officer said. The department is also considering for draining the waterlogged lands for early cultivation of Rabi crops.

Arunachal Orders Inquiry Into Namsai Violence

Itanagar, Oct 26 : The Arunachal Pradesh government today ordered a magisterial probe into the violence at Namsai in Lohit district, officials said.

Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu ordered the inquiry after taking stock of the situation at Namsai earlier in the day
with Home Minister Tako Dabi and other officials.

Interacting with locals, including students' organisations from the state and neighbouring Assam, Khandu urged them to maintain peace in the area, official sources said.

Khandu has also ordered for additional deployment of forces to restore normalcy.

"I have directed the authority concerned to deploy additional companies of paramilitary forces. The process of airlifting forces have already started," a source said quoting Khandu.

He said those responsible would be taken to task. On the permanent residential certificates (PRCs) issue, he said for the future, he would go for a consensus from all sections of the society.

The state government had last month revoked its order for granting PRCs to non-Arunachalese residing in Lohit and
Changlang districts after protest by various student bodies.

Violence had erupted at Namsai on Saturday after police baton charged and opened fire in the air when locals
challenged a rally organised by non-Arunachalese in protests against revoking of the order.

The situation turned worst yesterday when locals set ablaze seven houses at Namsai.

Naga Girls Feared Caught in Human Trafficking Racket

Angami tribal women performing a cultural dance

Kohima, Oct 26 : Church leaders in Nagaland fear an organized racket is operating in the region to lure young women into prostitution in other parts of the country.

Police in Goa, western India, recently rescued six Nagaland women and four from Mizoram from a local beauty parlor. They also arrested three persons for their alleged involvement in human trafficking.

The Church people in Nagaland are “ashamed, shocked and concerned” because the rescued women were all Christians, Reverend Khari Longchar, who coordinates the Nagaland Baptist Church’s Peace Council, told ucanews.com on Oct. 22.

“Whether the allegations are true or not, there cannot be smoke without fire,” he said. The Goa incident is “only the tip of the iceberg as many more girls could be entrapped.”

Reverend Longchar criticized Church people, educators and parents for contributing to the problem. The Church, he said, has failed to reach out to many young people, especially in towns, and educators and parents have not taught children “good” moral values.

“Our moral values are degrading as we tend to consider money as everything,” he said and urged leaders from all Churches in the region to work together to urgently “seek the lost sheep.”

Reverend Pongsing Konyak, former general secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council, says the problem emerged as the girls want to be economically independent.

Most girls seek jobs after school to help their parents, but jobs are hard to find locally, he said. When outsiders come for recruitment they appear for interviews and get selected unaware of the agents’ real motive, he explained.

“Our people should be cautious when people come to recruit especially for beauty and massage parlors as they could be just a front for other nefarious activities,” he added.

Father Abraham Lotha, a Catholic educationist and anthropologist, regrets that some “puritanical minds” consider massage and beauty parlor jobs as bad. They are specialized jobs and there is nothing wrong as long one does not break the rules, he added.

Young women from northeast are in “great demand” outside because they are smart, friendly and fluent in English, said the Church leader.

Source: ucanews.com

7500 Crimes Against Women Recorded in 10 Months in Tripura

Agartala, Oct 25 : As many as 7500 cases related to crime against women have been registered in Tripura over the past 10 months, an official report revealed today.

Referring to police records, Leader of the opposition Ratan Lal Nath stated that more than five hundred cases, including rape, dowry death and other atrocities on women, had been recorded in women's police stations of Agartala alone.

''Tripura has been placed second in the national list of crime against women in 2008, but if the current trend continues, this year the state would become the topper,'' Mr Nath rued.

Meanwhile, the Left-backed Democratic Women's Samiti has begun a week-long mass demonstration outside police stations today demanding stringent action against the criminals and proactive role to contain crime against women.

Preparations Underway For International Jatinga Festival

Silchar, Oct 25 : Brisk preparations are underway to hold the first ever International Jatinga Festival 2010 at Jatinga from October 27-29.

Assam governor Janaki Ballav Patnaik is expected to grace the event as the chief guest. A host of dignitaries, delegates and guests from different parts of the state and the country have confirmed their participation in this event.

The guest list includes tour operators from Maharashtra, travel writers from various parts of the world and a group of erudite speakers for the seminar.

A number of programmes have been chalked out to highlight the Dima Hasao district as a potential tourist destination. Eco-tourism like trekking to the Hempeopet Peak, visits to different community villages and tourist spots, exhibition-cum-sale of crafts and cuisine would be some of the highlights of the festival.

There would be a Seminar on 'Promotion of Tourism in the Dima Hasao District: Problems and Prospects'. Noted naturalist Anwaruddin Choudhury would present the keynote address and act as moderator in the seminar.

Moreover, on-the-spot drawing competition for children and quiz competition for students would be part of this event.

The star attraction of the closing night of the event on October 29 would be Lucky Ali, celebrity singer-composer-actor from Bollywood. Music bands like Native Rising from Dimapur, Street Stories from Shillong, Moon Wind from Guwahati, Rising Orchestra from Silchar and local bands like Maestro, Tormentor, Little Geeks and Freaks, and New Beginning have confirmed to participate in 'An Ode to Harmony: Musical Extravaganza Night' on October 28 and 29 at the Dima Hasao Sports Association playground.

Joyram Engleng, the chief executive member, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council would be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on October 29.

Organizers said this festival is a humble effort towards spreading the message of communal harmony amongst the people of the area, sustaining peace and tranquility, emotional integration and removing the spell of despair from the mind-space of the people. And above all, the event would open up new vistas for tourism promotion.

Kulendra Daulagupu, secretary general of the reception committee, said, ''The Jatinga Festival 2010 is an attempt to regain the Paradise that was lost due to the various socio-political dynamics and insurgency movement in the Dima Hasao district of Assam.''

Manipur Begins Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination

Imphal, Oct 25 : A mass vaccination programme to protect from Japanese Encephalitis began today in five districts of Manipur.

Officials of family welfare department, National Rural Health Mission took up the programme under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

All children between one to 15 years of age would be vaccinated and the programme will continue till November 2.

The programme is carried out in 109 districts in the country, including five districts of Manipur--Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal and Chandel.

Hundreds of children came to the vaccination centres today and officials had a tough time explaining parents who enquired about the programme.

Health officials said there was no problem in administering the vaccine to children if they were not suffering from fever or another serious ailments.

Children were advised to rest for some time after the vaccination. The government is targeting around 5.72 children and about 2,053 vaccination centres were opened.

Health officials said the vaccines were manufactured by Chengdu Institute of Biological products, China and were not available in market.