Northeast India’s Burden Of History

Carte Blanche - Arup Dutta

‘....the creation of East Pakistan during Partition has indubitably been the heaviest of these burdens’

Northeast India is burdened by the weight of recent history which those unaware of or untouched by it can hardly appreciate — precisely why only the politically naïve had expected Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh to bring about some positive gains for this region.

Ushering in an era of isolation for the Northeast, and consequent alienation from the rest of the nation, the creation of East Pakistan (later reincarnated as Bangladesh) during Partition has indubitably been the heaviest of these burdens.

The political barriers which operate today have imparted an element of insularity to the Northeast’s geographical location.

With Bangladesh being driven like a wedge between it and the Indian mainland, and the Northeast tenuously strung to the latter by a narrow “chicken’s neck”, this insularity is pronounced when we look at the current map of South Asia. But the isolating shift had not occurred even till India’s Independence from British rule.

On the contrary, the ethnologic, social and cultural evolution of the region bears clear testimony to the centricity of its geo-anthropological location in the past, vis-à-vis China, Burma (Myanmar), South-east Asian nations, Tibet, Bhutan and mainland India.

The seemingly impassable mountain ranges hemming it in from three sides had been porous since time immemorial.

The hills on the north, east and south had routes linking the Northeast to Myanmar, Indo-China, China, Tibet and Himalayan kingdoms. China, Myanmar and Indo-China could also be reached via Cachar and Manipur in the southeast and Patkai ranges from the east. Tibet was approachable through passes from the eastern extreme of the Northeast, while passes called Dooars existed to Bhutan and Nepal. The Ganges-Brahmaputra link as well as land-routes across the wide Bengal plains could be used to enter the Northeast from the western flank.

Given this centricity, it is no wonder that a unique, amorphous conglomeration of communities evolved in the Northeast. On one side lay western China, which anthropologists call the great repository of Mongoloid races, from where people fanned out in prehistoric eras to settle on the Himalayan plateaus and slopes as also Southeast Asia.

On the other side lay the Indian sub-continent, with its own pattern of ethnic conflict and assimilation. The Northeast, being strategically placed, witnessed waves of migration from all directions through existing inlets, taking in people and cultural traits. Broadly speaking, the Caucasic elements entered from the west and Mongoloid from the east, north and to some extent from the south. These complemented the Austric and Dravidian elements already present, brewing up a cultural identity and ethos not to be encountered elsewhere in the sub-continent.

As Suniti Kumar Chatterjee writes in his The Place of Assam in the History and Civilisation of India (1970): “Assam (viz. undivided Assam) has thus to meet all tribal movements from the east, involving the advent into India of Tibeto-Chinese speaking Mongoloids; and it was in Assam primarily that this great element in the formation of the Indian people became largely Indianised.…This can be looked as Assam’s great contribution to the synthesis of cultures and fusion of races that took place in India ….The Indian man as the result of the fusion of the Aryan and Dravidian, Mongoloid and Austric came into being at the end of the Vedic period (by 1,000 BC).”

Accompanying the ethnological evolution was cultural and religious transference from the age-old civilisations of China and India, resulting in an involute cultural scenario. The centricity of the region contributed to the richness of the cultural mosaic which also incorporated elements from Myanmar, Indo-China and Tibet. In the kingdom of Bhaskarvarman, for example, Hiuen Tsang in 638 AD had heard a particular song and recognised it to be a Tibeto-Burman version of a Chinese song celebrating the triumph in 619AD of a Chinese prince over some rebels, a telling illustration of the cultural closeness of the two regions.

If the Northeast in the past had been economically self-sufficient and commercially vibrant, it was primarily due to the openness of communication between neighbouring areas. Salt, for instance, was brought on horses by Bhutanese or Tibetans, or transported upon boats from Bengal over the Brahmaputra. The westward Brahmaputra-Ganges route to the Indian heartland was a natural outlet, while the sea was accessible to the south through the Meghna. John M. Cosh in 1837 speaks of three traditional land routes used by traders, all passing through present Bangladesh. William Robinson in 1841 wrote that “Tibet is open to travellers on foot from the extreme east of Assam — from Sadiya to Bhaloo, first town met within Tibet, takes 16 days”.

The most romantic of all these outlets from the valley, an extension of the Ganges-Brahmaputra link, was the ancient “silk-route” to China.

“There is an open road from Upper Assam into Burma, and thence into China, by which a considerable trade in Chinese and Burmese manufactures was at one time carried on,” wrote Robinson.

The line of trade, after leaving Sadiya, passes by Bisa, across the Patkoye range of mountains, and through the valley of Hukung to the town of Munkung, situated on a navigable branch of the Irawatti, called Namyang.

Merchants proceeding from Munkung to Ava at once descend via the Irawatti to the capital, while those to China ascend the Irawatti for many miles to a place called Katemow, where they disembark their goods, and thence convey them on mules over a range of mountainous country into the Chinese province of Yunan.

In fact, a section of archaeologists opine that trade between Rome and China over this silk-route had been carried on since as far back as the 1AD. Today, primarily because of political changes, most outlets from the Northeast to its neighbours have been closed. A region which had been a meeting-ground for ancient cultures and strategically positioned for economic prosperity and cultural development has been reduced to an eastern outpost boxed in from all sides, at the periphery of India.

The unkindest cut of all has been the creation of East Pakistan/Bangladesh, which has severed a vast swath of communication routes with mainland India, thereby exacerbating the feeling of being cut off from the mainstream and consequent alienation.

There had been two major railway lines, the Assam Bengal Railways and the Eastern Bengal Railways, connecting the Northeast to the rest of India as well as Chittagong and Calcutta ports. The Partition overnight amputated these as well as the numerous land routes so that, ironically, travellers from say Tripura, Mizoram or Cachar, who had earlier been able to travel directly across Bengal to other parts of India, have now to take a far longer and circuitous route.

The river passage had remained clear till 1965, when the war with Pakistan saw the closure of this historic outlet. The commercial setback this caused can be gauged from the fact that till the Indo-Pakistan war almost 90 per cent of Assam tea had been transported through the river route. There has been no tangible effort to revive this outlet or introduce speedier water transport system in keeping with modern times.

It is astonishing how a few strokes made by erstwhile colonialist masters can alter the destiny of an entire region. Bangladesh, indeed, has been the heaviest historical burden that the Northeast carries.

Yet, far from undertaking negotiations so as to try and lighten this burden, our politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats are busy carrying baskets of goodies to curry favour with that country. Of course, that Manmohan Singh and his entourage kept absolutely mum on the issue of illegal influx is another story altogether!

Aizawl Moves Fast To Become Solar City

Aizawl, Sep 25 : The state government has vigorously pursued the Central government s mission to make Aizawl a solar city, urban development and poverty alleviation minister Zodintluanga said today.

Speaking at a workshop on renewable energy technology at the Tourist Lodge, Chaltlang here, Mr Zodintluanga said a master plan, prepared by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), was submitted to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in March this year.

Stakeholder committee and solar city cell have been formed, he added.

To educate public on the use of solar energy, solar water heating system, solar home lighting system, solar lantern and LED street light have been installed at the Aizawl Municipal Council office, the minister said.

Informing that solar energy would be first introduced in cemeteries, community halls, local council houses, street lights and Aizawl New Market building, the minister said data were being collected to prepare DPRs.

Once this mission is accomplished, we would be able to use energy at cheap rates. It is important that we take concerted efforts this project a success, he said. The daylong workshop, co-organised by UDPA and ITP Senergy Advisory Services Private Limited, aimed at utilization of renewable energy in health and education sectors.

Zoram Energy Development Agency (ZEDA) director David Zahmuaka and head of renewable energy solutions under the ITP Senergy Dwipen Boruah, gave power-point presentation on the technology of renewable energy during the workshop attended by officials of Aizawl Municipal Council, school education and higher & technical education departments, hospitals and private and government schools.

The ministry has selected 60 Indian cities to be made renewable energy cities or solar cities under the 11th Five Year Plan, including two model cities, with an objective to support urban local bodies to prepare a road map.

ICLEI, South Asia, wits its vast experience in city planning, was roped in to prepare the master plan. The ministry had provided financial support up to Rs 50 lakh for each solar city to the respective state governments for preparation of a master plan, setting-up institutional arrangements for the implementation of the master plan, awareness generation and capacity building activities.

Further, for two model solar cities, financial support of 50 per cent upto a maximum of Rs 9.50 crore will be available towards the cost of installation of renewable energy systems, sources added.

The state capital of Mizoram, with this project, plans to cover up to 10 per cent of its energy demand via renewable sources and also implement other energy efficiency measures with the programme, official sources said here today.

Living On The Edge, Dangerously

By Jaideep Mazumdar & Deep Gazmer



"And then the path vanished. Had it not been for the bright moonlight, we might have walked straight into a void. The rain had caused a landslide, and where there had been a narrow path there was now only a precipice of loose, slippery shale." -'The Glacier' by Ruskin Bond

Living on the edge is not just a figure of speech for people in the hills. Writer or tiller, they all live close to nature's bounty - and its boundless fury. And nowhere is the danger starker than in the Indian Himalayas, among the world's most earthquakeprone zones. Major parts, including Kashmir and the Northeast, fall in Zone V - the most seismically active. But the towns standing on these heaving hills seem oblivious of the risks as they build with a vengeance.

Quake-hit Gangtok is a clutter of concrete buildings, all of them hanging on precariously to steep mountain slopes. Most of them have developed ominous cracks after the September 18 quake. "Some of these buildings have to be evacuated immediately, and also the ones that are below them down the hill," an engineer inspecting the damage says.
Experts say that none of the buildings in the Sikkimese capital, which draws lakhs of tourists every year, are earthquake-resistant. Pankaj Adhikari, an architect in Gangtok, says the city doesn't have a proper building code, "and even the archaic one that does exist is flouted at will". Buildings with more floors than five-and-half storeys - the maximum allowed - are common and no action has ever been taken against such constructions, he fumes.

"The simple ABC of building codes for earthquake-prone regions is that all structures should resist minor to moderate earthquakes (3 to 5.9 on the Richter scale) undamaged; resist moderate to major (6 to 7.9) earthquakes without significant structural damage and survive severe earthquakes (8 or more) without collapse," Adhikari says. "But more than 90% buildings in Gangtok have suffered structural damage in Sunday's earthquake which was in the 'strong' category."

In the last 100 years, the Northeast has experienced hundreds of temblors of varying intensity - 210 between 5 and 5.9; 128 between 6 and 6.9; 15 between 7 and 7.9, and four of 8 or above magnitude. But, learning no lessons from the past, almost all the state capitals have turned into concrete jungles. Shillong is no exception. "People can no longer afford the luxury of spacious Assam-type buildings on sprawling compounds, and are forced to go for concrete constructions due to constraint of space," says an official in the Meghalaya capital's department of urban affairs. The state also has several unorganized coal mining projects. A major quake could spell disaster for these 'rat hole' mines and their workers.

Large dams add to the risk. As many as 168 dams are planned in Arunachal Pradesh alone to tap the state's 50,000MW hydro-power potential. Construction work is already on for the 2000MW Lower Subansiri Project, the country's biggest hydro-power dam. Several organizations have opposed such projects out of concern for Assam which is located downstream. An expert committee, comprising faculty from IIT Guwahati, Gauhati University and Dibrugarh University, in its report submitted to the Assam government in 2010 raised the issue of threat from the Lower Subansiri Project due to its location in the seismic zone.

Sunday's earthquake also shook the Darjeeling Hills. But worse is yet to come, warn experts. The fragile nature of the hills and their vulnerability to landslides compounds these fears. Kalimpongbased Praful Rao, founder-member of Save the Hills (STH), an NGO working for raising awareness about landslides, says unplanned urban development is causing more landslides. "Deforestation and man-made drains in the mountains have further weakened the hills," he says.

Unchecked construction is another big concern. "Nowadays, more than five-storey buildings are being constructed here. There are over 400-500 such structures in the town area itself," says Bharat Prakash Rai, secretary of Fosep (Federation of Society for Environment Protection). He says the permissible height of 11.5m is being flouted. "Huge constructions are coming up at more than 60-degree slopes (twice the recommended limit)." Darjeeling Municipality engineer Vijay Tamang says they are now trying to control that.

The Dalai Lama's home, too, has seen unprecedented growth with a slew of hotels, monasteries and educational institutes coming up in the past decade. Dharamshala is the headquarters of Himachal's Kangra district which witnessed last century's biggest earthquake in 1905. The epicentre of that temblor, which killed 20,000 people, was near Mcleodganj, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. "Dharamshala lies in the Schuppen Zone in which closely spaced, mutually thrusted belts of various rocks lie delicately stuck over each other, making it one of the most dangerous areas. The soil and rocks in towns like Dharamshala are burdened under heavy construction and can give in at the slightest tremor," says Chandigarh-based geology professor A D Ahluwalia.

And what of Shimla, capital of Himachal? Almost the entire town, in Seismic Zone IV, could come crumbling down in the event of a major quake. The state's town and country planning minister, Mohinder Singh, recently told the Assembly that 98% of the buildings in Shimla were not safe. Less than 2% were earthquake-resistant, he said. Shimla is also a landslide-prone area and heavy construction pressure has started sinking the historic Ridge. "Should a disaster strike Shimla, it is bound to be of catastrophic proportions," says environmentalist Billy Malhans.

As for J&K, a legislation is in the works to make quake-resistant private buildings mandatory. This comes six years after parts of the state were flattened by a devastating earthquake. The state government had earlier issued guidelines that no government building shall be constructed unless it complies with Bureau of Indian Standards codes on quake resistance. Disaster management cell coordinator Aamir Ali says building bylaws have been amended "clause by clause" in consultation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's national seismic advisor Anand S Arya. The Bill is now awaiting an Assembly nod.

"We have trained masons, engineers, architects and structural engineers in earthquake risk management," says Ali. "We have also roped in imams to convey the message. That has helped a lot."

(With reports from Naresh Mitra, Guwahati; Manosh Das, Shillong; S Gopal Puri, Chandigarh; Ravinder Makhaik, Shimla, and Sameer Arshad, Delhi)

Will China Eye Arunachal Pradesh’s Shale Oil?

By SA Aiyar

From 1990 onward, Chudamani Ratnam, former chief of Oil India Ltd, repeatedly claimed that India had a treasure trove of shale oil in Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the north-east. He said these deposits could produce 140 million tonnes per year for 100 years, making India a net oil exporter. However, the deposits looked uneconomic, so he was not taken seriously. Analysts laughed when he suggested that China might one day invade Arunachal Pradesh to grab the oil.

Suddenly, that scenario no longer looks completely crazy. New technology in the US has hugely reduced the cost of extracting shale oil. The world over, oil companies are looking afresh at shale oil. China is surely doing the same.

In favorable rock strata (like limestone and sandstone), gas and oil flow out under their own pressure. But shale is “tight” and yields poor flows of oil and gas. Hence, shale oil and gas have historically been viewed as worthless.

That changed a decade ago with shale gas “fracking”—a new technology of horizontal drilling followed by injection of high pressure water, sand and chemicals. This “fracks” open the shale and allows gas to flow. Shale gas production is now booming in the US, and will meet a quarter of US needs by 2020. Top Indian oil companies, from Reliance to BPCL, have acquired stakes abroad in shale gas companies to gain fracking expertise, to be used later in India.

The petroleum ministry is working on a new policy to encourage shale gas exploration. 
Shale fracking can increase not only gas flow but oil flow too, though at a slower rate. Shale oil can be profitable at $60/barrel. The Bakken shale in North Dakota has increased oil production tenfold to 400,000 barrels/day, and this could double again in a few years. The New York Times says that by 2020, US shale oil production may hit 2 million barrels/day, as much as India’s entire consumption was in 2000.

US oil companies first went for shale oil after the 1973-74 oil shock. The 1970s technology entailed digging and crushing enormous quantities of shale, and baking this to extract oil. The environmental consequences were terrible. Huge quantities of water were needed to cool and stabilize the spent shale, which piled up in giant man-made mountains that leaked toxic wastes. The technology also proved uneconomic, and was abandoned.

Arunachal Pradesh has an additional environmental issue-- its shale lies in prime forest. So, nobody will use the 1970s technology in the state. However, fracking avoids problems of the old technology. It entails drilling underground, and so will not disturb forests or create mountains of spent shale. There is water aplenty in the north east.

However, environmentalists in many countries have opposed gas fracking, and will also oppose oil fracking. They fear drinking water could be contaminated by toxic fracking chemicals, and that gas might leak into domestic water supplies. France has banned fracking as a precautionary measure. Some regions in the US and other countries have also imposed curbs and bans. New York state virtually halted fracking and has now proposed new safeguards for fresh drilling. These include additional steel casings to avoid gas leakages, and prohibition of drilling near aquifers, wells or large cities. That still leaves 80% of the giant Marcellus shale deposit in the state available for drilling.

India needs similar safeguards for shale oil and gas. Arunachal’s shale oil lies in virtually unpopulated forests, so fears of drinking water contamination will be minimal. Non-toxic fracking chemicals are being developed and should be adopted everywhere.

Not all oil shale is frackable, only highly saturated shale. Oil India came across shale deposits in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland decades ago, and should act immediately to delineate the frackable proportion. If this turns out to be large—and the portents are good—Oil India should rapidly acquire and use fracking technology. Meanwhile, New Delhi should tweak its new policy on shale gas—including environmental safeguards-- to cover shale oil too.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh on historical grounds. But shale oil can give its claim a new dimension. This has already happened in the South China Sea, which China claims for historical reasons, but also because it has huge oil potential.

Within a decade, China may overtake the US as the world’s biggest oil importer. It would love to get Arunchal’s oil, ideally located to supply Tibet and Yunan. China will surely protest diplomatically against Indian exploitation of shale oil in Arunachal Pradesh, just as it has opposed hydel projects there. India must reject such protests firmly and go full speed ahead.

Meeting The Meiteis

By Bharat Sundaresan

With clubs coming up closer home, players from Northeast don’t need to migrate thousands of kilometers to pursue their dreams, unlike a bunch of youngsters from Manipur whom Bharat Sundaresan met a couple of years ago as they tried to carve out a life for themselves in a quiet corner of Mumbai.

IT was a balmy February afternoon in 2009 and a joyous commotion could be heard from within Flat No. 2/1, Air India Colony in Mumbai.

The inhabitants of the tiny two-room kitchen house were seven Manipuri players, part of the various junior and senior teams of Air-India Football Club, and they had just realised that the chef for the day, according to the list they had drawn, was Narendra Meitei.

And the striker, they knew, prepared a delectable 'Jingda fry'. They may have provided the perfect north-eastern flavor to both Air-India and Mumbai football, but the likes of Meitei, Samson Singh, Uttam Singh and the others admitted that their palettes couldn't handle the city’s spicy, oily food.

"We prefer to eat more boiled food, especially after practice sessions, as it is easier to digest," explained Samson, who had been plying his trade in Mumbai for more than half a decade. Food though was not the only issue that they had to endure living away from home. "There are a number of vibrant festivals that are celebrated back home, but we rarely get to know their exact dates," Samson, who also owned the only laptop in the house said.

The paucity of job opportunities and acute corruption in Manipur then, had been the major reason for them leaving home, Meitei had revealed, a sentiment shared by all.

"Most parents back home encourage kids to go to bigger cities for better futures, than become a part of the system there," Meitei, who'd visit Gangtok whenever he could to meet his wife and kid, had added.

Football thus became a huge gateway for young boys, helping them spread their wings. "I grew up hearing tales of these great Manipuri footballers, who made it big, represented the country. They were my heroes growing up, and emulating them my dream,” Meitei who had to fend for his younger brother Naresh and brother-in-law revealed.

There were other problems as well. In spite of reveling in each other's companies, the accommodation provided by the club gave them no personal space. “Under-19 players are forced to shack up with us. But it is something we get used to,” Meitei said. The single 14" TV in the front room, which also doubled up as Meitei's bed-room, blared out loud Hindi music.

Samson had revealed that the boys did not prefer going to malls, as there were too many people there. "We aren't used to crowds, and do our shopping from the stores within the colony," he had said. Meitei also had admitted that the odd stare on the road was quite usual, and being referred to as a 'Nepali' did have its depressing effects. "I used to get violent in the beginning, but now have just gotten used to it," he had said.

The fish by then was ready to be consumed, and it was that time of the day, when the seven would sit together, and plan their day. The juniors had a match to play in the evening, and were asked to go easy on the Jingda, while Samson and others gorged on the rest, chatting about the movie they had to catch later in the day.

Women Recount Horrors Of The Indo-Naga Conflict

By Subir Ghosh

All women victims had suffered a deterioration in their health, lived through starvation, suffered humiliation, physical assault, even rape. But they were concerned about the education of their children and stated that they did not wish the coming generations to undergo the kind of horrific experiences they did. Photo: C-NES / Kausiki Sarma

They had three sons. They were not rich, but “were quite contented”. In the mid-1950s, her husband responded to the Naga movement and joined the Naga army. He rose through the ranks to become an important officer. His wife and children stayed behind in the village to fend for themselves by labouring in their fields. The Indian army kept constant surveillance and often raided the house hoping to capture him. She lived through constant fear and harassment.

After several years in the Naga army, the husband surrendered and came ‘overground’ but found it difficult to live in the village. There was local hostility to him since, while in the Naga army, he had carried out “some harsh measures” on his own village, apparently on the orders of senior officers. He left the village and settled down near the Assam-Nagaland border where he married again. One day, he came back to claim his sons. His first wife was shocked and unable to make him change his mind, despite reminding him of the hardship she had undergone for his sake and that of the family. She walked a long distance pleading with him to change his mind, as he left with the sons — but to no avail.

After that day, she withdrew into herself, stopped meeting people or speaking to anyone. Then some months later she became very loud and noisy. The villagers shut her out and she started living away from the village in a shack. Fearing that she may become a danger to herself, the village sent her to the Wokha district sub-jail where she was kept under the Indian Lunacy Act of 1912 as a noncriminal lunatic. From here, she was later transferred to the Kohima Mental Hospital in 1990. Several months of treatment led to some improvement; her doctor managed to locate two of her sons and brought them to meet her, hoping this might help her recovery. But the bonds had dissipated and they behaved like strangers.

The sons went back home leaving their mother in the mental hospital where she died.

The story of this woman is tell-tale, and has been revealed in a heart-wrenching report ‘Bearing Witness: The Impact of Conflict on Women in Nagaland and Assam’, recently released by the Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research (C-NES). The report comes in the backdrop of ongoing peace talks between the Indian government and the Naga insurgents.

The woman here has not been identified, and neither has the village. But as the C-NES study team found: “Most women face a decline in social legitimacy and find themselves relegated to the fringes of society with no one to care for them or to speak on their behalf.”

There was a common hurdle that the researchers came across while talking to women, who have been victims of the Indo-Naga conflict. While victims were willing to recount their painful experiences, a number of them were reluctant to speak on-camera or even be recorded and photographed for the documentary film that was being shot simultaneously. Some of those who spoke, insisted for reasons of security, social standing or just personal wishes, not to be identified by name and, in a few cases, were not willing to have their villages named. The scars remain, as does a deeply-entrenched fear.

It has been 14 years since the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government (with the lesser Khaplang faction following some time later), but fear and trauma among women still endures. As the report remarked: “The stories of these women interviewed, like women elsewhere, need to be told since their contribution to the sustenance of their communities is crucial.”

The C-NES team had to work with an individual-focused model of trauma which did not always fit in with an indigenous tribal and community-based society. In Naga society, even the identity of the victim is strongly rooted in clan and community and is regarded as a collective rather than an individual identity. Trauma resonated, therefore, at the level of the whole village community (even if they were on opposing sides) and this was transmitted across the spectrum because according to them, the entire village had suffered the same way. For this reason, people were reluctant to talk about individual trauma and suffering. This is also a valuable coping mechanism, however, because here everyone carried a collective ‘burden’.

Uppermost in the minds of the women interviewed for this study was what will happen in the future. Everyone wanted an early and peaceful settlement of the Naga political issue so that future generations would get a chance to plan and live their lives different to the violent past and the volatile present. Nearly half of the women interviewed, along with other stakeholder groups, agreed that because of the prolonged and entrenched conflict situation, standards in society had deteriorated.

So, what about the future? A glimmer of hope may be found in the story of Ms Y. She is now all of 75, and lives in Pathso village under Noklak subdivision of Tuensang village.

54 years ago, as a young woman of 21, she was, as usual, on her way to the paddy field in the morning as agriculture was the family’s main means of livelihood. On the way, she came across an Indian army patrol. They caught her and pushed her down to the ground. They stripped her naked and then gang-raped her, one after another. She did not remember how many of them were there as she had lost consciousness. When she recovered, she discovered”marks” on her face and throat. She was also bleeding profusely.

She has since suffered health problems. She also felt “morally degraded” and has suffered great psychological trauma. The fact of her being gang-raped by Indian soldiers became common knowledge in the village and her prospects of getting married were completely destroyed as no one was willing to marry her. She remained a spinster her entire life. There was no one to help her, but as she was single her needs were few and she managed to support herself.

Y knows that many family members of people who suffered like her had joined the underground movement to take revenge on the Indian army as they considered that their family honour had to be restored through such means.

In her time, Y said harassments and humiliation were quite common including rape and torture in front of an “assembly of villagers”. But most women keep their nightmarish experiences hidden if possible and suffer alone silently. She felt that the time had come for women to fight for justice and would like women’s organisations to be set up in villages to help victims.

Y is still deeply hurt when she remembers the “physical and mental torture” of the 1956 incident that literally cut her off her from family and social life of the community. She is happy that in recent times there have been less reports of such incidents. She also wants the Naga political problem to be settled since she believes armed conflict has affected all aspects of the lives of the people and also destroyed their culture and values.

As the Naga cause moves towards reconciliation and solution, the voices of these women need to be heard, and counted too.

[Disclosure: The writer is an Advisory Council member of C-NES.]

source: asiancorrespondent.com

Fans Send Band to Attend Metallica Concert in Bangalore

The members of Post Mark.

Imphal, Sep 25 : As a mark of tribute to Post Mark, a local band that pioneered heavy metal songs in Manipur, their fans collected enough funds to send the existing band members to Bangalore to attend a concert by Metallica on October 30.

Fans of Post Mark, numbering more than 1,000 around the world, collected the funds through an online group, rockmusicmanipur, and social networking site Facebook.

“We are grateful to the fans who donated money for the band members' trip to Bangalore and their journey back. We will bear everything, including the travel expenses and accommodation for the band members,” said Keisam Parmeshore, a spokesman for the fan group, here today.

“We never dreamt that we could watch a concert by Metallica. Thanks to the fans and their support. We will be getting a lifetime’s opportunity of watching the band perform live. We think our efforts did not go in vain,” Paras Nongmaithem, drummer of Post Mark, said.

Post Mark came into existence in 1989. They released an album titled Stamp on You and used to sing songs of Jamaica’s Bob Marley and Japan’s Loudness. But they loved to sing Metallica more than any other group.

The group faded away after its vocalist Abungcha Kshetrimayum died suddenly, after the group started creating waves not only in Manipur but also outside the state.

Abungcha died at a time when music companies like Magnasound of Mumbai wanted to record their songs.

The group was very popular because it blended heavy metal with local beats, adding a local flavour to their songs. Their album had 12 songs.

The number Soar high was based on the drum beat of thabal chongba, famous Meitei dance. Most of the songs had music from tribal dance, Ras Lila and Lai Haraoba, other traditional dance forms of Manipur.

“I was only in Class VIII when I first went to a concert of Post Mark at Yumnam Leikai in Imphal city. I found roots of the state in the heavy metal songs. I simply loved the group and followed them wherever they performed in and around the city,” said Parmeshore, who played a major role in collecting the funds.

There were many rock groups in the state during that time. But Post Mark left an indelible mark.

Of the six surviving members of the group, only the drummer is still a musician. The rest went on to different professions.

The fan group said guitarist Imocha Phurailatpam could not be traced.

Mizoram Chief Minister 'Owns' Land At Assam Rifles Land

Aizawl, Sep 24 : The opposition Mizo National Front today asked Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla to explain who is ''Lal Thanzauva, son of Lal Thanhawla, Zarkawt'' in whose name a 3315.26 square feet of land at Assam Rifles land has been registered.

Stating that a private landowner by the name Lal Thanzauva, son of Lal Thanhawla, a resident of Zarkawt Aizawl appeared in the list of individuals who owned plots of land in the soon-to-be vacated Assam Rifles land in the heart of the city, the MNF questioned if there was any other Lal Thanzauva, son of Lal Thanhawla, in Zarkawt locality in Aizawl, which is the home address of the Chief Minister and his late son Lal Thanzauva.

According to the MNF, the LSC number is 19/85, which means it was issued in 1985 when Lal Thanhawla was the Chief Minister.

Attacking scathingly Mr Thanhawla, the MNF said, ''The Chief Minister should first clean himself before cleansing the administration of corruption.''

Referring to his public statement that not an inch of the AR land would be given to private landowners when it is vacated by the paramilitary force early next year, the MNF asked:

''Has the chief Minister become so senile that he forgets owning a land at the Assam Rifles land?''