Mizoram Court Begins Hearing Molestation Case Against Teacher

The Aizawl District and Sessions Court on Wednesday began hearing the case of a primary school teacher who was arrested last November for molesting 32 schoolgirls at Saichal village, about 150 km from the state capital.

Aizawl, Jul 30 : The Aizawl District and Sessions Court on Wednesday began hearing the case of a primary school teacher who was arrested last November for molesting 32 schoolgirls at Saichal village, about 150 km from the state capital.

H Lalhmingmawia, the accused, pleaded not guilty to all the charges leveled against him.

Thirty-year-old H Lalhmingmawia was accused of molesting 32 of his female students — all between the ages of 8 and 12 years — at the government primary school there.

The police investigation whittled down the list to 27 victims after concluding that several kids were apparently touched by the teacher on parts of their body that might not be considered sexual.

The prosecution on Wednesday brought before District and Sessions Judge 15 cases under POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act 2012) against H Lalhmingmawia.

Seven of theses cases were however changed to offences under IPC 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and transferred by the court to a Judicial Magistrate for further action.

The eight POCSO cases have further been divided between sections 6 and 8 of the law: three cases under section 6, five under section 8, according to Additional Public Prosecutor K Lalremruati.

Section 6 deals with “aggravated penetrative sexual assault” and carries a jail term of no less than 10 years which may be extended to a life term. Section 8 deals with “sexual assault” and carries a jail term of between three to five years.

The teacher, who is also a native of Saichal village, was arrested after being accused of molesting his schoolchildren over two years. Specifically, he is accused of raping one thrice, touching another on her private parts till she bled, and the rest on different parts of their body.

India and Myanmar Pledge To Deepen Ties

By Elizabeth Roche


Myanmar’s senior general U Min Aung Hlaing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Myanmar’s senior general U Min Aung Hlaing says the country will remain an important platform in support of India’s Act East Policy

New Delhi: India and Myanmar pledged to deepen their bilateral security cooperation, with senior leaders of both governments expressing their resolve during talks in New Delhi, a statement by the stated on Wednesday.

Senior general U Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmar Defence Services, who is on a visit to India, called on India’s three service chiefs as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

The visit by the senior general of Myanmar follows a raid by the Indian Army last month to hunt down separatist militants, days after 18 soldiers were killed in an ambush in the Chandel district of Manipur.

Myanmar authorities had later stated that the Indian troops had not crossed into the country’s territory.

“Senior general U Min Aung Hlaing expressed his commitment to deepen defence and security engagement with India, including in the maritime security domain,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said after the meeting.

India’s north-east is home to dozens of insurgent groups, fighting for autonomy or secession.

The Indian Army has been deployed in the region that borders Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, for decades.

Indian officials say militant groups have set up base in Myanmar and Bhutan, using them as launch pads for attacks against India.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, India backed Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

But it changed tack after realizing that the insurgent groups operating in the north-east have established bases in Myanmar.

India then actively engaged the then junta-run government, investing in infrastructure projects, exploring oil and gas blocks, and offering credit.

Ties were sustained after Myanmar slowly transitioned into a democracy with the first election in two decades being held in 2010.

“Senior general U Min Aung Hlaing appreciated India’s role as a reliable development partner for Myanmar. He said that Myanmar considers its relationship with India very important, not only as a neighbour, but also as a country with longstanding historical and cultural ties, shared interests and strong people-to-people ties with Myanmar,” the statement said.

“He added that Myanmar will remain an important platform in support of India’s Act East Policy,” the statement said, referring to India’s efforts to forge closer links with South-East Asia.

On his part, Modi underlined “India’s commitment to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Myanmar in all areas, including defence and security” besides support Myanmar in its endeavour for national development, the statement said.

The prime minister said India regarded Myanmar as “India’s gateway to Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and urged for greater connectivity between the two countries and beyond, the statement said.

With Myanmar due to go in for general elections in November, Modi said he respected “the desire of the people of Myanmar for a transition to a stable multi-party democracy, and conveyed his best wishes for the upcoming elections in Myanmar to be peaceful, free and fair”.

Bail Granted in Teacher Recruitment Scam

Aizawl, Jul 30 : The Gauhati High Court has granted interim bail to the five accused in the alleged teacher recruitment scam.

Justice MR Pathak of the Aizawl bench granted interim bail to Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) Chief Executive Member V Zirsanga and four other accused and fixed August 4 for the next hearing.

The five accused were released on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each and were restrained from leaving the southern Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, the officials said.

Aizawl District and Sessions Judge Lucy Lalrinthari had rejected the anticipatory bail petition on Wednesday after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials pleaded that the investigation against the accused was hampered as many witnesses were turning hostile.

Zirsanga and the four persons were allegedly involved in the Rs 3.19 crore teacher recruitment scam, which is being investigated by ACB. ACB contended that Zirsanga, then an executive member, education in the LADC received bribe amounting to Rs 21 lakh.

The investigating officers said that 41 new teachers were recruited fraudulently and the accused included District Education Officer (DEO), a cashier and two teachers.

Not So Disturbed: Nagaland

By Oken Jeet Sandham

Kohima, Jul 27 : Three generations in the North-east have grown under the shadow of the Disturbed Area Act and the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. Once any area is declared “disturbed” as per Section 3 of the AF(SP) Act, the Army is empowered to step in and any commissioned/non-commissioned/warrant officer or any other person of the equivalent rank can arrest, without warrant, any person who has committed a cognisable offence or against whom reasonable suspicion exists that he/she has committed such an offence and if he is of the opinion that it is necessary to use force for maintenance of public order and can fire upon or otherwise use force, even causing death.

The troops can enter and search without warrants any premises to make any such arrest as aforesaid or to recover any person believed to be wrongfully restrained and confined or any property reasonably suspected of being stolen or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances believed to be unlawfully kept in such premises, and may for that purpose use such force as may be necessary. The Act simply gives carte blanche to the troops in the name of assisting the civil administration. The Act must go and should no more be used in this modern and civilised era.

The Act was enacted on 11 September, 1958 and Nagaland became the first laboratory for the Indian Army to experiment. Only after decades, educated people realised the harmful consequences of the law. Nagaland has been enjoying some semblance of peace after the July 1997 ceasefire accord with the NSCN(IM). But the state is tense again with the NSCN(K) mounting attacks on security forces after unilaterally abrogating its 14-year truce with Delhi in March this year. Civil societies, the state government and many stakeholders have asked the Centre and NSCN(K) leaders to resume the truce.

While reimposing the Disturbed Areas Act in Nagaland, the Centre claimed, in a gazette notification, that the whole of Nagaland was in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power was necessary. It will remain in force for a year, beginning 30 June 2015. Chief minister TR Zeliang and several civil societies in Nagaland have expressed displeasure and anguish over the Centre’s decision and want its immediate revocation.

For nearly 14 years when the NSCN(K) was observing a truce with the Centre, Nagaland enjoyed peace. Even leaders of various Naga underground factions developed good rapport among themselves through the efforts of the Naga Forum for Reconciliation that came into being in 2008.

After Neiphiu Rio became chief minister of Nagaland in 2003, his government had constantly opposed Delhi’s attempts to reimpose the “Disturbed Area” tag since the situation was nowhere as serious as in the 1980s or early 1990s.

It is unfortunate that before reimposing the Act New Delhi did not think it necessary to take Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju into confidence. He comes from Arunachal Pradesh. It now appears that the Distubed Area Act will continue to remain in force in Nagaland even if the Naga political issue is resolved. It is time the Centre realised how anti-democratic the Act is against fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

HPC(D) Resumes Operations in Mizoram

HPCD resumes extortion operations after rejected talk offers, Mizoram DGP says police will bring militant group “to it’s knees” The letter addressed to the PWD SDO at Ratu has demanded a donation of Rs 1 lakh.

Mizoram DGP Dharmendra Kumar said at a meeting of SPs and battalion commandants in Aizawl on Friday that the state police will continue to pressure the militant group until they are “on their knees”. Within a month after the Mizoram government rejected it’s offers for conditional tripartite talks, the Manipur-based Hmar People’s Convention Democratic (HPCD) has apparently resumed underground operations by sending letters demanding donations to four village heads and a PWD official in northern Mizoram, top sources in the state police have said.

The letters signed by “L Hmar, Commander” and addressed to the Village Council Presidents (VCPs) of New Vervek, Damdiai, Ratu and Lungsum and the state PWD’s Sub-Divisional Officer at Ratu were dated July 17 but were received by the addressees on July 21.

The letter addressed to the PWD SDO at Ratu has demanded a donation of Rs 1 lakh, sources said, while the demand letters addressed to the VCPs asked them to collect 5% of funds meant for all job-card holders in their respective jurisdictions and hand it over to the group or its representatives at Sihpuikawn, near Tipaimukh in neighboring Manipur.

Mizoram is separated from Manipur by the Tuivai and Tuiruang (Barak) rivers, and Sihpuikawn lies east of the point where these two converge.

One of the recipients has told police a middle-aged woman in a vehicle delivered the letters on behalf of the militant group, which was responsible for the March 28 ambush on a convoy of three MLAs that killed three policemen and injured six others, including two civilians.

Meanwhile, Mizoram DGP Dharmendra Kumar said at a meeting of SPs and battalion commandants in Aizawl on Friday that the state police will continue to pressure the militant group until they are “on their knees”.

Saying the group’s latest move suggests they have “again become a little active”, DGP Kumar said, “I hope it is not because we have lessened our pressure. We cannot let it go at this stage.”

The Mizoram Police had retaliated against the HPCD by mounting a covert operation and shooting to death “Sergeant” H C Malsawmkima alias Danny, a 31-year-old man suspected to have led the lethal ambush along with the group’s “Western Commander” L Biaka, in early May at a village on the Manipur-side of the Barak river’s bank.

Malsawmkima was a constable with the state police’s armed wing before he fled from the camp at Sakawrdai last year with two guns and joined the militant group.

“Our teams have been so effective that the underground is now running around trying to seek talks again. They are scared of us, they are scared of the Mizoram Police, it was only because of our response that they have come to this kind of a situation. It is only because we have arrested their top leaders and managed to keep them behind bars,” the DGP said.

had on April 16, less than three weeks after the ambush, arrested the HPCD’s “Army Chief” Lalropuia Famhoite and “Finance Secretary” Norbar Sanate from near Silchar town in south Assam. They are currently in judicial custody and Famhoite currently faces dozens of criminal charges in two districts, Aizawl and Kolasib.

The HPCD had last month approached the state government with offers for conditional tripartite talks involving itself, the state government and the Centre, with even it’s chairman Zosangbera making telephone calls to police investigators to help facilitate the talks.

The state government has however rejected the offers saying they must be unconditional and only between the state and the HPCD.

Meanwhile, the HPCD’s long-standing interlocutor Lalmuanpuia Punte, currently chief of the Zoram Nationalist Party’s youth wing, met Union MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju on July 21 to talk about the Hmar “political issue” (the militant group claims to be fighting for an Autonomous District Council for the Hmar tribe) according to a post on Virthli.in, a web portal that largely publishes posts about the Hmar community.

Mizoram Athletes to participate in Special Olympics

Aizawl, Jul 24 : Six athletes from the northeastern state of Mizoram would participate in the Special Olympics starting from July 25 in Los Angeles, it was announced here on Monday.

A Mizoram sports department release said six athletes and their team leader from Mizoram will be among the 301 athletes representing India at the Special Olympics.

It said the athletes from Mizoram will compete in the eleven-a-side football, seven-a-side unified football, 100 metres race and 200 metres race.

Mizoram Governor Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma (retd) on Monday flagged off the journey of the athletes bound for Los Angeles.

US First Lady Michelle Obama will declare open the nine-day Games on July 25.

We Have Taken Measures To Repatriate Bru Refugees: Rijiju

New Delhi, Jul 24 : Kiren Rijiju Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday stated that the ministry has taken measures to repatriate the Bru refugees to their homes in Mizoram in a phased manner.

Rijiju, in a written reply to a question by M Chandrakasi in the Lok Sabha, stated that the ministry is also extending financial as well as other logistical assistance to both the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura for their repatriation and resettlement.

Ethic tension between the Reang tribals and the Mizos in the state of Mizoram has been increasing and due to this rising tension, a total of 30000 Reang (Bru) people from Western Mizoram migrated to Tripura.

The Bru migrants are sheltered in the six relief camps set up in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of North Tripura.

The repatriation and resettlement process started in November 2010 and till now about 1,622 Bru families (8,573 persons) have been repatriated and resettled in Mizoram. A Detailed Action Plan 2015-Road Map has been prepared by the state government for repatriation of all the remaining Bru families to the state.

The ministry has also released an approximate amount of Rs. 246 crore to the Tripura government since 1997-98 for the maintenance of Brus lodged in various relief camps and approximately Rs. 45 crore to the Mizoram government since 2004-05 for disbursement to Bru migrant families for their rehabilitation in its state.

Further, various confidence building measures have been undertaken to instill a sense of security and to remove apprehensions among Brus, for their early repatriation to Mizoram. The issue of their repatriation and rehabilitation is subjudice in the Supreme Court.

New Halfong-Silchar Line Declared Dangerous for Passengers by Commissioner of Railway Safety

By Sidharth Pandey

New Delhi, Jul 24 :  In a major blow to passengers in the north-east, the top official of the watchdog for Railways safety has declared the Haflong - Silchar link as dangerous for public travel. The Commissioner of Railway Safety who inspected the crucial rail link last month has warned that the "Line cannot be opened for passenger traffic without danger to travelling public".

The observations are part of a report by the rail safety department, a copy of which is exclusively with NDTV. The report also says that despite existing serious issues with safety, the commissioner of rail safety only relented to conduct the inspection last month following "persistent persuasion by Railways"
What is worrying is that barely 4 months after the line was thrown open for goods trains, there have already been 9 derailments and at least 14 instances where the track has subsided. Rs. 5,500 crores have already been spent on the costly upgrade that has taken almost a decade to complete.

Passenger traffic between the two stations was completely halted last year as the final section of this rail link was being upgraded from meter gauge to broad gauge, and the Railways had said that it would be reopened this year. In March, Railway minister Suresh Prabhu had also flagged off goods trains on this route by remote control.

The report has "recommended that the railway administration engage experts in the field of get technology, structural engineering to critically review the present status and recommend suitable preventive measures".

The Railways has an ambitious plan link all the state capitals of the north-eastern states by 2022, but it appears to be a difficult task. The difficult mountainous terrain is also prone to landslides.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had focused on improving connectivity to the North-east region, announcing Rs. 28,000 crore for laying new railway lines.