Of Young Guns, Big Stage, Bigger Dreams

By Shubhodeep Chakravarty

New Delhi, Oct 27 : Fifteen-year-old Kuashi Behero is playing the best hockey of her life.

From practicing on the patchy grass-covered field in her school back home in Mizoram to showcasing her talents on the astroturf at the National stadium, Behero says the feeling of playing on the same pitch as international stars is both daunting and exhilarating.

While many questions were raised on costs, deadline delays and shoddy standards of work at venues in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, schoolgirls like Behero, participating in the Nehru Junior Girls Cup, are certainly not complaining. After all, it's not everyday that they get to see, let alone play in a stadium, which is world class.

“Back home, the playfield is smaller though the comparison is unfair. Playing here has helped me familiarise with astroturf, running the full length of a hockey field and getting a feel of an actual stadium setting,” says Behero and adds that she likes to imagine the stadium jam packed with people shouting her name.

The exposure that participating schoolgirls are getting through the tournament is crucial.

But what really makes the experience count is that they are testing their mettle in the renovated stadium that has all the facilities required of a stadium of international standard, in place.

“In Holland, you can take your team to the stadiums, pay a nominal fee and make use of the grounds. No wonder their raw pool of talent is strong as well. While not the case here, such tournaments in this sort of a venue can help nurture stars of tomorrow,” said an official present here on Tuesday.

And potential stars don't just come from urban pockets of the country. With teams from certain tribal belts also participating, the magnitude of exposure widens further and, with it, the scope for emerging talent.

Teams from obscure places like Chote Udepur, Kawant, Thenzwal and many more have several players on their maiden visit to the capital and have coped well with what has been the biggest tournament of their young lives thus far.

“I want to play professional hockey but it would help if more of these turfs are set up back home. They are different and it takes a while to adjust but this has been an amazing trip for all of us,” says striker Aruna Sahu from Rourkela in Orissa.

While at approximately $75,000 (Rs 33 lakh) each, astroturfs may take a long time to trickle down to smaller centres in the country, the teenaged girls at the National Stadium are eager to soak in all that is on offer for the short duration.

Manipur Wants Delhi To Clarify on Royal Rebel

By Rahul Karmakar

Decades after naming a street in embassy-lined Chanakyapuri after Bir Tikendrajit, New Delhi stands accused of a diplomatic design on his great grandson. The CPI’s Manipur unit decried the “shroud of diplomacy” allegedly thrown by New Delhi over Raj Kumar Meghen alias R.K. Sanayaima, chairman of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF).

The CPI is a coalition partner of the Secular Progressive Front government headed by the Congress’ Okram Ibobi Singh.

According to the UNLF, agents of India’s Research and Analysis Wing helped Bangladeshi authorities arrest Meghen in Dhaka on September 29. The Ministry of Home Affairs has denied capturing the rebel leader.

Meghen, 64, had floated UNLF in 1964 to fight for a sovereign Manipur ruled by the dominant Meitei community. He is the great grandson of Tikendrajit, Manipur’s ruler who the British had hung in 1891 for rebelling against the Raj.

Manipur’s royals did not reconcile to Manipur’s merger with India in 1949, though King R.K. Bodhachandra Singh signed the Instrument of Accession before 15 August 1947. Most in the dynasty “compromised”, but Meghen went underground 35 years ago never to return to his royal residence at Yaiskum Janmasthan in Manipur capital Imphal.

Given the emotional attachment to the royal family, Manipur now wants Meghen to be “returned” by New Delhi. “The Central government must come clear on his whereabouts,” said CPI’s state secretaray Langol Iboyaima.

The BJP and the regional Manipur People’s Party have made similar demands. So have the UNLF and other militant outfits while the Manipur Forward Youth Front has accused New Delhi of masterminding Meghen’s “forced disappearance”.

Meghen’s wife Raj Kumari Ongbi Ibemnungshi and son R.K. Chinglen have even petitioned the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for help. “We have no objection to the measures planned against him, but we have the right to know where and how he is,” they said.

Many in Manipur look up to the royal family. The general feeling is that both Tikendrajit and his great grandson opposed imperialism of different kinds. “But in this post-UN era, Meghen has the right to live and be treated like a sovereign unlike his great grandfather,” said a Congress leader.

Rallies Planned in New Delhi Demanding Autonomous States

Agartala, Oct 27 : Thousands of activists fighting for autonomous states in different parts of the country have planned sit-in programs in New Delhi Thursday and Friday and will submit memorandums to the prime minister for creation of separate states, an activist from Tripura said here Tuesday.

“Thousands of activists from 18 different areas of the country are on way to New Delhi to participate the two-day protest demonstration Thursday and Friday,” said Narendra Chandra Debbarma, president of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a tribal-based regional party.

Before leaving for New Delhi Debbarma told reporters: “More than 500 activists of different regional and local parties of northeast India have left for New Delhi.”

“We would submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and other central leaders to create separate states in different parts of the country,” Debbarma said, adding that they have planned sit-in programmes and rallies in New Delhi.

The tribal leader said party leaders and activists belonging to about 100 regional, local political parties and social organisations would gather in New Delhi to press their demands.

“The parties fighting for separate Bodoland in Assam, Telangana in Andhra Pradash, Gorkhaland in Darjeeling and Vidarbha in Maharashtra, among others, would participate in the two-day protests in the national capital,” said Debbarma, a former senior official of the union information and broadcasting ministry.

The IPFT has been demanding the creation of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas into an autonomous state. The demand was strongly opposed by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government and main opposition Congress.

“Tribals, who constitute one third of the Tripura’s 3.8 million population, are being deprived of all-round development for last 60 years compelling us to demand a separate state for the indigenous people (tribals),” said the IPFT leader.

There are 16 autonomous district councils (ADCs) in northeast India. Tribals make up 27 percent of the region’s total population of around 40 million.

Of the 16 ADCs, six are in Manipur, three each in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura.

Ministerial Panel Sees No Problem With Tipaimukh Dam

New Delhi, Oct 27 : Clearing the confusion, Union Power Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde said the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) on hydro power development has submitted its report and Action Taken Note to the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR).

The IMG was constituted to evolve a suitable framework to guide and accelerate the development of hydro power in North East. The Group has Secretary MoWR as the chairman and Secretaries in the Ministry of Power, Environment and Forest and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), as members, besides Principal Secretary in the PMO.

Shinde, who was addressing the Economic Editors Conference here on Tuesday, said that the IMG submitted its report in Februaruy. The Action Taken Note on the recommendations of the IMG Report was sent to MoWR.

The report was discussed in Prime Minister’s Office on August 12 and the Action Taken Note was also discussed, the Minister added.

The Ministerial-level meeting on the hydro power projects of North East, however, ran into trouble and the PMO deferred it indefinitely. The meeting after being postponed twice was finally put on hold on October 18.

Shinde, meanwhile, strongly advocated harnessing hydro power potential of the Himalayan rivers. The Himalayan Range that includes, the North- eastern region, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand has the capacity to generate 1.50 lakh MW of hydro power. But till now only 35,000-36,000 MW have been tapped, he said.

The Minister, who described hydro power as cleaner and cheaper source of power, however, acknowledged the dangers posed by construction of tunnels in high seismic zones. Shinde’s reply was in connection with dangers of construction of hydro power projects on Alakananda river.

Replying to a question, the Minister said Tipaimukh Project is on and various clearances including the Forest Land acquisition, Environment clearances have been obtained. “I don’t think there would be any problem in construction of Tipaimukh Project,” he assured.

About capacity addition to the Loktak Project, the Minister said Loktak Project – II is under active consideration of the Government.

NHPC Opposes Assam’s Plan on Technical Team

Guwahati, Oct 27 : The NHPC Ltd has opposed the Assam Government’s proposal for inclusion of the members of the expert group that went through the issues connected with the downstream impact of the Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project (LSHEP), in the technical team proposed for conducting seismological studies concerning the LSHEP, reports leading power sector energy sector portal energylineindia.com in its today’s issue.

The portal has quoted NHPC sources as stating that the inclusion of the members of the group ‘would preclude a neutral opinion.’

Instead the NHPC has proposed that the team should involve only internationally acclaimed seismologists, under the guidance of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), as all technical clearances, including the seismological design parameters, are accorded by the agency, based on the recommendations of the Central Water Commission and Geological Survey of India.

The power company has also called for inclusion of a seismology expert from the NCSDP in the team, says the portal.

When contacted, Assam Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said that the Assam Government has not received any communication from the NHPC on the matter. “We will oppose if the NHPC goes for such a stand. We want experts from Assam also in the committee. Some of the members of the expert group that studied the downstream impact of the LSHEP may be included in the team,” said Bordoloi.

However, the news portal has reported the NHPC asserting that the joint expert committee (JEC) for assessing downstream impact of the hydel projects should be constituted under the aegis of the Assam Government. The Assam Government has demanded the JEC.

The power company has claimed that it would help implementing relevant mitigation measures in the downstream areas in more effective manners. For, acquiring data of flood-prone areas in the downstream of the Subansiri projects would be easier for a locally managed body.

The JEC would comprise officials of the Assam Government and the NHPC and it would examine the vital issues related to bank erosion and flood protection.

It needs mention here that the LSHEP, with eight units of 250 MWs each is planned to generate 7,421 million units (MU) in a 90 per cent dependable year.

As per latest estimates, construction activities at the first three units of the project are likely to be completed by March 2012, while the five remaining units are expected to be commissioned by December 2012, reports the portal.

Assam Linked With Bhutan, Thailand by Flights

Guwahati, Oct 27 :  The Guwahati airport will soon go international with Bhutan’s Druk Air Tuesday announcing bi-weekly flights connecting the Himalayan kingdom and Thailand to Assam.

Beginning Oct 31, Druk Air would operate flights between Paro in Bhutan and Guwahati and between Bangkok and Guwahati.

“The services will surely help in connectivity and take our age old ties to newer heights,” Druk Air chairman Kesang Wangdi told IANS.

According to the schedule, Guwahati and Paro will be linked on Mondays and Thursdays and Guwahati and Bangkok on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Return flights from Paro to Guwahati would be available on Wednesdays and Sundays, while Bangkok to Guwahati flights would be on Mondays and Thursdays.

The promotional fare for Guwahati Paro is just Rs.3,000 while Guwahati Bangkok direct flight is Rs.6,000.

However, regular economy class fare would be Rs.5,000 Guwahati-Paro and Rs.8,500 for Guwahati-Bangkok.

The 100-seater airbus would take just 50 minutes from Guwahati to Paro while the Guwahati-Bangkok distance would be covered in about three hours.

Druk Air is hopeful of attracting passengers, mostly tourists and businesspeople, to the Himalayan kingdom, besides visitors to Assam as well.

Arundhati: The Goddess of Controversial Quotes

New Delhi: Writer-activist Arundhati Roy has once again stirred up the hornet’s nest with her comments on Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to the Union prompting the Centre to mull booking her for sedition.

Here are some of Roy’s most controversial comments:

1. "Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is a historical fact. Even the Indian Government has accepted this."

2. "I write this from Srinagar, Kashmir. This morning's papers say that I may be arrested on charges of sedition for what I have said at recent public meetings on Kashmir. I said what millions of people here say every day. I said what I, as well as other commentators have written and said for years."

3. "Anybody who cares to read the transcripts of my speeches will see that they were fundamentally a call for justice. I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world; for Kashmiri Pandits who live out the tragedy of having been driven out of their homeland; for Dalit soldiers killed in Kashmir whose graves I visited on garbage heaps in their villages in Cuddalore; for the Indian poor who pay the price of this occupation in material ways and who are now learning to live in the terror of what is becoming a police state."

4. "Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free."

5. "Our elite say we are a super power. Twenty five per cent of country's total wealth is with a hundred people and they say it is development. Tribal land is being acquired for industrialization and the voice of tribals is suppressed if they protest. Is it development?"

6. “I don't see both as equally guilty and I don't want to justify anything. I see a government breaking every sort of law in the Constitution that it has about tribal people and assault on the homelands of millions of people and some, there is a resistance force that is resisting that.”

7. “I see the government absolutely, as the major aggressor. As far as the Maoists are concerned, of course, their ideology is an ideology of overthrowing the Indian state with violence. However, I don't believe that if the Indian state was a just state, if ordinary people had some minor hope for justice, the Maoists would just be a marginal group of militants with no popular appeal.”

8. “I perceive them (Maoists) as a group of people who have at a most militant end in the bandwidth of resistance movements that exist in the cities, in the planes and in the forests.”

9. “I have been saying this for few months now that you have to understand that the government needs this war. It needs this war to clear the land, to hand over, to actualise these MoUs that have been signed. If you read the business papers, they are very clear about that… It needs the war but it needs to keep this smiling benign mask of democracy. So, it offers talks on the one hand and undermines it on the other.

10. “Gandhian way of opposition needs an audience, which is absent here. People have debated long before choosing this form of struggle."

11. "I am on this side of line. I do not care...pick me up put me in jail."

12. "What the government calls Maoists corridor, is in fact MoU-ist corridor. You have an MoU (memorandum of understanding) on every mountain, river -- MoUs signed by biggest corporations in the world who are waiting to gain hold of the resources."

13. "If I was a person who is being dispossessed, whose wife has been raped, who is being pushed of their land and who is being faced with this 'police force', I would say that I am justified in taking up arms. If that is the only way I have to defend myself."

14. "There should be unconditional talks with the Maoists.”

More Women in India Divorcing Gay Husbands

By Kilian Melloy

Celebrants mark the first anniversary of India’s decriminalization of gays on July 2, 2010. As it has turned out, Indian women also have reason for celebration in wake of the court’s decision  (Source:AP)

When India decriminalized homosexuality in 2009, GLBT equality advocates rejoiced. But the high court’s historic ruling has proved to be a victory also for heterosexual women, who are now leaving fraudulent marriages and marriages of convenience to gay husbands.

Expressindia.com reported in an Oct. 25 story that a change in the social mindset is taking place, and women whose marriages have not been consummated, or who have other grounds for believing that they have married gay men, are now starting to seek divorce or annulment.

"It isn’t that such cases have not been filed with the courts earlier," a lawyer in Bandra, Shabnam Kazi, told the press. "We have had many women who after a lot of prodding and investigations spoke up. A change, even though slight, has been seen in the court when women narrate their case. That is a major mind change."

Another lawyer, Audrey D’Mello, described the case of a woman whose marriage to a businessman went unconsummated for months. "When she discovered her husband was involved sexually with a much younger boy, she confronted him and her parents-in-law," D’Mello said. "It was a shocking revelation for her when she discovered that his parents were aware of his preference. His marriage was just a counter to the social stigma." D’Mello said she knew of a dozen similar instances in which women had married gay men, not realizing that they were, in effect, cover for gay men caught in a society that until recently punished gays with steep penalties.

D’Mello described another marriage of convenience in which the relationship had been consummated, making it more difficult for the wife to seek an annulment. "It is a very tricky case, said D’Mello. "She has had evidence collected where she can prove that her husband is involved in a gay relationship. She hacked into her husband’s email and found various interactions he had with a gay partner. But here she could not file for nullity on the grounds of non-consummation of marriage. We suggested the ground of cruelty and fraud."

With the end of gay criminalization, the frequency of such marriages may fade over time.

Already, a few same-sex marriages have taken place between Indian men--in one case, between a Hindu and a Moslem, a sign that love can transcend even deep-rooted hostility between religious traditions.

The 30-year-old Muslim man, identified only as S. Khan in an Aug. 17 article at the Times of India, explained why the couple needed to travel despite the recent decriminalization of homosexuality in India. "We read on the Internet that Nepal’s Supreme Court has approved of same-sex marriages," said Khan. "Since they are still not legal in India, we decided to come to Nepal to get married."

The wedding, which took place Aug. 17, was officiated by a Hindu cleric and included an exchange of vows and rings. Officially, however, Nepal has not yet made marriage equality legal. "Though Nepal’s apex court has approved same sex marriages and instructed the government to enact laws in accordance, the actual laws are yet to be formulated," said Sunil Pant, an openly gay member of Nepal’s parliament and the founder of the Blue Diamond Society, which advocates for LGBT equality.

"We were hoping the new constitution would be promulgated in May and legally validate same-sex marriages," added Pant. That did not happen, so now "we hope the marriage laws will now be ready when the constitution comes into effect in May 2011."

The men may have overcome social and religious obstacles, but they have yet to navigate the bureaucratic hurdles that await: the Hindu groom, identified in an Associated Press story as Sanjay Shah, a 42-year-old social worker who lives in Britain, plans to return home and take his spouse with him.

Pant said that Pink Mountain Tour Company--a GLBT travel service that he also established--has already made plans to host two additional weddings in Nepal, one for an American lesbian couple and one for another transnational family, an Arab-Filipino couple. The travel company was started earlier this year, with an eye to the international same-sex wedding market.

Gays in India are still celebrating the victory of no longer being treated as criminals--or subjected to crushing blackmail demands--following the July 2, 2009, High Court verdict that scrubbed anti-gay language from Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Family parity remains outside of the grasp of LGBT Indians, but simply not being persecuted remains a cause for joy.

"It does mean a lot. People don’t avoid us these days," Anshuman Bludagoti told the Associated Press for an article on the occasion’s first anniversary. That joy is tinged with apprehension, however, as the country’s Supreme Court has yet to confirm the High Court’s finding.

Social pressures also remain. Only two days after the first same-sex wedding in the Indian state Manipur last March, the families of the two men who had wed called the police in to convince them to split up, lest their marriage stain their families’ honors.

The two men were wed on March 25, reported the India Gazette that same day. The 25-year-old groom--identified only as Sandip--referred to his 28-year-old male spouse Nikhil as his "wife," and told the media, "We are indeed happy."

But though the men had been together for six years, their marriage displeased their families so much that they went to the police for help in breaking up the marriage, which ended on March 27.

Though so much time has elapsed since India’s High Court struck down the law that criminalized physical intimacy between consenting adults of the same gender, anti-gay religious leaders continue to press for the Indian Supreme Court to reverse the High Court’s finding, according to a July 2 Associated Press article.

Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.

source: EDGEBoston