Mizoram Municipal Poll Candidates Campaigning Through SMS

Aizawl, Oct 27 : Refrained from door-to-door campaigning, candidates for the first Aizawl Municipal Council (AMC) elections are campaigning through interviews on local television networks and by sending text messages on mobile phones.

A diktat from the Mizoram People's Forum (MPF), a Presbyterian Church sponsored election watchdog, has forced political parties and candidates to refrain from door-to-door campaigning to take alternative routes to woo voters.

Candidates for the 18-ward AMC polls, to be held on November 3, are now declaring their manifesto on TV channels.

A candidate said that he has been using text messages to ask voters within his ward to vote for him as he was not allowed to personally meet them in their homes by the MPF.

The MPF has also fixed the number of banners and posters to be displayed by a candidate within his ward and also the number of copies of the pamphlets and appeals 'to cut down election expenditure'.

SMS service providers like Aizawl-based Mobcom are doing lucrative business with major political parties, especially the ruling Congress and the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), paying for their service to reach the voters.

"We are sending around seven lakh SMS’s in a week now and we hope that it would be picking up soon," Remruata Varte of the Mobcom sms service said.

Blast in Assam Causes 4 Passenger Train Coaches to Derail; No Casualties

Guwahati, Oct 27 : A bomb blast in India's restive northeast state of Assam, Haflong derailed four coaches of a passenger train on Wednesday, but there were no casualties, an official said.

The train was moving at slow speed in a hilly section of North Cachar district, about 200 miles (300 kilometres) south of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, said S. Hajong, a railroad spokesman.

The blast blew up a portion of the track, but there were no injuries among the nearly 250 people on board the train, Hajong said.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast.

Bhaskar Mahanta, an inspector-general of police, said it was difficult to pinpoint which rebel group was involved in the blast.

Two major insurgent groups, the rival factions of the Dima Halam Daogah, have been holding peace talks with the government, he said.

However, two small rebel groups have emerged in the region in recent months, he told The Associated Press.

The separatists accuse the government of exploiting the area's natural resources while doing little for the indigenous people, most of whom are ethnically closer to the people of Myanmar and China than to the rest of India.

Baby Elephant Killed With Spears, Sticks On Camera

Jagiroad, Morigaon: A day after the elephant was officially declared a Heritage Animal, entitling it to the same sort of protection as the tiger, a video has captured villagers in Assam beating a baby elephant to death.

The three-year-old calf had was injured and had been abandoned by his herd. Villagers are seen in the video riding on the injured calf, while policemen watch.  

The villagers then attacked the calf with spears and sticks till he died.

The conflict between elephants and humans in Assam has been escalating. With forests widely encroached, elephants are forced to stray out of their habitat and sometimes destroy paddy fields, prompting attacks by villagers.

A fortnight ago, four elephants were found dead in tea gardens near Kaziranga. Experts said they seemed to have been poisoned.

Cholera in Assam Tea Gardens; 16 Killed, 150 Affected

Guwahati, Oct 27 : At least 16 people have died and up to 150 affected in a deadly cholera outbreak in Assam, with most casualties reported from tea garden areas, officials said Wednesday.

"Most casualties were reported from tea garden areas. Prima facie it appears the victims were down with cholera due to poor hygiene conditions," said Anup Bhattacharyya, a senior health official.

The victims were mostly from six tea gardens in Biswanath Chariali area in Sonitpur district, about 230 km north of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

The deaths have been reported since late Tuesday, although most victims were down with the disease for the past week.

"The problem is the victims were brought to hospitals very late, once their condition deteriorated. They were either ignoring the disease or resorting to self-medication, with some even relying on quacks," said a doctor at Biswanath Chariali Civil Hospital.

Although no definitive cause of the cholera outbreak has been determined, doctors said the epidemic was a result of poor sanitation, unhygienic living conditions and contaminated drinking sources.

"There is lack of clean drinking water facilities in most tea gardens with the plantation management least bothered about providing basic amenities to workers, leading to an outbreak of cholera," said Shankar Tassa, a tea garden community leader.

A team of doctors and paramedics have been rushed to the area to deal with the disease.
"A general health alert has been sounded and all steps taken to deal with the outbreak," Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Vomiting, dehydration and watery diarrhoea are the symptoms of cholera.

Nagaland's Kitchen Open To All

By Raisa Daimary

From the green hills of Nagaland to Green Park of Delhi, Nagaland's Kitchen has made a momentous journey across the miles and opened its doors to the rest of the country.

Nagaland boasts 30 tribes each speaking a different language and equally varied are their cuisine, weaves, music and war cry.

Nagaland's kitchen integrates this diversity in a tasteful Thaali.

The walls are decorated with spears; headdress and accessories made of shells and beads of the different tribes.

The pictures on the walls give you a glimpse of Nagaland and the interiors done with wood let you feel right at home.

The kitchen is personally run by Chubamanew Longkumer, Managing Director, and his sisters Washimenla Longkumer and Tuluyinla Longkumer ensuring authenticity of taste. They also own the Naga food stall at Dilli Haat.

On being as to why they took a chance of opening a restaurant based on food that might require an acquired taste, Chubamanew said, "Northern Indians and even foreigners liked our food at Dilli Haat and many people urged us to open a restaurant dedicated to Naga food so it was inevitable."

Akin to the Southeast Asian style of cooking a number of the dishes incorporate fermented ingredients and a novice might have to culture the taste buds for it and probably also the nose for it. Culinary historian and author of NE Belly - The Basic North East Cook Book and authority on North East cuisine added that, "Their cuisine is very different from our Indian main cuisine.

The food has a very distinct flavour and it is similar to a lot of South East Asian cuisine because of it lies in that belt. The Naga eat health y food and most of their food is very organic and basic with minimalistic spices. His advice to the adventurous foodie, "They must try the meat because some of the roasts that they make are one of the best in the world."

The cuisine comes off as a delicacy fare and vegetables and meat are usually boiled and hardly fried. The ingredients are simple, flavourful and hot.

This is where the Raja Mircha - the hottest chili in the world is put to good use. Widely eaten in the North East, this chili finds a special place in a Naga kitchen. The cuisine is known for exotics meats but pork is best loved and cooked in many ways.

The famous pork with bamboo shoot forms the common dish among the Naga people. Smoked, dried and fermented meat and fish are also eaten. The menu offers the Naga food enthusiast all that he could ask for… Meat cooked in the Naga Style, Even Smoked eel, with the hot chutney on the side and boiled vegetables to go.

Manipur Militant Leader Arrested?

Imphal, Oct 27 : A sense of uncertainty has been building up in Manipur around unconfirmed reports of the arrest of one of the country's most wanted militants - the chief of United National Liberation Front (UNLF) which is the region's biggest militant outfit.

In a clear shift of policy over the last one year, Bangladesh has handed over to India one of the country's most wanted separatist leaders.

There are unconfirmed reports that Rajkumar Meghen, the chief of Northeast's oldest armed resistance groups the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), is also supposed to have been handed over. If that is true then this is probably one of the biggest arrests in the country in recent times.

However, there is no clarity yet. For Manipur this may have implications.

"People are concerned about Mehgen's whereabouts. Not that they have any love for him but the consequences of anything to happen to him would be absolutely bad for the general population," said Prof Amar Yumnam, Department of Economics, Manipur University.

For years, the family of Rajkumar Meghen has claimed they have no ties with him but now they have approached the UN to trace his whereabouts.

The appeal even has a veiled threat.

"Who knows Manipur maybe in big trouble if his whereabouts are going to be kept secret forever because he belongs to an armed group and his lower cadres may take drastic action," said Meghen's son Chinglen.

Over the last two months the outfit has suffered heavy losses. If UNLF can be convinced to hold talks, it's a matter of time before other groups give in - an opportunity Manipur perhaps wouldn't want to miss.

Mizoram Govt to Repatriate Brus From Nov 18

Aizawl, Oct 27 : The Mizoram government is gearing up to repatriate the Bru refugees, lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura, from November 18 onwards, state Home Minister R Lalzirliana said here today.

''Preparations for the much-delayed Bru repatriation are almost complete. The state government has taken every step to repatriate them from the relief camps on November 18,'' Lalzirliana told reporters.

According to him, the first batch comprising 50 families would be repatriated to Kolalian village in Mamit district in western Mizoram.

Temporary makeshift shelters would be made for the repatriated refugees as the refugees insisted that they would construct their own houses with the housing fund allotted to them. Each family would be given Rs 38,000 for housing.

Despite some Bru organisations protesting the ''unconditional'' repatriation, the Mizoram Home Minister expressed hope that all the bonafide citizens of Mizoram would return to their ancestral homes.

The Home Minister said the refugees would be resettled in three districts of Lunglei, Mamit and Kolasib. Villages for their resettlement have been identified and the required fund for the repatriation has been sanctioned.

According to him, the repatriated Brus would be settled in 36 villages in Mamit district, five villages each in Kolasib and Lunglei districts.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had asked the Mizoram government to repatriate the refugees by October 18 this year. The Mizoram government sought one month's time after the deadline due to unprecedented monsoon-related disasters in western Mizoram.

Meanwhile, there has been a split among the refugee organisations over the repatriation.

''The repatriation of Bru refugees has virtually stalled due to a split among refugee leaders belonging to Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) and other NGOs,'' sources said. Virtually declaring a revolt against Elvis Chorky, president of MBDPF, three NGOs under the leadership of Binoy Reang have written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention to remove the stalemate.

They have also staged a demonstration in front of the Dasda RD block office in Kanchanpur subdivision on Sunday to vent their grievances. In the letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the NGOs had mentioned the plight of the refugees sheltered in six relief camps since a long time.

The letter has been jointly submitted by MBDPF, Young Bru Association (YBA) and Bru Displaced Welfare Organisation (BDWO) in protest against the unconditional repatriation of Bru refugees and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) against the will of majority of the Bru people.

Earlier, the BDWO had expressed its dismay at the ongoing preparation for the settlement of refugees after they were being repatriated to Mizoram.

According to some officials, the split among Bru refugee leaders has virtually marred the prospect of return of refugees though the Centre had been directing the Mizoram government to take all the bonafide refugees back.

Mr Chidambaram during his last visit to Mizoram had made it clear that all the refugees should be repatriated by the end of this year.

Over 37,000 Reang tribal refugees have taken shelter in six camps in north Tripura, adjacent to Mizoram, since 1997 when they fled western Mizoram following ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a forest official by Bru militants.

Similar incident took place on November 13, 2009, when suspected Bru gunmen killed a Mizo youth of Bungthuam village in western Mizoram, triggering fresh ethnic violence. Hundreds of Bru families fled to Tripura and joined the refugees already lodged there.

Northeast India Rebels ‘Spy’ For China

By Nishit Dholabhai

New Delhi, Oct 27 : Beijing is using the Northeast militant groups to gain information about Indian Army deployment in Arunachal Pradesh, a National Investigation Agency probe has claimed.

Sources said National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) leader Anthony Shing, picked up from Nepal and arrested in Bihar earlier this month, had told investigators he had provided information to China on the deployment of the Agni missile in Arunachal.

The Agni-II long-range missile is said to have been deployed somewhere in the Northeast. “Shing visited China six times in the past year,” an official said.

Following Shing’s arrest, another “contact” who lives near the China-India border has been “activated” by Chinese authorities, the sources said. The “contact”, who belongs to a powerful Naga tribe, apparently has ties with the NSCN-IM and is married to a Chinese woman.

Shing was the NSCN-IM’s China point man and a major weapons procurer from Thailand and China for the Naga outfit and other Northeast rebel groups.

The NSCN-IM has been in touch with Beijing’s ruling communists since the 1960s when its general secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah, trekked to China at least three times via Myanmar’s jungles with his associates.

It’s unclear whether the secrets, if any, have been leaked to China with the approval of Muivah at a time he is engaged in peace talks with Delhi. The Naga outfit, though, is believed to be keeping its options open in case the talks with the Centre fail and its cadres have to return to the jungles.

Doubts, however, persist regarding Shing’s claim. A senior government official said that even if some information was passed on, it was probably of a trivial nature.

Chinese intelligence agencies are known to be cultivating contacts like Shing and using them to get information on the Indian armed forces deployed in the Northeast.

The NSCN-IM’s rival Naga group, the NSCN (Khaplang), too procures arms and ammunition from China. So does Assam’s Ulfa whose chief, Paresh Barua, is believed to be shuttling between Yunan in China and locations in northwestern Myanmar.

Shing was deported to Nepal from Thailand on September 29 and later arrested by the National Investigation Agency. Sources said he probably had bank accounts in Bangladesh and Thailand, and was carrying a Bangladeshi passport.

Immediately after his arrest, the NSCN-IM’s special envoy, V.S. Atem, had written an angry protest letter to the Centre. But sources said the outfit soon realised the harm done to the talks and its chairman Isak Chishi Swu wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — and Muivah to the home ministry — explicitly “withdrawing” that letter.

Youths from Naga NGOs demonstrated in Delhi yesterday alleging the government was not taking the peace talks seriously.