After HPC-D Threats, Mizo NGO Leaders Resign

Aizawl, Apr 22 : Office-bearers of 16 branches under Tuisual group Young Mizo Association (YMA) today decided to resign unless central YMA finds a peaceful solution with the HPC-D, which had "forcibly dissolved" the YMA branches and ordered the office-bearers to surrender their seals before the end of April.

"The YMA branches, in a joint meeting at Sakawrdai, decided to submit our seals unless the central YMA makes peace with the Hmar People's Convention-Democratic (HPC-D) before April 25," H Lalzarliana, Tuisual group YMA secretary said over phone.

As reported earlier, the underground outfit, irked by alleged remarks of central YMA president T Sangkunga during his public speech at Ramhlun Sports Complex on January 30, served a diktat on April 17 to all YMA branches under its (HPC-D) demanded area to resign.

The central YMA's appeal to all the targetted YMA branches to defy the militants' diktat, to remain calm and not panic, failed to allay the fears as the YMA branches unanimously agreed to call it quits than "functioning at the militants' gun point."

Tuisual group area in particular is the hotbed of the Hmar militants. Accusing the central YMA leader of "stirring the hornet's nest" by making "anti-HPC-D remarks," the group YMA also demanded an apology for saying what a central YMA president should never have said in public.

In its four-point resolution passed on Saturday, the Tuisual group YMA also accused the central YMA leaders of interfering in politics and turning the non-political organisation into a political platform and even causing an obstacle to the restoration of peace in the HPC-D demanded area.

"We demand the central YMA leaders to stop talking politics in their public speeches that could be detrimental to the unity among different Mizo tribes.

YMA is a non-political organisation and the leaders should exercise their power and function under the YMA constitution," the Tuisual group YMA resolution said. While the entire 16 villages (or YMA branches) of Tuisual group YMA fall under the HPC-D demanded area for Hmars autonomy, the three other groups have only some branches coming under it.

Some branches under the three other groups are yet to make their decision whether to follow the HPC-D's diktat. Meanwhile, the central YMA leaders are said to have communicated with a faction of the HPC-D that served the dissolution order. "After several attempts, the central YMA leaders finally manage to communicate with the H Zosangbera faction of the HPC-D which served the order to the YMA branches," a reliable source said.

A meeting was likely to take place on Sunday and the central YMA leaders were optimistic of an amicable solution to the imbroglio.

According to intelligent sources, the HPC-D had recently split into two factions - H Zosangbera faction and Lalhmingthanga Sinate faction. The former is said to have more cadres and is militarily more powerful influential than the latter.

Meanwhile, the central YMA president has strongly denied saying, "We (the central YMA) have implored chief minister Lal Thanhawla and his ministers not to upgrade the Sinlung Hills Development Council to an autonomous district council, and we are very happy that they have agreed not to."

"The central YMA has never discussed the Sinlung Hills Development Council issue. This is not an agenda of the central YMA," a statement from the central YMA said.

Local YMA of Ramhlun Sports Complex, where the central YMA president allegedly made the remarks, has also come to the rescue of him.

"The central YMA president did not address a public meeting at Ramhlun Sports Complex on January 30 in the first place. He did on January 26, but did not make the said remarks. He was totally misquoted," the branch YMA's statement said.

Athletes From Northeast Ready For London Olympics

By Devesh Gupta

New Delhi, Apr 22 : After their success at the Commonwealth games, athletes from northeast are all geared up to participate in the London Olympics 2012.

Pugilist Shiva Thapa, who hails from Assam's Guwahati region made the country proud after becoming the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the London Olympics.

The 18-year-old boxer defeated Syria's Wessam Salamana 18-11 in the 56kg weight category, in the final qualifiers of the Asian Olympic qualifiers tournament in Kazakhstan to book himself a ticket for the London Olympics along with seven other boxers.

"The journey has been really tough for me. Boxing has not been an easy sport. But if you work hard, you will be successful. My family has always supported me and I have worked hard. I wanted to box in Olympics and London was my target. And I have achieved it. I will try to win medals there," said Thapa.

Shiva was recently felicitated at a function in New Delhi where he was awarded a cash prize of Rs two lakh.

The boxer gives credit to his parents and coaches for his success.

His parents are happy and wish him success in the Olympics.

"He needs to maintain his momentum. We want the entire country to pray for him so that he brings an Olympic medal," said Padma Thapa, Shiva Thapa's father.

"My brother did it. He is just 18 and has made it to Olympics. We are proud of him and wish that he wins there," said Kavita Thapa, Shiva Thapa's sister.

Along with Shiva Thapa, hopes are also pinned on the five-time world-boxing champion MC Mary Kom. Though she is yet to go through the qualifiers, people are hopeful she will make it to the Olympics.

"Mary Kom is a fantastic athlete. She is very eager to win. Even after giving birth to two children, she came back to boxing and won the world championship. She is very committed and highly motivated about winning," said G S Sandhu, coach, Indian Olympic Boxing Team.

Shiva Thapa and Mary Kom are not just sporting icons, but they also serve as a source of inspiration to upcoming sportspersons across the country.

Both these boxers come from a humble background.

They have practiced day and night to achieve their dreams.

"We get to learn so much from Mary Kom while they train. They are one of the best boxers and I want to be like them," said Shamin Bhanu, boxer, Manipur.

"I want to tell the youth to train hard so that they can become good boxers and represent Manipur," said Dhanchandra, boxer, Manipur.

Youth from the northeast are extremely talented sportspersons. Though Baichung Bhutia and Sunil Chetri are common names, but many like Renu bala Chanu, Somdev Debburman, Sandhya Rani too have made the country proud with their success.

Manipur To Check Recruitment Of Child Soldiers

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

The Manipur government has taken a serious view of the recruitment of child soldiers by some underground organisations.

The Manipur government has taken a serious view of the recruitment of child soldiers by some underground organisations. Talking to Naharolgi Thoudang, a vernacular newspaper, G. Gaikhangam, Home Minister, said that since mature and educated persons would not like to join insurgent outfits, the frustrated groups were targeting children.

He had directed Director-General of Police Ratnakar Bralal to keep all police stations in the State on alert.

He said it was unfortunate that boys as young as 12 were lured and recruited by underground organisations.

He sought the cooperation of the parents and people at large to check this malaise. Most of the parents, whose children were missing, were not coming out in the open.

Unknown callers, identifying themselves as members of banned outfits, had warned them from going to the press or the police.

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Tea Will Be Declared India's National Drink

Jorhat, Apr 22 : Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday said tea would be declared as national drink by April next year.

"The drink would be accorded national drink status by April 17 next year to coincide with the 212th birth anniversary of first Assamese tea planter and Sepoy Mutiny leader Maniram Dewan," Ahluwalia said while addressing the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of the Assam Tea Planters Association here.

It was Maniram Dewan who was not only the first indigenous tea planter but also involved in the national movement, he said at the the Tocklai Experimental Station.

Tea will be declared national drink: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

"The other important reason is that half of the tea industry labour comprises women and is the largest employer in the organised sector," Ahluwalia added.

The Deputy Chairman said he would soon take up the matter with Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.

He said India is the largest producer and consumer of black tea in the world. According to ORG-India Tea Consumption Study, 83 per cent households in India consume tea and is the cheapest beverage in the world after water.

Ahluwalia urged tea planters and producers to emulate the path of coffee planters and go in for producing more varieties.

There are more than 20 varieties of coffee in the market but there are only two varieties of tea -- CTC and Orthodox -- and there was an urgent need to bring in more varieties, he said.

Ahluwalia stressed the need for brand identification of different varieties of tea which could be further popularised by the private sector.

He also announced that a tea-room of international standard 'Chai Bar', the first of its kind in the region, would be soon opened at the Gauhati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

The tea room with a world class ambiance will have a tea lounge along with a retail shop where more than 50 types of best quality tea would be on display, he added.

Ahluwalia asserted that economic growth of the North East was healthy and the region would soon witness a sea-change with proper connectivity not only between different states but also with South East Asian and East Asian nations.

Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said a special package for the tea industry would be announced to ensure its development.

"The tea industry is a village based industry which has played a pivotal role in the state's economy. It is heartening to note that the young generation in the industry is doing very well," Gogoi said.

There are many young tea planters and small tea growers in the state and "they should come forward as we are ready to help them in all possible way".

The meeting was presided by ATPA Chairman Atma Ram Kesera. ATPA, formed in 1937, is the oldest tea association of indigenous tea planters in the country.

Mizoram Gets Record-Breaking Matric Results

Aizawl, Apr 21 : Mizoram today recorded its best ever results in matriculation exams with the overall pass percentage touching an all-time high of 72.27 per cent.

The results of this year's high school leaving certificate examination, conducted by the Mizoram Board of Secondary Education (MBSE), set the record of the highest-ever pass percentage with 10989 out the 15206 candidates clearing the exam.

This year's pass percentage was 2.28 per cent higher than last year's 69.99 pass percentage.

"The results of HSLC 2012 announced by the Mizoram Board of School Education (MBSE) recorded 72.27 pass percentage, the highest ever since the MBSE came into existence from the Assam Board of Secondary Education," a source from the MBSE said.

The pass percentage of HSLC in Mizoram has kept increasing since the last five years, except in 2009 when the pass percentage decreased to 60.46% from the previous year's 60.46% 2009.

In 2010, the pass percentage was 66.60. "Last year's pass percentage was 69.99 percent. This year's results with 72.27 pass percentage is the highest since the MBSE conducted HSLC examinations in Mizoram," the source said.

Out of the 15206 candidates (7348 males and 7858 females) appeared, 10989 passed, among which 5640 were female. While 751 candidates attained distinction, 2363 passed in first division, 3703 in second division and 4127 in third division.

Compartmental chances were given to 377 candidates while 3840 candidates failed. Private schools outshined government-run schools, by recording a 90.28 percent of candidates passed, against government-run schools' 77.81 pass percentage.

Deficit schools witnessed 97.94 pass percentage while government-aided and lumpsum schools registered 79.34 and 78.13 pass percentages respectively. Girls outsmarted boys in the merit list, with 15 of the 20 candidates in the merit list being girls.

What’s Killing The Fish in Meghalaya

Govt refuses to accept that uranium mining is the cause, blames the locals for coal mining with toxic substances Ratnadip Choudhury

Shillong, Apr 21 : The death of a large number of fish in West Khasi Hills district since 5 April has caused more than a ripple in the state.

The Mukul Sangma-led Meghalaya government says preliminary investigations suggest that the death of fish in Ranikor river is due to ‘use of toxic substances by locals’ in coal mining.

The delay in solving the mystery has pitched the powerful Khasi Students Union (KSU) against the government. “We have collected samples of dead fish as well as river water from different locations and we will send it to an independent body,” says Daniel Khyriem, ksu President.

“There is a high chance the deaths are due to uranium radiation.” KSU alleges that a similar incident was reported in the 1990s during exploratory drilling of uranium in the West Khasi Hills. Deputy Chief Minister Bindo Lanong denies the charge.

“If uranium radiation had caused the deaths, all other aquatic animals should have been affected and there should have been lesions on the fish,” he says. “This was not the case.”

Meghalaya has huge reservoirs of coal and uranium, lending credence to both theories, especially among Khasi tribals.

The state government has now asked scientists from the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board to test the waters of Kynshi and Rilang rivers to ascertain the cause of contamination.

This eerie development comes at a time when Sangma is lauding his government’s initiative to increase fish production, The Meghalaya government had also recently launched an ambitious state aquaculture mission.

The worst affected rivers are the Ranikor, the Kynshi and Rilang.

There have been reports of radiation from uranium ore exploration in Porkut, Borosa in the district. Sources in the government do not rule out this.

We have collected samples of dead fish as well as river water from different locations. There is a high chance the deaths are due to uranium radiation”

Annually, Meghalaya imports around 15,000 metric tonne of fish. Finding the dead fish easily accessible, villagers initially carted them home to eat.

“But after they received reports that dead fish have been found in Kynshi and Rilang rivers, panic spread,” a local villager claimed. It is also said that several villagers of Ranikor area have been suffering from dysentery.

With reports reaching Shillong that the dead fish are being sold in nearby markets, the state government is about to issue an advisory not to consume the fish until the cause of death is ascertained, well-placed sources say.

Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka. ratnadip@tehelka.com

The Police Officer Who Turned Militant

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Apr 20 : A former deputy superintendent of police in Meghalaya has been keeping the force on its toes with a militant outfit he has launched. The police are struggling to contain a series of violent acts unleashed by the Garo National Liberation Army, and they have no clue about the whereabouts of its founder chairman, the former police officer.

Champion R Sangma, who had quit the police to float the outfit in 2009, was supposedly arrested by security forces in Mymensingh in Bangladesh, according to reports that surfaced in November 2011. There was also news that it was his obsession with Facebook and social networking sites that had made it possible for the security forces to nab him. But no one in the Meghalaya government or police is sure or wants to say anything about the supposed arrest, other than admitting that there has been no official confirmation from across the border.

Champion, whose real name is Pakchara R Sangma, is a postgraduate in philosophy from the Northeastern Hills University, Shillong. He was recruited to the Meghalaya Police Service as a DSP in 2004. But he remained on probation till 2009, until one day he disappeared. In early 2010, the police confirmed that the DySP, who had taken his service weapon, had set up an underground group.

The government is on record that during the probation period, his attendance was irregular, his behaviour and conduct was not satisfactory and he had failed to improve himself despite repeated warnings. Police records say he was a habitual drinker.

He hails from Songsak constituency in the backward East Garo Hills district, but the police do not have detailed records about his family background. Champion’s batch mates from the Northeastern Police Academy say he neither showed a militant streak nor carried the impression of a good policeman in the making. But, having trained in the elite academy, he was well-equipped with the latest methods of guerilla warfare and can handle sophisticated weapons.

His outfit, its strength estimated at roughly 150, has over the past few weeks burned down 14 coal-laden trucks, abducted at least 12 persons, mostly belonging to coal firms and construction companies, and killed an eight-year old girl in a grenade attack. It has also been using minor boys, both as militants and as couriers to deliver extortion notes.

The Meghalaya police have set the outfit a deadline for surrender, failing which there would be a major crackdown At the chief ministers’ meeting on internal security in Delhi, Mukul Sangma has sought more manpower and sophisticated weapons to wipe out the last remnants of terrorism, though he claimed that the overall law and order situation in Meghalaya was stable “barring a few pockets”. Whenever action is launched, he said, the militants slip through the border into Bangladesh.

Speaking from Shilong, state director-general of police N Ramachandran said they have launched an offensive against the GNLA. “The self-styled area commander of the gang that burnt the coal trucks has been already killed in an encounter, while commander-in-chief Sohan D Shira had a narrow escape during a raid on a major hideout,” Ramachandran said.

“We have also identified the main hideout of the GNLA inside the Dorama hills on the border of South Garo Hills and East Garo Hills districts. Security forces have closed in on it. We have information that there are about 100 boys there, quite a number of them minors, who are mostly unarmed. That is why we have given them a deadline, so that they do not unnecessarily get killed,” he said.

Amid the confusion over where the GNLA’s founder chairman is, Ramachandran asserts that the outfit has serious internal problems, with commander-in-chief Shira no longer inclined to follow Champion Sangma’s diktat. “There is definitely a rift in the GNLA between the chairman and C-in-C, and that is now an open secret,” said Ramachandran. He cited reports that the arrest of several of Champion’s loyalists, too, had roots in the ongoing rift. Security forces last week gunned down Jeany C Momin, “action commander” .

Champion, incidentally, is not the first policeman in Meghalaya to have quit to float a rebel outfit. In 2005, Peter Marak, a commando with the Special Operation Team in Meghalaya Police, had formed the Liberation of Achik Elite Force after quitting his job. He fought the Assembly polls that year, and lost.