Lalvenhima Hmar is MNF Candidate in Bypoll

Aizawl, Jan 31 : Mizo National Front (MNF), the main opposition party in Mizoram, on Wednesday said that Lalvenhima Hmar would be their candidate for the bypoll to Chalfilh assembly seat to be held on February 23.

Lalvenhima Hmar had contested from the constituency in the 2008 assembly polls and lost to Chawngtinthanga of the Congress by a margin of 543 votes.

Chawngtinthanga secured 4,924 votes while Hmar secured 4,381 votes out of the 13,207 votes polled with seven candidates in the fray.

The then MNF candidate J C Chhuanliana managed to bag 3,352 votes and stood third in the contest.

Hmar contested the 2008 elections as Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) candidate and later joined People's Conference (PC) party, the breakaway group of MPC which merged with MNF last year.

With the announcement of candidate by the MNF, all the major political parties in the state, excepting the ruling Congress, have announced their official nominees for the coming by-poll.

Apathy, Red Tape Hit Border Trade

Champhai, Jan 31 : Only one official consignment of goods has passed through Zokhawthar border trade route in Mizoram between India and Myanmar since its opening in 2004.

The exporter was H.B. Manhleia, the then president of Importers & Exporters Syndicate, Mizoram.

Asked why his inaugural consignment was not followed for furthering his business, Manhleia said many issues cropped up which were stumbling blocks for him and his colleagues.

Customs officials told this correspondent that according to the Centre’s importing rules, any food or agricultural item will have to be issued a certificate of country of origin along with a phytosanitary certificate.

The matter of phytosanitary certification, which is a must, could not be easily accessed earlier, but since March last year, the Centre has notified three officials for issuing it. However, till date no action has been taken by the state to set up a full-fledged office for the purpose at Zokhawthar.

Besides, no full-scale trade can happen without proper roads on both sides, capable of handling trade traffic. At the moment, what is called border trade is only a variation of barter trade.

Goods can only be brought across the border on carts or as headloads across the bridge on river Tiau.

According to the official notification, these goods are mostly local agricultural produce. However, at the moment, the headloads carried across include all kinds of electronic items, textiles, utensils and appliances, packaged food items, fresh food, cigarettes, mostly of Chinese make, and livestock. None of these though are on the list of items permitted for official import through Zokhawtharbut.

According to the customs officials, goods going out of India illegally through this sector include fertilisers, medicines and pseudoephedrine.

Since the border is largely porous and unmanned, and can be easily crossed, preventing it is challenging.

Despite fertiliser, pharmaceutical and life-saving drugs being on the permitted list of exports by the Indian government, bureaucratic hurdles between the two countries have led to illegal movement of these goods. According to local people, unless the government addresses these serious issues, only a small group of people would benefit illegally from whatever so-called trade that remains at Zokhawthar.

Arunachal Tribe Helps in TB Research Breakthrough

Students take part of the "World TB Day" rally.

A small Arunachal sub-tribe has helped U.S. scientists made a major breakthrough in tuberculosis research, giving them new insight on how TB remains a global epidemic causing 1.9 million deaths every year.

Studies carried on the people of Arunachal’s Idu-Mishmis tribe, suffering from this dreaded disease, have discovered a possible reason for the resistance of tuberculosis, said the scientists from the Stanford University and Forsyth Institute.

According to results of the study published in the prestigious “Science Translational Medicine” journal, this is because of the ability of the tuberculosis bacteria to infiltrate and settle down in a particular class of stem cell in the bone marrow.

By doing so, the bacteria take advantage of the body’s own mechanisms of self-renewal.

“Cancer scientists have noted that self-renewing stem cells like these in the bone marrow have properties -- such as natural drug resistance, infrequent division and a privileged immune status -- that make them resistant to many types of treatment,” said Dean Felsher, MD, PhD, professor of oncology and of pathology.

Not only did the scientists find genetic material from the bacteria inside the stem cells, they were also able to isolate active bacteria from the cells of human patients with tuberculosis who had undergone extensive treatment for the disease.

“We now need to learn how the bacteria find and infect this tiny population of stem cells, and what triggers it to reactivate years or decades after successful treatment of the disease,” said postdoctoral scholar Bikul Das, from the Stanford University, and lead author of the study.

The researchers and doctors conducted free general medical camps in five villages of Arunachal Pradesh in India and gave free medicines to all patients belonging to the Idu-Mishmis sub tribe.

This effort led to identification of individuals who had TB, and successfully completed drug treatment.

From these individuals, the team isolated the CD271+ stem cells, and found evidence of dormant TB bacteria in those stem cells.

These results supported Das’s laboratory and Campos-Neto’s animal study evidence that dormant TB hide in the CD271+ stem cells, the press statement said.

The findings raise the possibility that other infectious agents may employ similar “wolf-in-stem-cell-clothing” tactics.

And, although any new human treatments are likely to still be years away, they suggest a new possible target in the fight against tuberculosis, which infects nearly 2.2 billion people worldwide.

The study was carried in collaboration with scientists from the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge; Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto; and RIWATCH (Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditions Cultures and Heritage).

Ista Pulu, a Doctor belonging to Idu Mishimi community, and Vijay Swami, Director of RIWATCH are the co-authors of the paper.

Deepjyoti Kalita, a Doctor from Guwahati Medical College who participated in research study and Lab work at Roing is also a co-author from north east India.

The study as to “why TB treated patients remain sensitive to TB tests for life” made a breakthrough, “the results now will have direct implications in anti-TB drug development and explain why it is so difficult to treat active and latent TB” said the RIWATCH release.

This medical research has brought the Idu-Mishmi people and Arunachal on the world map.

The BlackBerry Z10 is Here

Finally BlackBerry Z10 has been officially launched. The flagship BlackBerry 10 smartphone is here with a 4.2-inch display with a pixel density of 356ppi, an 8-megapixel camera rear and a 2-megapixel front cameras and all the connectivity options one can ask for in a smartphone. The BlackBerry Z10 runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor in concert with 2GB of RAM. There is also 16GB of internal memory along with a microSD card slot. And yeah, the battery is removable too!

Read on for the detailed specifications or check out the BlackBerry Z10 review from our brothers at BGR Classic.

• Processor: Dual-core 1.5GHz
• Display: 4.2-inch, 4 point multi-touch LCD display, 1280 x 768 pixel resolution at 356 DPI, Touch On Lens
• Camera: 8-megapixel rear facing camera, auto=focus, 5X digital zoom, 1080p HD video recording; 2-megapixel front facing camera, 3X digital zoom, 720p HD video recording
• Memory: 2GB RAM, 16GB Internal Storage, hot swappable microSD slot
• WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4/5GHz
• GPS: Assisted, Autonomous, and Simultaneous GPS
• Battery: 1800mAh Removable; Talk Time: up to 10 hours on 3G; Standby Time: up to 305 hours on 3G, up to 316 hours on 2G; Audio Playback: up to 60 hours; Video PlayBack: up to 11 hours
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Proximity, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor
• Connectivity: NFC ・microUSB ・microHDMI-Out ・Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy
• Size (LxWxD): 130 x 65.6 x 9 mm

13 Mizoram Polling Stations Declared Sensitive

Aizawl, Jan 30 : Thirteen polling stations out of a total of 29 in Chalfilh Assembly constituency, where by-election is scheduled to be held on 23 February, have been identified as 'sensitive', an official statement today said.

The statement said that North Khawlek, Daido, Vanbawng, North East Tlangnuam, Lamherh, Khawlian-I, Khawlian-II, Suangpuilawn-I, Suangpuilawn-II, Phuaibuang-I, Phuaibuang-II, Zawngin and Luangpawn polling stations were declared by the election department as 'sensitive' polling stations.

Meeting of the District Level Standing Committee on Election, chaired by Aizawl district deputy commissioner Dr Franklin Laltinkhuma was informed that elavorate arrangements have been made for the by-polls.

The constituency was divided into three sectors and each sector would be supervised by a sectoral magistrate.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the concerned departments, NGOs, political parties and Mizoram People's Forum (MPF), a church-sponsored election watch dog.

PM Acknowledges Mizo CM's Case

Aizawl, Jan 30 : Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh has acknowledged Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla's letter sent to him regarding interstate boundary issues in the Northeast region, official sources here said.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla had in November last year sent a letter to Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh, requesting him to take necessary steps to settle the boundary disputes among Northeastern states.

Lal Thanhawla in his letter mentioned that when any new state was born from Assam, its boundary was not settled instantly, resulting to a dispute over the interstate boundary till today.

He asked the Prime Minister that in order to bring progress and development that may reache each and everyone North Eastern state, the Central government may take steps boldly, and to settle the boundary disputes immediately without any partiality.

It can be mentioned here that the border disputes among the North Eastern states have been, to some extent, responsible for creating differences between two groups of people across the borders or misunderstanding between two neighbouring governments or even to the degree of exchanging of fire between security forces of the two neighbouring states.

Border disputes between Assam and Nagaland, Meghalaya and Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and Mizoram and Assam.

Manipur and Nagaland border dispute at Jessami in Ukhrul district is yet to be solved.

Clashes of villagers from both the sides have been happening from time to time.

The latest of violent incident in the Nagaland-Manipur border occurred as recent as a month ago.

The Nagaland-Assam border dispute at Merapani area has been a cause for worry.

Burning of houses and even killings have been occurring occasionally with no solution in sight.

Meghalaya-Assam border dispute at Langpih is the subject of a long-running dispute between the Meghalaya and Assam state governments.

Activist Details Northeast India’s Plight

His talk emphasized a lack of political unity in a state under a form of martial law.

By Sindhu Gnanasambandan

Photo: Sarah Blauser

Indian activist Erando Leichombam described the desperate state of Northeast India under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in a talk Monday evening. AFSPA, instituted in 1958, allows security forces from the Indian Army to search, arrest, and shoot anybody suspected of insurrection, placing Manipur and its neighboring states under a form of martial law. Leichombam, the founder of the Manipur International Center, estimated that there is about one soldier for every seven civilians.
In highlighting the brutality against civilians, Leichombam spoke of his own run-in with the army.
“Once I was at gunpoint. I was driving my car peacefully and this cop turns out of nowhere and points a gun at me, simply because he wanted to bully me,” he said.

Leichombam said he worries that the people of Manipur have passively accepted their condition.
“When I go back to Manipur, what I see is that people are getting used to this lifestyle of being humiliated constantly. They are getting used to the idea of very nasty cops, kicking and ordering them around, harassing them,” he said.

The situation is exacerbated by India’s rampant corruption, he said. According to Leichombam, 90 percent of the state’s funding and revenue comes from the Indian central government.

“The local people, the local politicians—everybody is dependent on the money. That generates a lack of political accountability, and that is why you don’t see the local politicians or the local leaders standing up against this act,” he said.

Manipur has just two seats in a parliament of 552 members, making it difficult for the state to wield significant political power.

For Leichombam, the issue boils down to a lack of unity among the Northeast Indian people.

“There is no political unity, there is no political consensus, so my feeling is that people need to wake up and be united and build political will around the repeal of this act,” he said in an interview with the Maroon.

“Yes, insurgency does happen. Sometimes insurgency comes with a lot of violence, which I totally repudiate. When there is some sort of fearmongering in society, the way to find peace is not by imposing it, but by really employing the core values of what our democracy is.”

Intricacies of Kuki and Naga Ethnocentrism in Manipur

By Nehginpao Kipgen

Renowned social scientists James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, in their article "Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity," assert that ethnic cleavages emerge because of the construction of identities for specific political purposes. This phenomenon partially holds true in the case of Kukis and Nagas in Manipur.

Manipur, a Northeast Indian state with a population of more than 2.7 million, is a home to three major groups -- Kuki, Naga, and Meitei. While the Meiteis, who primarily settle in the four valley districts, clamor for territorial integrity of the state, the Kukis and the Nagas are calling for separate administrative arrangements in the hill areas.

Identity is one major source of conflict between Kukis and Nagas. In the process of identity formation, a number of tribes, including Anal, Maring, Monsang and Moyon, have been assimilated into the Naga fold either by coercion or other forms of persuasion. Another major source of the conflict is land dispute.

Ethnic violence from 1992 to 1997 between the two ethnic groups resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people, destruction of thousands of homes, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people. While the physical violence has ceased, tensions between the two groups still lingers. The simmering tension has led to different forms of agitation from both sides, claims and counterclaims.

The violent conflict initially started between the Thadou and Maring tribes, both of whom were recognized as Kuki during the British colonial administration. While the casualty of the Nagas is unclear, the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM), apex civil body of the Kuki people in Manipur, claims that more than 961 Kukis were killed, 360 villages uprooted, and 100,000 people rendered homeless.

The most significant bone of contention between the two groups is land dispute. The Kuki National Front (KNF), later joined by the Kuki National Organization (KNO), demands Kukiland to be carved out of the five hill districts of Manipur -- Churachandpur, Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul.

The demand for Kukiland is a direct challenge to a demand for greater or southern Nagaland by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland -- Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM). The goal of the Naga militant outfit is to amalgamate the four hill districts of Manipur -- Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul -- and to form greater Nagaland by merging with neighboring Nagaland state.

The intention to drive out Kukis from the four hill districts led to "ethnic cleansing" by the NSCN-IM. Though the initial violence was triggered by militant outfits in Chandel district, it spread over to other parts of the state, and to Nagaland state and Myanmar as well.

To restore peace and normalcy, KIM puts forward two important demands to the Nagas and the Indian government. First, it demands the Nagas, especially the NSCN-IM, to formally apologize for their heinous crimes of the 1990s and perform Kuki customary rites such as paying Luongman (corpse price) and Tol-theh (cleaning the house for shedding human blood). Second, KIM demands the Indian government to rehabilitate the loss of lives and properties and provide adequate compensation to thousands of displaced victims.

Naga leaders, particularly the NSCN-IM, have not responded to the demands of KIM. It is unclear if the Naga leaders, particularly the United Naga Council (UNC), apex civil body of the Nagas in Manipur, and NSCN-IM, have the intention to make similar demands from the Kukis to perform Naga customary rites for their own deaths.

While the Meiteis oppose creation of either Kuki homeland or greater Nagaland, the Kukis and Nagas are evidently unable to establish any kind of coordination or cooperation. This is partly due to the simmering tension remaining in the aftermath of the 1992-1997 clashes. The wounds of past miseries are apparently yet to be healed.

The tension has become deeply communal now and has reached a point of mutual distrust that makes it difficult for civil society organizations to initiate any congenial dialogue between the two groups.

It is pertinent to ask whether the government sees the conflict as an internal matter for the concerned ethnic groups to resolve among themselves or considers this a too-insignificant issue to intervene.

While the tension lingers, the Indian government engages in a political dialogue with the NSCN-IM, ignoring calls by the Kuki armed groups for political dialogue despite maintaining Suspension of Operation since 2005. It remains unclear whether this is an institutional problem on the part of the Kuki armed organizations, or another manifestation of one-sided treatment toward the NSCN-IM.

The Nagas' present demand is a continuation of decades of movement. Similarly, the Kuki National Assembly, a political body established in 1946, submitted a memorandum to the first Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on March 24, 1960, demanding the "immediate" creation of a Kuki state comprising all the Kuki inhabited areas of Manipur.

When there are competing or overlapping demands in the same geographical areas, it is possible that resolving conflict with one group and sidelining the other could engender more problems.

The danger became more apparent with the Kuki State Demand Committee (KSDC) on Jan. 21, 2013, announcing a series of agitation including "Quit Kukiland" movement and a boycott call for any official program of India including the Republic Day.

The KSDC demands that the Indian government begins political dialogue with Kuki armed groups or withdraw its local authorities from the Kuki inhabited areas. The KSDC said it would resume statewide public blockade that was withdrawn in December 2012, and initiate a plebiscite in the Kuki areas for political resolution.

Though there seems no quick fix to the ongoing problems of the Kukis and the Nagas, it has become an issue that cannot be ignored for too long. However, in any attempt to achieve amicable political solution, it would entail participation from both ethnic groups and other concerned parties, including the central and state governments.

Nehginpao Kipgen is general secretary of the U.S.-based Kuki International Forum. His research focuses on the politics of South and Southeast Asia. His academic article entitled "Politics of Ethnic Conflict in Manipur" focusing on the Kukis and Nagas will be published in South Asia Research journal by Sage (London) in February 2013.