Mumbai Police To Investigate Mizo Students Slur

Mumbai Police took note of the incident that was narrated by Kima in his story Dear Mumbai Police, can I buy you a cup of tea? on Firstpost.

Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner of Police Sadanand Date commented on the post that the force respects all Indians as equal and assured the author of a proper inquiry of the incident. The comment:

Mumbai Police personnel. AFP

“Hello Kima,
I received your post through a friend and have ordered an enquiry. This enquiry will be conducted by DCP Zone 2 Mr Nisar Tamboli 09870605999. You are requested to join this enquiry. We will certainly act against defaulting officers and staff on conclusion of this enquiry. You are free to contact me as well. My cell number is 9821223344. I could be contacted through email ‘sadananddate@yahoo.com’ as well. I would like you to retain trust in our systems and our concerns for protecting Indian Citizens without any discrimination.

Regards,
Sadanand Date IPS
Jt CP Mumbai Police”

The incident took place a few days ago at Malabar Hill. According to Kima, a Police van stopped in front of some younger Mizos standing on the pavement (there were many other people on the pavement eating sev puri and aloo chaat from the roadside vendors), and the uniformed police van driver angrily shouted at them.

When Kima, who was talking with a friend when that happened, asked the Mizos who were standing close to the police van about what the cop said, a young Mizo girl, said, “I think he said hey Nepalis, go back to Kathmandu!” while another guy standing beside her said, “No I think the cop asked if we are going to Kathmandu?”

Tripura HC opens after 30-year wait

Agartala, Mar 27 :  Tripura High Court was opened by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir here on Tuesday, ending a 30-year-old struggle for an independent high court in the state.

With this, the total number of high courts in the country increased from 21 to 24. Justice Kabir had inaugurated the Meghalaya High Court and the Manipur High Court on Monday.

“The over 30-year-old struggle of the people of Tripura has ended with the setting up of a separate high court,” Chief Minister Manik Sarkar told reporters.

Sarkar said: “We strongly believe that with the setting up of the new high court, democracy in Tripura would be stronger, consolidated and vibrant.”

Earlier Saturday, Justice Deepak Gupta, who is from Himachal Pradesh, took over as the first chief justice of the Tripura High Court while Justice Utpalendu Bikash Saha, Justice Swapan Chandra Das and Justice Subhashish Talapatra - all from Tripura - assumed office as judges.

They were earlier associated with the Gauhati High Court. “In Tripura alone, over 52,000 cases are pending in lower courts and 5,500 cases are awaiting disposal in the high court,” Tripura law department secretary Datamohan Jamatia said.

“Cases and litigations of the state were earlier dealt at Gauhati High Court or at the Agartala bench of the high court, resulting in slow trials. Now, they would be taken up at the Tripura High Court which will make the process of pending cases much faster,” Jamatia said.

The mandatory amendment to the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971 - the North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012 - was passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in May 2012, paving the way for the creation of separate high courts in Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur.

The seven northeastern states -- Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh -- have been under the Gauhati High Court with benches in the respective state capitals. Sikkim has a separate high court.

Lok Sabha member from Tripura Khagen Das, who had moved a private member’s bill earlier for amending the necessary act to set up the high courts, said: “The 30-year-long struggle for a separate high court in Tripura has finally yielded expected results.” 

Mizoram Not To Pay Ransom For Securing Release Of Kidnapped

Aizawl, Mar 26 : Mizoram Home minister R Lalzirliana today said the state government wants to secure the release of five people abducted on February 19 last without paying ransom as demanded by the abductors.

Stating this during question hour in the assembly, Lalzirliana said the government would not pay the ransom demanded by the Bru militants who abducted the five people from a poaching camp inside the Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border Dampa Tiger Reserve.

"In the meeting recently convened by the government the church leaders, major NGOs and student bodies, we decided that ransom should not be paid to the Bru militants who refused to work but indulged in money-making through kidnappings," he said.

He said that the hostages were sick but the government could not provide medicine as it would mean succumbing to the militants.

"It was not that we do not feel pity for the captives, but we maintain that the hostages should be released all the more if they are sick," he said, adding, even terrorists who hijack aircraft release women, children and the sick.

The abductors have demanded Rs 100 lakh ransom for the release of the five persons.

While there were 23 abductions during the 10-year rule of the Mizo National Front (MNF), there were four kidnappings during the four-year Congress rule, he claimed.

NESO Seeks Special Constitutional Status For Northeast

Guwahati, Mar 26 : Members of the North East Students’ Organization (NESO) today staged demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawans of the seven States of the region and submitted memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Governors of the States demanding detection and deportation of foreign nationals from the region. The NESO also demanded that special constitutional status should be given to the North East with right over land and natural resources.

In Guwahati, members of the NESO staged a demonstration in front of the Raj Bhawan and sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister through Governor JB Patnaik.

Talking to The Assam Tribune after the demonstration, NESO adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya said that the NESO would not allow the region to become breeding ground of the foreign nationals and elements of the fundamentalist groups. He said that the foreigners living in the region should be detected and deported immediately and the international border with Bangladesh should be sealed. The NESO is of the view that the Government of India should take steps to prepare National Register of Citizens (NRC) in all the States of the region.

The NESO is of the view that the Government of India was adopting discriminatory attitude towards the region and the border with Bangladesh was not given due importance as was done in case with the border with Pakistan. The infiltration of foreigners along with elements of fundamentalist forces not only posed a threat to the identity of the indigenous people of the region, but also to the sovereignty of the country, but unfortunately, the Centre failed to show seriousness in dealing with the problem, while the concerned State governments also failed to show sincerity in this regard. The NESO has also opposed the land swapping deal with Bangladesh and demanded that it should be scrapped immediately.

The NESO demanded that the States of the region should get special constitutional status with right over land and natural resources as the economic condition of the indigenous people of the region has not improved over the years despite the fact that the region has abundance of natural resources.

New CBI Created Post For Northeast

By Kalyan Barooah

New Delhi, Mar 26 :  Unabated leakage of development funds in the North-east has led the Centre to create a post of Joint Director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) exclusively for the North-east, while the Central Vigilance Commission is toying with a proposal to set up a separate wing for the region.

The measures are part of the fresh Central initiatives for putting in place a monitoring mechanism to prevent misuse of Central funds.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has taken up the proposal for creation of post of Joint Director in CBI exclusively for north-eastern region and the Cabinet had considered the proposal and cleared it. The DoPT has intimated that a post of JD in the CBI has since been created and the posting of an officer is under way.

In its report to the Parliament, the Standing Committee attached to the Ministry of DoNER has said that it has noted with satisfaction that matter of creation of a separate wing of CVC for the North-east is under examination. The Parliamentary Panel has recommended that early action may be taken in this regard.

The Ministry of DoNER has reported in its Action Taken Report that the DoPT has intimated that the matter regarding creation of a separate wing of CVC exclusively for the North-east has again been referred to the Central Vigilance Commission for latest development.

In 2010, the Centre had informed the Parliament that the CVC had detected irregularities in three of the five cases of alleged corruption. According to the CVC, they have dealt with five cases of alleged corruption, pertaining to the Ministry of DoNER during 2007-2009.

With huge sums of Central funds being pumped into the North-east, the Centre has trained its focus on monitoring and curbing leakages of funds. The unearthing of the Rs 1,000-crore scam in Dima Hasao district, which was probed by the NIA and CBI separately and reports of development funds reaching the hands of the underground outfits, particularly in the insurgency-affected States of the region, have alarmed Centre.

The Ministry DoNER has said that monitoring mechanism in place in the North Eastern Council (NEC) would be instrumental in achieving the financial and physical targets without any procrastination.

'True democracy in Myanmar must for strong ties with NE'

Guwahati, Mar 25 : Pro-democracy Myanmar politicians feel that a full-fledged democracy in their country is essential to promote economic and cultural ties with the northeast.

During a consultation programme on 'Peace and Human Rights in Burma' at Lamka in Manipur's Churachandpur district on Saturday, Myanmar's former National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarian, Tint Swe, said that ethnic groups in the northeast should actively come forward to help establish proper democracy in the neighbouring country. The programme was organized by the Burma Centre Delhi (BCD) and hosted by the Zomi Human Rights Foundation (ZHRF).

BCD coordinator Alana Golmei said that many ethnic groups common to Myanmar and the northeast are divided by the political boundary between the two countries. Golmei said that full-fledged democracy in Myanmar is a necessity for promoting closer relations between these groups.

"There are many ethnic groups that reside on both sides of the border. A full-fledged democracy in Burma is essential so that the divided groups can revive their connection. We are trying to promote consultations between ethnic groups on both sides of the border to help democracy in the neighbouring country," Golmei said.

In the consultation programme at Lamka, Zomi people from both sides of the border took part. Last year, there were similar consultations between the Nagas and other ethnic groups.

Swe emphasized the necessity of physical and mental connectivity between India's northeast and Myanmar for better cooperation between the two sides, adding that the connectivity is still in a nascent stage.

Myanmar's Naga National League for Democracy chairman U Saw Sa said that even though there have been political improvements, people there were still skeptical about the military-headed government. He added that the military-backed constitution still exists and that for a real democratic change, it should be drafted according to the people's mandate.

NE-based Indigenous People's Human Rights Defender (IPHRD)'s Suanmoi Guite highlighted the plight of ethnic minorities living in Myanmar, especially in the Chin state. Guite said that health, education and other basic facilities are a far cry for these people. He added that for these ethnic minorities, like the Zo people, it is easier to have access to healthcare facilities in Manipur's Churachandpur rather than traveling long distance to Rangoon.

Palm Sunday celebrated in Mizoram

Aizawl, Mar 25 : Palm Sunday, the day to commemorate the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem city as a king was celebrated in the Christian-dominated state of Mizoram on Sunday.

Children, mainly students of schools belonging to almost all the church denominations, and also adults took to the streets in the morning waving palm leaves singing hymns quoting the verses of the Bible.

The main words chanted during the Palm Sunday processions was "Hosanna," as was done on the last Sabbath before Christ's crucifixion.

According to the Bible Christ entered Jerusalem as a king a few days before he was crucified and was riding on a donkey while people glorify him by placing clothes and palm leaves on the way.

Chief Justice of New Manipur HC To Be Sworn in Tomorrow

Imphal, Mar 22 : Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre will be sworn in as the Chief Justice of the new Manipur High Court tomorrow by Governor Gurbachan Jagat.

Justice Sapre, a former judge of Chhattisgarh High Court, was appointed on March 19 by President Pranab Mukherjee, official sources said today.

Manipur High Court will have three judges including Chief Justice Sapre, the sources said.

Judge of the Guwahati High Court N Koteswar Singh has been appointed as one of the judges of the high court.

The third judge will be appointed soon, the sources said.

The new Manipur High Court will be inaugurated by Union Law and Justice Minister Ashwani Kumar on March 25.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh will be present at the inauguration ceremony, the sources added.