'My spirit and heart is with you': Rahul visits anti-racism protestors and brands Nido's death 'totally unacceptable'

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday called the alleged racist murder in New Delhi of 19-year-old Nido Taniam as "totally unacceptable" as he met students from the North East, who were holding a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar for the deceased student from Arunachal Pradesh.

The Gandhi scion's support of the protest is in stark contrast to the silence he maintained over the December 16 gang-rape in the Capital in 2012.

Vigil: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi pays homage to Nido Taniam at Jantar Mantar

Demands: Protesters at Jantar Mantar are demanding speedy justice for Nido Taniam

Talking to the students, Rahul said: "Which India matters to you? Only one India matters to me where there is justice. My spirit and heart is with you. I am 100 per cent with you."

He left the crowd assured that strict action would be taken in the case and said work has begun on setting up a committee to study cases of violence against people from the North East in the metros.
Rahul's assurances showed quick results, with the Delhi Police arresting three people in connection with the case.

POLICE ARREST THREE FOR DEATH OF NIDO

Six persons, including two juveniles, were involved in the assault that allegedly led to the death of Nido Taniam, the police said on Monday.

Three persons have been arrested for assaulting the Arunachali teenager, the police said.
Among the arrested persons are Farman and Akram.

AN SIT has been formed under the supervision of DCP (South- East) P. Karunakaran to investigate the case.

During investigation, it has emerged that Taniam was brought to the police station by a PCR van.

"From the police station, Taniam was taken for inquiry to the spot by two police officers, but he was not assaulted again there," Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said.

Taniam was then brought back to the police station by both the officers.

He was later handed over to a family friend Vinod R. Bansal and his friend Varun with whom he left the police station.

The police have also constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate Taniam's death. The protesters read out 16 demands to Rahul and a memorandum was submitted to him.

Runu Boham, a family friend of the Taniam's, presented a letter from the family to Rahul, which was read out.

"The assurance from Rahul Gandhi and his presence here has given us the assurance that justice will be done," she said.

Scores of students joined the sit-in, which was organised by the Arunachal Students' Union Delhi (ASUD), Naga Students' Union Delhi (NSUD) and other student associations from Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur and Assam.

However, the protesters are in no mood to budge and have vowed to continue the candlelight vigil till their demands are met.

"We cannot rely on politicians. We need to see results," said one of the protestors.

"We want the SHO and constable to be suspended and the culprits to be brought to book. We demand a strong anti-racial law, which should be debated in the upcoming session of Parliament.

"Until we see results, the protest will continue everyday from 3pm to 7pm at Jantar Mantar. We will start an indefinite hunger strike from Thursday if our demands are not met," said Arunachal Student Union vice-president Yeshi Wangchu.

Geethartha Barua, additional private secretary to the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, alleged that lower-rung police officials at the Lajpat Nagar police station were trying to "manipulate" the findings of the autopsy report as it would suit the police to simply say that Taniam's death was not related to the thrashing he received from the shopkeepers in the area on January 29.

"There is a possibility that he (Tania) was coerced to sign the documents stating that he does not require a medical examination," said Barua.

Kon Jirjo a family friend of the deceased said: "People are trying to portray that Nido was fit when he left the police station, which is not true.

"Some people are spreading rumours that he had taken excessive pain killers which might have led to his death. This is not true."

Slogans such as 'Long live Nido' and 'down with racism' resonated at the protest site.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has lost faith in the state police

Kejriwal cornered over Nido's death

The Arvind Kejriwal government found itself cornered on two fronts by the Delhi HC and the LG's office over the death of Nido Taniam, on Monday.
Taking suo moto cognisance of media reports about the attack on the North-East student, the Delhi HC issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government and the police, seeking a report on the steps taken to ensure the safety of the N-E students after the incident by February 5.
"The incident has raised concerns over the security of students from the North-East in the Capital.
"Even girls from the region are harassed here. If one remains unsafe in the Capital, what will the condition be in the rest of the country?," a division bench asked.
Meanwhile, Delhi Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung questioned Kejriwal's decision to order a magisterial probe. Kejriwal, however, said that the state has lost confidence in the abilities of the Delhi Police.

Four more people were arrested on Monday for alleged involvement in the molestation and assault of two Manipuri women in south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area, police said.
The police has not revealed the identity of the four saying that a test identification parade will be conducted first.
Meanwhile, the main accused Prem Chand, was sent to a day's remand after investigators said they needed him for further interrogation to trace the other accused.

Northeast Tops Cancer List

Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, has the highest incidence of cancer in India. This is true for both men and women. The Northeast as a whole is most susceptible to the disease, according to data from the national cancer registry’s consolidated report for 2009-11.

According to the report, which is likely to be released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the next few months, the Northeast takes the top three slots for the incidence of cancer among both men and women.

The age adjusted rate — a statistical tool to compare incidence among different communities at particular ages — for all cancers among men is 273.4 per 100,000 population in Aizawl, followed by Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district (216), the rest of Mizoram state (189.5), and Kamrup Urban in Assam (185.7).

For women, Aizawl reported the highest incidence at 227.8 cases per 100,000 population, followed by Kamrup Urban (156.3), Mizoram state (153.7), and Bangalore (137.2).

Data from state population-based registries show that cancers of the lung, mouth, oesophagus, stomach and nasopharynx are the most common among men. Among women, cancers of the breast, cervix, uterus, oesophagus and lung are the most common.

Sources said the data shows that the Northeast has the highest incidence of stomach cancer in both men and women, besides a very high rate of oral cancer.

“High incidence of smoking, which has been found to be higher than the national average among both men and women, and habits like using angeethis that produce a lot of smoke in closed spaces are possible contributing factors,” Dr P K Jhulka, radiation oncologist and dean at AIIMS, who is also in charge of the Delhi cancer registry, said.

“Consumption of other tobacco products is also very high. Eating habits like consumption of smoked and fermented meats could also have a role to play,” Dr Jhulka added.

Among the metros, Delhi is on top of the list for men with 125.2 cases per 100,000 population; Bangalore tops for women (137.2). Delhi is tenth on the all-India men’s list; Bangalore fourth on the all-India women’s.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer among men in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. Delhi, with 13.9 cases per 100,000 population, has reported the highest incidence of lung cancer in the country.

In Bhopal and Ahmedabad Urban, mouth cancer is the most common. Prostrate, tongue and mouth cancers are the most common after lung cancer in Delhi and Mumbai; stomach cancer is the second most common among men in Bangalore. In Ahmedabad, tongue and lung cancer are the second and third most common respectively.

Among women, breast cancer remains the most common everywhere except in Barshi, Maharashtra, where cancer of the cervix is most common, followed by cancers of the breast and oesophagus.

In keeping with data from previous reports, for women, cancers of the cervix and ovary are the second and third most common. Delhi has, however, seen a recent spurt in gall bladder cancer, which has jumped to third place at 9.2 cases per 100,000 population, pushing ovarian cancers to fourth (8.2).

According to Dr Jhulka, “Delhi and other areas in the Indo-Gangetic plain have thrown up a high incidence of gall bladder cases among women. We suspect chemicals in the soil may have a role to play.”

Dr Jhulka added that AIIMS is currently in the process of obtaining clearances from its ethics body to start a molecular study in “representative” areas of the region to understand the reasons more fully.

“The molecular study will help us understand the genetic mutations in patients diagnosed with gall bladder cancers. Certain genes are known to be associated with causes like smoking, and certain known chemicals. This will help us understand the cause,” Dr Jhulka said.

Mizoram Govt trying to set up Lokayukta by February end

Aizawl, Feb 4 : Mizoram Law Minister Lalsawta on Sunday said that the state government was making efforts to meet the deadline of establishing Lokayukta before February 28.

The recent AICC meeting had decided that all the Congress-ruled states should have Lokayukta before February end. Lalsawta told PTI that the Lokayukta drafting committee, headed by state Law Secretary P Singthanga, had completed its task on January 30 and detailed scrutiny was being conducted under his supervision.

"We would re-examine the draft bill on Wednesday," he said, adding it would be placed before the state Cabinet soon.

He said the main hurdle in setting up of the ombudsman would be acute financial problems being faced by the state.

"We wanted the Lokayukta to be totally independent, which included the investigating wing and the prosecution," the law minister said.

According to the draft bill, the Lokayukta would be headed by a person placed at the rank of the Chief Justice of a high court and members at the rank of a high court judge.

There would be no one on deputation among the officials of the Lokayukta and the state Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), being under the state government would not be used as its investigating agency, Lalsawta said.

"This would require a huge amount of money and we would be approaching the visiting Finance Commission to allocate fund for establishment of the Lokayukta," he said.

The draft bill said the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues would be within the ambit of the ombudsman.

The state government would constitute a search committee for appointment of Lokayukta and other members while the Selection Committee would comprise the Chief Minister, Speaker of the state legislature, leader of the opposition and the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court.

The term of the Lokayukta and the members would be five years after which they would be prohibited to hold any official position under the government.

Cultural ignorance and prejudice

By Lawrence Liang & Golan Naulak

The Hindu DISHARMONY: The ‘racism’ word understandably provokes a fair amount of discomfort since it presents an unattractive picture which stands in sharp contrast to the official ‘unity in diversity’ rhetoric. Picture shows a protest in Bangalore following the Nido Tania incident. Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

Racism in India has so far been debated in relation to the caste question but the northeast question is an opportunity to imagine modes of collective living which go beyond lip service multiculturalism

While the Supreme Court may have relegated LGBT people back to the closet (at least legally) the issue of racism in India on the other hand — with the vigilante raid against African women and now Nido Tania’s death — has been outed and we can either choose to confront it or continue to live under the delusion that all is well in our multicultural wonderland. And if the issue is out, it is perhaps time to differentiate between racism with a capital R and racism with a small r, or, in the world of the media blitzkrieg that we inhabit we could distinguish it as front page racism and footnote racism. Nido’s death — shocking as it is — is merely symptomatic of a much larger systemic malaise of how we deal with cultural difference in this country. While racism occasionally manifests itself in the form of hate crime it is felt most acutely as an everyday phenomenon in the form of snideness, smirks, casual references to someone being “chinki” and morally upright judgments about clothing and sexuality. On that count, it would be difficult to find a single northeastern Indian who has not at some point faced the brunt either of unwelcome banter or culturally curious questions (“Is it true you eat snakes?”) whose naïveté would be touching were it not so offensive.

Ignorance and prejudices

The ‘racism’ word understandably provokes a fair amount of discomfort since it presents an unattractive picture which stands in sharp contrast to the official “unity in diversity” rhetoric. And yet it is a little ironic that even as we fume with righteous indignation at the treatment of Indians in the United States or Europe, we are shocked when we are accused of racism ourselves. Even if we were to agree with detractors who argue that it may be rash to characterise Nido’s killing as an instance of a hate crime or a racist attack and that it was just an instance of hooliganism that could have happened to anyone, it is a little difficult to forget that the comments about his looks and hairstyle which prompted Nido’s angry response smacked of racism. Nido’s death is a sad testimony to the fact that we are able to speak about systemic everyday racism only when confronted with the capital R variety.

Commentators have observed that the cultural ignorance and prejudices have always existed in India citing the familiar example of how all South Indians are “Madrasis” and those living north of the Vindhyas are clubbed “Punjabis.” But it is important to recognise one crucial difference in the way that people from the northeast are treated. While a north Indian may be called a Punjabi or a South Indian a Madrasi, the markers are still within the rubric of Indian nationhood whereas it is not uncommon for northeastern Indians to be hailed as Chinese, Japanese, Nepali or Korean. One of the placards in the protest against racism in Delhi on Saturday read: “We are confused and scared in our own country. What shall we call ourselves? Indians? Nepalis? Chinese?” When was the last time someone from Delhi was called an Afghan because of the similarity of his or her facial features? Kashmiris on the other hand can equally testify to the generous bestowing of indiscriminate citizenship having been accustomed to being called Pakistanis.

In the protests and the debates on media that have ensued, one of the recurring themes and slogans has been “We are Indians too.” While this is understandable as a claim of equal citizenship it is also a little disturbing since it casts a burden on people from the northeast having to prove their sameness rather than assert the right to be different. What then of the expatriate Japanese or Chinese community? Do they abrogate their right against non discrimination because they are not Indians? By framing the experience of racism within a limited rubric of citizenship alone we run the risk of obfuscating questions of national identity with questions of belonging. It is in fact ironic that groups who have proudly claimed their self-determination on the basis of their unique identity have to respond to the experience of racism through a sentimental language of citizenship.

A truly cosmopolitan ideal is one in which a city or a country can belong to you even if you do not belong to it and while it is tempting to resort to a liberal plea for promoting cultural awareness and the importance of “mainstreaming the northeast” — the complicated history of the northeast with its various self-determination movements and armed struggles requires a slightly different imagination of multicultural citizenship — one in which we move not from cultural difference into sameness but from cultural difference to cultural difference.

Opportunity to imagine

Racism in India has so far been debated in relation to the caste question but the northeast question is one that allows us an opportunity to imagine modes of collective living which go beyond the lip service multiculturalism of exotic floats accompanied by tribal dances in Republic Day parades. The presence of northeastern Indians in “mainstream” India extends the very concept of India and demands a political and ethical imagination beyond inclusion into history textbooks and speedy trials of hate crime cases alone; it asks instead what it may mean for the mainstream to be open to be northeasternised, for Maharashtrians to be a little more Bihari’d and to acknowledge that a plurality of hairstyles and food cultures only enriches our collective selves. The French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze once remarked that it is better to be a schizophrenic out for a walk than a neurotic on a couch — perhaps a bold imagination of our diversity demands that we be comfortable with our multiple identities if we are not to collapse into the neurosis of the singular.

Incidents like the Richard Loitam, Dana Sangma and now Nido Tania cases have the possibility of opening many old wounds which have only been tenuously resolved in recent times. It is not surprising that in the midst of the protest against racism, one protester chanted “Hame kya chhahiye? Azadi chhahiye.” This was echoed by many others who were there. It was a spontaneous act but one that stands witness to the fact that even if the Azadi is not about self-determination any longer, it echoes an underlying sense that they have never belonged. If we fail to understand that the call for freedom first and foremost emanates from the struggle against racism and discrimination, we run the risk of collapsing into what Tagore once described as a world broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.

(Lawrence Liang is a lawyer and researcher with the Alternative Law Forum. Golan Naulak is with Our Little Stories, currently based in New Delhi.)

Style Comes Naturally to People in Northeast: Nagaland's footwear designer

Luxury footwear designer Filafi Fithu from Nagaland believes that fashion comes naturally to most people in the northeast as it is intrinsic to the culture of the region.

"In northeast, fashion is something that you grow up with. It's like something that is engraved deep within the culture itself. Especially the youth like to stay trendy and love to express themselves through fashion. In the region, you don't necessarily have to be a stylist or a fashion designer to be well dressed... it just comes naturally," Fithu, 30, who launched her label FilaFi Fithu here in October 2013, said in an email interaction.

She believes that the northeastern market has a great potential for luxury products.

"I know many people who personally get their luxury requirements fulfilled through distant cousins staying abroad or from their peers staying in other cities of India," said the designer whose footwear designed for women are priced from Rs.6,000 onwards.

Targeting women with a certain level of spending capacity, she wants to open more stores in the country and abroad.

"Delhi is the perfect platform for anybody planning to go global. I do want to do it in my home state and northeast as well in the future. I feel that people from northeast in general have great taste and aesthetic sense and they can well afford it too. It's just that I need a bigger audience," said Fithu, who also introduced a line called t-r-e-n-d-z available from Rs.3,000 upwards.

Designed by Fithu, the shoes apart from t-r-e-n-d-z line are manufactured at Calzaturificio Taboo Line di Romeo Giuseppina at Vigevano in Italy. The company is known for its impeccable quality Italian leather and workmanship, just what she wanted.

"It will make a great sense to sell it in Europe because my shoes are manufactured there and they can relate with women from any country. We are working on opening store in Romania. Hopefully, it will happen sometime early next year," she said.

The alumnus of Central Footwear Training Institute, Agra has also designed footwear for forthcoming Italian drama fiction "Luomo Volante" starring Adelmo Togliani and Bianca Guaccero.
As her label is just a few months old, her eyes are set now on promotional activities.

"Well, since my brand is comparatively new as of now, I am open to all sorts of opportunities of promoting my brand. I will be starting out with advertising my brand at suitable platforms that will give it the sort of publicity I am looking for. Fashion weeks are also an option," she said.

The designer, who left a stable government job to join the fashion industry, believes her choice of profession has a great scope. The history graduate cleared the Nagaland Public Service Commission Examination and got a government job.

"I worked there for many years, but ultimately decided to quit and pursue my ultimate dream because I prefer being my own person. It has a great scope because the demand for footwear only keeps increasing. The global footwear market was worth $185.2 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach $211.5 billion in 2018," said Fithu.

Mizoram CM urges refugees to return from Tripura

Agartala, Jan 30 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla has said his government is keen to take back the Bru refugees sheltering in makeshift camps in Tripura for the past 17 years.

"We are always ready to take back the refugees from Tripura and rehabilitate them in their villages. Those refugees, who have returned to their villages, were rehabilitated and are living peacefully and satisfactorily," Lal Thanhawla told reporters at Jampui in north Tripura Tuesday.

He said: "Some people are impeding the repatriation of refugees. Those refugees who have returned to their homes have got financial assistance under the central government package."

Lal Thanhawla, who came to Jampui, 215 km from here, to attend the silver jubilee function of the NGO, the Young Mizo Association as the chief guest, urged the refugees to return to their homes and lead a normal life.

Addressing the association function, he said that some inimical forces are trying to disturb peace and ethnic harmony in Mizoram. Over 36,000 tribal refugees, locally called 'Bru', have been living in seven makeshift camps in northern Tripura for the past 17 years after fleeing their villages in Mizoram following ethnic trouble with the majority Mizos. The trouble began after a Mizo forest official was killed.

Around 5,000 refugees returned to their homes and villages in the past three years following continued persuasion by Mizoram, Tripura and union home ministry officials.

However, the process got stalled after that. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has told both the prime minister and the union home minister that "continuous presence for over 17 years of refugees from Mizoram has been a matter of concern for Tripura".

The refugees have been insisting that without a formal agreement between the central government, the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura and the tribal leaders, their return to homes and subsequent rehabilitation will remain uncertain.

Assam Wants A New Time Zone

Assam's chief minister argues that time change will save energy and synchronise the eastern state with the rest of the country.

By Julien Bouissou

The chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi. Photograph: Biju Boro/AFP

Every day residents of Assam, a state in north-east India, see the sun rise and set earlier than their compatriots because, in a country that stretches 3,000km from east to west, the clocks are all set at the same time. To correct this injustice Tarun Gogoi, the chief minister of Assam, is demanding the creation of a new time zone. "We want offices to start one hour ahead, so that we increase our overall productivity and save on energy," he said.

Technically speaking, it would make sense to create a second time zone. There are almost 28 degrees of longitude between the country's eastern and western extremities, whereas on average a time zone corresponds to 15 degrees. In 2006 India's planning commission recommended two time zones, explaining that it would provide for substantial energy savings. At peak hours electricity demand currently exceeds supply by 17%.

But on two occasions, in 2002 and 2006, the federal government rejected proposals along these lines, for fear of chaos at the time border and rail accidents. The topic is politically sensitive in a country prone to separatist tension. Delhi is afraid a second time zone may distance north-eastern states. Indeed, it was on the grounds of national unity that India decided, shortly after independence, to abolish Mumbai and Kolkata time.

Two researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore, Dilip Ahuja and Debi Prasad Sengupta, advocate putting clocks back by half an hour all over India to satisfy the demands of north-eastern states and avoid chaos. In a study carried out in 2012 they calculated that with this arrangement India would save from 0.2% to 0.7% in energy, depending on the state.

Daylight has other virtues too. Drawing on research done in Britain suggesting that crimes and accidents happen more at night, the two scientists emphasised the advantages of stopping work an hour earlier.

But as the regional daily Assam Tribune pointed out this month, "a gain of half an hour for the eastern region may lead to loss of equal numbers of hours in the central and western regions".
India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy says it will examine Gogoi's ideas. But with only four months before a general election, it seems unlikely the government will risk upsetting voters giving Assam more sunlight.

This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde

Mizo Students threaten to boycott LS elections

Aizawl, Jan 29 : Mizo Students’ Union (MSU), one of the largest and most active student bodies in Mizoram has threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state if the Election Commission of India (ECI) does not entertain the demand of MSU to disallow Brus camped in Tripura from voting in Mizoram in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.

In the executive meeting held today under the leadership of its president, Zodinpuia, which was attended by leaders of College Students’ Union (SU) and Hnampual Zirlai Pawl (various students’ organizations), leaders of the student bodies unanimously agreed to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha election if their demand is not met.
On Monday, Mizo Students' Union (MSU) had lodged complaint to Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, regarding the troubles and obnoxious acts created by Bru community against the Mizos, MSU president Zodinpuia said.

The MSU also urged the Election Commission of Indis (ECI) not to allow the Brus residing outside Mizoram to cast their votes in Mizoram.

Earlier, on January 23, MSU had re-submitted a petition to Chief Election Commissioner, VS Sampath, asking him to take immediate step to disallow Bru voters who continue to live outside Mizoram to cast their votes in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Mizoram. It is worth mentioning here that the relationship between the Mizos and the Brus has not been going well in the past 15 years.

Hundreds of Brus had left Mizoram in 1997 and in 2009. The first case was triggered when Bru militants murdered two Mizos who were forest guards on October 21, 1997. The second case happened after a 17-year-old Mizo boy was killed by the Brus near Bungthuam village on November 13, 2009. When the Brus left Mizoram they had driven out some Mizos in villages of Sakhan Hill Range in Tripura like Sakhan Serhmun, Sakhan Tlangsang, Sakhan Tualsen and Upper Dosda which had kicked up much ruckus in Mizoram then.

Meanwhile, a couple of years ago, head count conducted by the MBDPF found that there had been 31,703 Brus in the relief camps belonging to 5,448 families who were bona fide residents of Mizoram. The repatriation of the 1997 batch of Bru refugees was underway until it stalled by the November 13 killing.

In the year 2011, conglomeration of major NGOs in Mizoram had submitted a joint memorandum to the then Union Home minister P Chidambaram to rehabilitate displaced Mizos in Tripura and stall the ongoing repatriation of Brus from Tripura to Mizoram. The memorandum was signed by representatives of four large NGOs in the state--the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the MZP, the Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) or elders association and the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or the women's federation and four political parties.

The memorandum had mentioned that more than 80 Mizo families displaced from Tripura's Sakhan Hill range in 1998, after being threatened by Bru militants, should be adequately rehabilitated by the Centre, otherwise, the repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura relief camps should not be allowed.