Delhi HC 'pained' by Violence Against Northeast people

New Delhi, Jul 25 : 'Pained' by continuing incidents of violence against people from Northeast despite its orders, the Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a report from the government on the steps taken by it to curb "the menace plaguing the society".

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice RS Endlaw made the observations while referring to the recent fatal assault of a young man from Northeast which was reported to be an incident of road rage.

"We are pained to note that inspite of our being seized of the issue of violence in the city of Delhi against persons hailing from North Eastern part of the country and further inspite of issuance of detailed directions from time to time, such incidents, rather than abating, continue to occur.

"There was a news report recently of a young man of North Eastern origin being fatally assaulted in an incident which was reported to be of road rage," the court said.

"There was a news report recently of a young man of North Eastern origin being fatally assaulted in an incident which was reported to be of road rage," the court said. The bench urged Delhi police to "act with alacrity" while investigating the crime and sought a detailed status report by August 11, the next date of hearing.

The court also accepted the suggestion of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain that a status report be sought from Station House Officers (SHOs) of certain sensitive localities in the national capital, setting out steps being taken for controlling or preventing such incidents. Kotla Mubarakpur, Lajpat Nagar, Munirka and some areas in and around Delhi University were the sensitive localities that were mentioned before the court.

The court also sought information regarding the measures taken by a Special Police Unit set up for dealing with crimes against people from Northeast and asked why the setting up of the cell "is appearing to be ineffective". It also asked the ASG to place before it the report of a committee constituted to look into the concerns of the persons hailing from the Northeast.

Manipuri Youth Murder: All 5 Suspects Arrested

New Delhi, Jul 24 : The fifth and last suspect in the case relating to the murder of a 29-year-old Manipuri youth was arrested last night from Garhi area here, police said.  Lokesh (25), also a resident of Garhi village, had been absconding after the other four suspects were arrested, a senior police official said.

The victim Akha Salouni was allegedly beaten to death by a group of five men in a suspected case of road rage in Kotla Mubarakpur in the wee hours of July 21.

He was returning to his Munirka flat after a party. The incident had triggered widespread anger among North East community here.

Three suspects in the case—Sanjay Basoya (24), his cousin Shakti Basoya and Rajiv (25) were arrested from Garhi area on July 21, while the fourth suspect Azad Choudhary (24), a driver by profession and a resident of Garhi Village, was arrested yesterday.

Amit Gupta, spokesperson in AIIMS had said Salouni’s autopsy report suggested that death was caused due to multiple internal injuries in the neck, abdomen and brain caused by blunt force.

A Delhi court had remanded Shakti, Sanjay and Rajiv in police custody till July 24 while Azad was remanded today in one-day police custody.

Police said the incident had taken place at around 3 AM when the deceased, along with two friends, Dihe Kazhiihrii (25), who is also a resident of Manipur and Nagendra Sharma (40), a resident of Bihar, were returning after attending a party at their friend’s place at Masoodpur Colony.

Following the party, they had hired an auto to drop Kazhiihrii at his home at Kotla Mubarakpur. When the auto reached near Gurudwara road, a car arrived from behind and started honking indiscriminately, police said.

The car occupants abused the auto driver, following which an argument ensued between Salouni and his friends and the five youths.

The argument soon turned ugly following which five youths, all of whom were apparently in an inebriated state, alighted from the car and attacked the three.

While Kazhiihrii and Sharma managed to flee, Salouni was caught by them, police had said.

Kazhiihrii called the police around 3:30 AM, after which a police team reached the spot and rushed Salouni, who was unconscious, to AIIMS trauma centre where doctors declared him brought dead.

Northeast MPs Want Panel Report Made Public

By Nishit Dholabhai

New Delhi, Jul 24 : Members of Parliament from the Northeast today urged Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju to make the Bezbaruah committee report public.

CPM MP from Tripura, Jitendra Chaudhury, said the MPs also discussed the demand for an anti-racism law and agreed that it would require consultations with a cross-section of people.

The North East MPs’ Forum, a group of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs from the eight northeastern states, had met in Parliament today to discuss its own “restructuring” and a plan of action in the wake of the death of another young man from the region this week.

Akha Salouni, 29, a Naga from Manipur who worked with a BPO here, was beaten to death by six youths in south Delhi’s Kotla Mubarakpur area around 2.15am on Monday. In January, Nido Tania, 19, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, had died after being thrashed by shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar following a fracas triggered allegedly by their racial taunts.

The MPs, however, treaded cautiously while speaking about Salouni’s death. While some felt that raising the issue of racism in what could be a case of road rage might backfire, no one wants to take a chance politically.

In fact, minister for minority affairs in the UPA government Ninong Ering, who had borne the brunt of activists’ ire for saying Tania’s killing was not a racist attack, was among the first to take up Salouni’s case in the Lok Sabha.

The outrage following Tania’s death had forced the UPA government to form a committee, led by North Eastern Council member M.P. Bezbaruah, to recommend comprehensive anti-discrimination measures.

The committee submitted its report to Rijiju on July 11. It has wide-ranging recommendations that include “debating” proposal of an anti-racism law.

The demand for the legislation, raised after Tania’s death, has gained fresh momentum following Salouni’s death.

However, in the short term, the committee says, the government should consider an amendment to the Indian Penal Code. Sources said the government is considering change in Section 153A of the IPC, relating to the crime of promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence or language.

Rijiju is understood to have told the MPs’ forum, which was coordinated by Sikkim MP P.D. Rai, that a joint secretary ranked officer would study the committee’s recommendations after which the government will come out with “action points” to implement the recommendations.

Bezbaruah said the government should quickly go through the report and decide on how it can implement it. “It is not a very lengthy report. It is simple and straightforward, so it can be done,” he told The Telegraph.

He said the committee, which comprises former bureaucrats from the eight northeastern states as well as young people from the region, consulted a cross-section of society. Its members met as many as 800 people and tried their best to prepare a comprehensive report, he added.

There is also mounting pressure on the government from civil society groups to make the committee’s report public.

source: Telegraph India

Mary Kom: Inspirational Youthful & Award Winning Real Story

Mumbai: Mary Kom is an Indian boxer.  Her life is outstanding example for the youth in general and for women specifically.  The legendary boxer from North East Indian state of Manipur took lot of struggle to reach her goal (of winning medal for India).  Born and brought up in a not so rich family, Mary Kom faced lot of financial and psychological hindrances in her journey to her goal.

Starting her boxing career in 2001, Mary Kom was successful in winning medals for India more than once. Some of the medals by Mary Kom include:

Silver medal in 2001, gold medal in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008 & 2010 in world amateur boxing championships.  In the Asian Women’s boxing championship Mary Kom won silver in 2008, and gold in 2003, 2005, 2010 & 2012 in various categories like Pinweight & Flyweight.  Marycom improved her tally winning Bronze in 2010 in Guangzhou.   Her other medals include gold medal in 2009 Indoor Asian Games, another gold in 2011 Asian Cup Women’s Boxing Tournment & one more gold in Witch Cup in 2002.  Mary Kom’s popularity attained the highest peak when she won bronze in 2012 summer Olympics in London in 51 kg flyweight category.

After winning the Bronze medal, Mary Kom received around Rs.1.80 crores as gift from various governments in India. This medal she won after she got married and after giving birth to 2 children.  This point is very important as many Indian women feel that once they are married, they have to settle for household jobs only.  Breaking the baseless sentiments, Mary Kom went ahead to clinch more and more medals & popularity.

Seeing the victory, Sanjay Leela Bhansali immediately declared that he would be doing a epic on life of Mary Kom.  Accordingly Priyanka Chopra was roped in to play the role of Mary Kom in the movie having the same title.  The glamorous heroine had to transform herself a lot before shedding the glamour image and entering the role of a boxer who struggled a lot to achieve her goal.

The recently released first look of the movie Mary Kom received lot of appreciation from many sections of the Bollywood.  As there is no high level star cast in the movie, (with exception of story), this movie is releasing on 5^th September 2014 to avoid clash with other big Bollywood projects.

Kolkata Safer Than Delhi, Say Students From Northeast

Kolkata, Jul 24 : Comments on appearance or the usual questions about whether they are Nepalis are common for students from northeast India who study here in the eastern metropolis.

Despite the slurs, the community feels Kolkata is "much safer" than the national capital where attacks on them are on the rise.

A 29-year-old Manipuri BPO employee was beaten to death in south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area by five youths Monday.

The incident comes six months after 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania died after being hit with iron rods and sticks by some men following an altercation with a shopkeeper in a south Delhi market, not far from Kotla Mubarakpur.

Shocked at the escalating violence, heads of student groups have asked members of the community here to "be careful".

"We are not alarmed but we have asked students to be careful. We are definitely shocked with the increasing level of violence in the capital. But Kolkata is much safer that way... it is much more peaceful here," Niangbiaklun Tonsing, vice president of the Manipur Students' Association Kolkata (MASAK), told IANS.

They stay as paying guests or in hostels, primarily in the south and eastern fringes of Kolkata.

Apart from science and humanities courses, they pursue professional degrees like BBA or MBA.

"In 2007, there were around 200 students from Manipur. Now it is over 500. More and more people from other northeastern states are also coming in," Tonsing said.

Most of them are used to words such as "You are chinky" and questions like "Are you from Nepal?"

"We do not react. Words such as 'chinky' or 'Nepali' are repeatedly ascribed to us. There is no physical violence as such... it is mostly teasing that goes on. We just ignore them. Kolkata has also become more tolerant," Alex, a member of the Mizoram Students' Association in Kolkata, told IANS.

Alex said there are not more than 200 Mizos studying here.

Notwithstanding the relatively calm atmosphere that prevails here, security concerns remain.

"We have been told by police that they will provide a helpline number.

"Apart from that, there is no other avenue for help. We keep in touch with others from our community and check up if they need help," Ikotho Yeptho, who hails from Nagaland and acts as an advisor to the Naga Students' Union Kolkata, told IANS.

Yeptho said more than 800 people from Nagaland are enrolled in various colleges or are working in the IT or hospitality sector here.

Aircel 3G Services Launched in Arunachal Pradesh

Aircel has announced launching of its 3G services in Itanagar and Naharlagun which the customers can avail on their mobile phones or via Aircel 3G dongles.

Itanagar, Jul 24 : Aircel, a leading telecom operator, has announced launching of its 3G services in Itanagar and Naharlagun which the customers can avail on their mobile phones or via Aircel 3G dongles.

"Being one of the market leaders, we aim to increase 3G penetration and adoption in the region by re-defining user experience," Nilaj Mahalanavis, circle business head (north east) said yesterday while launching the service.

"As part of its services, Aircel has launched a new offer '3G Good Morning' where customers will get unlimited data free and browse up to 100 MB with 3G data speed daily between 4am to 8 am", Mahalanavis said. He also said that for customers in Itanagar and Naharlagun who have high data usage, the company is offering dongle plan with 4GB data which will be available at just Rs 1,495.

In addition, there are wide ranges of 3G plan starting at Rs 8 to choose from.

"Aircel is one of the market leaders in Northeast and it gives us immense delight to expand our 3G footprint in the region," Mahalanavis said.

He further went to say, " In 3G, Aircel has registered high growth in NE as its 3G subscriber base grew by 37% in 2013 while 3G data revenue increased by 200%. With the launch of 3G services in Itanagar and Naharlagun, we will provide our customers fast and seamless data connectivity at their fingertips 24X7."

Recently, Aircel launched some innovative 3G products in North East like video calling and unified data tariffs, Mahalanvis added.

I am from Northeast... but I am Not Mowgli!

By Prantick Majumder

"Does the Rajdhani Express go to Assam?" I thought I had heard something wrong. When the question was repeated, I knew I heard it right. My blood came to a boil. But my conscience got the better of me as I realised that the person may genuinely not know much about Assam. I said instead:

"No, the Rajdhani goes only till New Jalpaiguri. On the Assam-Bengal border, we get off and take a bullock cart!"

So pleased was I with my own terrible joke that I almost rolled on the floor laughing!

I am from the northeast, from Assam, from Guwahati, but I am not Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli who was raised by wolves.

Now a migrant in Delhi, I came in 2008 after landing a job in a reputed media organisation.
I come from a respected and well-known family in Guwahati. My grandfather was a lawyer. My father was a gold medal-winning professor at a Guwahati college. My mother is from a family of businessmen which once traded with Bhutan's king and small Hindu princely areas of Bangladesh.
I was born and brought up in Guwahati, studied in a missionary school with origins in Italy, and finally in a reputed 60-year-old local college. I completed my Master's from a fledgeling but promising central university in Tezpur, a town linked to Lord Krishna.

The question posed to me about Rajdhani came from a Delhiite educated in Mumbai.

Ignorance about the northeast is indeed widespread. Some get stumped when I tell them I travel by air; do planes fly to remote, far-off northeast?

A woman Assamese colleague from Dibrugarh was asked by a Delhiite if rhinoceros roam in her backyard!

Once a man from Nainital asked me if I could "arrange" some "exotic" northeastern woman for him. Needless to say the man has never dared to speak to me again.

My colleagues often pull my leg about how they would help Assam get 'independence' -- provided I hand over all the rhinos, all oil fields, the mighty Brahmaputra, all the tea gardens plus all the timber! I reply by saying that after getting freedom, I will be the charge d'affaires of Assam in Delhi!
Jokes apart, my fellow northeasterners may hate me for what I am going to say now. I am an Assamese. Although my surname sounds Bengali, my original surname was "Majumder Baruah".

How the "Baruah" got dropped is another story.

I have not faced any discrimination through the six years I have been in Delhi. My colleagues give credit for that to my non-Mongoloid looks. I have lived for five years in South Extension in south Delhi where there is a literal flood of people from the northeast. I have seen a few scuffles over the years but none involving a northeasterner.

In fact, my landlord, from Haryana, goes to great lengths to make me feel at home and has helped me on several occasions.

It was indeed a cultural shock when I first arrived in Delhi. I found many people here were vegetarians, a fact difficult to digest for my fish, meat-eating persona. Hence my roommate (also from Assam but a Bengali) and I always choose a house whose owner is not a strict vegetarian.
I have seen some northeasterners lie to the landlords, then flout the house rules by cooking even pork and beef.

I don't drink. Northeasterners unfortunately have a bad reputation in Delhi. Some here think we are all alcohol guzzlers and sleep around. Yes, there are bad apples but they are in a minority.

You need two hands to clap. I think both the northeast community and the so-called Delhiites are to blame for the state of affairs in the capital vis-a-vis people from the northeast.

Many north Indians may lack knowledge about the northeast, but how many from the northeast can claim to know everything about the rest of India?

Then there is music. While the Constitution allows freedom of expression, can people (north Indians included) play loud music late into the night?

Northeasterners should remember that they are migrants in Delhi and are easily identifiable. While playing music is no crime, respect your neighbours.

While people in Delhi or so-called "mainstream India" have little exposure to the northeast, people from the "remote, far-flung" region also need to make adjustments to local realities.

While northeasterners have been hit by crime in Delhi, thousands of people like me are earning their livelihood in peace.

I agree that there are times northeasterners are targeted. But don't Punjabis and south Indians and Biharis also become victims of Delhi's notorious abrasiveness?

People from other regions may find it difficult to make friends among Delhiites. But instead of being cocooned within their own community, they should mingle with other people and educate them about their region.

Growing Attacks on people from Northeast People find Echo in Lok Sabha

People staging a candle light vigil demanding justice in the murder of Shaloni, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Jul 23 : The issue of growing attacks and sexual assaults on people from the North East in different parts of the country, especially in Delhi, was raised in the Lok Sabha today by a Congress member.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Ninong Ering referred to a Manipuri youth being beaten to death here yesterday and several other recent cases and said these incidents amounted to “racial discrimination” which should be put to an end forthwith.

He said the previous government had set up a Committee under former bureaucrat MP Bezbaruah to look into the concerns of people from the North East living in different parts of the country.

This government, Ering said, had submitted its report to the new government and has recommended legal measures to ensure their safety and security from any assault on them. It also suggested that any attack of racial nature should be made a punishable offence.

The Congress member urged the government to take urgent steps to implement the recommendations of this Committee. The issue also had its echo in Rajya Sabha with members demanding immediate steps to curb the menace and a statement from the Home Minister.

Tarun Vijay (BJP) said a Manipuri youth was beaten to death here yesterday and there were several other cases of racial discrimination.

He said there has been a spurt in such incidents and referred to the killing of another youth Nido Tania in January.

It was unfortunate that youths from the region were treated as foreigners in Delhi and were subjected to all sorts of ill-treatment, he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (AITC) demanded a statement from the Home Minister on the issue. Roy said three persons from the region have been killed here since January and demanded making public recommendations of a Committee on racial discrimination.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said it was a serious matter of “ethnic discrimination” and asked Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah to inform the Home Minister.

Heptullah said “I will convey the sentiments of the entire House to the Home Minister.”