Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Heckled by Mob, Rescued by Security Forces

By Deepshikha Ghosh

New Delhi, Aug 19 :  Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was harassed and abused by an angry mob and had to be rescued by paramilitary personnel.

Mr Gogoi, who was visiting a relief camp in Uriamghat for people affected by violence along the border with Nagaland, had to leave within 10 minutes. Personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) fired blanks in the air to disperse the mob.

15 people have died and some 10,000 displaced villagers have been driven to relief camps in a wave of violence by Naga insurgents last week in seven villages along the border.

These villages have both Nagas and Assamese people, but landowners do not have proper records.

Charred homes and scattered belongings are all that remain in the villages now. Those in relief camps accused the Gogoi government of failing to protect them.

The Chief Minister has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help to restore peace in Uriamghat.

The border dispute began over 50 years ago over a patch of land claimed by a Naga and an Assamese land owner, when Nagaland became a separate state. The dispute continues despite a Supreme Court-backed mediation process.

The last round of mediation took place in Delhi over a year ago. A temporary pact places the disputed area under central forces but local people say they don't feel safe. Anger against the state administration boiled over today as protesters targeted Chief Minister Gogoi.

'Mary Kom' Struggles For a Release in Manipur?

By Bharati Dubey

Ironically, boxer Mary Kom's biopic starring Priyanka Chopra might not release in her own state

Five-time boxing champion Mary Kom is hopeful that the film based on her life will be screened in Manipur, her home state.

She says, “We are trying very hard for this to happen, but the movies association and underground groups should allow it. It looks difficult but we will speak to the government about the same.’’



Priyanka Chopra in a still from the film, Mary Kom

In September 2000, Revolutionary Peoples Front, which has been fighting for a separate independent socialist state of Manipur, issued a ban on the use of Hindi and the screening of Hindi films and TV shows.

They even conducted raids and confiscated thousands of video cassettes of Hindi films. Several cinema halls preferred to shut down rather than face attacks by the militant group for screening Hindi films.

Utpal Borpujari, a filmmaker from Assam, says, “In today’s globalised world, such bans have no meaning as everyone can access films through DTH networks and the internet. There’s no point in banning films from a particular language or culture except perhaps scoring some political brownie points for the militant group involved.

It will be in the spirit of things if the film, Mary Kom, gets released in Manipur so that Manipuris can see how the story of one of them has been told on a large canvas. And why only Mary Kom, films from any language should be screened wherever there is a market for it.

Even if one concedes, for argument’s sake, that Bollywood films are a ‘bad influence’ on Manipuris, does it mean that the rich Manipuri culture is so weak that it can get affected by such films? It’s best is to let people decide about these things.”

RK Puram landlord held for molesting Manipuri girls

New Delhi, Aug 18 : Mahendra, who was in an inebriated condition, knocked their door and molested them when they came out of the room.

In a shocking incident, two girls from Manipur were allegedly molested by their landlord in South Delhi's R.K. Puram area on Sunday evening.

On the basis of the girls' complaint, the police registered a case under sections of 354 (molestation) of the IPC and arrested the accused.

A senior police officer said 45-year-old accused Mahendra hailed from Mohammadpur village in Bhikaji Cama Place.

"The incident came to light on Sunday evening around 5.15 pm when the girls made a call to the police control room (PCR) and informed them about the incident.

They told the police that Mahendra, who was in an inebriated condition, knocked their door and molested them when they came out of the room," the officer said.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/molestation-case-rk-puram-landlord-manipuri-girls-mahendra-delhi-police-mohammadpur-village/1/377558.html

Mizoram is Peaceful For Civil Societies: Lalthanhawla

Aizawl, Aug 15 : Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla today expressed gratitude to the civil societies and voluntary organisations for their support to law enforcement agencies in their efforts to maintain the status of Mizoram as one of the most peaceful states in the country.

In his address to the people of Mizoram after unfurling the tri-colour at Assam Rifles ground on the occasion of the 68th Independence Day today, Lal Thanhawla said that the state police has been strengthened under the Modernisation of Police forces by providing them with modern equipment and weaponry.

"The state government purchase included 300 Glock 19 pistols, fifty MP5 A-3 small machine guns and 200 colt M-4 carbine," he said, adding that Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) and Cyber Cell set up under SP, CID (Crime) have done commendably well in curbing new forms of criminal activities.

The state government continued to give utmost priority to its flagship programme - New Land Use Policy (NLUP), which aims to bring about socio-economic transformation, the chief minister said.

He said that 1.2 lakh families have been covered under NLUP during the past three years in three successive phases and another 15,000 families were being brought under its fold.

He made special mention to health care saying that Mizoram would soon have its first ever Medical College named Mizoram Institute of Medical Education and Research at Falkawn village near Aizawl.

Independence Day was celebrated peacefully all over the state with functions being held in all the eight district headquarters, sub-divisional headquarters and bigger towns.

Security Beefed Up For Independence Day in Mizoram

Aizawl, Aug 15 : Security has been beefed up in Mizoram, specially in the capital town of Aizawl ahead of the 68th Independence Day on Thursday.

Aizawl District Superintendent C Laldina told PTI that overnight mobile and foot patrolling is on and uniformed and plainclothes officials would be deployed even in the remotest areas of the city.

This was being done due to recent explosions in the city, Laldina said. Security would also be tightened in and around the vital installations, he said adding elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure that no insurgent groups from across the borders could disrupt peace and public tranquility in the state.

Bombs and boycott: 'Celebrating' Independence Day in the Northeast

By Abhishek Saha

New Delhi, Aug 15 : Just two people dared to attend Independence Day celebrations in my school when I was growing up in Guwahati. Who they were comes later but let's first revisit what happened on Independence Day in Dhemaji in 2004.

A small group of people had gathered on the grounds of a college in the town in upper Assam to celebrate the day but what happened next traumatised the state. At around 9.30am a remote-controlled bomb went off in the playground killing 16 children and injuring 40 other people. The children died because they were celebrating Independence Day though extremist organisations had forbidden it. Five years later, a senior commander of banned separatist outfit the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) claimed responsibility for the blast and apologised.

The ULFA and several other militant outfits of the northeast routinely boycott Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations to register their opposition to the Indian state. This year 11 militant groups, including the ULFA, have called for a boycott of Independence Day celebrations in the region.

Such boycotts and threats of violence reduced Independence and Republic Days, occasions marked with joyous celebrations countrywide, to mere school holidays for me. I was a young boy growing up in the Assam of the late nineties. I live in Delhi now and the pomp, splendour and celebrations marking Independence Day make me nostalgic.

As a child in Guwahati, I remember national days meant watching celebrations in Lal Quila or on the Rajpath, with my grandmother, a partition refugee from East Bengal, on Doordarshan. I remember the monotonous voice of the commentator announcing the marching brigades, stiffly seated dignitaries, a blinking prime minister, and a rendition of Vande Mataram by musicians before and after the telecast of the ceremony in Delhi.

Outside, the streets were deserted — bandh that it was. Holiday was declared in schools and colleges, and shops and markets were all closed. Just like any other public holiday, people retired to the cosy comfort of their homes without any trace of celebration outside.

My school used to organise a small flag hoisting ceremony which was attended by only the physical training teacher and the headmaster. Our parents were perhaps too scared to send us to school on that day. What if there was a bomb blast? What if there was gun fire? What if…

I left Assam at 18 to study engineering in Jharkhand. There, on the streets of Ranchi, for the first time in my life, I came across vendors selling the tri-colour, along with balloons and caps with the same colour code. There, standing in front of those vendors I had felt a little embarrassed, like an outsider, left out of the in-house celebrations.

Years later, as a journalist in Delhi, witnessing the gala preparations for the important day I get a blow to my gut, again. The lightings, the greetings, and the rhetoric of those who cherry-pick from history, make me worry about people in the country's periphery and their feelings.

But then, Assam too, has had its fair share of prominent freedom fighters and nationalists. There were martyrs like Kanaklata Barua and Kushal Konwar, and also political activists like Gopinath Bordoloi, the first chief minister of the state. Unfortunately, though, over the years, separatist movements, regionalism, and Centre's apathy towards the region, have all come together and given shape to a disturbing socio-political situation.

I often remember what Jlip Mawkhiew, the village headman of Krohiawhiar, a remote village in Meghalaya, once told me.

"People in my village don't know what the national anthem is. For them, August 15, is like any other day," he had said.

‘India Needs To Push Connectivity Corridors with Myanmar’

New Delhi, Aug 15 : Key connectivity projects between India’s landlocked northeast and Myanmar, a crucial part of India’s Look East Policy, need to be completed on time to boost trade and partnership between India and the booming Southeast Asian region, especially with China stealing a march, experts said here Thursday.

Releasing a report titled “Transforming Connectivity Corridors Between India and Myanmar into Development Corridors”, officials and experts said that Myanmar, which shares an over 1,600 km border with four northeastern states, is a key part of the development of India’s northeast.

V.S. Seshadri, India’s former ambassador to Myanmar who formulated the report, said the timelines of the Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-modal projects need to be straightened out fast, especially with democracy striking firmer roots in Myanmar and its economy opening up. Both projects are officially set to be completed by 2016.

He pointed out that land border trade between India and Myanmar is much lower than between Myanmar and China. While formal land border trade between Moreh in Manipur and Tamu in Myanmar and Zokhawthar in Mizoram with Rhi in Myanmar amounts to around $35 million, the two-way trade between Muse in Myanmar and Jingao in China is over $2 billion.

The condition of roads on the Chinese side, in Yunnan province, is also much better with double-laned roads. “China has several 22-wheeled tractor trucks parked on its side of the border which it uses to transport goods to Myanmar that exports mainly agricultural goods like rice,” said Seshadri.

However, informal land border trade between India and Myanmar is thriving with people of both sides, including women, carrying headloads of goods across small river borders. This trade is said to be approximately worth Rs.35,000 million.

Another factor, said Seshadri, is that in Namphalong Market in Tamu in Myanmar, there are around 1,000 shops stocked with goods like toys, confectionery, blankets, agricultural produce. The market is bustling.

But there is no market on the Indian side in Moreh, Manipur. He said that “greater predictability and stability” was required to boost land border trade between the two countries.

The former envoy said there was a realization in Myanmar that its western sector, especially Rakhine state that borders India, needs rapid development and that Myanmar “would welcome India taking the initiative in boosting development”.

He also suggested that a broad gauge rail line that is supposed to be built in Imphal by 2018 could be extended to Moreh and then on to Kalay in Myanmar’s Sagaing division with international funding. “It will be a crucial link in connectivity,” he said.

There is a proposal to develop Moreh in Manipur into a major township, equipped with hospitals, educational institutes and banking facilities that would go a long way in boosting connectivity and trade, he said. An Integrated Check Post is set to come up at Moreh by the end of a year.

Besides, Special Economic Zones could be set up in Mizoram and Manipur bordering Myanmar to boost trade, the report by Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) suggests.

Minister of State for External Affairs and Development of the Northeastern Region V.K. Singh said in a statement that was read out that development of the northeast was “organically and intrinsically” linked with Southeast Asia and that Myanmar was “key to development of the Northeast”.

Sujata Mehta, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the external affairs ministry who read out the minister’s statement, expressed hope that the report would be of enduring value.

RIS chairperson and former foreign secretary Shyam Saran said Myanmar was the gateway to Southeast Asia and shares border with four northeast Indian states.

He suggested that with Myanmar opening up economically and moving towards a democratic framework, India should take prompt action to push through the connectivity projects to transform them into development corridors.

AASU Begins Hunger Strike Over Assam Accord ‘Failure’

Guwahati, Aug 15 : All Assam Students' Union (AASU) activists on Thursday began a hunger strike, demanding that the state government fulfill the promises made by it in the historic Assam Accord 29 years ago. The activists will continue their hunger strike till the tricolour is hoisted on Friday.

Addressing a news conference on the banks of the Dighalipukhuri, Aasu activists said they want a time-bound action-plan from the government regarding the implementation of the clauses of the Assam Accord. The students' body said this would solve the problem of illegal influx in the state.

"Since the beginning of the Assam agitation in 1979, the state's people have been pressing successive governments to protect their Assamese identity. As per the accord, signed with the Centre in 1985, foreign nationals who entered Assam illegally after March 24, 1971, should have left the state," said Aasu adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya.

He lamented that successive governments at the Centre and the state have not done enough to implement the Assam Accord, which he termed a 'national commitment'.

The students' body, a signatory of the Assam Accord which ended the six-year-long Assam agitation seeking deportation of illegal immigrants, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Tarun Gogoi to set a deadline for the implementation of the clauses of the accord.

"The then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi announced the signing of the accord on 15th August, 1985. Nothing has been done to implement its clauses. Assam and the northeast have turned into a transit camp for jehadis and fundamentalists," Bhattacharyya added.

Aasu demanded that the BJP-led government at the Centre fulfill its poll promise of sealing the Indo-Bangla border, updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and safeguarding the identity of the Assamese people.

The Aasu leadership hit out at the Tarun Gogoi-government for failing to update the NRC, which, they say, is necessary to identify illegal immigrants in the state. "During a discussion with the PM on May 5, 2005, Tarun Gogoi said the NRC will be updated in Assam within two years. The promise remains unfulfilled and illegal immigrants have unrestricted movement in the state," Aasu president Sankar Prasad Rai said.

In all district headquarters, Aasu members will continue their hunger strike till the morning of August 15.