Passport Seva Kendras For All Northeast Indian States

Agartala, Sep 10 : To overcome the growing backlog of passport- seekers, all the North-Eastern Indian states will get their own Passport Seva Kendras by Mar 31, a top Indian minister has said.

All the state appreciated the move which will help in further improving the relation between the people of this part of India with its neighouring like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.

"Before the next financial year, that is March 31, we will open Passport Seva Kendras in all the North-East states," announced Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a press conference in Indian capital.

At present there is only one regional passport office at Guwahati of Assam in the region that caters to the 96 districts of six North-Eastern, while Tripura comes under the Kolkata office.

Earlier, there was provision of a special permit which later took the shape of India-Bangladesh Passport issued by the political department of Tripura.

This was for people who were keen to travel to only Bangladesh for family or business reasons but not to elsewhere in the world.

However, recently due to security related issues, this system has been stopped leading to a major problem in getting passport for those who often goes to Bangladesh for various reasons.

Swaraj also announced that the Centre has agreed to double the production of number of passport booklets published per year keeping in mind the recent demand of passports.

"Around ten million booklets used to produced annually, which led to a great shortage of passports. When I was made the External Affairs Minister, I found that the shortage of passport booklets to be more than six lakhs. Thus now, we have decided that the number of booklets produced shall be increased to two crores annually," she said.

The India External Affairs Minister further said that there was a plan to start passport camps, where the people would be able to get their passports made.

"We want to start passport camps, where people can come and get their passports made for those who find it difficult to travel to Passport Seva Kendras. We want to open a passport camp in every district in the country," she said.

As of December 31, 2013, the number of valid passport s in the country was 5,19, 29,132.

Ukhrul Ambush: Commando Killed

By Khelen Thokchom
Imphal, Sept. 9: The Manipur government’s move to offer an olive branch to sponsors of the indefinite bandh in Naga-inhabited areas by withdrawing additional security forces from Ukhrul town took a hit this morning when suspected NSCN (Isak-Muivah) militants sprung twin ambushes in Ukhrul district, leaving one police commando dead and two injured.

The deceased was identified as Haoreiyo. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to Imphal while the other two personnel, Khumukcham Amuthoi, 33, and Naminthang Namsong, 27, were admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here. Amuthoi’s condition is said to be serious. All the three are constables.

The security personnel were returning from Ukhrul town, 65km northeast of Imphal, following orders issued last evening by the state government on the suggestion of Union home minister Rajnath Singh to create a conducive situation that could lead to lifting of the six-day-old bandh called by the United Naga Council (UNC).

Though no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, police suspect the hand of the NSCN (I-M) because the sites of the ambushes are stronghold of the group, which is in ceasefire and talks with the government. The truce is not applicable to Manipur, but both the central and state forces avoid action against the outfit in view of the ongoing peace talks between the group and Centre.

Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and deputy chief minister Gaikhangam, who is also the home minister, briefed governor V.K. Duggal on the law and order situation in the wake of today’s ambush. Before meeting the governor, Gaikhangam reviewed the situation in Ukhrul with Congress legislators elected from the district.

Police said militants, lying in wait on hilltops ambushed the two convoys almost simultaneously at 9.30am at Mahadeva, 20km from Imphal, and Hundung, 40km from Imhal, on the Imphal-Ukhrul road. The first convoy to come under attack at Mahadeva was a team of police commandos sent from Imphal to Ukhrul as road-opening patrol for the convoy returning from Ukhrul. The commandos returned fire and the exchange lasted for about 10 minutes.

As the exchange of fire was on, another group of militants sprung an ambush on a combined team of police commandos and India Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel returning from Ukhrul at Hundung, about 20km east of Mahadeva. Haoreiyo was injured in the second ambush.

The combined team of commandos and IRB numbering about 500 was being led by deputy inspector-general (Range-1) Bilchandra Sharma and was on its way to Imphal.

These forces had been deployed after the killing of Ukhrul Autonomous District Council member Ngalangzar Malue, 65, by suspected NSCN (I-M) cadres in Ukhrul on July 12. The UNC, apex body of the Nagas, called an indefinite bandh in the Naga areas from Thursday demanding withdrawal of the state forces and prohibitory orders.

The bandh has affected supplies of essential commodities to Manipur as the two key highways connecting the state to the outside world pass through the Naga-inhabited areas.

Though both security forces and the prohibitory orders were withdrawn, the UNC was yet to take a decision on calling off its bandh.

The government has not decided whether to do a rethink on the pullout after today’s twin ambushes. The chief minister is expected to review the situation with security agencies before taking any decision.

Official sources said the government was prepared to take up the issue of NSCN (I-M)’s activities in Manipur with the Centre for possible flush-out operations.

Intelligence sources said cadres of the outfit were operating in the district in the absence of any ceasefire.

Sources said though the army, Assam Rifles and state forces carried out operations from time to time against other militant groups numbering more than 30, they were avoiding action against the NSCN (I-M) lest the talks are jeopardised.

Manipur govt had pulled out forces after centre’s nudge

April 9, 2014: Suspected NSCN-IM cadres ambush Deputy Speaker M.K. Presho Shimray in Ukhrul on voting day for Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency. Shimray escapes unhurt

July 12, 2014: Suspected NSCN-IM militants ambush Ukhrul Autonomous District Council member Ngalangzar Malue, killing him on the spot

Nov. 13, 2011: Suspected NSCN-IM cadres ambush education minister D.D. Thaisii in Senapati district. He escapes unhurt

April. 15, 2011: Suspected NSCN-IM rebels ambush Independent MLA Wungnaoshang Keishing in Ukhrul. Six Manipur Rifles personnel escorting the MLA and a driver killed on
the spot

What Prohibition Meant in My Home State Mizoram

How do you feel about prohibition? Would you rather risk dodging vigilantes and drinking spurious alcohol in a dry state or dealing with sometimes-violent addicts in a wet one? As Mizoram prepares to lift prohibition with the passing of a new law in July, our writer takes us through the 17 years of prohibition and what they meant for him.

By Vanlalruatkima

Bottles at a Bar_. Photo by Edwin Land via CC BY 2.0

Everybody knows that Gujarat is a dry state. But few are aware that other states in India are as well – full or partial prohibition exists in Nagaland, Manipur and Lakshadweep. For 17 years, Mizoram has been under prohibition, but in July this year, the Assembly scrapped the MLTP Act and passed the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Bill 2014, or the MLPC Bill. Under the new rules, sale of alcohol will still be restricted to a degree, but wine shops can open under strict regulations, and people over 21 will be allowed to drink. The MLPC Rules 2014 will soon be sent to the Law Department for final approval. In layman’s terms, here’s what it will mean: bye-bye prohibition, hello inebriation, no more adulteration.
Ironically, that’s exactly what the MLTP Act managed to cause – it increased the amount of adulterated liquor in the black market.

In Gujarat, there are Special Economic Zones (SEZs) where you can purchase and drink liquor. Apart from that, permits are given to foreigners, NRIs and “patients”, and I’m sure many of us have our fair share of Gujarati friends who often boast about knowing where they can easily get alcohol in Gujarat.

In Aizawl (the capital district and the most populous one, constituting around 37 percent of the population of Mizoram, going by Census 2011 data) the only places where you can illegally purchase authentic liquor, usually under the cover of darkness, are from the Army and paramilitary camps (the Assam Rifles, the Border Roads Organization and the Army Medical Corps) as they do not come under state law. Only people with good “contacts” can get them on days it is available; for those less fortunate, practically every bootlegger in Mizoram either sells home-made hooch or adulterated alcohol smuggled from across its borders, whether the domestic borders with Tripura, Assam and Manipur, or its international borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar. The three autonomous districts of Southern Mizoram – Chakma, Lai and Mara area are not affected by the MLTP Act. In towns and villages along the porous “international” border of Myanmar, imported alcohol as well as Myanmar brands can easily be obtained.

But smuggling alcohol into the state isn’t an easy affair, and that’s why such a large percentage of liquor in Mizoram is adulterated. It is difficult to transport alcohol via road from Assam, because the staff at the Vairengte check post are extremely vigilant, and they will look through all your baggage and search your vehicle thoroughly (unless you happen to know the right people in the right places, pointing to the alarming factor prevalent in any place where prohibition exists – the nexus between bootleggers and police, and the differential treatment of the “haves” and “have-nots”).

Even after Vairengte check-gate, there is the Kolasib check-gate, aka "Inchhirna kawn". The literal translation of this nickname is "place where everybody regrets!" You either managed to smuggle alcohol past Vairengte check-gate and got caught at Kolasib check-gate. Or you didn't smuggle in any alcohol for fear of being caught but weren't checked at Kolasib check-gate because nobody was on duty there. Either way, plenty of regret.

Air travel is a different story. In India, we’re allowed to carry up to 5liters of alcohol in our check-in luggage on domestic flights, and no airport authority will stop you from carrying alcohol just because your destination is a dry state – that is the responsibility of your destination’s law enforcement agency, not theirs. And yes, those arriving at Lengpui Airport in Mizoram are usually not checked upon arrival. But then again, 5 liters is not a large quantity, especially when all your friends, relatives and the Facebook friends you don’t even know exist suddenly ask you to bring a bottle home for them the moment they know you’re flying home, so happiness doesn’t last very long during vacations. I once had all five bottles of mine confiscated by the airport authority in Kolkata because in order to lighten my luggage, I had transferred the alcohol from their original heavy glass bottles to plastic ones. I learned the hard way that even though we’re allowed to carry up to five bottles of alcohol, we aren’t allowed to tamper with the seal of the bottles! I’ve never been that grumpy during a flight in my entire life.

Since alcohol in Mizoram is in such short supply, profits on smuggled alcohol can easily be maximized by adding ethyl alcohol or other dangerous additives to increase the quantity of liquor available. And that poses a serious threat to health: earlier this year, The Telegraph reported that according to records with Mizoram’s Excise and Narcotics Department, illicit liquor was responsible for 90 deaths in the past 17 years.

Spurious alcohol can mean either locally brewed alcohol, or smuggled Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) that has been adulterated beyond recognition. To give you a taste of what it’s like to consume adulterated alcohol, here’s my personal experience. I live in Mumbai, and I’m a loyal fan of Old Monk rum. During one of my vacations back home, I was invited to a dinner party, to which one of my friends brought a bottle of Old Monk (a plastic one) bought from a bootlegger. The moment I drank it, I choked and nearly vomited. The taste of chemicals in it was overwhelming, and I could feel my stomach constricting immediately. Sadly, none of my friends seemed affected because they were accustomed to the taste of that stuff.

Historically, alcohol (different varieties of rice beer) has been very much a part of our Mizo culture. Back during the days when we were warring tribes fighting amongst ourselves under different clans, when we were Animists long before the missionaries came, we drank at every village festival, danced around the bonfire under the crystal blue moonlight, drunk and carefree with no regard for the future or the number of Facebook friends we had.

There were different types of alcohol for every occasion. Some types of alcohol like zupui were served only on special public occasions such as weddings, a successful hunt, or a successful raid on another village. Others like zufang were consumed at home (even the kids got to drink it!) and served to visiting guests. And there were special zufang served to important guests such as the chieftain of the village or a pasaltha (a warrior who had proven his courage during a hunt or raid). Other types like rakzu (also called tinzuin some regions) were consumed for leisure within the village.

All that changed when the Welsh missionaries arrived in Mizoram in 1894 during British colonization. Along with Christianity, they gave us a script, taught us how to read and write, educated us and abolished some social evils such as the practice of slavery, animal sacrifice, raiding villages and the tradition of proving one’s bravery by beheading somebody from a rival clan in order to become a pasaltha. It is thanks to their relentless effort that even though we had a late start on the literacy scene, Mizoram is now one of the most literate statesin India, second only to Kerala.

But the missionaries also made us do away with other practices, such as our consumption of alcohol (terming it a sin) and the way we would sing in unison with drums (which was, ironically introduced into our Church rituals years later). Christianity remains a major legacy of the British in Mizoram to this day. When India got Independence, Mizoram was known as the Lushai Hills District. It became a Union Territory in 1972 and finally India’s 23rd state in 1987. Census data indicates that in 2001, around close to 90 percent of the population of Mizoram was Christian. Presbyterian and Baptist are the two largest denominations in the state. Consumption of alcohol continues to be considered a grave sin.

Church pressure on the government to enforce prohibition has been tremendous: it was church influence that resulted in the Congress government passing the MLTP Bill. While all church denominations in Mizoram are for prohibition, the Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod, which has the largest following, has been the most vocal about it. They have held mass prayers, protested on streets in large numbers, and put up posters all over the city opposed to the lifting of prohibition.“Total prohibition has been beneficial in ridding Mizo society of various social evils. […] We are against any change in the 1995 Act as it would make people more prone to alcoholism. The state is already plagued by widespread drug abuse,” Robert Halliday of the Synod told Tehelka.

The same Congress government, back in power since 2008 and voted in for a second consecutive term in December 2013 in a landslide win, introduced what a newspaper called “a bold move that defied influential churches” when it passed the new liquor law this July. Ironically, Mizoram’s Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, who is now serving his fifth term as CM and has been elected to the state Assembly nine times since 1978, was in June 2014 caught on camera allegedly drinking beer with his wife. No action was taken against him, but he did earn himself the nickname ‘Alco-Hawla’.

According to the state’s Minister for Excise and Narcotics R Lalzirliana, the primary reason behind the decision to lift prohibition was to stop the harm done by spurious liquor.

The former Mizoram Governor Vakkom Purushothaman once described Mizoram as “the wettest dry state”. In January 2011, a special study group formed with the help of Mizoram University’s Department of Psychology studied the problem of prohibition and alcohol abuse, and a year later submitted a report recommending changes to the MLTP Act. A growing sentiment among the Mizos is that the restrictions on alcohol has led to an increase in drug abuse among the youth. And then there was the worrying rise of vigilantism from groups like the dreaded Supply Reduction Service (SRS), which was finally disbanded in 2008 due to public pressure. The SRS were infamous for violating human rights, beating up and on occasion, causing the deaths of alleged drug peddlers and bootleggers. The SRS was a purely voluntary association like its parent body, the Young Mizo Association (YMA), and was created as a special unit to combat bootleggers and drug peddlers. The YMA organizes community initiatives such as functions, funerals, helping the needy or relief efforts for natural disasters. While the YMA isn’t sponsored by the state, nearly all Mizos are part of it, including our politicians and police force. So, for that matter, am I.

It feels good to know that amending the MLTP Act may prevent the consumption of spurious alcohol. But at the same time, many are skeptical about how this will affect our society. The Church and its loyal devotees are afraid this will lead to a rise in immorality and decline in spirituality, and even from a non-Christian-doctrine perspective, people are worried about the deterioration of law and order. To an extent, it is reassuring to know that under the new law, those creating a nuisance after drinking will be punished severely and could be imprisoned for up to two years. Drunken driving could invite the same punishment.

Growing up, my home in Mizoram was right opposite what used to be one of the most popular taverns in Aizawl before the prohibition days began in 1997. Before the Congress government at the time brought in the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition (MLTP) Act in 1995, which was enforced fully only two years later, drunk men would knock on our door every day, asking us for money because they had run out of cash. Some of them would demand that we pay for their drinks. There were drunk men fighting outside our house almost every night, making it unsafe for me and my three older sisters to venture out after dark, and there would occasionally be one or two people passed out inside our gate in the morning. Even when we complained to the police, all they did was post a few cops around our house for a few days; things would be peaceful for a bit before it would all start once again. Sometimes it was even the cops themselves who asked us for a little “show” – a Mizo way of asking another person to treat them to a drink.

Those incidents traumatized me as a child. But when prohibition came, all of that changed for us: the next 17 years brought us peace and quiet. So even though I drink, I support the Church’s stand and remain a skeptic about this new change. Is our law enforcement really capable of maintaining law and order once this act comes into place? Only time will tell.

One of the reasons cited for lifting prohibition (although the Congress government is keen to emphasize that it is not the most important reason, an allegation made by churches) is the potential for revenue alcohol has in terms of sales tax. One of the key examples that anti-prohibition lobbyists cite is Kerala, which has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in India. Kerala brought in over Rs 8,000 crore in the last fiscal year from liquor sales alone; this was probably what hammered in the last nail on the MLTP Act coffin. And in an ironic twist of fate, just as Mizoram is freeing itself from prohibition, Kerala is now slowly heading towards it.

Vanlalruatkima (better known as Kima in the real world and ‘Mizohican’ in the online world) is an avid blogger from Mizoram, who has been blogging about the North East for nearly a decade. He is currently located in Mumbai and heads his own mobile games development company.

Mizoram Cops Seek Sanction To Question Army Men

By Adam Halliday

Aizawl, Sep 4 : Ajit Rai on August 18 died of gunshot wounds at the paramilitary camp in Mimbung in Mizoram.

Mizoram Police have asked for sanction to question all men stationed in the 39th Assam Rifles camp at Mimbung in connection with the suspected murder of a rifleman Ajit Rai there last month.

Senior police officials said about 30 men are posted there, and questioning would enable them to establish the sequence of events leading to the death.

An officer with the 39th Assam Rifles, however, said, “The investigation is over from our side. The police themselves and the postmortem report are saying that it is a suicide.”

Rai on August 18 died of gunshot wounds at the paramilitary camp in Mimbung, located in Mizoram’s eastern Champhai district. His elder brother Atul has alleged Ajit was killed by his seniors.

Running Like The Wind

By Sudipta Bhattacharjee

There is a jinx on Mizoram. Or rather, its picturesque Raj Bhavan. Why else would four people in a row opt out of its gubernatorial joys in a matter of weeks?

Situated in the heart of the state capital, Aizawl, the Raj Bhavan, more compact than its sprawling counterparts elsewhere in the region, was built in 1899. Since then, it has undergone structural changes, but continues to hold pride of place, surrounded by the secretariat and the legislative assembly on the northern side, Republic Veng (a civilian residential area) on the east and a small children’s park, maintained by the forest department, to the west. It is certainly not this panoramic campus that is making governor-designates resign in a hurry.

Shortly after the National Democratic Alliance came to power, there began a scramble for resignations by governors appointed during the United Progressive Alliance regime. B.L. Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa), Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland), V. Purushothaman (Mizoram) and K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) set the trend, followed by Sheila Dikshit, who was appointed the governor of Kerala in March, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and months after losing power in Delhi.

When Purushothaman left Aizawl, Kamla Beniwal, who had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was the Gujarat chief minister, was shifted from the western state to Mizoram. After the NDA government came to power, she was sacked her for ‘misuse of office’ and Sankaranarayanan was chosen. He publicly criticized the decision. “[The president] has all the powers to transfer a governor, but then I thought it is not convenient... I decided not to go to Mizoram,” he announced.

Big mystery

The next name to do the rounds was that of Sheila Dikshit. First she met the Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, and the president, Pranab Mukherjee, in Delhi on hearing the plans to transfer her to Mizoram, and said she would resign if the government took such a decision. Last week, Dikshit resigned, claiming: “I did what my heart said I should do.”

While Mizoram awaits a new entrant to grace its Raj Bhavan, the Union minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, has hit out at the governors who refused to be transferred to that state. Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, he has taken the matter to heart. In a recent interview, he said: “It is a very emotive issue for me. When a person is posted to the Northeast and he refuses to go there, that person loses the moral authority to speak on equality in the country. If people like governors and IAS and IPS officers will only choose serving in metropolitan and comfortable cities, then they don’t deserve to be in their position.” He added that such people should “apologize to the nation and to the people of the Northeast.”

Postings in the region are often considered a ‘punishment’ because of problems of militancy, lack of infrastructure and facilities as well as the difficult terrain. But Mizoram has been an “oasis of peace” since 1986. It has an airport nestled amid blue hills, a fairly decent road network and a friendly people. Its Congress government is headed by a veteran leader, Lal Thanhawla, not known for crossing swords with the occupant of the Raj Bhavan. The state is culturally resplendent and unlike others in the region, dissidence, horse-trading and the juggling of chief ministers (situations when the governor galvanizes into action) is almost non-existent.

With no visible reason thus far to not accept the gubernatorial post, one wonders if the two historic wooden cannons, installed in 1979 at the gate of the Raj Bhavan, hold any clue to the mystery of the reluctant governor.

'Mary Kom', A Motivational Masterpiece

By Subhash K. Jha

It's that life-defining moment when a character on screen transforms totally into a real life personality. We've seen Seema Biswas, Ben Kingsley and Farhan Akhtar metamorphose into real life characters in front of our bewildered eyes.

Film: "Mary Kom"; Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumar, Zachary Coffin, Robin Das, Shakti Singh;
Director: Omung Kumar;
Rating: *****

Now it is Priyanka Chopra. She virtually transforms her physicality before entering the spirit and the soul of boxing champ Mary Kom (MC).

And what a grand entry!

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Priyanka as the gritty volatile boxer from Manipur who won't take no for an answer, even from god. Penetrating a male domain like boxing in a gender-defying swoop, Priyanka's MC takes us on a voyage of self-discovery where a plucky poor girl from rural Manipur goes right to the Olympics. It's an incredible story filled with sound and fury signifying something deep and seductive, just waiting to be told.

Hats off to debutant director Omung Kumar for bringing us one of the most inspiring biopics to have ever reached the silver screen.

"Mujhe bronze pasand nahin aata," barks MC's coach. As we see Mary's dreams come true in front of our eyes, we know she was born to win. The narrative has a soaring quality and texture. It simply takes off with scarcely any room for breathing space. The breathless quality of storytelling goes well with the protagonist's stormy mercurial nature.

As MC' story unravels in a flashback we meet a woman who is not affected by gender rules and discrimination that governs our society.

Very early in the tightly clenched narrative, we see MC get into a full-fledged scuffle with a school bully. Later she takes on another far more dangerous bully who threatens to destroy her boxing career. In and out of the arena Mary never stops fighting. "The rest of the world may be round. But your world is this square ring," her coach reminds her pointing to the boxing arena. The struggle, as depicted in the stunning unspoilt northeastern terrain of Manipur, captured with mesmeric intensity by cinematographer Keiko Nakahara, is manifold. Here it is a curse to be born a girl. And to be born a girl who wants to be a boxing champ!

You have to be kidding.

Admirably the narrative doesn't over-sentimentalise MC's struggle. This is "Mother India" without the glycerine and melodrama. As played by Priyanka, MC is both gritty and giggly, plucky and precocious, a ferocious fighter and a tender mother.

Priyanka expresses every shade of her character with a pitch-perfect bravado. Her northeastern accent could easily have become caricatural. The actress controls curbs and quantifies every component of her character's personality without losing that basic element of spontaneity without which Mary would have become mechanical.

I dare any other actress to play MC the way Priyanka has. Even Hilary Swank would have been stumped by MC'S mystical mix of the girlish and the aggressive. Priyanka gets the point.

My favourite sequences are the ones where MC shares tender marital moments with her husband. If it's vital for a career woman to get a supportive husband, it is equally essential for a film starring a female hero to have a co-actor who can play yin to her yang. Newcomer Darshan Kumar suffuses the screen with such supreme spousal sensitivity. He is a talent to watch.

Predictably enough a lot of the opposition to MC's dreams is shown to come from within her home. The skirmishes between MC and her father (Robin Das) and MC's gender battle with the slimy executive of the boxing federation (played with diabolic relish by Shakti Singh) are exceptionally filmy', and I use that word in the truest cinematic sense.

The picturesque narrative, the richly flavoured music composed by Shashi Suman and Shivum (watch out for the poignant lullaby sung by Priyanka), the rapid fire editing, the framing of the shimmering shots and the incredibly aesthetic use of rich colours bear the unmistakable stamp of producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is billed as Creative Director.

"Mary Kom" is a motivational masterpiece. From first frame to last it grips your senses and irrigates the parched corridors of your heart like very few biopics in recent times. Kumar weaves seamlessly in and out of Mary's remarkable life creating a work that is as dramatic as Mehboob Khan's "Mother India" and as inspiring as Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi".

Priyanka's powerhouse performance knocks the breath out of our solar plexus. She yet again proves herself the best actress of her generation.

Hereafter there will be an eternal confusion about whose face goes on the hoardings announcing Mary Kom's boxing events.

PC or MC?

Naga Blockade: Rajnath Singh Assures Assistance to Manipur

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has instructed Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and Home Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei to take up firm and effective steps to counteract the indefinite economic blockade called by the United Naga Council (UNC) against Manipur from Thursday morning.

This is in protest against the gunning down of two tribals in Ukhrul district on August 29 while dispersing a procession. 20 others were sustained injuries. After from blocking the movement of vehicles, the Nagas shall obstruct all national projects like the constructions of the rail lines, hydroelectric projects and installation of high tension transmission lines.

Briefing reporters on Wednesday shortly after the arrival of Mr. Duggal, Mr. Singh and Mr. Gangmei in Imphal from Delhi, Okendra Moirangthem, the government spokesperson said that the Union Home Minister was briefed on the happenings in the district leading to the killings of two persons. After listening to the verbal report, the Union Home Minister had instructed them to protect life and property of the people. He promised all assistances from the union government in ensuring uninterrupted supply of fuel, consumer items and others. They were also directed to beef up security measures so that construction works of the national projects are not disturbed.

Minister Moirangthem said that armed paramilitary personnel will escort the trucks and buses along the two national highways which are the lifelines of this landlocked mountain state to ensure that all sorts of commodities arrive at Imphal.

Following the gunning down of Ngarlarzar Malue, a member of the autonomous district council of Ukhrul district on July 12 allegedly by the NSCN(IM) cadres, the district has been under siege with the arrival of police and paramilitary forces. Prohibitory orders were also clamped. There have been demands to withdraw the additional forces and lift the prohibitory orders.

On August 29, the UNC organised a procession to demand the withdrawal of the state forces and lifting the prohibitory orders. Police intervened and during the clashes two persons were killed and 20 others were wounded. The government had offered Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the dead persons and said that it would foot the medical bills for the injured ones. However the UNC sponsored meeting said that the ex-gratia would be spurned.

In the past, the Manipur government could not ensure unfettered transportation of goods to the state since there was no back up from the centre. Now that the Union Home Minister has assured all assistances, the state government may ensure uninterrupted supply. Fuel is in short supply and the government is rationing it from Wednesday.

UNC Press Release: September 3rd, 2014

RESS  RELEASE

         Dated Tahamzam, 3^rd September, 2014

The ban on all vehicular traffic on National Highways and State Highways and ban on all construction works on National Projects in Naga areas to be enforced with effect from 6.00 AM of 4^th September, 2014 has been called because the sentiments of the Nagas have been demonstrated in measures beyond which it will become redundant.

Under the communal Government of Manipur(GoM) our voices and sentiments do not count. Our lives are not safe. Our democratic rights do not exist. In the Imphal  valley, the domain of the GoM, mainland Indians are being butchered and maimed in manners that are done to the most bitter of enemies. While in the hill areas of the tribals, where peace prevails, the GoM sends their Police forces to kill and brutalise the people they were purportedly sent to protect. The magnitude of social divide on communal lines in Manipur can only be addressed with a political solution.

Through this release we solicit free will donations towards the families of the martyrs Mayopam Ramror and Ramkashing Vashi and for those who were brutalised at Ukhrul on 30^th August, 2014. The same may be submitted to the Treasurer, United Naga Council for onwards submission.

We appeal to the general public, transporters and truck owners to extend their co-operation and solidarity for the protest against the insult on our people and the mockery of democracy where the voice of the people have been responded with bullets and force.

All Nagas are volunteers and it is the moral responsibility of every Naga to uphold the peoples’ movement.  The Tribe Councils and Regional Organisations will co-ordinate and monitor the bans in the respective jurisdiction.

The people are informed to be vigilant against any measures that may be deployed by the communal GoM to suppress the people’s movement.

Any individuals violating this stricture of the people will be doing so at their own risks.

. 

Publicity Wing

United Naga Council