Ziro To Music Haven, in 4 Days

Sleepy Arunachal town wakes up to fest from tomorrow

By RANJU DODUM

The Vinyl Records performs at Ziro Music Festival last year. Picture by Shiv Ahuja Itanagar, Sep 24 : The quiet Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh will come alive with the sound of non-stop music from Thursday. Located in the heart of Lower Subansiri district and surrounded by rolling green hills, Ziro valley is home to men and women of the Apatani tribe and attracts a number of tourists. From Thursday, the number of visitors to the sleepy town will swell as the third edition of the Ziro Festival of Music kicks off. In a span of just two years, the festival has become the mainstay of India’s ever-expanding festival circuit. With an eclectic collection of folk, Indie and electro-rock artistes performing against the backdrop of the picturesque valley, it’s not difficult to imagine why. Festival co-founder Anup Kutty attributes the event’s success to the location, the people and the artistes. “It’s a potent combination of all three,” he said. The festival was started after Anup and his bandmates from Menwhopause were touring the Northeast and festival director Bobby Hano took them to Ziro for a break. One thing led to another and in 2012 the first festival was organised. Even with showers making the venue ground slushy, it created a buzz across the country. By 2013, the festival had gone global. Last year, American artistes Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley of the erstwhile Sonic Youth headlined the festival and this year, a reunited Indus Creed will bring down the curtains on Sunday. Such is the lure of the festival that singer Uday Benegal is returning with the troupe many feel is India’s first rock band. Benegal, who was at last year’s event as part of the Whirling Kalapas, says the “valley is a fabulous piece of earth” and that he is “kicked about going back”. Apart from Indus Creed, this year will feature a host of big names like Ska Vengers and Your Chin. Additionally, the third edition has the largest line-up of folk artistes and musicians from the Northeast. With the likes of the Nagaland-based Tetseo Sisters making their first appearance at the festival and Manipur band Imphal Talkies set to return, music lovers are in for a treat. With close to 30 bands set to perform, little wonder that the festival had to be extended by a day. Anup says that “three days just didn’t seem enough” and we “decided to keep the first day free for the people of Ziro as a tribute to the wonderful place”. Aside from the support of the people, this year Living Dreams, an Arunachal-based trust that documents and promotes local culture and Pepsi MTV Indies, will support the festival. Among its long list of supporters is the Arunachal government. Last year, tourism minister Pema Khandu said he was “very pleased with the overwhelmingly stunning response” and made a call to make the festival the “Woodstock of the East”.

Militant Camps Still in Bangladesh, Claims Tripura Chief Minister

RAB’s operation on Jun 4, 2014 yielded arms at the seven bunkers atop hillocks inside Satchharhi jungles of Habiganj, about three km from the Indian border in Tripura.

Militant camps still exist across the border in Bangladesh, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar alleged on Monday.

He said this while addressing a large gathering of the elite Tripura State Rifles (TSR) personnel and the members of their families at a blood, eye, and body donation programme at the battalion headquarters in Tripura's Agartala.

Sarkar has been praising the present government in Bangladesh, saying it is friendly towards India and has acted against Northeast Indian militant groups using Bangladesh territory as their launching pad.

But he added several camps of Tripura militants still existed across the border.

“The problem of insurgency has not yet been entirely solved. They have been weakened and cornered, but not totally uprooted.”

He said 19 to 20 camps still existed in Bangladesh. Of the two Tripura militant groups - NLFT and the Tiger Force – the former was still ran camps in Bangladesh, though with a depleting cadre strength.

According to him, there were no records any camp of the banned All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) in Bangladesh at present.

The Chief Minister said the militants were trying to achieve a revival in Tripura and hamper development work.

Sarkar praised the TSR for its counter-insurgency operations in the state.

Tripura has an 857-km border with Bangladesh, of which more than 90 percent has been already fenced.

Landslide on Guwahati-Shillong Highway

Guwahati, Sep 24 : More than 72 hours of incessant rainfall has caused huge floods in Assam and Meghalaya with several villages in Goalpara, Dhubri, Lakhimpur and Kamrup (Rural) district, besides major areas of Guwahati city, inundated by water on Tuesday.

The Army, IAF, BSF and NDRF are assisting the district administration in rescue operations. IAF swung into action with its helicopters pressed into service and began rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Goalpara district. More than 500 people in the district are suspected to be still missing.

A child was killed in a landslide in Dhubri district’s Hatsingimari, while one person was electrocuted in Guwahati where a body floating on river Bharalu was also recovered, state government officials said.

The Kaziranga National Park and the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary were also flooded forcing hapless animals to move to highlands to protect themselves.  The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been pressed into service.

In Goalpara district, the army and SDRF were assisting the district administration in rescuing the over 50,000 people marooned in 100 villages due to the deluge in Krishnai, Dudhnoi and Bolbola areas, district Deputy Commissioner (DC) Preetam Saikia said.

The National Highway 37 was water logged with tin-roofed and thatched houses in many areas in Goalpara district submerged, converting huge tracts of human habitation and farmland with standing crops into a vast body of water, Saikia said.

Heavy rains in Goalpara coupled with that in neighbouring Garo hills of Meghalaya was causing the deluge in the district, the DC said.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi personally monitored the situation and directed the various agencies to provide relief assistance to the affected people.

In Lakhimpur district, heavy downpour for the last two days along Arunachal Pradesh, had forced the waters of the swollen Ranganadi river to rush through a breached dyke at Kharkati, district officials said. A dyke that had breached at Borsola along with the Kharkati bund on August 14 last also caused waters from Singara river to flood the area, they said.

The flood waters have marooned over 30,000 people in 30 villages in the Kharkati and Borsola area, they added. The situation turned worse in Majuli, where several villages have been submerged since Sunday.

Protests in Itanagar Over Leak Of State Civil Service Paper

Itanagar, Sep 24 : Hundreds of candidates appearing for the Arunachal Pradesh civil service exams staged a protest here Tuesday demanding an inquiry into the alleged leak of a question paper for the main examination.

According to students, the General Studies-2 question paper was a copy of the extra set of question paper prepared for 2011 mains exam and was already with many students.

"Firstly the set of question paper was a ditto copy of General Studies Paper-2 of 2011 and secondly the said question paper was already in circulation and possessed by some candidates since Nov-Dec 2013," Oyam Saring, a candidate told IANS.

Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission prepares 2 sets of question papers to meet any eventuality.

Earlier the students had protested outside Chief Minister Nabam Tuki's official residence following which the commission had postponed the exam until further notice.

"The candidates are shocked how the question paper which is kept in a secured room came into the hands of some candidates. The officials have also shown their laziness by copy pasting questions from the extra paper of 2011 exam," Saring said.

DU's Gyanodaya Express to Take students to Northeast

New Delhi, Sep 24 : Delhi University's Gyanodaya Express train will travel to Northeast this year to enrich students' understanding about the culture and heritage of the region.

As many as 900 students will be given the opportunity to travel on Dharodhar-Gyanodaya Express from December 20 to 30. They will be given basic working knowledge of eight different languages of the northeast under special certificate courses run by DU, Registrar Tarun Kumar Das said in a statement Tuesday.

The students accompanied by around 100 teachers will be selected from colleges on basis of project proposals and will be divided into group of 11-15 with a mentor each. Each group will have at least one member from the northeast.

The projects are to be based on ideas that shall give a deeper understanding of richness of the region and its contribution in diverse ways towards the well-being of the nation, he said.

During the trip, students will get to meet representatives of local universities as well as senior functionaries of northeastern states, Das said, adding, issues related to citizenship, national integration and ideals propounded by eminent leaders would be addressed in the study conducted by the students.

Started as the 'College on Wheels' project in 2012, this will be the fourth edition of Gyanodaya Express. 

Mizoram Woman Booked For Facebook Post

Aizawl, Sep 23 : A senior office bearer of the Mizoram Pradesh Youth Congress Committee has filed a police complaint against a woman here for a Facebook post in which she alleged that a Mizo fugitive and his friends were beaten up in Delhi by two members of the party unit.

Acting on the complaint from secretary of the committee R Lalhmingmawia Ralte, the police filed an FIR on Monday against Lalrinfeli, who goes by the Facebook name Felly Jahau.

Ralte in the complaint said someone going by the name ‘Felly Jahau’ posted an article on the widely-followed “Zoram Politics” Facebook group where she “defamed” the ruling Congress and wrote about two party members who “do not exist”.

The said Facebook post talked about one Michael, a man wanted by the Mizoram Police in connection with a case involving allegations of EVM rigging during the last year’s state Assembly polls, being approached and manhandled by two men in Delhi.

The post alleged the attackers were dressed as policemen, but they turned out to be youth Congress leaders.

Michael is wanted by the police for instigating a well-known Aizawl educationist to make allegations that the Congress rigged EVMs using a “powerful radiowave machine” and winning 34 of the state’s 40 assembly seats unfairly.

By November, Rajdhani Express to Reach Arunachal Pradesh

By Avishek G Dastidar

Indian Railways is set to kick off the Rajdhani Express between Arunachal Pradesh and New Delhi by November.

New Delhi, Sep 23 : Arunachal Pradesh agrees to relax the rigid norm of inner-line permit for passengers with reserved tickets.

The Indian Railways is set to kick off the Rajdhani Express between Arunachal Pradesh and New Delhi by November. To make travel more passenger-friendly, Arunachal has agreed to relax the rigid norm of inner-line permit, which is otherwise mandatory for “outsiders” entering the state.

After a series of meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office between Railways and state officials, as well as correspondence between the state’s Chief Secretary and the Railway Board recently, it was decided that passengers who have made a reservation will not require the permit.

The Railways had reasoned that details of the identity of a passenger with a reserved ticket are entered into the railway system at the time of booking, and are verified when they board.

“The state has agreed that as long as a passenger holds a reserved ticket, inner-line permit is not required,” Devi Prasad Pande, Member-Traffic, Railway Board, told The Indian Express.

The Rajdhani Express to Naharlagun, 15 km from the state capital of Arunachal Pradesh, will run twice a week to and from Delhi. Another AC-only express train linking Guwahati to the Capital is also on the cards. In both categories of trains, unreserved tickets are not issued.

The problem of running trains with general class coaches, in which passengers can travel with unreserved tickets, is still being discussed.

The two sides have discussed the possibility of creating a ‘holding area’, where credentials of passengers with unreserved tickets can be verified and state officials can issue inner-line permits to them .

Ever since the 33-km railway line between Harmuti in Assam and Naharlagun — the last stage in the Rajdhani project which will connect Arunachal with the rest of the country — neared completion earlier this year, local groups have stepped up protests against the prospect of outsiders inundating the state.

“How does a reserved ticket meet the requirements of the inner-line permit? The permit system was introduced as per a law which still exists to protect locals from exploitation. What is the problem in procuring a permit before boarding the train? I don’t think the new arrangement will be acceptable,” said Ninong Ering, Congress MP from Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

Ering was referring to The Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 and the Chin Hill Regulations, 1896, which are meant to provide special protection and safeguard the “peaceful existence of the indigenous tribal people” in Arunachal.

India’s Last Surviving Headhunters

The largest tribe in Nagaland

The remote village of Longwa, with Myanmar’s dense forests on one side and India’s rich agricultural lands on the other, is home to the fierce Konyak Naga tribe. The largest of 16 tribes living in the remote northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, the Konyaks were warriors with brutal pasts, using inter-village fights to accede land and ascertain power. As such, Konyak villages are situated on ridge tops, so they can easily monitor and identify an enemy attack.



The last generation

From the tribe’s conception centuries ago, until the gruesome practice was banned in 1940s, the Konyaks were fierce headhunters. Killing and severing an enemy’s head was considered a rite of passage for young boys, and success was rewarded with a prestigious facial tattoo. With the last headhunting case in Nagaland reported in 1969, older tribesmen like Pangshong (pictured) belong to the last generation with these striking facial tattoos.


Skulls of battles past

Bones of buffaloes, deer, boars, hornbills and mithun (a bovine species found in northeast India) decorate the walls of every Konyak house – prizes from generations of hunting. During the tribe’s headhunting days, the skulls of captured enemies were also prominently displayed, but once headhunting was abolished, the skulls were removed from the village and buried.

Spacious living quarters

Konyak huts are made primarily out of bamboo. They are spacious, with several partitions forming huge rooms for various purposes including cooking, dining, sleeping and storage. Vegetables, corn and meat are stored above the fireplace, in the centre of the house. Rice, the staple food of the Konyaks Nagas, is usually stored in huge bamboo containers at the back of the house. Pictured here, a Konyak woman named Wanlem breaks the rice by beating it with a wooden log, readying it for a traditional sticky rice dish.


One tribe, two countries

Longwa was established long before the borders were drawn between India and Myanmar in 1970. Not knowing how to divide the community between two countries, officials decided that the border would pass through the village and leave the tribe undisturbed. Today, Longwa straddles the international border, with one side of the border pillar containing messaging written in Burmese, and the other side written in Hindi.

International housing

The border even cuts through the village chief’s house, prompting the joke that he dines in India and sleeps in Myanmar.


Family gatherings

Konyaks are still ruled by hereditary chieftains, locally known as “Angh”, and one or several villages can come under each chieftain’s rule. The practice of polygamy is prevalent among the Anghs and the chief of Longwa has several children from many wives. Pictured here, several of the tribe’s children gather around the fire.

Changing beliefs

Konyaks were animists, worshipping elements of nature, until Christian missionaries arrived in the late 19th Century. By the late 20th Century, more than 90% in the state had accepted Christianity as their religion. Today, most of the villages in Nagaland have at least one Christian church. The church in Longwa is located in a vast field atop the ridge, right below the village chief’s house.

Weekly traditions

Women wearing traditional Naga skirts return from church on a Sunday morning.

A disappearing culture

A group of Konyak elders gather around the kitchen fire, chewing on betelnut, roasting corn and sharing a light moment. With the invasion of Christianity, many of the tribe’s traditional practices, such as training young boys as warriors and educating them about the tribe’s beliefs in dedicated community buildings called Morungs, have nearly disappeared.

Decorative trophies

The practice of wearing colourful beaded jewellery is also declining. In the past, both men and women would wear elaborate necklaces and bracelets. Brass faces were used in some of the men’s necklaces to signify the number of enemy heads severed.

Change creeps in

Sheltered from the reaches of modern civilization, Longwa is a picturesque collection of thatch-roofed wooden houses. But the occasional tin roofs and concrete constructions are tell-tale signs that change is creeping into this rustic corner. What remains of this inevitable marriage between past and present is yet to be seen.