Delhi Comes Out in Full Support For Assam

New Delhi, Oct 22 : Delhi stood firmly behind the Music Fraternity yesterday and lent its earnest support for the concert titled #FORASSAM.

A packed Blue Frog witnessed the biggest names of the music industry as all the stars performed live to an enthralled audience. Spearheaded by Papon and Vishal Dadlani, the concert at Blue Frog in Delhi was held to help generate funds for the people who have been ravaged by the recent floods in the state of Assam.

Said Papon, “The intention was to generate awareness and attention about the flood situation in Assam and generate as much relief funds as possible towards the cause. We will collect the funds and hand it over to the chief minister’s fund soon”.

“This is probably the biggest concert in Indian music history where the music fraternity has come forward for a cause. Flood is an annual phenomenon in Assam, but due to some reasons, it doesn't get properly highlighted enough to be considered as a national calamity. ” said Vishal.

Longest Railway Tunnel in Northeast Scooped Out

Haflong, Oct 22 : The longest railway tunnel in the north east on the newly constructed Lumding-Silchar broad gauge line in Assam has been scooped out, said Northeast Frontier Railway officials.

The tunnel is situated near New Haflong station building and passes below Haflong town and the underground excavation work from both ends met each other on Sunday in Dima Hasao district, said NF Railway senior public relations officer (construction) Md M M Y Alam.

The 3,235 meter long tunnel connects the newly built New Haflong railway station with Jatingalumpur railway station, he said adding it is considered as one of the most critical tunnel in the 210-km broad gauge track.

It was scooped out with great difficulty due to soil conditions of the area and geological issues. Adverse geological conditions were encountered during underground excavation of the tunnel and its completion has been seen as a major challenge for the construction engineers of NF Railway, he told reporters Monday.

A high level team of the Construction Organisation comprising its Chief Executive Administrative Officer Ajit Pandit, Chief Engineer R K Ginger and others inspected the tunnel yesterday.

Terming it as a feat of the Railways in 2014-15, Alam said Construction Organisation has in a major breakthrough made the much awaited and difficult tunnel gauge conversion project.

Though work on the tunnel had begun in September 2005, it did not progress well initially due to several geological problems.

However, from 2012 onwards the work resumed and now the tunnel has been opened, Alam said adding, the remaining work of benching, lining and invert is scheduled to be completed by January next year.

Mizo Woman Death: Suicide Angle Under Lens

New Delhi, Oct 20 : Two days after a woman from Mizoram was found with stab wounds in her Munirka house, and later succumbed to injuries, police said they were awaiting the autopsy reports to ascertain whether the injuries were self-inflicted or if she had been murdered.

Twenty-seven-year-old Juliet Zonunmawi, who hails from Aizwal, was found bleeding in her Munirka flat on Thursday night. She was taken to Safdarjung Hospital by a friend, Virendra Singh from Haldwani in Uttarakhand, where she was declared brought dead.

Police said the autopsy reports were due in a couple of days. Her friends who were present in her house at the time of the incident are still being questioned, police said. “Juliet’s third-floor house is sealed and policemen are questioning neighbours,” Sachin Rai, a resident of the same building, told Newsline.

Though police registered a case of murder, they are also probing the possibility of a suicide. Based on Virendra’s statement that he found her bleeding in the kitchen, police have not ruled out self-injury.

After the post-mortem examination was conducted on Saturday, Juliet’s body was handed over to her brother Jeremy who flew down from Agra on Friday. The body was flown back to Aizwal where her family lives.

On Saturday, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju in Gurgaon said he would bring up the issue with Delhi Commissioner of Police B S Bassi and urge him to ensure that issues and crimes concerned with residents from the Northeast are handed with care.

Bangalore: Manipuri Victim Gets Death Threat on FaceBook

By Prakruti PK

Cops yet to act on Michael's plea against vile torrent calling him names in Facebook

Bangalore, Oct 20 : The case of the engineering student from Manipur who was allegedly assaulted for not knowing Kannada on Tuesday night has taken a new twist. The 26-year-old approached the police on Saturday requesting them to take action against a woman who allegedly called him a "swine" on social media and said he "should be stoned to death".

T Michael Lamjathang Haokip alleged that a Facebook user, Priyanka Ravi, posted inflammatory comments about him online and assassinated his character by making false claims that the victim was in Kothanur that fateful night trying to "convert poor families to Christianity" which is why he was attacked, and not because he didn't know Kannada.

"At first, I found the situation rather amusing, since I am not even Christian to begin with. But I realised I could not stay quiet as this discrimination and hatred is unwarranted. I did nothing to deserve being beaten up, and the words used by the woman online are derogatory. It was my juniors in college who brought her post to my notice, and I immediately shot off an email to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-east) on his official mail ID on Saturday. I received a reply saying someone would contact me from the Kothanur Police Station. But so far, I haven't heard from them," Michael told Mirror.

One of the comments the woman made read: "And by the way, they hit him because he was trying to convert people here and not because he didn't know Kannada as reported by our paid sickular media."

When another user, Akshatha S B, commented that she had mutual friends with Michael and that they had never discussed religion, Priyanka replied: "Ooh, grow up! He was not a fool to do religion based conversations (sic) in an educational institution. He targeted poor families in the Hennur region and obviously people who are involved in conversations won't go around talking about it openly. As I said earlier, don't comment if you don't know the other side of the story!"

The woman then raised the vitriol level, "A person involved in religious conversions should be stoned to death, not just hit. I don't care if he speaks Kannada or Persian, he was involved in an illegal activity and he got what he deserved."


'COPS SLOW TO REACT'

Michael, meanwhile, claims the police have been slow to react. "I have been waiting for a call or some sort of action, but sadly, there has been nothing so far. I even complained on the Bangalore City Police Facebook Page, providing the link to her post, and asked the Cyber Crime Cell to take action. "She seems like some sort of fanatic who is bent on dragging religion into the incident," he said.

When contacted, DCP (North-east) Vikash Kumar Vikash said, "I will have to go through the email. But we will look into the matter." Priyanka Ravi remained unavailable for comment.

To put things in context, around 9:30 pm last Tuesday, Michael and two friends stopped at a roadside eatery on Kothanur Main Road for dinner. The trio was returning from the Kothanur police station, barely a kilometre away, where they had distributed invitations for a community event on November 1.

A group of three drunken youths sitting at the next table allegedly objected to the boys speaking in English and demanded that they speak in Kannada since they were "eating food in Karnataka". An argument ensued and the youths bashed up the students. Michael was attacked with a chair and stones and sustained injuries on his head, neck, shoulder, and back. A case was registered at the Kothanur Police Station and the youths were arrested immediately.


BULK SMS'es OF 2012

In early August 2012, bulk SMSes, emails, and messages began circulating warning people from the North-east to leave Bangalore and other cities before 20 August. This created panic among members of the North-eastern community in the city, who began fleeing in hordes after some people were attacked. Soon, 16 miscreants were arrested in Bangalore: eight for spreading rumours that led to the flight, and eight for assault.

Gurgaon To Get Helpline For Northeast People: Rijiju

By Rao Jaswant Singh

Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said that he has approved setting up of an exclusive helpline for the people of Northeast living in Gurgaon. 

Gurgaon, Oct 20 : Trying to calm nerves after the assault on two Naga youths in Gurgaon late on Wednesday night, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Saturday met a group of students from the northeast and assured that "hate crimes will not be tolerated".

The minister said he has approved setting up of an exclusive helpline for the people of Northeast living in Gurgaon. "If the helpline proves beneficial in checking such incidents, it will be replicated across metro cities where people from Northeast region live in the country," he said.

"The government believes India is a democratic nation and such hate crimes will not be tolerated. Our society must not be intolerant, we must exist harmoniously together," Rijiju said. The Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh said he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the national security adviser, and soon a high-level meeting will be held on the matter. "No stone will be left unturned to control such racist attacks against Northeast people. Solidarity of the country will not be allowed to be disintegrated as the people of the Northeast region have equal rights," the minister added.

He also said the Centre will soon implement recommendations of the committee formed in February 2014 to look into various concerns of persons from the Northeastern states who are living in different parts of the country, especially metropolitan areas, and to suggest suitable remedial measures.




Minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju addressing the media after a meeting on racist attack with people hailing from northeast states, in Gurgaon. (PTI Photo)

The committee headed by M P Bezbaruah, a North Eastern Council member, was formed following outrage over the death of Nido Taniam, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, in a racist attack in Delhi. It submitted its report to Rijiju on July 11. Among the recommendations were legal measures to ensure safety and security of people from Northeast. "The home ministry will implement recommendations of the Bazbaruah committee," said Rijiju.

The minister had an hour-long meeting with Gurgaon police commissioner Alok Mittal, divisional commissioner D P S Nagal and other senior officials over the incident. He said the people of NE region are "satisfied with civil and police administration for their quick action."The youths from Nagaland were beaten up allegedly by eight persons at Sikenderpur village on Wednesday night for refusing to have drinks with the attackers.

Northeast People Not Indians? Why They Treated As An Aliens Then

By Mukul Kumar Mishra

Remember Nido Tania, a young boy from Arunachal Pradesh who was killed in a South Delhi market in February this year. He was killed with iron rods and after that debate gained momentum that why such discrimination against north-east students. Why they are treated like they are not part of India.

Political parties also clamored a lot that time, just to take political advantage of the issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had termed the incident as national shame.

After coming to power, to make thing better, BJP made former army chief V K Singh Minister of state (independent charge) for North East Region.

Why bearing the brunt in own country?

But it seems nothing has changed and that proves from recent number of attacks on these students. Latest is a young woman from Manipur was found dead in her flat in South Delhi's Munirka area. Earlier, on Thursday, two youths from Nagaland were beaten up and assaulted by a gang of seven in the Sikanderpur area of Gurgaon. The attackers even chopped their hair with stern warning saying that if they will dare to come again, they will face the dire consequences.

The barbarism against north-east students doesn't end here. On October 15, a Manipuri student leader was beaten mercilessly by a gang of men who were hellbent that he should speak Kannada. "They kept asking me to speak in Kannada.

If you outsiders know how to eat food that is produced in Karnataka, you must also know how to speak Kannada. This is India not China," said the victim. Why one should know local language? It is really shocking and at the same time shameful that we treat our own brothers and sisters shabbily. They are not foreigners or aliens.

They have the same right as any Indians have. But despite that they have to face the wrath of people. Imagine the guy was beaten just because he didn't know Kannada, as if the same people will visit Manipur they will start speaking in Manipuri.

India is democratic country with mix culture, language and inclusiveness. And that is its beauty. Is this written in our constitution that one should know the language of the region, if they want to reside in that part of the country.

Obviously not. One can't force anyone to speak the same language as local follows. If India can't treat northeast students at par with other Indians, it doesn't have any right to flex muscle over Arunachal Pradesh.

There is no moral right to call Arunachal Pradesh its own. If India can't care for this racial attack at home, then why make a big issue when someone from Indian origin is assaulted at foreign soil i.e Australia. Somnath Bharti, Raj Thackeray thread on same path Sometimes back AAP leader Somnath Bharti had raided in African residents area claiming that they were involve in prostitution business. But nothing was proved against them ultimately.

Did he care how much mental agony it caused to them. In 2008, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had also started a similar campaign against Bihari migrants, saying that they should know the Marathi language. Though, people know why he did that, just to give fillip to his political career. But this is really a dangerous precedent in Democracy.

One can't treat other brutally, just because they don't know local language or culture. This is really a serious matter and concerned authorities must take punitive action on this hate crime cases. India is a country which believes in love not in hate.

Mizo Girl Found Dead in Delhi Today

New Delhi:  Juliet, 24, a Mizo girl was found dead and brought to Safdarjung Hospital with fatal head injury from house No. 176, Moti Bagh Chauper in Munirka.

The victim had been living with a man called Virender Singh.

The police have lodged an FIR under section 302 of the IPC. Investigation is going on.

The girl was taken to Safdarjung Hospital with serious head injuries where she was declared dead, police said.

"She was living with a man identified as Virender Singh since the last few months. His role is being ascertained," said a senior police official. The live-in partner is the main suspect.

Singh has been absconding and the police are trying to trace him.

A case has been registered at Vasant Vihar Police Station and further investigations are on.

Bangalore Racial Crime: How it All Went Down?

Michael Lamjathang Haokip of Manipur with Police Commissioner M N Reddy at his office in Bangalore on Thursday

Express met with Michael Lamjathang Haokip, one of the Manipuri students who was beaten up by three people in the city on Tuesday.

Where did the incident happen?
For an upcoming cultural function, we were practising Bamboo dancing at Kothanur. Many of my friends stay there and I went there from Shantinagar, where I stay.


What did you do after practice?
We finished practice at around 5.30 pm and since we needed the local police station’s permission to hold the function, three of us went to meet the inspector of the Kothanur police station. After going to the police station, we went to have dinner. Around 9.30 pm, we visited a local food joint and ordered food. We were sitting and chatting in our local language when we noticed three people sitting at the adjoining table. Suddenly one of them started shouting at us saying, “What you are eating is Kannada food. Where you are sitting is Karnataka, so you should speak in Kannada.”

How did you react to that?
- One of my friends knew Kannada and he tried to pacify them. Meanwhile I got up to wash my hand and my other friend continued to ignore them. When I was returning to my seat, I noticed that one of the three people was lifting a chair to throw at us. I controlled him and all of us went outside.


What happened outside?
- We were quarrelling outside and then I noticed the guy who had aimed the chair at us picking up two stones to throw at us. I acted out of instinct and grabbed him. In that process, I fell down and he fell down and at that time, he hit me with the stone.

When the fight was going down, our bikes fell down. I tried calling the Kothanur police station but there was no response. I called out to my friend and we took his bike and headed to the police station.

On our way to the police station, another guy came by on a motorbike and hit us. We fell down and at that time, I got through to the police station and spoke to the inspector. I started walking towards the station and met the police on my way.

Certain reports say that you’ve denied it to be a racist comment.
- While I have not used the word racist, it is very obvious that those comments were made because of how I look. That is indirectly racism. Would the locals have dared to make such comments if, instead of us, there were three locals who did not know Kannada?

Were you aware that the guys who beat you up were drunk?
-No, I was not. If we wanted, we could have replied with muscle power, but we chose to go to the police.