10 April 2010

Rail Link From Manipur to Vietnam on Cards: Tharoor

tharoor Sinlung Says: Not sure if Tharoor is serious or just one of those Cattle Class dialogues, if this is a plan in the pipeline, it really give hope and we surely believe Northeast India will shine brighter than its mainland counterparts….But that where the Crux is…Does the India govenrment really want Northeast to develop?

Shillong, Apr 10
: As part of initiatives to improve connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asia, the government is considering a rail link from Manipur to Vietnam, Union minister Shashi Tharoor today said.

"Efforts are underway to have a rail link from Jiribham (close to the Assam border) to Hanoi in Vietnam passing through Myanmar," Tharoor told a seminar 'From Land Locked to Land Linked: Northeast India in BIMSTEC' here.

The Union minister of state for external affairs said improved connectivity between the Northeast and the Southeast Asian countries will not only help the region to discover a larger market, but also will integrate India with the those countries.

"The Asian Highway Network which is being coordinated through the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific office in Bangkok, envisages a comprehensive network of roads connecting the countries of Asia. There is separately an East-West Highway Project running from Vietnam through to Myanmar, through which India could get access to all mainland Southeast Asian countries," he said.

He underlined that from India's perspective, the Trilateral Highway Project between India, Myanmar and Thailand, was very critical. "The project is under construction. Thailand and India in fact have completed construction of the link roads on either sides," he said.

According to Tharoor, some portions of the internal road connectivity in Myanmar remains to be completed and that country has requested for grants and funding to enable this project to be completed which will eventually link the Northeast to the East West Highway and the Asian Highway Network.

The requests, he said, are under consideration of both India and Thailand.

"We are also working on enhancing digital connectivity with the Southeast Asian region. An optical fibre cable link between Morek in Manipur and Mandalay in Myanmar is being set up," he said.

Joint Committee Suggested to Fight Manipur Child Trafficking

Impulse NGO Network Imphal, Apr 10 : To stop frequent child trafficking in Manipur, an NGO working on child and women rights in the Northeast has suggested setting up of a 'joint committee' of government officials and NGOs.

''It is becoming increasingly difficult to detect cases of child trafficking in the districts of Manipur,'' a spokesperson for the Shillong-based Impulse NGO Network (INN), Hashina Kharbinh, said.

INN is the nodal agency fighting against human trafficking in the Northeast.

Kharbinh, who was here recently, said there was an urgent need for a collective network of NGOs in the state as well as districts to seriously tackle the problem and felt that accountability of the Manipur government in addressing the issue was of prime importance.

Claiming that religious institutions are involved in most cases of child trafficking, she said most of the children landed unregistered children's homes in other states, particularly Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

On the pretext of providing education and jobs, these religious institutions take advantage of the trust reposed on them by the parents of the children.

How to Improve Yourself With 42 Practical Tips

Are you someone who likes to grow? Do you constantly seek to improve yourself and become better?

If you do, then we have something in common. I’m very passionate about personal growth. It was just 4 years ago when I discovered my passion for growing and helping others grow. At that time, I was 22 and in my final year of university. As I thought about the meaning of life, I realized there was nothing more meaningful than to pursue a life of development and betterment. It is through improving ourselves that we get the most out of life.

After 1.5 years of actively pursuing growth and helping others to grow through my personal development blog, I realize there is never an end to the journey of self improvement. The more I grow, the more I realize there is so much out there I don’t know, so much that I have to learn. For sure, there is always something about ourselves we can improve on. The human potential is limitless, so it’s impossible to reach a point of no growth. Whenever we think we are good, we can be even better.

As a passionate advocate of growth, I’m continuously looking for ways to self-improve. I’ve compiled 42 of my best tips which might be helpful in your personal growth journey. Some of them are simple steps which you can engage in immediately. Some are bigger steps which takes conscious effort to act on. Here they are:

  1. Read a book every day. Books are concentrated sources of wisdom. The more books you read, the more wisdom you expose yourself to. What are some books you can start reading to enrich yourself? Some books I’ve read and found useful are Think and Grow Rich, Who Moved My Cheese, 7 Habits, The Science of Getting Rich and Living the 80/20 Way. I’ve heard positive reviews for The Tipping Point, Outliers and The Difference Maker, so I’ll be checking them out soon.
  2. Learn a new language. As a Singaporean Chinese, my main languages are English, Mandarin and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). Out of interest, I took up language courses in the past few years such as Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian. I realized learning a language is a whole new skill altogether and the process of acquainting with a new language and culture is a totally a mind-opening experience.
  3. Pick up a new hobby. Beyond just your usual favorite hobbies, is there something new you can pick up? Any new sport you can learn? Examples are fencing, golf, rock climbing, football, canoeing, or ice skating. Your new hobby can also be a recreational hobby. For example, pottery, Italian cooking, dancing, wine appreciation, web design, etc.  Learning something new requires you to stretch yourself in different aspects, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.
  4. Take up a new course. Is there any new course you can join? Courses are a great way to gain new knowledge and skills. It doesn’t have to be a long-term course – seminars or workshops serve their purpose too. I’ve been to a few workshops and they have helped me gain new insights which I had not considered before.
  5. Create an inspirational room. Your environment sets the mood and tone for you. If you are living in an inspirational environment, you are going to be inspired every day. In the past, I didn’t like my room at all because I thought it was messy and dull. A few years ago, I decided this was the end of it – I started on a “Mega Room Revamp” project and overhauled my room. The end result? A room I totally relish being in and inspires me to be at my peak every day.
  6. Overcome your fears. All of us have fears. Fear of uncertainty, fear of public speaking, fear of risk… All our fears  keep us in the same position and prevent us from growing. Recognize that your fears reflect areas where you can grow. I always think of fears as the compass for growth. If I have a fear about something, it represents something I’ve yet to address, and addressing it helps me to grow.
  7. Level up your skills. If you have played video games before especially RPGs, you’ll know the concept of leveling up – gaining experience so you can be better and stronger. As a blogger, I’m constantly leveling up my writing skills. As a speaker, I’m constantly leveling up my public engagement abilities. What skills can you level up?
  8. Wake up early. Waking up early (say, 5-6am) has been acknowledged by many (Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, among other self-help gurus) to improve your productivity and your quality of life. I feel it’s because when you wake up early, your mindset is already set to continue the momentum and proactively live out the day. Seth recently wrote a waking up early series which you should check out to help cultivate this habit.
  9. Have a weekly exercise routine. A better you starts with being in better physical shape. I personally make it a point to jog at least 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. You may want to mix it up with jogging, gym lessons and swimming for variation.
  10. Start your life handbook. A life handbook is an idea I started 3 years ago. Basically, it’s a book which contains the essentials on how you can live your life to the fullest, such as your purpose, your values and goals. Sort of like your manual for your life. I started my life handbook since 2007 and it’s been a crucial enabler in my progress.
  11. Write a letter to your future self. What do you see yourself as 5 years from now? Will you be the same? Different?  What kind of person will you be? Write a letter to your future self – 1 year from now will be a good start – and seal it. Make a date in your calendar to open it 1 year from now. Then start working to become the person you want to open that letter.
  12. Get out of your comfort zone. Real growth comes with hard work and sweat. Being too comfortable doesn’t help us grow – it makes us stagnate. What is your comfort zone? Do you stay in most of the time? Do you keep to your own space when out with other people? Shake your routine up. Do something different. By exposing yourself to a new context, you’re literally growing as you learn to act in new circumstances.
  13. Put someone up to a challenge. Competition is one of the best ways to grow. Set a challenge (weight loss, exercise, financial challenge, etc) and compete with an interested friend to see who achieves the target first. Through the process, both of you will gain more than if you were to set off on the target alone.
  14. Identify your blind spots. Scientifically, blind spots refer to areas our eyes are not capable of seeing. In personal development terms, blind spots are things about ourselves we are unaware of. Discovering our blind spots help us discover our areas of improvement. One exercise I use to discover my blind spots is to identify all the things/events/people that trigger me in a day – trigger meaning making me feel annoyed/weird/affected. These represent my blind spots. It’s always fun to do the exercise because I discover new things about myself, even if I may already think I know my own blind spots (but then they wouldn’t be blind spots would they?). After that, I work on steps to address them.
  15. Ask for feedback. As much as we try to improve, we will always have blind spots. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Some people to approach will be friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances, since they will have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively.
  16. Stay focused with to-do lists. I start my day with a list of tasks I want to complete and this helps make me stay focused. In comparison, the days when I don’t do this end up being extremely unproductive. For example, part of my to-do list for today is to write a guest post at LifeHack.Org, and this is why I’m writing this now! Since my work requires me to use my computer all the time, I use Free Sticky Notes to manage my to-do lists. It’s really simple to use and it’s a freeware, so I recommend you check it out.
  17. Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). I’m a big fan of setting BHAGs. BHAGs stretch you beyond your normal capacity since they are big and audacious – you wouldn’t think of attempting them normally. What are BHAGs you can embark on, which you’ll feel absolutely on top of the world once you complete them? Set them and start working on them.
  18. Acknowledge your flaws. Everyone has flaws. What’s most important is to understand them, acknowledge them, and address them. What do you think are your flaws? What are the flaws you can work on now? How do you want to address them?
  19. Get into action. The best way to learn and improve is to take action. What is something you have been meaning to do? How can you take action on it immediately? Waiting doesn’t get anything done. Taking action gives you immediate results to learn from.
  20. Learn from people who inspire you. Think about people you admire. People who inspire you. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities?
  21. Quit a bad habit. Are there any bad habits you can lose? Oversleeping? Not exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail biting? Smoking? Here’s some help on how you can quit a bad habit.
  22. Cultivate a new habit. Some good new habits to cultivate include reading books (#1), waking up early (#8), exercising (#9), reading a new personal development article a day (#40) and meditating. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself?
  23. Avoid negative people. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Wherever we go, there are bound to be negative people. Don’t spend too much of your time around them if you feel they drag you down.
  24. Learn to deal with difficult people. There are times when there are difficult people you can’t avoid, such as at your workplace, or when the person is part of your inner circle of contacts. Learn how to deal with them. These people management skills will go a long way in working with people in the future.
  25. Learn from your friends. Everyone has amazing qualities in them. It’s up to how we want to tap into them. With all the friends who surround you, they are going to have things you can learn from. Try thinking of a good friend right now. Think about just one quality they have which you want to adopt. How can you learn from them and adopt this skill for yourself? Speak to them if you need to – for sure, they will be more than happy to help!
  26. Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging.
  27. Start a blog about personal development. To help others grow, you need to first be walking the talk. There are expectations of you, both from yourself and from others, which you have to uphold. I run The Personal Excellence Blog, where I share my personal journey and insights on how to live a better life. Readers look toward my articles to improve themselves, which enforces to me that I need to keep improving, for myself and for the people I’m reaching out to.
  28. Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. Many of my clients approach me to coach them in their goals and they achieve significantly more results than if they had worked alone.
  29. Reduce the time you spend on chat programs. I realized having chat programs open at default result in a lot of wasted time. This time can be much better spent on other activities. The days when I don’t get on chat, I get a lot more done. I usually disable the auto start-up option in the chat programs and launch them when I do want to chat and really have the time for it.
  30. Learn chess (or any strategy game). I found chess is a terrific game to learn strategy and hone your brainpower. Not only do you have fun, you also get to exercise your analytical skills. You can also learn strategy from other board games or computer games, such as Othello, Chinese Chess, WarCraft, and so on.
  31. Stop watching TV. I’ve not been watching TV for pretty much 4 years and it’s been a very liberating experience. I realized most of the programs and advertisements on mainstream TV are usually of a lower consciousness and not very empowering. In return, the time I’ve freed up from not watching TV is now constructively used for other purposes, such as connecting with close friends, doing work I enjoy, exercising, etc.
  32. Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or something you’ve always wanted to do but have not. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal.
  33. Meditate. Meditation helps to calm you and be more conscious. I also realized that during the nights when I meditate (before I sleep), I need lesser sleep. The clutter clearing process is very liberating.
  34. Join Toastmasters (Learn public speaking). Interestingly, public speaking is the #1 fear in the world, with #2 being death. After I started public speaking as a personal development speaker/trainer, I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate better, present myself and engage people. Toastmasters is an international organization that trains people in public speaking. Check out the Toastmaster clubs nearest to you here.
  35. Befriend top people in their fields. These people have achieved their results because they have the right attitudes, skill sets and know-how. How better to learn than from the people who have been there and done that? Gain new insights from them on how you can improve and achieve the same results for yourself.
  36. Let go of the past. Is there any grievance or unhappiness from the past which you have been holding on? If so, it’s time to let it go. Holding on to them prevents you from moving on and becoming a better person. Break away from the past, forgive yourself, and move on. Just recently, I finally moved on from a past heartbreak of 5 years ago. The effect was liberating and very empowering, and I have never been happier.
  37. Start a business venture. Is there anything you have an interest in? Why not turn it into a venture and make money while learning at the same time? Starting a new venture requires you to be learn business management skills, develop business acumen and have a competitive edge. The process of starting and developing my personal development business has equipped me with many skills, such as self-discipline, leadership, organization and management.
  38. Show kindness to people around you. You can never be too kind to someone. In fact, most of us don’t show enough kindness to people around us. Being kind helps us to cultivate other qualities such as compassion, patience, and love. As you get back to your day after reading this article later on, start exuding more kindness to the people around you, and see how they react. Not only that, notice how you feel as you behave kindly to others. Chances are, you will feel even better than yourself.
  39. Reach out to the people who hate you. If you ever stand for something, you are going to get haters. It’s easy to hate the people who hate us. It’s much more challenging to love them back. Being able to forgive, let go and show love to these people requires magnanimity and an open heart. Is there anyone who dislikes or hates you in your life? If so, reach out to them. Show them love. Seek a resolution and get closure on past grievances. Even if they refuses to reciprocate, love them all the same. It’s much more liberating than to hate them back.
  40. Take a break. Have you been working too hard? Self-improvement is also about recognizing our need to take a break to walk the longer mile ahead. You can’t be driving a car if it has no petrol. Take some time off for yourself every week. Relax, rejuvenate and charge yourself up for what’s up ahead.
  41. Read at least 1 personal development article a day. Some of my readers make it a point to read at least one personal development article every day, which I think is a great habit. There are many terrific personal development blogs out there, some of which you can check here.
  42. Commit to your personal growth. I can be writing list articles with 10 ways, 25 ways, 42 ways or even 1,000 ways to improve yourself, but if you’ve no intention to commit to your personal growth, it doesn’t matter what I write. Nothing is going to get through. We are responsible for our personal growth – not anyone else. Not your mom, your dad, your friend, me or LifeHack. Make the decision to commit to your personal growth and embrace yourself to a life-long journey of growth and change. Kick off your growth by picking a few of the steps above and working on them. The results may not be immediate, but I promise you that as long as you keep to it, you’ll start seeing positive changes in yourself and your life.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article or anything about personal growth. Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment below and I’ll get back to you! If you have any other suggestions to add to the list, please share with us too!

[ via Stepcase Lifehack ]

IPF Strongly Condemns The Coward Reaction, Response of Assam Police

A Press Release

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) of Assam’s NC Hills, in the quest for a political solution to the ongoing flux in the hill district, organized a peaceful bandh today (April, 2010) to assert our democratic and citizenship rights. However, we are sorry to become victims of discrimination and high-handedness of the Assam Police. Despite the peaceful bandh, the police forces tackled the volunteers of Indigenous Peoples Forum by employing brutal force and resorted to use their destructive guns and weapons that severely shot and put the following persons in a critical conditions:

1. Lalengzaua Hauhnar (24) S/o Thommin Hauhnar
N Leikul Village
Bullet injury in the chest and arm

2. Tongginlal Lhouvum (22) S/o Ngulkholun Lhouvum
N Leikul Village
Bullet injury in the abdomen

3. Luthau Singson (24) S/o Letlam Singson
Bullet injury on the right arm

4. Sumsanglawm Zate (30) S/o Laihlitho Zate
Bullet injury on the right leg

5. Teusuibe Zeme(32)

6. Teutuile Zeme (22)

7. Miss Isatleing Riame (22)

8. Haimuing

9. Miss Adinle Kuame (30) D/o (L) Kileiting Kuame

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) strongly condemned the coward reaction and response of the Assam Police in dealing with democratic assertion and protest of its citizens. Such untoward responses are undemocratic, inhumane and uncalled for. Moreover, the brutal response of the Assam Police was a negation of the democratic and citizenship right of the indigenous peoples of NC Hills.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF) opines that Amitabh Singha APS (ASP) and O/c Shankar Swarggwary of the Assam Police, currently posted in Haflong, NC Hills be  suspended as they have come under the whims and fancy of the communal Dimasa people. We strongly condemned the two officials who have lost their integrity, fairness, truth and justice in such crucial time.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum (IPF), in pursuit of our democratic, constitutional and citizenship rights of the indigenous peoples of Assam’s NC Hills demands that:

1. NC Hills is bifurcated into two autonomous district council; one for the diverse tribes who composed the majority (64%) under the same NC Hills and one for the Dimasa (34%) with whatever name of their choice.

2. The Group of Minister’s Committee that was appointed to change the name of NC Hills be made null and void on moral grounds and a new Committee be reconstituted with new members for finding just and lasting political solution.

3. The victims of Assam Police atrocities be duly compensated and medically treated.

D.B. Thiek
Organizing Secretary
Indigenous Peoples Forum

12 Student Protestors Injured in Police Firing in Haflong, Assam

NC-Hills protest Haflong, Apr 10 : More than 12 protestors comprising mainly of Tribal ethnic students of North Cachar Hills Assam, including 2 girls, were injured when police fired on demonstrators at Haflong, headquarter of Assam's North Cachar hill district, Friday.

The demonstrators, under the banner of NC Hills Indigenous Students' Forum, were demonstrating at the bus stand demanding bifurcation of the hill council into two districts for the Dimasa and non-Dimasa tribes of Jemi, Hmar and Kuki.

As the students refused to vacate the area, police first resorted to lahi-charge and then opened fire at 8.45 am.  The injured students have all been admitted to Haflong civil hospital.

The current situation is to be blamed directly to the Tarun Gogoi policy of appeasing the Dimasa militants while not even raising a thought on the ethnic population.

Sinlung Says:
A Bloody carnage awaits Mr. Tarun Gogoi and We at
Sinlung.com hold you directly responsible for this unnecessary incident and future incidents that will because of you folly. Sinlung.com request the NIA to uncover the money triangle as to how the district name got changed with money. Incase NIA wants to contact the news editors -  we have enough proof to support our claim. It’s time Tarun Gogoi resigns to better and brighter Assam.

The Branding And Business Smarts of Victoria’s Secret Models

The Second Life Of Victoria's Secret Models

By Kiri Blakeley

Everybody knows their faces, their bodies, their names. A notable few have gone on to media or entrepreneurial careers with astonishing success.

If there are institutions that consistently produce winners--say, Harvard among universities or Goldman Sachs for investment banking--Victoria's Secret would be that institution for the modeling industry. The $5.6 billion brand has churned out dozens of supermodels. Everybody knows their faces, their bodies, their names, and some have graduated from modeling into credible acting or entrepreneurial careers. A notable few, such as Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks, have done so with astonishing success.

While other fashion and beauty brands have produced famous models, they tend to remain just that. Models. In recent years, those companies have also tended to hire prized Hollywood talent: Rihanna and Drew Barrymore (CoverGirl), Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson (L'Oreal), Keira Knightley and Audrey Tatou (Chanel) and Jessica Alba thus undoing an important training ground for any supermodels-in-the-making.

Victoria's Secret has refused to buy into this trend, mostly because its models stomp the runways in alpine high heels and barely there lingerie, which requires an impossibly tall and leggy silhouette that most Hollywood actresses lack. While Victoria's Secret Chief Marketing Officer Edward Razek, who helps choose the brand's models, points to the sheer volume of models the company needs as the reason why so many have managed to go on to successful post-VS careers, he also notes that strutting around in only a bra and V-string takes a certain personality type that translates perfectly to other, more professional endeavors. "They have a certain level of confidence that bodes well for whatever they want to do going forth," he says.

Victoria's Secret is a unique launching pad for a model looking for second act success for a few reasons. First, unlike most fashion houses, it signs young women to long-term contracts, allowing them a chance to develop not only as models but as brands. Secondly, it puts the full force of its public relations team behind the women, getting them booked on talk shows, sending them out for personal appearances and even producing lines of cosmetics and body products stamped with their likenesses.

"I try to encourage all of the women to get involved with the brand, to develop their communication skills and to watch the best examples, like Heidi, to see what they've done with their careers," says Razek. "I am constantly looking for the next Tyra, Gisele or Heidi."

To that end, the company gives the girls advice on publicists, business managers and even financial advisors. Victoria's Secret also offers media training and tries to steer a model away from any career-related decisions that won't enhance her chances of success.

Razek is also adamant that the girls be professionals. "The notion of girls partying at night and showing up late and throwing cellphones at chauffeurs, you won't see it, period," he says. While the world's most celebrated cellphone thrower, Naomi Campbell, has indeed fluttered her Victoria's Secret "angel wings" in various fashion shows, she apparently didn't learn her social skills at the company. "There are too many good girls [out there] and we won't deal with divas," says Razek.

Being in an atmosphere where the company and its models are driven can also enhance success. Josie Maran, who modeled for the brand 10 years ago, used to hang out with future media mogul Heidi Klum. "Her personality got her where she is today," says Maran, who launched an all-natural cosmetics company in 2007. "[Heidi] makes it so easy to work with her, and that's something I took away from knowing her."

Maran also says her time modeling lingerie gave her so much confidence that when she started her company, she had no problem walking straight into Sephora's San Francisco headquarters and showing the company her marketing plan. "I was ignorant about business, but I totally believed in myself," she says. Sephora now carries her line.

Victoria's Secret has bucked another trend: Using bony, size-zero models. "The women are curvy and beautiful and healthy, and there's a movement [in the fashion world] to exude that," says Ivan Bart, senior vice president and managing director of IMG Models Worldwide, which reps or has represented many of the brand's models. Indeed, the Victoria's Secret "Angels" made a surprise appearance at the Paris and Milan winter fashion shows, as designers like Miuccia Prada and Marc Jacobs paid tribute to their "curvier" bodies.

However, at the end of the day, a model's career depends in large part on the model herself, Razek says. He talks about the time he went to a personal appearance that Tyra Banks made at a mall in Beverly Hills. Banks was not yet a media mogul, but she already had a large following, and "an enormous sea of humanity" was waiting for her autograph. When Banks saw Razek, she jumped up, took a picture with him and later sent a personal note thanking him for coming. "I didn't train her to do that," says Razek. "That's a business professional."

The ForbesWoman list of Victoria's Secret alums who've gone on to post-modeling success includes names synonymous with the brand (Gisele, Tyra) as well as women who are better known for their campaigns with other brands. With the exception of Heidi Klum, none of them work regularly for the company anymore.

List members were also chosen because their entrepreneurial or acting careers are currently active. Some, like Elle MacPherson, have long-established brands, while others, like Maran and Alek Wek, are just starting their businesses.

[ via Forbes ]

09 April 2010

Lessons From The Dantewada Debacle: Training, Not Threats

By Ajai Shukla

CRPF dead dantewada New Delhi : It has been 44 years since that forgettable incident when New Delhi — for the first and only time — used its air force against its own citizens. With the Mizo National Front rampaging through Mizoram in 1966, the government warned that any Mizo who did not relocate to designated safe villages would be treated as a rebel. On the heels of that announcement came the Indian Air Force (IAF), bombing and machine-gunning stretches of jungle. Resentment against that indiscriminate killing, in which innocent Mizos died, sustained the insurgency for years thereafter.

Home Minister P Chidambaram’s warning, after the killing of 75 men of the 62nd Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a Naxal ambush on Tuesday was put into context by an alarmed IAF chief, who clarified quickly that air power was a blunt weapon ill-suited for discriminating between insurgent and innocent. Chidambaram’s words, however, linger as a reminder that the Home Ministry still considers — as it did after the terror strike on Parliament in 2001, and the Mumbai attack of 26/11 — that bluster and threat are convenient tools for masking abysmal security failures.

The CRPF’s operational debacle has transformed Operation Green Hunt: The hunter now seems the hunted. In the first three months of this year, 42 Naxal rebels had been killed in Bastar at the cost of 4 policemen’s lives. In innumerable small operations, the state police and central police organisations (CPOs) had engaged and bested Naxal dalams; after this disaster, Naxal morale will be revitalised.

The Naxals’ dwindling strength before this week was also evident from the statistics of Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks mounted by them over the last three years. In 2007, Chhattisgarh experienced 76 IED attacks; the next year, it was down to just 58; in 2009, the Naxals could successfully detonate only 29 IEDs. But Tuesday’s fiasco has made this depleted organisation look powerful enough to have the Prime Minister threaten that all options remain on the table.

A key reason for the CRPF’s dismal response to the Naxal attack has been their lack of training. As CPO units poured into Chhattisgarh for Operation Green Hunt, 5 battalions of the Border Security Force (BSF), 5 battalions of the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) and 2 battalions of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) were all put through jungle warfare orientation courses at Chhattisgarh’s well-reputed Jungle Warfare College in Kanker. The CRPF, inexplicably, refused to undergo this training. Neither did CRPF HQ in New Delhi order them to do so; nor did the Home Ministry.

Training at the Jungle Warfare College, as every organisation except the CRPF seems to have known, has underpinned anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh since 2005, when the college was set up with the help of the Indian Army. Over the last five years, Chhattisgarh has trained 12,700 policemen (including 3700 from other states) at this institution. The college’s credo: Fight the guerrilla like a guerrilla.

A senior official of the Chhattisgarh Police has pointed out to Business Standard that the CRPF has the worst record of all the police organisations that are conducting counter-Naxal operations in that state. “CRPF columns have often got caught in Naxal ambushes; many of the Naxals’ recent successes are against the CRPF.”

Instead of providing adequate training to each battalion that is sent into counter-insurgency operations, the CRPF has relied heavily for success on “elite” units, like its feared “Naga Battalion” which was based in Bastar for several years before being pulled out. In 2008, the Home Ministry authorised the CRPF to raise 10 COBRA (Commando Battalions for Resolute Action) units, for counter-Naxal operations. But the regular battalions remain largely untrained, pushed at will from election duty, to counter-insurgency, to patrolling riot-affected areas, to anti-Naxal operations. The Home Ministry’s approach has always centred on getting the CRPF to the trouble-spot. After that, it is left to the harried battalion or company commander to deliver the goods.

The answer clearly lies in carefully training CPOs, especially before they go into counter-insurgency operations. The advantages are evident of stiffening the CPOs by laterally inducting retiring military jawans. Even without that boost forces like the CRPF are better equipped and armed than the Naxals that they confront. It is the Home Ministry’s job to ensure adequate training and then holding the force accountable for debacles like the recent one that sets back a campaign by years.

06 April 2010

Assam Governor Helps Break Taboo Against Women

By Syed Zarir Hussain

J.B. Patnaik Barpeta (Assam), Apr 6 : Bhabani Pathak and Kamala Bharali are excited and yet haunted with a sense of guilt. They were among the few women who broke a more than 500-year-old tradition by entering the sanctum sanctorum of a revered Xatra or Hindu monastery in Assam.

“I am overwhelmed as I was among the very few who stepped into the kirtan ghar (sanctum sanctorum) of the Xatra, but at the same time I don’t know why I am filled with a sense of guilt,” Bhabani told IANS.

The Xatras or monasteries were formed by 16th century saint philosopher Srimanta Sankardeva who propagated Vaishnavism, a sect of Hinduism in Assam.

The move came after Assam Governor J.B. Patnaik visited Barpeta in western Assam Sunday night to attend a function of the Xatra Mahasabha, the apex body of an estimated 600 Xatras.

On his way back, the governor decided to visit the Patboukhi Xatra, a monastery founded by the saint himself.

“I saw a group of women waiting outside the Xatra and when I enquired with some locals, I was told women don’t enter the sanctum sanctorum. I was a little stunned,” the governor said.

Patnaik then tried reasoning with the male members and the Xatra management - that Sankardeva preached equality and never discriminated between men and women.

The Xatra management conceded to the governor’s reasoning and he took some of the waiting women inside the monastery.

“We are part of history no doubt, but then still don’t feel like breaking the tradition. Somehow, don’t know why this guilt feeling is there,” Kamala said.

But a day after the historic decision, there was a mixed reaction in the Xatra - people are yet to come to terms with reality.

“There are no written instructions or decisions of not allowing women to enter the sanctum sanctorum, but it was just a tradition practised for centuries. We are not against the decision, but have to see the reaction of the locals,” Dhiren Bayan, president of the Patboukhi Xatra, said.

“I feel happy that the people accepted my reasoning,” the governor said.

IANS