Tawang Monastery Faces Danger Due to Landslides

Itanagar, Nov 27 : The famous Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh is under imminent threat of collapse following massive landslides around it.

The 330-year-old monastery, also known as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, which stands on the spur of a hill about 10,000 feet above sea level, is witnessing massive landslide around it since Monday, officials said.

The landslide had already damaged the plantation and some electric posts around the monastery located in Twang-chu valley of Tawang district, they said.

Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu visited the site yesterday to assess the damage and asked the district administration and public works department to put their men and machine in place to contain further damage to the site.

Khandu also said he would take up the matter with the Centre to save the monastery, one of the biggest in the world.

The monastery, belonging to the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism, was founded by Mera Lama Lodre Gyatso in 1680 in compliance with the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama.

The monastery has a three-storey library which boasts of a collection of 400-year-old Kangyur scriptures, large collections of Sutras, Tangym, Sungbhum, old books and invaluable manuscripts -- both handwritten and printed, many of them in gold.

The monastery has 65 residential buildings, currently housing about 450 Lamas. It controls 17 gompas and a few nunneries in the region.

International Photography Competition in Nagaland

Kohima, Nov 27 : An International photography Competition, named as Hornbill International Photo Festival with a theme 'Colors of Nagaland', will be held from December 5 to 7 here.

According to the organisers of event management group XL, led by its Director Abu Metha, photographers from any part of the world can join the competition and the photographes would be judged by renowned artist of the US Heather Layton from Rochester University, Alban from Germany and Manish Khanna from New Delhi, besides some local judges from Nagaland.

The prize money would be Rs one lakh, Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000.

The photographs must bear the theme with colors of Nagaland, either in colours or in black and white and should be submitted by December 2.

Forms of the competition could be downloaded from www.xlnagaland.com, sources said.

Naga Chilli Eating Competition During Hornbill Festival

Kohima, Nov 26 : Naga Chilli Eating Competition with the theme 'A bout with the world's Hottest Chilli' would be held on December six at the Heritage Village in Kisama during the week-long Hornbill Festival beginning from December one.

Talking to media persons here last evening, director of ''XL'' Abu Metha said the competition was sponsored by Nagaland Tourism Department and managed by the XL Group of event manager.

Naga Chilli is an indigenous product and Naga people like its hot taste and can devour several chillies at a time.

Now, the competition is being held to prize Naga Chilli eaters who can endure more hotness. The competition is open for Nagas and non-Nagas of the state and also from outside the state.

Mr Metha said the competition would be recorded and would be telecast globally. Further the event would be available in 'You Tube' for internet users.

Dr Tolto Metha, member of XL, informed that the competition, first of its kind at the Hornbill Festival and in Nagaland, would have 32 competitors from 16 tribes.

Kuki Village Chief Shot Dead in Manipur

Near Manipur-Myanmar border

Imphal, Nov 27 : A village chief was shot dead in Manipur's interior Chandel district bordering Myanmar, a delayed official report said today.

The report from the district said chief of Moljol hill village, Ngamkholet Baite (56), was gunned down by two suspected Kuki militants in front of his wife, Linnei Baite at

Teibijang area under Chakpikarong police station while returning to their home from their paddy field on Wednesday.

It said the two militants followed the couple and without saying a word, one of the miscreants shot at Ngamkholet from point blank range killing him on the spot, official sources said.

His body was handed over to the family after post mortem at J N Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital here last evening, sources said.

Linnei Baite  lodged a complaint with Chakpikarong police station, sources said adding that no individual or group has so far claimed responsibility for the crime.

Motive behind the crime was not immediately known although tribal enmity could not be ruled out,

Rice Shortage in Mizoram Hits Bru Repatriation

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Aizawl, Nov 27 : A series of protests by anti-repatriation groups, coupled with a severe shortage of rice in the state, has prompted the Mizoram government to go for a temporary halt in continuing with the repatriation of Bru refugees from the neighbouring state of Tripura.

Official sources in Aizawl said Mizoram was facing a severe shortage of rice in view of short supply by Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the recent months.

“It has become a problem for the state to feed its own people. In such a situation, providing free ration to the Bru refugees is definitely going to be a problem,” a senior state government official said over the phone.

The repatriation of refugees, over 30,000 of them, who have been staying in sub-human condition in relief camps in the Kanchanpur sub-division in Tripura for over 13 years now, had just begun when Mizoram has been hit by a rice shortage.

“With the stock position of rice is depleting, the state government has temporarily halted the Bru repatriation process.

While altogether 101 families have been brought back and settled in the past two weeks or more, we are now waiting for the rice stocks to improve,” said David H Lalthangliana, OSD in the state Home department.

The Mizoram government is required to provide free ration to the repatriated Bru refugees for a period of one year. Though funds for this free ration come from the Centre, with the foodstocks depleting, the repatriation has been put off for now, he said.

Earlier, protests by a section of Bru refugees who are against repatriation had also created hurdles. “Every time we go to Kanchanpur, they put up a road blockade and hold demonstrations against us. This has also hampered the repatriation process,” Lalthangliana said.

Delhi Far From Safe For Women

New Delhi, Nov 27 : Ever since a Mizo woman was pulled into a vehicle near her house at Moti Bagh and gangraped by four men on November 23, people from the Northeast have been alleging that they are being discriminated against.

While every networking site has people denouncing the act, many blogs and web portals have also come out strongly against the lack of safety measures for women from Northeast states in Delhi.

“When the rapists saw the woman alighting from the office cab, they did not check to see if she was Mizo or Manipuri or Arunachali. She was simply Northeastern, and therefore an easy target,” says Madhu Chandra, the spokesperson of NE Helpline, highlighting how people from the seven Northeastern states are categorised under one definition in Delhi.

Incidents of Northeastern women being eve-teased are common, and it has often been alleged that the police do not bother to look into their complaints. Jasmine Rupini from Tripura, who has been living in the city for the last five years, says, “We are here to study and work, not harm anybody. Yet, we are the ones who are targeted.”

While the ‘Stop discriminating against people from the North-East regions’ community on Facebook has over 162 people demanding stringent action against the guilty, news portal ‘Mizoram Express’ has urged politicians to make Delhi a safer place for women. The Mizoram Student Union is also planning a demonstration on Monday to demand justice for the girl.

Though security has been increased in Nanakpura, where the incident occurred, residents do not expect it to remain for long. “Whenever something terrible happens, they post policemen at every corner to make us believe that they are doing their job well. But as time passes, the administration forgets about the crime,” says ST Jha, a resident of Nanakpura.

“Nothing has changed since 2005. I feel as vulnerable as I felt then,” says Asha, a Manipuri girl.

However, 21-year-old Jasmin, a student of Motilal Nehru College, does not believe that Northeastern girls are specifically targeted. “That’s not correct,” she says, “I feel that all the girls are unsafe in the city. Whenever I go out at night, I take male friends along.”

With inputs from Atikh Rashid (a student of EXIMS)

Handique Calls For Overhaul of Security in Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 27 : Reacting sharply to the rape of a Mizo lady, Minister of Mines and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Bijoy Krishna Handique, has called for a complete overhaul of security measures for female employees of NE Region working in the BPO sector in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi.

The Minister, who visited the rape victim, on Thursday told this newspaper that his Ministry was closely working with Delhi Police and working out ways to ensure safety and security of the employees engaged in the BPO sector.

The Police have constituted 15 Special Investigation Teams to look into this case and they have informed that they have sufficient clues to nab the culprits within two to three days.”

The Ministry is also going to write to the State Governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to take up the issue with the BPO industry.

The Mizo girl was forcibly picked up minutes away from her home, when she was returning from work at around 1.15 am early this week.

Handique said the incident may not have occurred, had the BPO Company, where the two girls worked bothered to follow the guidelines. The women employees are to be accompanied by a guard and vehicle was required to wait till the girls entered home.

“I take exception to the conduct of the BPOs. The responsibility of the safety of the employees ultimately lies with the BPO Companies. However, it is very disheartening to notice that there is no compliance on their part at all. The BPO Companies must follow the guidelines issued by the Police from time to time,” he said.

At the same time, Handique has convened a high level meeting between the Police Heads of NCR including Gurgaon, the Resident Commissioners of the eight North Eastern States, and senior officials from the Ministry of DoNER next week.

After the deliberations in the meeting, Handique will meet the Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Delhi to apprise them about the scenario of the safety of working women of the North Eastern Region working in NCR.

The action plan worked out included measures like proper verification of antecedents of drivers employed by the BPO companies, installation of GPS on all vehicles, women Employees should not travel alone with cab drivers and should not be the last one to be dropped.

Meanwhile, BJP North East Sampark Cell (NESC) led by senior party leaders such as party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman today staged a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar, protesting against the ever growing incidents of molestation and rape of women from the North East in the national capital.

Addressing the protesters, Sitharaman demanded that the Union Home Ministry convene an emergency meeting and assure people of the North East that their children studying and working in Delhi were safe. She said the party would raise in Parliament the issue of their safety.

Meanwhile, Kumar Deepak Das, AGP MP has written to the Prime Minister about an incident, when a cultural group, which had come to perform at the International Trade Fair, were looted by a group of armed miscreants at Paharganj on the night of November 19.

Meanwhile, S K Bwiswmutriary MP has also condemned the incident of rape and called on the people of North-east living in the capital region to unite and fight against the menace.

Mizoram to Discontinue Bru Repatriation

Aizawl, Nov 26 : The Mizoram government has decided to discontinue the ongoing repatriation of Bru refugees from six relief camps in North Tripura district in the wake of reported protests by anti-deportation elements.

A meeting of senior officials, chaired by state Home Minister R Lalzirliana here yesterday took the decision, even as 101 Bru families have returned to Mizoram in two phases of the repatriation since November three, home department officials today said.

The anti-repatriation groups, lodged in relief camps, not only blocked roads to prevent the refugees from returning to Mizoram, but even obstructed state government officials from identifying bonafide residents of Mizoram among refugees, they said.

"We may continue the repatriation process with the help of Tripura police, but those opposed to the process might resort to some improper action which can tarnish the image of the Mizoram government," an official said, adding, such people had intimidated and beaten up some pro-repatriation leaders.

The repatriated families have been given free ration and Rs 80,000 each as rehabilitation package for re-locating in Mamit district, they said.