Campaign Against Permit in Manipur

Imphal, Dec 18 : A signature campaign against the protected area permit system, which makes it mandatory for a visiting foreigner to obtain a permit before entering Manipur, was kicked off today. Among the signatories were two ministers of the Ibobi Singh government.

Tourism minister T.N. Haokip and youth affairs and sports minister N. Biren Sing participated in the campaign launched by the Local Support Group in tandem with an online anti-permit signature campaign by Manipur Association for Canada. The association’s campaign can be accessed on the web at www.gopetition.com.

Under the existing system, foreigners have to obtain protected area permits to enter Manipur. This discourages them from visiting the state, leaving little hope for development of the state’s tourism sector.

After signing the campaign, Haokip said, “It’s time for the system to go. Visa should be given on arrival. Manipur’s future lies in tourism. This system is killing the tourism sector in Manipur,” he said.

He said since 1990, when he was the convener of Northeast Tourism Minister’s Conference, he has been actively involved in the movement against the system. “At that time the Centre had said it was ‘looking into it’. The Centre has been looking into it for 20 years. It’s time to act,” he said.

Supporting the cause, N. Biren Singh said the imposition of the system had further alienated the people of Manipur from mainstream India.

The Local Support Group will also send off a rally from Kangla of Imphal city on December 19 for a mass campaign in all the nine districts of Manipur.

The convener of the group, R.K. Shivachandra, said a memorandum would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram after December 29 with the demand for lifting the system.

Various citizens’ bodies, including a delegation of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union, had urged the home minister during his recent visit to Manipur to lift the system.

While interacting with people in Churachandpur, Chidambaram had said the Centre had taken some decision on the permit and it would be announced very soon. He, however, had not elaborated on the issue.

Border Survey Stalemate On, Bangladesh Officials Absent

Shillong, Dec 18 : The exercise of verifying the disputed Indo-Bangla border stretches today received a jolt with Bangladesh survey officials not turning up for the second day after they were attacked by Bangladeshi people, armed with sharp weapons.

The joint team of survey officials have been confronted several times in the past one week, by Bangladeshi people allegedly backed by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), official sources said.

In the wake of the frequent attacks, Bangladeshi survey officials have rushed back to Dhaka and are likely to report the matter to higher authorities there, they said.

BDR personnel, allegedly backed by armed Bangladeshis, illegally entered India and confronted the joint team of survey officials of Meghalaya and Bangladesh several times in the past one week.

There was no objection from Bangladeshi border guards when survey of disputed Lubachera (37 acre) and Baraibari (189 acre) areas � both under "adverse possession" of Bangladesh - was carried out.

BDR men are obstructing the survey at those stretches which are held by India like Muktapur, Lyngkhat and Pyrdiwah, the sources said, adding BDR men claimed before the survey officials that those land belong to Bangladesh and were not disputed.

The survey, which started on December 7, is expected to pave the way for settlement of the boundary dispute.

The exercise, which was mooted by the Joint Boundary Working Group during its meeting in New Delhi in November 2009, is being conducted by survey and land records officials of Bangladesh and Meghalaya.

In that meeting, it was decided that BDR and BSF would provide "outside security" to the officials conducting the survey.

The verification is to be conducted in 12 disputed patches bordering Meghalaya, stretches of which are under ''adverse possession'' of either countries.

According to official records, currently, there are 551.8 acres of Bangladeshi land under ''adverse possession'' of India (Assam and Meghalaya) while 226.81 acres of Indian land is under ''adverse possession'' of Bangladesh.

The areas under adverse possession were created when the two countries demarcated the international boundary in the mid-1960s.

Czech Republic to Invest in Mizoram

Aizawl, Dec 18 : Government of Czech Republic expresses its keen interest to invest in Mizoram. This was revealed by Ambassador of Czech Republic Miloslav Stasek during its meeting with Mizoram governor M.M Lakhera on Thursday in Aizawl.

Miloslav Stasek informed the Mizoram governor that Czech Republic will put its hand for improving infrastructure in Mizoram besides making a better communication and transportation which is the need of the hour for all round development of Mizoram.

Other than this, the Czech Republic will also help the Mizoram government in installing high standard cold storage to preserve the locally produced fruits and vegetables.

Knowing the geographical location of Mizoram and its peaceful state, the ambassador expressed that implementing Mizoram state initiative in border trade with neighbouring countries is their motive behind a visit to the state.

The Czech Republic will also explore the "hidden treasure" of Mizoram which are still unexplored like natural gas and other mineral wealth.

Newmai News Network

Train Derails in Assam, 100 Injured

Guwahati, Dec 17 : A passenger train headed to Arunachal Pradesh derailed in Assam on Friday, leaving at least 100 people injured, officials said.

A railway spokesperson said the Murkokseleng Express bound from Rangiya in Assam to Murkokseleng in adjoining Arunachal Pradesh derailed near Gohpur, 260 km north of the state's main city of Guwahati.

'Preliminary reports indicate the engine of the train and three other coaches derailed near Gohpur although investigations are on to ascertain the reasons behind the accident,' railway spokesperson S. Hajong said.

There were about 300 passengers in the daily local train with preliminary reports estimating the number of people injured to be around 100.

'Four of the critically injured people were shifted to Guwahati for advanced treatment, while many were released from hospitals after administering first aid,' Hajong said.

Most of those injured suffered cuts and bruises, while some sustained hand injuries as well.

The area where the accident took place is a stronghold of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the Bodo tribe.

'Investigations are on and we are examining all details. We have to ascertain if the derailment was an accident or sabotage,' a senior police official said.

NDFB is known to attack trains - either by planting bombs or removing fishplates on the tracks.

Tripura Appeals to Centre to Enhance Supply of PDS Goods

Agartala, Dec 17 : Taking serious note of depleting rice stock, the Tripura government has appealed to the Centre to enhance supply of PDS items to tide over the situation, officials said today.

In a letter addressed to the Union Food and Civil Supplies Minster Sharad Pawar, Tripura Food Minister Manik Dey has expressed concern over the dwindling stock of PDS goods especially rice during the past few months, they said.

Dey said the present food stock stands at an all-time low in the state godowns in spite of repeated pleas for enhancing the supply of rice.

The state is supposed to receive 40 wagons and 50 trucks of rice in a month but the Food Corporation of India fails to supply even half the requirement, the minister said in the letter.
"If the situation continues, the rice stock will be exhausted causing alarming situation in the landlocked state," he said.

Dey said Tripura which needs 23,600 metric tonnes of rice under PDS, has been struggling to build buffer stock of food stuff owing to irregular food supply.

Meanwhile, MPs Khagen Das and Bajuban Riang met the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of FCI Siraj Hussain in Delhi last evening and demanded improvement of rice supply to Tripura.

FCI sources, however, claim there is no shortage of rice in the state''s godowns but transportation problem has come in the way of normal supply of PDS items.

Aid For Upgradation of INA Memorial Complex Project in Manipur

Imphal, Dec 17 : The Union Tourism Ministry has recently sanctioned the first installment of 12 crore for upgradation of the 'Indian National Army memorial complex mega project', at the popular tourist destination in Moirang near Imphal, Manipur.

The total cost of the project is pegged at `25 crore. The Government of Manipur will be shelling out `one crore. T N Haokip, minister-Tourism, Government of Manipur said that the second installment for the same amount is expected soon.

Tourists, particularly from Japan and England, regularly visit the memorial complex to pay homage to their forefathers who had lost their lives in Manipur during World War II. Moirang is the first place in India where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's INA soldiers hoisted the flag of the Indian National Army in 1944.

The Okram Ibobi Singh Government has accorded top-most priority to boost tourism in the state and taken up series of initiatives to increase the flow of both domestic and foreign tourists.

The central government has also agreed to the state's proposal to set up a tourist lodge of international standards at Sendra, a small hillock overlooking the famous Loktak Lake in Bishnupur district of the state at a cost of `2 crore.

To showcase the rich history of Manipur's tourism potentials, ethnic art and culture, cuisine and handicrafts, the state tourism department had organised the 'Manipur Sangai Festival', 2010 at the Hafta Kangjeibung, Palace Compound, Imphal.

More than 100 stalls were present at the 10-day 'Manipur Sangai Festival', with participation from other North-Eastern states like Assam.

Next Bru Repatriation to Mizoram in Jan

Aizawl, Dec 17 : The next phase of repatriation of the Bru refugees will begin from the six camps in Tripura to their home in Mizoram on January 12.

The Brus had to flee to neighbouring Tripura after ethnic riots in the state in October 1997.

Mizoram government officials decided on this new programme at a meeting held in Mamit yesterday.

The meeting was attended by officer on special duty David H. Lalthangliana, additional home secretary T.V. Fambawl, Mamit deputy commissioner Zothankhuma and three leaders of the pro-repatriation Bru Coordination Committee.

A senior official of the Mizoram home department today said over phone from Aizawl that on January 12, as many as 1,000 families would be repatriated from their Kanchanpur camps in North Tripura in buses.

All the necessary arrangements for this repatriation programme will soon get under way.

The first two phases of the repatriation, which got off the ground on November 3 after a good many years of bickering, is likely to ensure the return of 101 families to their homeland.

The repatriation process became uncertain when a hard-line Bru organisation, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum, threw a spanner in this humanitarian effort by the Congress government in Mizoram under the leadership of chief minister Lalthanhawla.

The Forum’s president, A. Saibunga, had demanded that all those Bru refugees now residing in the camps in Tripura should be sent across the border from the adjoining state without any pre-condition.

He had also demanded fullproof security by central forces to ensure the safety of the Bru returnees to Mizoram.

The earlier batch of returning refugees was accommodated in the camps in Kolailian and Sikiang in Mamit district in Mizoram.

The Mizoram government was forced to put the repatriation process on hold in the wake of the food shortage in the state’s public distribution network.

The monthly requirement of PDS rice is estimated at 10,868 tonnes a month. But in October, only 7,359 tonnes could be hauled by train wagons and trucks from Guwahati FCI terminus points.

However, the Mizoram government was encouraged to begin the formalities of the Bru repatriation again from Tripura after the food situation improved in the state in November.

The Centre had made it clear that it could feed the 35,000 Bru refugees now lodged in Tripura relief camps till March next year, a pledge which made the Brus to soften their stand.

The Centre has pledged to pay an amount of Rs 80,000 as the rehabilitation grant to each returning refugee family and promised to feed them for a year.

Abductions by Fringe Outfits Revive Fears Among Assam Tea Estates

In a little over a month, at least three persons have been abducted from various tea gardens in Assam, the last one on Monday from Menoka Tea Estate in the Darranga Mela area

By Aniek Paul

Kolkata, Dec 17 : Fringe political outfits have, after a gap of at least five years, again begun extorting money from owners of tea estates in Assam. In a little over a month, at least three persons have been abducted from various tea gardens in Assam, the last one on Monday from Menoka Tea Estate in the Darranga Mela area near India’s border with Bhutan.

Kamlesh Gupta, the manager of the estate, who was whisked away by armed gunmen from his bungalow on Monday evening, is still missing. Gupta, 50, is no greenhorn: he has worked at least 15 years in tea gardens, according to Pinaki Roy, director of Menoka Tea Estate Pvt. Ltd. “He never mentioned receiving any extortion note,” Roy said.

At least two other persons were kidnapped from tea estates in Assam in the past few weeks, but they did not want to be named because their firms paid ransom for their release. One of them was an estate owner, the other a manager.

In June-July, armed militants suspected to be members of a separatist group attacked and vandalized properties on two tea estates in Upper Assam, or the eastern part of the state. Several employees were assaulted and the owners of the estates later confirmed they had received “extortion notes” from the group.

“The situation is suddenly beginning to get concerning again,” said one of the biggest tea growers in Assam, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Unless nipped in the bud, these things can very quickly escalate into a niggling problem.”

Though militancy has abated, security guards at Assam’s tea gardens are still routinely armed. At Menoka Tea Estate, Gupta’s personal security guard carried a self-loading rifle, according to Roy. He was locked up in a room.

“For years, we haven’t faced any extortion,” said Roy. “The industry was in a shambles, and even if they hacked us to death we couldn’t pay them (the separatists).”

Over the past few years, things have looked up, tea prices have remained strong and tea growers are again making money.

“Though the notorious separatist groups such as the Ulfa (United Liberation Front of Assam) and BLT (Bodoland Tigers) aren’t as active as they were earlier, we are again feeling threatened,” he added.

Gupta’s abduction brought back to the tea estate memories of a similar incident that took place in 1997. After 23 days and “extensive discussion”, militants had released Menoka Tea Estate’s manager.

The tea industry had much worse experiences in the 1980s and the 1990s. In 1988, Ulfa militants were suspected to have killed at least a dozen tea garden officials and abducted many for ransom.

Things came to a head in 1990, when in May, Ulfa militants killed Surrendra Paul, chairman of the Apeejay Surrendra Group—one of the biggest tea growers in Assam—and in November, laid siege to erstwhile Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL)’s Doom Dooma tea estate, forcing the company to secretly airlift its officials. HLL is now known as Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL).

Though militancy has declined in the past decade, attacks have been carried out against companies such as HLL. In November 2003, explosives were set off at the company’s personal care products factory in Tinsukia district of Assam.

Back then, local people wouldn’t protest, but now it’s different. Locals have got together to protest the abduction at Menoka Tea Estate, which has some 300 permanent workers and employs as many more temporary workers. “Over the last few days, our workers have led protest rallies of local people, blocked roads and even the nearest police station,” said Roy.

The state administration has launched “a massive search operation”, said an official at the Darranga Mela police outpost. He did not identify himself in the phone conversation. “We suspect some insiders could be involved. The estate had sacked some of its workers. It could be a case of these guys retaliating.”

aniek.p@livemint.com