Northeast's Regional Front Could Impact Lok Sabha Polls

The front consists of 10 regional parties, who have put aside differences and have come together

Guwahati, Oct 24 : Hardly anyone has noticed that ten regional political parties in the north-east have formed a new political front — the North-East Regional Political Front (NERPF) — to work together for safeguarding “territorial, cultural, social, political and economic rights of the people of the region and to continuously strive to protect the distinctive identities of the ethnic tribes and of all the people of the region.”

The initiaitve was taken by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Front elected Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio as the convener and former Assam Chief Minister and AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta the front’s chief adviser. The constituent parties have four representatives each in the NERPF. The permanent office would be in Guwahati. The first meeting of the NERPF will be held in Kohima while the front plans to hold a rally in Guwahati in January.

The meeting adopted 17 resolutions, including a resolution seeking a fresh look into the issue of Centre-State relations in true spirit of federalism. It demanded a comprehensive amendment of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution with devolution of powers to States in every matter, except those pertaining to defence, external relations, currency and external trade. The NERPF also demanded the scrapping of the concurrent list and transfer of all the subjects in it to the State list.

Expressing concern over “continued incursion by China into Arunachal Pradesh,” the NERPF called upon the Centre to take up the matter immediately with China and prevent “any future incursion.”

“The regional parties express serious concern at the actions of the Government of China to build massive dams in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra and attempts to divert the river. The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of the NE region and any attempt to interfere with the natural flow of the river should be considered as an act of aggression. The regional parties condemn the lack of seriousness on the part of Government of India and asks the Government to take the strongest possible steps to stop the designs of the Chinese government against the NE region,” stated another resolution adopted at the meeting.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act also featured among the resolutions adopted. The front called for a halt to its use in all forms in the north-east, and, among other things, urged the Centre to immediately enter into a treaty with Bangladesh “to deport all the infiltrators from the NE region” and cancel the land swap deal with it.

80% reservation for “sons of the soil” in all Central, semi-central, public sector and private sector jobs in the region, implementation of the Look East Policy in letter and spirit, rebuilding of the portion of the historic Stilwell Road in India were the other resolutions adopted by the NERPF.

To the crucial question of the relationship of the Front with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rio said: “It can be equidistance or equi-closeness.”

The 10 parties, which took part in the meeting, were the Asom Gana Parishad, the Naga People’s Front — the ruling party in Nagaland — the United Democratic Party and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party of Meghalaya, the Manipur People’s Party, the Manipur State Congress Party, the Manipur Democratic People’s Front, the Mizo National Front, the People’s Party of Arunachal and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT). Interestingly, all of these parties are regional parties.

The Nationalist Congress Party led by P Sangma was not invited.

The North East has more than 25 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Front is disparate and has elements that have cross state tribal differences. But they're put those aside and have come together. Going forward, this could have a significant impact on government formation especially if the election results in a hung Parliament.

Mizoram Poll Advanced: Church, Political Parties Welcome Change

Aizawl, Oct 24 : All political parties in Mizoram, churches and civil society today welcomed the decision of the Election Commission of India to change the dates for polling and counting of votes for the Assembly polls.

The Election Commission today changed the proposed date of polling from December 4 to November 25 and the date of counting of votes from December 8 to December 9.

State Joint Chief Electoral Officer H Lalengmawia said that as per ECI's new schedule announced today, notification for the election would be issued on November 1, last date of filing nomination is November 8, scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 9 and last date of withdrawal of candidature is November 11.

Mizoram's lone Lok Sabha member and veteran Congress leader C L Ruala told PTI that the ruling Congress welcomed the decision of ECI and hoped that the churches, civil societies and other political parties would also welcome the same.

The main opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) and other parties like Mizoram People's Conference (MPC), Zoram Nationalist party (ZNP), BJP and Trinamool Congress also expressed happiness over the ECI decision.

Lalbiakzuala, president of the central committee of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the largest organisation of Mizos in the state, said that the organisation was pleased to hear the rescheduling of the state assembly polls as sought by the churches, NGOs and political parties.

The churches, NGOs and political parties wanted a change in the polling date, scheduled earlier on October 4, as it would have coincided with the Presbyterian Church's highest decision-making conference - the Synod which is to be held during December 3 to December 8. The United Pentecostal Church - Mizoram (UPC-Mizoram)-- is also scheduled to have its annual general conference during the same period. This would have resulted in thousands of people, including priests being unable to exercise franchise.

Toilet Paper Made of 22-carat Gold Goes on sale at Rs 8.2 crore

New Delhi, Oct 24 : Would you want to make your butt shine with real gold? If your answer is yes then you better be uber-wealthy to afford such a luxury.Australian company the Toilet Paper Man has launched a toilet paper roll, made from 22-carat gold, at a jaw-dropping price of Rs 8.2 crore.

The website claims that each roll - which comes with a free bottle of champagne - will be delivered personally.

If you thought that the gold may not give the comfort of a normal toilet paper, then think again. The roll three-ply to ensure the utmost comfort.

According to its creators the idea of gold toilet paper came from some Dubai hotels which have full gold toilet seats and handles.



The company says it took four years to make one such roll which has gold flakes through it.

“As you use the toilet paper 22-carat gold flakes will fall onto the floor and your behind taking you to another level of sophistication,” the company says.

The company further adds that the toilet paper is 100 per cent safe and usable. Due to complexity and man hours required to product one such roll, till date the company has produces only one such roll.

Surely, there couldn’t be a better gift than this for those who want to leave their guests awestruck.

After-Sunset Alert For Travellers in Arunachal

Move triggered by kidnappings, deteriorating law and order in Bhalukpong

PRANAB KUMAR DAS

Tezpur, Oct 24 : A signboard put up today at Bhalukpong inner-line permit checkgate in Arunachal Pradesh warns: People are advised to avoid travel in the area after sunset.

The state police warning to commuters against travelling inside the frontier state from Bhalukpong ILP checkpost after sunset follows the abduction of a senior NHPC official from near the area last month.

Officer-in-charge of Bhalukpong police station, Mipak Riba, told The Telegraph over phone, “We are taking all kinds of preventive security measures. The warning to commuters is part of this measure.”

Arunachal Pradesh director-general of police K.K. Maheswari said the steps were necessitated given the threats posed by militants from the Bodo community.

The Songbijit faction of NDFB had kidnapped Anil Agarwal, a general manager of the 600MW National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s Tawang Chu-I project, from 12 Mile under Charduar police station in Assam’s Sonitpur district on September 21. The site is 6km from Bhalukpong.

In 2010, NDFB militants had abducted Indian Forest Service official of the Maharashtra cadre V.S. Bardekar, who is also a butterfly expert, from Boimara, 120km from Bhalukpong police station. He was released after three months of negotiations.

“But it will be wrong to say that only the kidnapping case forced us to take this step. There have been law and order issues in the area from before,” Maheswari added.

Riba said some businessmen in Bhalukpong have been receiving extortions calls from militant groups and had been advised not to take calls from unknown numbers.

Apart from general commuters, for whom the stretch on National Highway 229 is the only one to either enter or leave the western part of the frontier state, the move is set to impact tourists travelling to Tawang, which houses Asia’s second largest monastery, and is one of the most sought-after destinations on the country’s tourism map.

According to official reports, Tawang had received 21,325 domestic and 273 foreign tourists in 2012. But this year, 1,861 domestic and 152 foreign tourists visited the district in May while 698 domestic and 63 foreign tourists visited it in June.

Jiban Das from Tezpur, who drives a tourist taxi, said, “The move will greatly affect us. It takes 15 hours to reach Tezpur from Tawang. We cannot reach before sunset. It will be a big loss in manhours and money. Travelling to and from Bhalukpong will become very expensive.”

Mausam Pratim Dutta, a businessman, said, “I am shocked. What will happen to people if they have medical emergencies? Does this mean the government is not equipped to provide security? The move will only embolden militants.”

Rituraj Gayan, a contractor who is a regular commuter on the Charduar-Bhalukpong road, said he would have to rework his schedule. “I will have to try to complete my work before 4pm.”

Bhalukpong in West Kameng district is about 228km from the Arunachal Pradesh capital, Itanagar, 283km from Tawang and 240km from the Assam capital, Guwahati.

The Bhalukpong circle area has a population of around 4,000 on the Arunachal side, mostly indigenous people who are dependent on agriculture. More than 400 vehicles, big and small, excluding army and police vehicles, ply on this stretch of the national highway from Bhalukpong to various locations to and from Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh IGP Satyendra Garg told The Telegraph from Itanagar that the warning was a precautionary measure and not a ban on travelling after sunset. “The presence of police force is less in the areas so it is not exactly safe to travel on the stretch after sunset. However, we will not stop anybody who wants to travel after sunset. The precautionary measure will continue till the law and order situation improves in the area.”

He also said they were in constant touch with their Assam counterparts over the kidnapping case and were doing whatever was required for Agarwal’s release.

Sonitpur superintendent of police Arabinda Kalita, however, said, “We have not taken this type of measure as tourists are regular travellers on this stretch.”

Official sources said work on alternative roads, which would allow commuters in Arunachal Pradesh to avoid Bhalukpong, was in full swing and were expected to be complete by December this year.

Tripura CPM Leader Slept on Cash Bed

Samar Acharjee on a bed of cash

Agartala, Oct 24 : The claim of CPI-M party that the earnings of expelled local committee member Samar Acharjee of Bankumari in Agartala who slept on cash bed last week has been voided by Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) yesterday.

Earlier, in a statement CPI-M Dukli divisional committee secretary Subrata Chakraborty said that the act of Samar Acharjee was against communist ideology and principles but made it clear that Samar Acharjee had constructed low cost sanitary toilets in the locality and earned a substantial amount. He termed it as 'misdeeds' on the part of Acharjee, which had badly affected the image of the party.

Hence, he was expelled from the party and removed from all posts. Meanwhile, in a separate statement, AMC Chief Executive Officer said, "AMC does not give any such construction work to Samar Acharjee and they do not know him even."

It claimed that the work order for construction of sanitary toilets for the poor urban dwellers were given after collecting proper quotation from the local entrepreneurs and non-government organisations where Samar does not had any entity.

Meanwhile, former leader of the opposition and sitting MLA of Congress Ratan Lal Nath alleged that AMC's statement clearly indicated that Samar Acherjee's earnings were illegal and CPI-M party tactfully trying to save the party leaders from corruption charges by expelling him.

"Now it is a clear case of corruption and administration is yet to file any case against him rather a very planned manner party members are criticising Samar Acherjee's act of sleeping on full of cash not questioning his source of earnings," Mr Nath alleged.

He also demanded legal action against Samar Acharjee and institute proper investigation to find out the source of his earnings besides, making the asset details and their source of earning of all leaders from Panchayat Chief to CPI-M state committee members to public.

A local television channel last aired a footage where 42-years-old Samar, contractor by profession was seen sleeping on cash worth of Rs 20 lakh at his residence in Jogendranagar, outskirts of Agartala with an audio narration. Samar was heard to stated on camera, "I have been given work of Rs 2.5 CR for construction of 2400 low cost sanitary toilets in a few wards of Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) area and I earned Rs 70 lakh out of that and I cherish my dream of sleeping on hard cash because I am not hypocrite like other comrades."

Home run for The Only Real Game at the fest

By Yogesh Pawar





A documentary, which looks at how America’s national pastime baseball has found a foothold in the north-eastern state of Manipur, has created a buzz at the MFF.

Two Americans, a critically acclaimed director and an Academy-award winning actress, have come together to make a film that they say “explores the power of the game for people in a troubled, distant place.”

Featured at the MFF, The Only Real Game, a documentary by Mirra Bank (Last Dance, Nobody’s Girls) tells the story “of how baseball has nurtured a dream for healing a wounded society and connected it to the wider world.”

This dream moves toward reality when First Pitch, a small group of baseball-loving New Yorkers, and two Major League Baseball Envoy coaches, join Manipuri men, women and children to “play ball.”

 “I think the real impetus of the film is what draws people in pretty dire circumstances together,” Bank said. Melissa Leo, Academy-award winning actress (The Fighter, Frozen River, 21 Grams), who narrates the film, she said “We were always interested in each other’s work.”

Although entertaining, Bank insists her film ‘sheds light on the dilemmas of Manipuris.’

 “Caught between insurgents and the government, people want to get on with their lives. It’s inspiring to see how a sport is helping them in its own way,” she said.

American soldiers brought the game to Manipur during World War II. This tradition has been handed down, making it the only place in India where baseball is played. “These women kept the tradition going from one generation to the other because it helps direct their energies and provide a healthy outlet,” a proud Bank said remembering the huge response her film got not only at the 13th New York Indian Film Festival this year but even at Cooper’s town where baseball began.

“After the screening, which saw the crowd ecstatic, the question and answer session went on for over an hour and finally the officials manning the building had to come and plead since they wanted to lock and up and go home.”

People in Manipur Evacuate Due To Landslides, Volcanic Eruption Fear Baseless

Tusom, (Ukhrul) Oct 24 : Heavy rains have been lashing Tusom village of Ukhrul in Manipur for the past three days which resulted in a massive landslide here.

Ukhrul district of Manipur lies close to the Indo-Myanmar border.

Villagers immediately evacuated the area fearing volcanic eruptions after the massive landslide here.

The mudslide was followed by eruption of black soil from a village hill by which the road linked between the districts headquarter and Tusom have been badly affected.

Though this disaster took place on October 13 but it took several days for the villagers to inform the officials.

A media team took two days to reach the spot due to disturbed connectivity between local areas. Some local media even wrongly reported the mudslide as volcanic eruptions.

GNLA Training Camps Thrive in The Jungles of Meghalaya

By Manogya Loiwa

 

Kolkata, Oct 22 : The guerilla training camps of Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), fighting for a separate state, are thriving in Meghalaya's jungles despite a ban on the outfit.

Excusive photos of the camps, accessed by Headlines Today, show how the GNLA is meticulously training more and more militants to its way of life.

Headlines Today is also in possession of the slips GNLA militants use to extort money from locals and businessmen.

Formed in 2009 and banned in 2011 after a series of blasts and militant activities in Meghalaya, the GNLA is alive and kicking.

These training camps exist in dense forests of Garo hills.

Since its formation, the GNLA has been involved in killing, abduction, extortion, blasts and attacks on security forces.

The GNLA was led by a former police officer, Champion Sangma, and created trouble in Garo Hills district.

Several arrests have been made but these thriving training camps are evidence of the survival of these militants in several locations in the hills, making government's claims fall flat.

According to sources, GNLA has more than 300 militants.

In the forests of Garo Hills, GNLA members are being given all the necessary training in arms, map reading and walking in jungles with eyes covered with black clothes.

Though their Champion Sangma has been arrested, the morale of his organisation remains high.

Under the leadership of Sohan D. Shira, hundreds of GNLA members are obtaining training.

Sources also tell Headlines Today GNLA may carry out more attacks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The outfit operates in the three districts of western Meghalaya.

Though its main area of operation was in East Garo Hills and South Garo Hills, it has expanded its network in coal-rich West Khasi Hills too.

Dorengchigre village located in East Garo Hills is the GNLA heartland.

Also, a GNLA leader is reportedly in Bangladesh seeking the probability of setting up a base in Dhaka.

"GNLA has links with rebel groups in Nagaland, Assam, Mizoram and Bangladesh," said Sandhi Mukherjee, former inspector general, Intelligence Bureau, West Bengal.

"I feel the North-East Frontier Development Department Minister and all other responsible people should sit together and find definite means to do something quickly so that this doesn't go out of hand," Mukherjee said.

The extortion money gathered from locals and businessmen ensures smooth operation for GNLA.

Sources tell Headlines Today that the outfit uses this fund in procuring arms and ammunitions and carrying out militant activities in the region.

"It depends on how the government looks into it. There should be quick responses and reactions. It's still not late. I feel elected government of the state should take it up quickly with the government of India," Mukherjee said.

The government should involve people and create job opportunities in hilly regions for youth, Mukherjee said. "These are the basic problems for which agitations start."