At youth meet, call to build a ‘better’ Kashmir

As the first-ever youth leadership summit — One Young Kashmir — ended in Srinagar on Sunday, it had a message for the youth: ‘Begin to act for shaping a better Kashmir’. And as rapper MC Kash, in his song, vowed to make Kashmir a better place, hundreds of youth stood up in support. “This is a humble beginning. The aim is to mobilise youth to develop an effective voice, to build a better Kashmir,” said Ilyas Wali, one of the members of One Young Kashmir. “This is not the closing ceremony. This is stepping forward. The work starts now. It is time to act.” 

The week-long Youth Summit that started on March 20 at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the banks of Dal Lake concluded with around 2,000 boys and girls resolving to make Kashmir a better place. Over the past six days, the participants discussed several key issues facing the society, including rights, culture and economy. On the final day of the summit, the youth called for an end to the conflict and sought a resolution to Kashmir issue.
 
“The Kashmir issue must be resolved with due respect to the aspirations of the people,” said Wali while reading the key points raised by the participants. As Wali talked of Kashmir resolution, the youth thumped the desks. “Dialogue process between India and Pakistan must resume. All parties should be taken aboard.”
 
Though for the past six days, the youth were discussing various ideas within the four walls of highly fortified convention centre, they did not remain detached from what is happening on the streets of Kashmir and urged the government to release the detainees. “The government must take an initiative to release all detained youth and put an end to the crackdown launched against them,” they said. The youth summit is the first-of-its-kind in Kashmir. The summit is sponsored by Mercy Corps.
 
Director of Mercy Corps Usman Ahmad said the summit was organised with nine preliminary goals: increased youth knowledge of issues, strengthen leadership skills, help youth to develop solutions, inform decision-makers about issues that youth are concerned about, create an opportunity for youth to inspire each other, showcase youth creativity, identify steps to make a positive difference and, finally, create an opportunity for Youth-to-Youth networking.
 
(http://www.indianexpress.com/news/at-youth-meet-call-to-build-a-better-kashmir/768205/0  28/03/11, Indian Express)

Mohali aside, ISI still ‘busy’ in Kashmir

In October 2010, Mohammad Abdullah alias Abdullah Inqualabi held a meeting around 10 fellow terror operatives in Shopian of Jammu & Kashmir on the instructions of his handlers sitting in Pakistan. The coming together of all these terror operatives was an indication that Pakistan-based outfits are pooling in their resources. 

It was decided in the meeting that Inqualabi will go to Delhi to set a base there and start preparing for a spectacular strike. But before he could make headway in his plan he was arrested by the special cell of Delhi in an Intelligence Bureau (IB) backed operation.
 
Inqualabi’s arrest and subsequent interrogation has provided Indian security establishment another evidence to prove that the ISI-backed terror facilities in Pakistan are still in operation and despite claims made before international community after 26/11, India’s neighbour is yet dismantle terror infrastructure erected in the last 20 years.
 
When the home secretaries of India and Pakistan sit on Monday, the Indian side plans to do some plain-speaking in this regard. Inqualabi, a resident of village Toubat in Muzaffarabad area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), joined jehad at the tender age of 14, motivated by Maulvi Mohammad Ashraf. He was sent to India in 2000 with six other operatives.
 
After his surrender he was instrumental in elimination of seven HM operatives in the Rajouri and Poonch area in 2009. In fact he complained to his interrogators that he didn’t get any reward for the information he provided to the security forces. He said, “I was exploited in the name of my safe surrender.” He provided information to the Indian security forces about three more HM operatives that led to their neutralisation in October, 2010. And interestingly, all this while he was in touch with his handlers in Pakistan.
 
According to sources, he was in touch with a Lashkar operative, known by his code name ‘Mohammadi’, in Pakistan to discuss terror strike on Delhi. He was in touch with his family in Muzaffarabad also.
 
(http://www.hindustantimes.com/Mohali-aside-ISI-still-busy-in-Kashmir/Article1-678346.aspx  27/03/11, Hindustan Times)

Peace meet to mend Assam- N’galand relations

In a bid to end the conflict that has erupted as a result of boundary disputes between Assam and Nagaland, representatives of both sides recently organized a peace meet in the region. The Ao Naga Hoho initiated a peace meet at the Tzuremmen village in Mokokchung District of Nagaland to bring to an end troubles at Assam-Nagaland border.

Organized under the banner of Naga-Assam Peace and Confidence Building Meet, the conference was attended by intellectuals, bureaucrats, academicians, village leaders, youth leaders and social activists from both sides.

During the conference, the Border Peace Coordination Committee adopted certain resolutions like respecting the brotherly relationship between the people of the two states for promoting co-existence, resolving of any issue or differences between the two sides through indigenous methods without government intervention based on mutual respect, setting up of culture and sports school on both sides, encouraging marriages between both sides.

“It is a great initiative by the Naga Ao Hoho to bring peace in the displayed border areas,” said Girin Phukon, Director, Tai Studies and Research Institute.

“The main resolution is that Assamese and Nagas have to live together so as a friend and a neighbor. They need to maintain mutual relationship between understand respective the ties that is 100 years, added Dr. Lanusashi, Professor Nagaland University.

Most of the speakers from both sides have strongly stressed on re-establishing the good relationship that existed during the 600 years rule of Ahom Dynasty between the two states.

“We should popularize that part of history where the pre history where the friendship was highest. I think we have had history of everything so we show focus on it,” Jayanta Goswami, lecturer and writer from Assam. The dispute has its genesis in Nagaland’s claim that 1200 square km area in Assam belonged to Nagas before British occupation. Over the years it has led to several clashes.

Currently both state and centre are trying their level best to resolve the issue through a dialogue. In recent years people of both sides have also made efforts to promote the friendship through organizing sports, seminars and cultural events.
 
(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/7793941.cms  26/03/11, The Economics Times)

US snub to J&K separatists

Firdous Syed

US ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer was recently on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. It’s not unusual for a high-profile foreign diplomat to visit Kashmir. After Partition, unfortunately Kashmir got entangled in a nasty conflict between India and Pakistan. Since then Kashmir has all-along remained in the international crosshairs. Moreover with the beginning of militancy in 1990, diplomats stationed at Delhi have been frequently visiting Srinagar in order to remain well-informed about the fast evolving situation.
 
However the activities of British and US diplomats have far exceeded the limits of normal intelligence gathering. In the past they have been quietly working towards a conflict resolution, much to the chagrin of New Delhi. Former US assistant secretary of state Robin Raphel was disliked in Delhi for her Kashmir statements; she even had questioned J&K’s ‘accession to India’. It may be worthwhile to recall that the then Union home minister S B Chavan in 1995 had described US involvement in the affairs of Kashmir as an “evil design”, to gain some “foothold” in Kashmir.
 
In a stark departure from past practice, Roemer deliberately avoided meeting separatists during his visit this time; he only met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. And Roemer made it a point to highlight his act of deliberately ignoring, or rather snubbing, the separatists: “The purpose of the visit is that he (Omar) is an elected leader. The chief minister is the person who represents the people here in Jammu and Kashmir”.
 
Further rubbing salt on the wounds of separatists, the ambassador also declared Kashmir to be part of India, “I wanted to meet the people as I have been doing all over India”. The present American administration has clearly distanced itself from the days of President Clinton when US viewed Kashmir as a “disputed territory, the final status of which is to be determined through negotiations between India and Pakistan while taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people”. A clear vindication of India’s position on Kashmir by a senior US diplomat is the triumph of Indian diplomacy. Even though the shift in American public position towards Kashmir was evident during President Obama’s visit to India, he avoided the K-word like a plague.
 
Certainly America’s stand will help India isolate Pakistan further on Kashmir, yet nothing will change on the ground. Traditional pro-India elements will consider it as a morale booster. But it will not swell their ranks; disheartened by Roemer’s snub separatists are not going to join the mainstream. On the contrary, the rebuke will weaken the moderates, the extremists and Lashker sympathisers will get a handle to browbeat the pro-dialogue factions — “Didn’t we tell you that all the peace talks are a façade? India with the active support of America just wants to grab the Kashmir” All these years America has preferred the peace process to the gun to resolve the conflict. In the peak of militancy American diplomats are believed to have supported the formation of All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq; even before the separatist amalgamation took shape in Kashmir, “Abdul Gani Lone announced its formation in Washington”. Then even militant organisations had suspected the formation of APHC as a weakening of the ‘militant movement’. Subsequently Abdul Gani Lone was killed allegedly by pro-Pak militants in 2002.
 
Obviously for New Delhi, and particularly after the last year’s popular uprising, Timothy Roemer’s visit may have added to the feel good factor — it’s all hunky-dory in Kashmir. Management of the problem indeed has calmed the situation, the stifling conditions beneath the surface remains the same. Last week Amnesty International released its report: ‘Lawless law — Detentions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act’. The report based on the research conducted by an Amnesty International team during its visit to Srinagar in May 2010 reveals some very disturbing facts. It was known in Kashmir that the Public Safety Act (PSA) has been indiscriminately used against ‘political leaders, activists, suspected members or supporters of armed opposition groups, lawyers, journalists and protesters, including children’. Yet it was hitherto unknown that ‘20,000 persons’ were detained in last two decades on ‘spurious grounds’. What will make it more difficult for the government to defend is the damaging observation that: ‘The cases studied by us indicate that the authorities in J&K have used the PSA to create a parallel or informal criminal justice system — bypassing the regular criminal justice system to secure the long-term detention without trial of individuals depriving them of human rights protection otherwise applicable in Indian law.’
 
Separatists for years have been protesting that detention under the PSA infringes basic human rights and the detainees are kept behind bars for years together on clumsy grounds. The Amnesty International report only confirms some of these allegations. Amnesty is not alone in pinpointing these violations, some well-meaning rights activists too have been highlighting that the ‘arbitrary detentions’ only deepen the alienation. “The PSA undermines the rule of law and reinforces deeply-held perceptions that the police and security forces are above the law.” Detaining hardcore separatists to maintain order and keeping behind the bars perpetrators of worst militant crimes (when due to fear it’s not possible for the prosecution to prove the charges in court) does make some sense. But the PSA has been randomly slapped against street protesters, even school-going children have not been spared. Amnesty International alleges that from January to September 2010, 322 persons were detained under the PSA — most of them are thought to be the street protesters (police describes these protesters as stonepelters).
 
The Amnesty International report, which is highly critical of the PSA, may add to the discomfort of the state government. It will also provide grist to the separatists’ propaganda mill. But Amnesty International being allowed to visit J&K after 20 years of its persistent asking is a silver lining in the dark clouds. It has raised the expectations that finally the system is ready to accept the human rights violations committed during the fight against insurgency. Government’s open policy will not only help to bring closer many human rights violations of the past, it will also restrain forces to commit any in the future. By encouragingly, instead of ridiculing, the Amnesty report the state government has promised corrective measures to be adopted. Commenting on the report Omar Abdullah committed in the Assembly: “The report would not be ignored nor it would be thrown into the dustbin.” It’s not the first time that Omar has promised to take an action — withdrawal of AFSPA and punishing those guilty of killing 110 civilians last summer still awaits action. For Omar it’s time to live up to his commitments and restore some of his lost credibility.
 
Firdous Syed, formerly a separatist, is an analyst based in Kashmir
 
(http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/op-ed/us-snub-to-jk-separatists/260199.html  27/03/11, Express Buzz)

Mother of insurgencies or reinvention?

M.S. Prabhakara 

Has the Naga insurgency come to terms with its unrealised and, indeed, unrealisable sovereignty aspirations?
 
In the early 1980s (when this correspondent returned to Guwahati as working journalist after an eight-year absence), insurgency in the northeast was limited to Nagaland, parts of Manipur and what was then the Union Territory of Mizo Hills. In Nagaland, the Naga National Council (NNC), political face of the oldest of the insurgencies in the region, was led by Angami Zapu Phizo, then in exile in Britain. Despite the challenge posed by a faction of the NNC that had recently split after much rancour on both sides and formed itself into the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), the NNC remained the dominant voice of Naga nationalistic assertion. In Manipur, Naga insurgency was active those days in the Naga-inhabited hill districts mainly in Tamenglong, while in the Imphal Valley, several outfits, some of them fighting one another as much as the Indian state, were active: the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA), the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP). In the Union Territory of Mizo Hills, the Mizo National Front (MNF) arrived at the Talk-Talk-Fight-Fight stage, and was on the way to give up its secessionist agenda, sign a peace accord and become a legitimate party of the government. Insurgency had not become a generalised fact of life in the region including Assam, though formally the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) had been founded in April 1979.
 
The objectives of all these organisations, including the nascent ULFA, were broadly the same: independence and sovereignty, the restoration of sovereignty that ‘lapsed’ to the people these organisations claimed to represent when the British left India but which India refused to concede.
 
The undeniable historical fact underlying this idea of ‘restoration of sovereignty’ as against the ‘demand for sovereignty’ is that beginning with the British annexation of Assam following the defeat of Burma in 1826 in the First Anglo-Burmese War, the colonial government had embarked on consolidating the boundaries of these newly acquired vast territories, progressively annexing more of these borderlands and extending its own boundaries. The annexation process was neither painless nor fair; nor even conclusive, the last most evident in the description of some of the ‘new’ territories in the old maps as “excluded,” “partially excluded” and “unadministered” areas. The bland bureaucratic prose of the introductory chapter of the Assam Land Revenue Manual says it all.
 
However, received wisdom had it even those days that the resolution of Naga insurgency was central to resolving other insurgencies, actual and incipient. Long before such disaffection manifested itself among other people of the region, tribal and non-tribal, Phizo himself had tried on the eve of Independence to enlist the support of the largest and most advanced of the people, the Assamese, as well as other tribal people who, in course of time, were to form the core of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram — the last two then politically and administratively part of Assam — for realising his plan for an Independent Nagaland. He also urged them to seek an independent status outside India.
 
Being the oldest insurgency in the region, which had also lent some material support to other disaffected elements, this perception was somewhat justified. This has been especially so since the NNC split and the formation of the NSCN in early 1980. Even though the NSCN in due course also split into two factions, and the NNC has refused to fade away, the NSCN (I-M) bearing the initials of Chairman Isak Swu and general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah remains the dominant voice of the sovereignty aspirations of the Naga people.
However, all these insist that settlement of the “Naga political issue,” that is restoration of Naga sovereignty and independence — the resolution of what has come to be known in the Naga nationalist rhetoric as “the mother of all insurgencies” in the region — is central to resolving the other problems in the region.
 
This perspective has been expressed several times by Muivah since the NSCN (I-M) began talking directly to the Government of India nearly 15 years ago. During this period, the NSCN (I-M) leaders have met several Prime Ministers in foreign lands and in India, and have had prolonged dialogue with ‘interlocutors,’ initially in cities in Europe and South East Asia, and later in Delhi. Peace of a kind has prevailed in Nagaland and in the Naga inhabited areas of Manipur, though the “Naga political issue” remains unresolved. The other side of this peace is the parallel administration of the NSCN (I-M), which is evident to the most casual visitor to Nagaland and the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur. Perhaps one can see this as the Naga people’s unique way of reconciling the irreconcilable, the “resolution of the Naga political issue” without actually getting the lost sovereignty restored. By simply putting these tricky issues on the back burner, the State government and the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagalim coexist in Kohima and near Dimapur. Situations where legitimately constituted State governments face challenges far more dire prevail in many parts of eastern and central India.
 
How has this unique “resolution of the Naga political issue” impinged on the ferment in the rest of the region? Has the “mother of all insurgencies” in the region, whose leaders now travel on Indian passports with all implications of securing such a document, come to terms with its unrealised and indeed unrealisable sovereignty aspirations and injected a dose of realism into the sovereignty aspirations of other groups with far less legitimate claims than the Naga people who, under Phizo, formally declared Independence on August 14, 1947?
 
One significant development in the insurgency scenario is the “arrest” of senior leaders of ULFA and their resolve to hold talks with the Government of India without any precondition. Another is the “arrest” of UNLF chairman Rajkumar Sanayaima, who maintains that he was abducted by Indian agents in Dhaka and brought to India. Unlike ULFA leaders who are on bail, Sanayaima remains in prison, defiant about not talking to the Government of India except on four preconditions being accepted, the core of which is a plebiscite under U.N. supervision to ascertain if the people of Manipur want to remain part of the country.
 
The differences in the government’s approach to the NSCN (I-M), the ULFA and the UNLF are as striking as is the relatively realistic approach of the first two which too were insisting that the core issue in any talks with the government had to be sovereignty. Like the lady in the song, the NSCN (I-M) and ULFA leaders kept saying they would never consent, and yet consented. Will the UNLF follow suit?
 
There are other interesting developments on the insurgency front. Since the mother of all insurgencies began speaking to the government, other insurgent or terrorist groups have become active; these outfits have survived and even prospered by their capacity to reinvent themselves, though not their stated aims and objectives, and are carrying on. The most curious instance of such reinvention is the path taken by Dima Halong Daoga (DHD), based in the North Cachar hills of Assam, one of the two Autonomous Hills Districts of the State, the other being Karbi Anglong where too the United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), like almost every similar outfit, split into pro-talks and anti-talks factions. The DHD’s reinvention of itself by using a section of the Indian state, in this case, the administration of the North Cachar Autonomous District Council, a constitutional body, to channel development funds meant for the district to itself, an outlawed outfit, is indeed breathtaking. The charge sheet by the National Investigative Agency available on http://nia.gov.in/niacases.aspx provides the most salutary education on the reinvention of insurgencies.
 
(http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/26/stories/2011032654411200.htm  26/03/11, The Hindu)

Rebels murder engineers

Maoists claimed the lives of two abducted engineers today in Latehar, while a police constable was killed in a landmine blast in Ghatshila in the border areas of poll-bound Bengal amid heightened police patrolling.
 
The two incidents, occurring in Maoist-hit districts in two opposite ends of Jharkhand, were yet another indication of the security challenges facing the Arjun Munda government, now barely six months at the helm of affairs. Word about the deaths of the two civil engineers, abducted by Maoists a week ago, reached police this morning. And to add to complications, a police party returning with their bodies was locked in an encounter in the dense jungles of Dwarka in Latehar district.
 
Additional reinforcements were rushed from Palamau. “An encounter is on between the state police and the extremists in an area bordering Panki police station in Latehar,” DGP G.S. Rath said. The engineers, Jitendra Kumar Singh and Mukesh Yadav of Calcutta-based Simplex Infrastructures, were kidnapped from the Chandwa-Chakla road in Chandwa by armed rebels on March 17. They were returning after inspecting civil work at an upcoming 540MW thermal power plant being set up by Abhijeet Group at Chandwa.
 
Over the next week, the state police continued to deny the involvement of Naxalites in the abductions. DIG Laxman Prasad claimed local criminal gangs were involved, adding he was confident the two would be freed. This morning, however, word reached the police that their bodies had been located in the Kerum forests. The police party left for the area at 11am. But while they were returning with the bodies, they were fired upon by rebels.
 
In Ghatshila, police constable Rajesh Prasad Shaw (24) was killed and two others injured in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists who were targeting his boss, Ghatshila (ASP) Anish Kumar Gupta, at Dainmari jungle near the Bengal border this morning. Sources in Bengal police said two Maoists were also gunned down in the police firing that followed.
 
The incident occurred when a joint team of district police and CRPF, comprising 300 jawans, was on its way to Dainmari and Makuli bordering Belpahari police station in Bengal, to conduct long-range patrolling after receiving information that the CPI(Maoist)’s Dampara squad was holed up in the forests. The men were negotiating a turn when the landmine exploded around 7.30am. Shaw died on the spot. Two CRPF jawans — Ganesh Gaur and Vinod Kumar were also injured.
 
DIG Singh and East Singhbhum SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha rushed to the spot. Soon afterwards, police and paramilitary forces launched a combing operation at Dainmari and adjacent Makuli forests. “The constable was following Gupta, who was the Maoists’ target, and was caught in the explosion,” Singh told
 
(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110325/jsp/frontpage/story_13763213.jsp  24/03/11, The Telegraph)

Suspected Maoists kill PSBJC supporter

A supporter of the Maoist-backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee (PSBJC) was shot dead by suspected Maoists in the Jhargram region of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district late on Wednesday. The police said Sambhu Mahato was killed allegedly after a dispute over the distribution of extortion money among the Maoists and PSBJC supporters. Pravin Tripathi, Superintendent of Police, said on Thursday that raids were under way to nab some suspects.
 
(http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/25/stories/2011032559600100.htm  25/03/11, The Hindu)

Right Time to Find Lasting Solution to J&K: Sayeed

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today asked the Centre to utilize the consensus built on various issues like reduction of forces and scrapping of ‘draconian laws’ to find a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue. A broad-based consensus has emerged between the PDP – the main Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir – and other parties on various issues like reduction of forces in the region and scrapping of ‘draconian’ laws and it was time that this consensus is utilized to identify a starting point to resolving the Kashmir problem, PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said.

Interacting with various groups at Anantnag, 55 km from here in south Kashmir, Sayeed said his party had launched a concerted campaign since the beginning of this year focusing on the specific issues of civil liberties, human rights, restoration of full civil authority, reduction of forces and scrapping of laws that have outlived their utility.

Without naming separatists, he said these issues were being flagged by other parties as well. “The present scenario in which people have forcefully rejected violence and adopted democratic means with the state responding through harsh force will have to yield room to a full play of democratic functioning that could remove mistrust and lift the siege around day-to-day life,” he said.

The former chief minister expressed confidence that this situation would not last long. Rejecting the official statistics on the number of persons arrested during the unrest, Sayeed said “it is the atmosphere that matters.”

“The fear and insecurity cannot go away by citing cold statistics to people whose lives have been made miserable through crackdowns and wanton arrests,” he said and stressed that even a single detention without reason should be a reason for concern.

Referring to the recent Amnesty International report on detentions in the state, Sayeed said “these are facts that are known to the state government.” “Why should the state government or the chief minister need a global watchdog to tell it what is happening under its nose?” he said, commenting on the chief minister’s remarks that he would consider the report “after he receives it”.

Criticising the government for its handling of the law and order situation, the PDP patron said the unbridled use of force by the state government and its efforts to create an imaginary doomsday scenario are part of the same tactic to divert attention from its failures and enforce artificial normalcy.

“The failure of the government to punish the killers of 117 innocent persons last year speaks volumes about its insensitivity and arrogance of power,” he said.

Recalling how three innocent young boys were dragged out of their homes in Anantnag in broad day light and killed in “cold blood”, Sayeed regretted that in spite of evidence and the chief minister’s declaration of punishing the culprits “in 24 hours”, the case was dragging on, indicating a credibility deficit of the government.
 
(http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?716326  24/03/11, Outlook India)

DGP urges surrendered millitants to join mainstream society

Eight militants belonging to five different armed groups in Manipur laid down arms and ammunitions and surrendered to Assam Rifles today. The formal surrender ceremony was held here at Assam Rifles headquarter in presence of Manipur’s Director General of Police Yumnam Joy kumar, Inspector General of Assam Rifles(South), Major General CA Krishnan, Commander of 26 Sector, Superintendent of Police L Kailun of Imphal West district, other officers of the Assam Rifles and family members.
 
The surrendered militants laid down 7 pistols including five 9mm pistols with their magazines and 37 live rounds, 1 hand grenade, 5 lethod bombs, one kenwood radio set, 5 detonators, 65 live rounds of AK Rifles. The surrendered cadres are Gopal Sharma alias Laimkaiba, 25 of Kwakeithel Thokchom Leikai, Hemanta alias Manimatum,20 of proscribed United National Liberation Front, A Rajesh alias Raju,18 of Wangoo Tera, L Thoi alias Tomba, 18 of Wangoo Chairen Saban of the banned United People’s Party of Kangleipak, Jelen Khangembam alias Boni, 25 of Kumbi Awang Leikai of People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, Kabikanta alias Thoiba, 20 of Wangkhem of Kangleipak Communist Party(MTF), Angom Naocha Meitei, 25 and Konjengbam Manoranjan alias Sanjit,22 both from Moirang and cadres of Kangleipak Communist Party(Lamyanba Khuman).
 
Speaking on the occasion Manipur DGP Y Joykumar said with the recent induction of 3 hovercrafts besides procuring 6 more ‘mechanised boats’, Manipur police would be well equipped to dominate Manipur’s Loktak Lake, the safe haven for the militants by constant patrolling shortly. The state police chief further said that they’ll be able to dominate the lake area within few months time, with the arrival of 6 mechanised boats.
 
The state had become the first police force in the country having 3 military assault hovercrafts from USA. Though the hovercrafts have limited capacity, each machanised boat can accommodate around 30 persons. The state police Chief said, “We’ve also taking up certain development activities besides other CI(counter insurgency)Ops”. With the initiative of the ruling secular progressive front government in Manipur, the state strength of state police force has increased from 15,414 to 24,618 in the last two years.
 
Earlier not to speak of public even the security forces avoid places such as Umathel or Sajik Tampak, he said. But the rate of unwanted activities has been declined in the last few years with the public support and the existing manpower. Appealing to the surrendered militants not to involve in the easy money earning (extortion) activities which is said to be ‘tempting’ again but to lead a normal life by working hard, he further said, so it’s right to come out and join the mainstream to lead a successful life in the society.
 
(http://kanglaonline.com/2011/03/dgp-urges-surrendered-millitants-to-join-mainstream-society/  25/03/11, Kangla Online)

A bumpy ride

While the international community’s eyes are riveted on Libya – where circumstances grow more intractable despite hopes that an UN-sanctioned no-fly zone would prompt a ceasefire – turmoil is sweeping across other Arab nations as well. Given the crucial role the region plays in India’s foreign policy matrix, New Delhi cannot afford to be caught by surprise. It needs to keep track of rapid changes and devise policy accordingly.

In Egypt, which saw its Tahrir Square protests culminate in the successful removal of ex-president Hosni Mubarak, preparations are underway for the nation’s first free elections in decades. While the short time to the polls might favour the only two properly organised political groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, Egypt appears to have started developing its democracy. In other parts, the struggle continues and involves considerable violence.

In Syria, where public demonstrations have been banned for 50 years, dissenters have taken to the streets. Government troops have responded aggressively, shooting protesters inside Daraa city’s Omari mosque. In oil-rich Bahrain protesters occupied the capital Manama’s Pearl Square, blocking access to the banking hub’s financial district. Bahrain’s king responded by calling in 2,000 Saudi Arabian troops, arresting opposition leaders, and sending forces to clear Pearl Square. In Yemen, although surrounded by vociferous protests from the streets and the uniting of tribal dissenters, President Ali Abdullah Saleh indicated he’d continue his 32-year rule. He might find himself a few hands short though, with top military commanders defecting to the rebel cause.

The role of the military in these movements is pivotal, deciding whether civilians will meet violence, shaping the international community’s response and affecting the future. In Egypt, the army refused to target protesters, leaving Mubarak with few options but to step down. Yemen too may face an Egypt-like situation, with army commanders defecting. Elsewhere units of the army may fight each other, as in Libya. Even in places where the old order is winning, it is unlikely to emerge unscathed as explicit force will have to be used to keep down restive populations. To secure its interests it’s important for New Delhi to stay responsive, offer help where needed and asked for, and engage with civil societies in the region to the extent possible. Change sweeping the Arab world offers both challenges and opportunities. But given the speed at which the jasmine contagion originating from Tunisia has spread throughout the Mideast, it’s best to be fleet-footed and ride the wave of change rather than attempt to resist it.
 
(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/A-bumpy-ride/articleshow/7781972.cms  25/03/11, The Times of India)