Silchar, July 6: Mizoram police have busted an international arms racket that used the state’s border areas as transit points.
The 40-year-old Myanmarese kingpin of one of the rackets, Lal Liana, was arrested along with arms last Sunday, the superintendent of police, L.T. Hrangchal, said today over phone from Aizawl.
The police intercepted Liana’s arms-laden truck at Champai on the Indo- Myanmar border following a tip-off.
Liana, who was trailing the truck in a car, was apprehended near Aizawl.
The arms, according to Aizawl police, were meant for the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) in North Cachar Hills district.
The news of Liana’s arrest had been kept under wraps to facilitate investigation, which the police hoped would lead to several more arrests.
Liana, a member of the Kuki-Chin tribe, a kinsfolk of the Mizos, is likely to be produced before a judicial authority in Aizawl tomorrow.
Yesterday, the police seized another cache of arms, which included seven AK-47 rifles, a rocket launcher and assorted ammunition from a Bolero near Vairengte on the Mizoram-Assam border. The Bolero was later traced to a Khasi woman in Shillong.
Mizoram’s 404-km porous border with Myanmar makes it the perfect choice for smugglers to move in arms from China and Thailand, a source said.
Though the Assam Rifles guards the international border, Kolosib district superintendent of police Lalbiakthanga said the Mizoram government was worried about the unchecked movement of arms. source: telegraph india
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Showing posts with label Mizoram. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mizoram. Show all posts
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Arms racket busted
Monday, June 30, 2008
Bamboo flowering leaves mill starving
June 30: The flowering of bamboo groves in Mizoram has raised fears of a sharp dip in output at the Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd, which is just back on its feet after a blaze.
After lying defunct for nearly a month following a fire at its digester machine room, the paper mill at Panchgram became operational last week.
But chief executive officer Mohan Jha’s pressing concern now is the shrinking supply of raw materials, which could land the Rs 387-crore enterprise in trouble again.
The paper mill with a capacity of 1 lakh tonne annual output, gets its supply mainly from North Cachar Hills and Mizoram.
With the once-in-50-years phenomenon of bamboo flowering destroying groves, the Panchgram paper mill cannot hope for a steady supply for the next few months.
“The little stock left in Mizoram cannot be transported to Panchgram through National Highway 53 because of the pitiable condition of the roads leading to the highway,” Jha said.
Adding to his woes is the failure of bamboo suppliers in the Barak Valley to ensure regular supply of bamboo stock from Cachar and Tripura.
Jha is now hoping that a good monsoon will feed the rivers in Mizoram and facilitate transportation through the waterways.
Union heavy industries and public enterprises minister Sontosh Mohan Dev, too, is worried over the condition of HPC’s Panchgram plant.
On June 20, the legislator from Cachar held a meeting at his Delhi office to end the stalemate at the Panchgram unit of the mill.
Top officials of the HPC and the executive councillors of the North Cachar Autonomous District Council attended the brainstorming exercise in Delhi’s Yodyag Bhavan.
SOURCE: TELEGRAPH INDIA
After lying defunct for nearly a month following a fire at its digester machine room, the paper mill at Panchgram became operational last week.
But chief executive officer Mohan Jha’s pressing concern now is the shrinking supply of raw materials, which could land the Rs 387-crore enterprise in trouble again.
The paper mill with a capacity of 1 lakh tonne annual output, gets its supply mainly from North Cachar Hills and Mizoram.
With the once-in-50-years phenomenon of bamboo flowering destroying groves, the Panchgram paper mill cannot hope for a steady supply for the next few months.
“The little stock left in Mizoram cannot be transported to Panchgram through National Highway 53 because of the pitiable condition of the roads leading to the highway,” Jha said.
Adding to his woes is the failure of bamboo suppliers in the Barak Valley to ensure regular supply of bamboo stock from Cachar and Tripura.
Jha is now hoping that a good monsoon will feed the rivers in Mizoram and facilitate transportation through the waterways.
Union heavy industries and public enterprises minister Sontosh Mohan Dev, too, is worried over the condition of HPC’s Panchgram plant.
On June 20, the legislator from Cachar held a meeting at his Delhi office to end the stalemate at the Panchgram unit of the mill.
Top officials of the HPC and the executive councillors of the North Cachar Autonomous District Council attended the brainstorming exercise in Delhi’s Yodyag Bhavan.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Northeast Echoes
Peace as a political tool
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s cup of woes seems to be overflowing with conflicts on so many fronts. The resurgence of Bodo militancy after a lull has only sharpened the contours of conflict in Assam. It was not at all pleasing to the ears to hear two prominent leaders of the Bodo people, publicly trade charges at one another.
Supporters of Hagrama Mohilary accused U.G. Brahma of masterminding the fratricidal killings in Bodoland. Brahma threw back each allegation at his detractors. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Bodos are a culturally superior race with a history of civilisation that is longer than most of the other tribes in the Northeast.
How a group that is culturally and intellectually endowed could be subsumed and pushed to the fringes of development is a historical aberration that can only be revisited with much anguish and a sense of loss of something irretrievable.
Historically, the living space of the Bodos comprises nearly one-third of Assam. But in terms of development what is euphemistically referred to as “Bodoland” remains a laggard. The creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was a temporary palliative. As always the beneficiaries of such political endowments are the leaders of the movements and their kin. The rest of the Bodo people have remained at the subsistence level. For them a BTC or a state government are one and the same.
Co-existence
At one conference attended by Bodo women, one was surprised to learn that the Bodos living along the borders of Bhutan get their electricity from that country. They earn their livelihood across the border and depend very little on Assam.
For them it is advantageous that India and Bhutan co-exist peacefully because any imbalance between the two as had happened during the Bhutanese operation against the Ulfa, tends to create a livelihood problem for them. As long as such simple folks continue with their economic pursuits and stay out of political discourses about their rights and the infringement of those rights, there will be a lid on political aspirations.
But history is a grim reminder that marginalised groups do tend to seek their place in the sun sooner than later. It is evident that several Bodo people are dissatisfied with the BTC. They do not see the council as an answer to their development backlogs.
The BTC we are told has failed to live up to the expectations of the hoi-polloi. There is allegedly no system of financial accountability and this is the crux of the matter. When people ask for greater autonomy for themselves what the leaders are actually asking for is more money to play around with. It is so easy to forget “the people” in whose names armed struggles were raised and whose blood was shed for the cause.
In cold blood
Besides the current blood-letting in Bodoland which has yet to raise the temperature in Dispur, the other battlefront that could spoil Tarun Gogoi’s sleep is the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) led by Jewel Gorlosa. This group is known to be mentored by the NSCN (I-M) and therefore as unscrupulous in its operations. Recently, the DHD (J) killed a dozen truck drivers who were on routine trips through North Cachar Hills to the Barak valley and beyond carrying food supplies.
The manner in which the drivers were shot in cold blood and at point blank range is reminiscent of the cruelties of the Gestapo. The DHD (J) then attacked the railway employees who were merely carrying out their duties. As a consequence the rail authorities suspended their work and trucks refused to move.
The repercussions were felt in Mizoram and Tripura whose foodgrain quota was dwindling by the day.
Having carried out their horrific massacre the DHD (J) then calls a unilateral truce. This trigger-happy group probably woke up to the seriousness of the situation only belatedly when it began to affect their own people and a hue and cry was raised by the Dimasa people themselves.
Today there are over 40 companies of security forces posted in the North Cachar Hills, the largest ever for the smallest area. This became necessary in order to complete the railway gauge conversion and the trans-Asian highway.
The role of the NSCN (I-M), a group that is ostensibly on a truce with the Centre, but is providing the fuel to different armed groups across the region has not come in for close scrutiny. But things being so convoluted you can never be too sure as to who is fuelling what and under whose direction.
Be that as it may the Assam government is expected to have some plan of action to deal with groups like the DHD (J) which have assumed the characteristics of marauders.
If such groups are not put down with an iron hand one foresees many more splinters emerging each with its own ideology but all of them out to make a fast buck. The complete absence of the rule of law in North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong, and Bodoland can no longer be covered up.
The lawlessness in Assam has in fact reached such serious dimensions that even the state forests will now be guarded by the army. This is quite a telling account of the ground situation in that state.
All these are bad enough indications but what is worse is Tarun Gogoi’s proclivity to buy peace in instalments.
His government is all out to sign a truce with a faction of Ulfa whose cadres are faded and jaded and have lost their firepower. Normally, no armed group would sing the peace tune if it could still survive in the jungles. And the rule of the game is that talks are held only between equals.
Why should the state agree to a peace proposition from an ineffectual group? Unless of course there is an uncoded quid pro quo that the group will serve the political dispensation at Dispur in some strange way.
Ulfa on back foot
The argument that Ulfa has not killed anyone for months together and therefore deserves a chance at peace is specious. If Ulfa is on the back foot now it is only because they have run out of steam. At this juncture the outfit is in dire need of oxygen. If it is starved of it for some more time it might have to surrender. Hence the proposal to smoke the peace pipe.
If the Tarun Gogoi government succumbs as it appears to have done then the future of Assam will stand gravely compromised.
Non-resident Assamese are appalled by the number of bandhs calls, which have crippled particularly the tea industry. Any attempt to give Ulfa its much-needed time to regroup will spell disaster for Assam. It will also be the death knell to entrepreneurship and industry both of which are meant to trigger economic growth.
Alas. Politics pushes people to look for short-term gains and abandon any long-term policy for the common good.
(The author can be contacted at patricia17@rediffma il.com)
THE TELEGRAPH - JUNE 23, 2008
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s cup of woes seems to be overflowing with conflicts on so many fronts. The resurgence of Bodo militancy after a lull has only sharpened the contours of conflict in Assam. It was not at all pleasing to the ears to hear two prominent leaders of the Bodo people, publicly trade charges at one another.
Supporters of Hagrama Mohilary accused U.G. Brahma of masterminding the fratricidal killings in Bodoland. Brahma threw back each allegation at his detractors. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Bodos are a culturally superior race with a history of civilisation that is longer than most of the other tribes in the Northeast.
How a group that is culturally and intellectually endowed could be subsumed and pushed to the fringes of development is a historical aberration that can only be revisited with much anguish and a sense of loss of something irretrievable.
Historically, the living space of the Bodos comprises nearly one-third of Assam. But in terms of development what is euphemistically referred to as “Bodoland” remains a laggard. The creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) was a temporary palliative. As always the beneficiaries of such political endowments are the leaders of the movements and their kin. The rest of the Bodo people have remained at the subsistence level. For them a BTC or a state government are one and the same.
Co-existence
At one conference attended by Bodo women, one was surprised to learn that the Bodos living along the borders of Bhutan get their electricity from that country. They earn their livelihood across the border and depend very little on Assam.
For them it is advantageous that India and Bhutan co-exist peacefully because any imbalance between the two as had happened during the Bhutanese operation against the Ulfa, tends to create a livelihood problem for them. As long as such simple folks continue with their economic pursuits and stay out of political discourses about their rights and the infringement of those rights, there will be a lid on political aspirations.
But history is a grim reminder that marginalised groups do tend to seek their place in the sun sooner than later. It is evident that several Bodo people are dissatisfied with the BTC. They do not see the council as an answer to their development backlogs.
The BTC we are told has failed to live up to the expectations of the hoi-polloi. There is allegedly no system of financial accountability and this is the crux of the matter. When people ask for greater autonomy for themselves what the leaders are actually asking for is more money to play around with. It is so easy to forget “the people” in whose names armed struggles were raised and whose blood was shed for the cause.
In cold blood
Besides the current blood-letting in Bodoland which has yet to raise the temperature in Dispur, the other battlefront that could spoil Tarun Gogoi’s sleep is the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) led by Jewel Gorlosa. This group is known to be mentored by the NSCN (I-M) and therefore as unscrupulous in its operations. Recently, the DHD (J) killed a dozen truck drivers who were on routine trips through North Cachar Hills to the Barak valley and beyond carrying food supplies.
The manner in which the drivers were shot in cold blood and at point blank range is reminiscent of the cruelties of the Gestapo. The DHD (J) then attacked the railway employees who were merely carrying out their duties. As a consequence the rail authorities suspended their work and trucks refused to move.
The repercussions were felt in Mizoram and Tripura whose foodgrain quota was dwindling by the day.
Having carried out their horrific massacre the DHD (J) then calls a unilateral truce. This trigger-happy group probably woke up to the seriousness of the situation only belatedly when it began to affect their own people and a hue and cry was raised by the Dimasa people themselves.
Today there are over 40 companies of security forces posted in the North Cachar Hills, the largest ever for the smallest area. This became necessary in order to complete the railway gauge conversion and the trans-Asian highway.
The role of the NSCN (I-M), a group that is ostensibly on a truce with the Centre, but is providing the fuel to different armed groups across the region has not come in for close scrutiny. But things being so convoluted you can never be too sure as to who is fuelling what and under whose direction.
Be that as it may the Assam government is expected to have some plan of action to deal with groups like the DHD (J) which have assumed the characteristics of marauders.
If such groups are not put down with an iron hand one foresees many more splinters emerging each with its own ideology but all of them out to make a fast buck. The complete absence of the rule of law in North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong, and Bodoland can no longer be covered up.
The lawlessness in Assam has in fact reached such serious dimensions that even the state forests will now be guarded by the army. This is quite a telling account of the ground situation in that state.
All these are bad enough indications but what is worse is Tarun Gogoi’s proclivity to buy peace in instalments.
His government is all out to sign a truce with a faction of Ulfa whose cadres are faded and jaded and have lost their firepower. Normally, no armed group would sing the peace tune if it could still survive in the jungles. And the rule of the game is that talks are held only between equals.
Why should the state agree to a peace proposition from an ineffectual group? Unless of course there is an uncoded quid pro quo that the group will serve the political dispensation at Dispur in some strange way.
Ulfa on back foot
The argument that Ulfa has not killed anyone for months together and therefore deserves a chance at peace is specious. If Ulfa is on the back foot now it is only because they have run out of steam. At this juncture the outfit is in dire need of oxygen. If it is starved of it for some more time it might have to surrender. Hence the proposal to smoke the peace pipe.
If the Tarun Gogoi government succumbs as it appears to have done then the future of Assam will stand gravely compromised.
Non-resident Assamese are appalled by the number of bandhs calls, which have crippled particularly the tea industry. Any attempt to give Ulfa its much-needed time to regroup will spell disaster for Assam. It will also be the death knell to entrepreneurship and industry both of which are meant to trigger economic growth.
Alas. Politics pushes people to look for short-term gains and abandon any long-term policy for the common good.
(The author can be contacted at patricia17@rediffma il.com)
Mizoram Govt may move SC over HC order on ILP
Mizoram Govt may move SC over HC order on ILP
AIZAWL, June 23 – Mizoram Government would move the Supreme Court, if the need arose, to challenge the interim order passed by the Gauhati High Court restricting the State Government from arrest and deportation of non-tribals staying in the State without valid Inner Line Permit (ILP), Chief Minister Zoramthanga said here today. “We will tell the High Court that the ILP system is extremely pertinent for safeguarding the Mizo people,” Zoramthanga said, adding, the system was provided in the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873 to safeguard the interests of the tribals. The Gauhati High Court issued the interim order on June 13 after hearing a public interest litigation filed by the North Eastern Plain People Traders’ and Youth Federation of Assam’s Cachar district. Meanwhile, the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the most powerful organisation of the Mizos, urged the High Court to withdraw the interim order and decided to observe a ‘protest day’ against the order. The decision to observe the protest day was taken at a meeting, chaired by Home Minister Tawnluia, today in which representatives of major political parties, NGOs, student bodies, Mizoram Chamber of Commerce and Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, a congolemate of 13 major church denominations were present. The date of the protest day would be fixed later. The meeting also decided to ask for a one-day special session of the State Assembly to deliberate on the interim order of the High Court. A delegation of major political parties and NGOs would consult with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland where the ILP system is in force, the YMA said. “The Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, which provided that all non-tribals to enter tribal areas have to have ILP was enacted by the British India Government to safeguard the interests of the tribals and also protect them from being assimilated”, the YMA said. – PTI
South Hailakandi people facing surface communication problems
South Hailakandi people facing surface communication problems
From Our Correspondent HAILAKANDI, June 23 – A large number of people of entire South Hailakandi, mainly in the Assam-Mizoram bordering areas of the district, are facing extreme difficulties due to the dilapidated conditions of the bridges on NH - 154.The Assam-Mizoram bordering point in Bairabi is about 70 km away from the nearby Lala town of Hailakandi district and there are 14 bridges in between Lala and bordering village Bairabi in NH - 154. Of them, only two bridges are concrete and rest are wooden. The conditions of all the wooden bridges are very bad and some of the bridges have also become outdated for pedestrians also.The wooden bridge at Baldabaldi near Jamirabazar was damaged completely two months back but till today no action has been taken by the authorities to restore the communication of this part of NH 154. The construction of a bamboo sub-way is now under way for local people. Due to the collapse of this Baldabaldi bridge, the communication with Mizoram via Bairabi has totally been snapped. From Baldabaldi to Bairabi, the residents of about 35,000 people are cut off from the rest of the country.Namar Ali, a senior citizen of the Gharmurra locality, said that they were very much hopeful after the construction of inter-state National Highway 154 that their communication will be developed in this area but then though the road has been constructed no wooden bridges have been repaired or replaced. A doctor, who plies everyday on this road through transshipment system due to the collapse of bridge in Baldabaldi area, alleged that the people of the area are totally silent and have not raised their voice against this sort of snapping of road. Only a few people of the locality are concerned about the collapse of the bridge.The CRPF personnel of the Gharmurra camp are also facing extreme difficulties to reach their destination due to this.It is alleged by the daily passengers that a section of local small traders and touts are intentionally creating disturbance on both sides of the damaged bridges in order to earn some money. The people of the locality have also criticised the role of the Panchayat of the locality in this regard. A group of people of the locality have met the Excise & Border Areas Development Minister, Gautam Roy, the area also falls under his constituency, and sought his intervention to repair all the damaged bridges in this route including the closed one at Baldabaldi and he reportedly assured that he has asked the National Highway Division of State PWD in Silchar to take up the matter on priority basis.The deputy commissioner of Hailakandi, Tapan Chandra Goswami, said that he has also asked the concerned authorities to make alternative arrangements to improve the plight of the people.Officials visit Bilaipur area: A team of high officials from Guwahati comprising Dr Chiranjeev Kakoty, regional co-ordinator (North-east), and Dr BC Bhagawati, State surveillance officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) recently visited the diarrhoea-affected Bilaipur area of Hailakandi district to assess the situation of the area. The joint director of health services, Hailakandi, Dr Samir Kumar Das, district surveillance officer of Hailakandi, Dr Tapan Kumar Bhattacharjee, data manager, Bijon Das and a team from Lala Block Primary Health Centre (BPHC) accompanied the team in the various inaccessible hilly villages of Bilaipur area.It may be mentioned here that the inhabitants of Kundanullah and adjoining villages are mostly Reangs who migrated from Tripura in 1962 and settled down there. The population of the area is about 2200 and Kundanullah village has no modern communication facilities including drinking water, roads, electricity etc. The life style of the people is also very unhygienic and the village has no sanitation system. The two officials of Guwahati later held meeting with the officials of all the BPHCs of the district and the officials of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) at the office chamber of the joint director of health services. They suggested to organise medical camps on regular basis in the area and also to provide some common drugs on diarrhoea, dysentery, malaria, fever etc. They observed that there were some cases of fever, jaundice and diarrhoea also in this area. The laboratory investigation done by the district hospital reveals this, they said. They also found that some of the deaths occurred in earlier dates. They praised the action taken by the Health Department of Hailakandi immediately in this regard. They stressed the need of the monitoring of the situation on day to day basis as the area is malaria endemic and the attention of the department is needed particularly on impregnation of bed nets. For this, they said that the manpower of Lala BPHC must be strengthened.Earlier the deputy commissioner of Hailakandi, Tapan Chandra Goswami also visited the area and suggested the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department to set up Tara pumps and low cost sanitary latrines there. Source: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jun2408\State1
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