AIZAWL, Feb 27 : To regain Mizoram’s past glory as an ‘IAS factory’, the Youth Commission has tied up with the reputed Lord Krishna IAS Academy, New Delhi, to give free civil service coaching to aspirants from this year.
As a sensitisation programme, the commission and the academy are jointly organizing a two-day ‘orientation course for civil services aspirants’ which was inaugurated by Mizoram state planning board, vice-chairman and IAS (retired) Lalkhama at the information directorates auditorium here today.
Lalkhama in his inaugural speech said, “In olden days, a considerable number of educated youths from Mizoram entered civil services despite the number being small compared to the figure today. But now, Mizoram, which used to be dubbed as an IAS factory, lags behind the other NE states,” he said.
“This is a move to arouse Mizo youths from their slumber,” the four-month old Mizoram Youth Commission secretary Rotluanga also said.
Lamenting that the number of youths entering civil services has fallen sharply since the past few decades, the secretary hoped to witness responses from the Mizo youths to the wake up call by next year.
Rotluanga informed that the MYC had worked out a number of projects for the welfare of the youths the biggest of which was establishment of Mizoram Youth Academy, adding that financial assistance was expected from the World Bank.
He further stated that the MYC targeted not only educated youths, but also uneducated youths in the rural areas. “We are trying to make the Youth Commission beneficial for all youths in Mizoram,” he said. Also speaking at the function, was Lord Krishna IAS Academy director Ankur Aggarwal who stressed that the civil services should not be regarded as being reserved for the genius and those from rich educational background.
“With proper guidance, everyone can become civil service officers,” he told the participants. Lord Krishna IAS Academy will provide coaching classes for 15 days a month in Sociology, Political Science, Public Administration, History and General Studies and will also provide free text books.
RTI Act hmanga zawhna chhan loh vangin Rs. 25000 chawi
Right to information Act hmanga Lalnunnema Ralte, Armed Vengin Health Department hnuaia Ravi Aroraa’n bungrua a supply chungchang a zawhna chu SPIO in chhuanlam siama a chhan loh avangin Lalnunnema Ralte chuan State Information Commission-ah complaint a thehlut a. He a zualkona thu hi RTI Act section 18 hmangin MSIC hian a lo register-a.
He thu hi MSIC in a ngaihtuah hnu-ah Information Commission chuan 20.6.2008 khan Health Department SPIO hnenah hian lehkha a hmuh atanga ni 7 chhunga information diltu hnenah hian a duh ang chu hriattir turin thu a pe ta a. Heti chung hian SPIO hian a diltu hnenah hian information a duh ang a la pek loh cheu avangin RTI Act sub section (1) of section 7 hmangin show cause
notice a pe leh ta a, heta a chhanna hi thu tling tawk lo nia ngaih a nih avangin RTI Act section 20 in a sawi angin a chungah hremna lek a ni ta a ni.
He thu hi MSIC in a ngaihtuah hnu-ah Information Commission chuan 20.6.2008 khan Health Department SPIO hnenah hian lehkha a hmuh atanga ni 7 chhunga information diltu hnenah hian a duh ang chu hriattir turin thu a pe ta a. Heti chung hian SPIO hian a diltu hnenah hian information a duh ang a la pek loh cheu avangin RTI Act sub section (1) of section 7 hmangin show cause
notice a pe leh ta a, heta a chhanna hi thu tling tawk lo nia ngaih a nih avangin RTI Act section 20 in a sawi angin a chungah hremna lek a ni ta a ni.
He hremna order hi 4.9.2008 khan MSIC chuan a ti chhuak a, chutah chuan SPIO insawifiahna chu Commission in ngun taka a zir hnu-ah SPIO hian information dilna hnawl theihna dan engmah a nei lo niin a hria a. Lalnunnema Ralte dil ang chiah hi Lalhmachhuana, Chaltlang hnenah pek a ni tih pawh commission hian a hria a. Chuvang chuan pek duh loh bik neih hi tihluihna leh tum reng vangah ngaiin RTI Act section 20 angin a chungah hremna hi lek a ni ta a ni.
SPIO hian he thil hi a hria a. Show cause notice pawh hi a chhang a. Chu a chhanna-ah chuan Indian Instruments Manufacturing Co., Kolkata hian Gauhati High Court, Aizawl Bench-ah 1.7.2008 khan writ petition a file a (Appeal No 94 of 2008). Hei vang hian 4.7.2008 khan stay order pek a nih tak vangin information hi an pe theilo niin a sawi a. Mahse, he lehkha hi commission chuan 8.7.2008 khan a lo hmu ve a, commission chuan he lehkha hi hremna pumpelh theihna atan thu tling tawk lo ni-ah a ngai thung a ni.
Thu tling tawk lova a ngaih chhan chu stay order hun chhung hi a tawp tawh a, chuvang chuan commission chuan RTI Act sub-section (1) of section 20 hmangin hremna chu a lekkawh ta a, he information diltu-in information a dil ni 22.4.2008 atanga chhiar tanin SPIO hian information a a dil ang a pek hma chuan nitin Rs. 250/- a pe tur a ni a, mahse hei hian Rs. 25,000/- erawh a pel tur a ni lo thung.
Health Department SPIO hian he hremna ang hian pawisa a pe ngei tur a ni a, RTI Act 2005 hnuaia 0070 - Other Administrative Service: 60 - Other Service: 118 - Receipt hmangin oder an hmuh ni a\anga ni 15 chhungin MSIC-ah hian an pekna original copy hi pe ngei turin a hriattir bawk a ni.
MSCI atanga kan thudawnna chuan he pawisa Health Department in a chawi tur hi an chawi fel tawh a, sorkar revenue-a lut tur a ni. Tin, Lalnunnema Ralte hian nimin khan heng information a dil hi a dawng ta chiah bawk niin thu kan dawng.
[aizawl.org]
Zoram hi mikhual Party in a rochun hlen lovang : Zoramthanga
Aizawl, Feb 28 : Mizoram hi mikhual party-in an rochun hlen atan Pathianin a phal ka ring lova; 'Pathian leh kan ram tan' titu chuan tuna Congress ni lo party hrang hrangte pawh hian huaisen taka he kawng hi an rawn zawh ve ngei ka duhin ka beisei bawk a ni,’ Pu Zoramthanga chuan a ti.
Nimin Mizoram Congress Party-te MNF-ah an inchhunluhna in-khawm, Hnam Run-ah neihah MNF President Pu Zoramthanga chuan, MNF hian a din tirh atangin hun harsa leh khirh tak kan lo tawn tawh a, a changin Malsawmna-te'n min vur a.
Vawiina MNF-in hun harsa leh khirh tak kan tawn lai buhto zawn hun laia rinawm taka MCP-a lo awm thinte nen kan inchunfin thei hi nakina Malsawmna kan dawnna tura kawng sialtu a nih ngei ka ring," a ti a.
Harsatna tlingkhawm an tawn mekte hi party dangte nena la thuikhawm a, thawhhona kawng hawngtu a la nih ngei a beisei thu a sawi bawk.
MCP President Pu L.T. Zothankhuma pawhin MNF chu an thawhpui an nih vang ngawta in-chhunglut an nih loh thu sawiin, ram changkang-a an tih anga party pahnih chauh, National leh Regional Party (MNF leh Congress)-a awm mai hi thaa an hriat bakah party hrang hranga inbawk hrang fir fer lova awm hi ram tan a that an rin vang zawk a nih thu a sawi a. Congress ni lo party hrang hrangte pawh hian huaisen taka he kawng an zawh ve ngei a duhin a beisei thu a sawi bawk.
[aizawl.org]
Burma Retrospective
The internet connection at the Tokyo Airport was somewhat fussy this morning. I was unable to load several photos related to the last paragraphs of my previous post. I am now at O'Hare Airport in Chicago awaiting my flight to Syracuse - which happens to be on about a half hour delay. The photos above document our dinner at the House of Memories, the Shewdagon, lunch with members of the Asho Chin Baptist Church and me preaching at the morning service. Yes, they're in reverse order
Bangladesh Army seen on Indo-Bangla border: BSF
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Bangladesh Army troopers were on Thursday spotted at a few places along the Indo-Bangla border as there are reports of mutiny in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) spreading outside Dhaka, a top BSF official said.
Bangladesh Army personnel have been seen in areas like Netrakona, Mymensingh and some other places bordering Meghalaya and Assam, the official, who has been taking stock of the situation on the borders, told PTI.
The BSF has observed that BDR personnel have apparently pulled out of their regular patrol and surveillance activity following the rebellion in the forces' headquarters in Dhaka, which is feared to have left more than 50 officers dead and was spreading to other areas.
"BDR personnel have not been spotted along the borders. Our personnel have not observed the routine patrolling parties of BDR nor the personnel since noon yesterday," the official said.
The official indicated that BDR personnel might have been confined to their camps.
Fearing repercussion along the international border, BSF has asked its troops not to get provoked by any situation arising out of the clash, even as maximum alert was sounded along the Indo-Bangla border in North East.
Bangladesh Army personnel have been seen in areas like Netrakona, Mymensingh and some other places bordering Meghalaya and Assam, the official, who has been taking stock of the situation on the borders, told PTI.
The BSF has observed that BDR personnel have apparently pulled out of their regular patrol and surveillance activity following the rebellion in the forces' headquarters in Dhaka, which is feared to have left more than 50 officers dead and was spreading to other areas.
"BDR personnel have not been spotted along the borders. Our personnel have not observed the routine patrolling parties of BDR nor the personnel since noon yesterday," the official said.
The official indicated that BDR personnel might have been confined to their camps.
Fearing repercussion along the international border, BSF has asked its troops not to get provoked by any situation arising out of the clash, even as maximum alert was sounded along the Indo-Bangla border in North East.
Mizo mipa 83% leh hmeichhia 61 % in zuk leh hmuam ti
Mizoram khawpuia cheng kum 15-49 inkar hmeichhia 13.6% te chuan meizial an zu thin a, thingtlang hmeichhia 19.4% ten meizial an zu thin bawk. Khawpuia cheng mipa 74.5% in mei an zu a, thingtlang a cheng 72.5% in mei an zu bawk. Tichuan a pumpuiah hmeichhia 16.1% in mei an zu a, mipa 73.6% in mei an zu bawk a ni. Kuhva, sahdah leh hetiang lam chi hi khawpui hmeichhia 49.8% in an ei/hmuam a, thingtlang hmeichhia 61.7% in an hmuam bawk. Khawpuia cheng mipa 29.8% in kuhva, sahdah hi an ti thin a, thingtlanga cheng mipa 47.9 % in hetiang hi an ching bawk a. Tichuan a pumpuiah hmeichhia sahdah, kuhva ei thin chu 55% an ni a. Mizo hmeichhia zatve aia tam zetin an hmuam/ei thin tihna a ni. Mipa 38.1% chuan kuhva, sahdah hi an hmuamin en ei ve a, hmeichhia ai chuan an tlem deuh zawk tihna a ni.
Khawpui hmeichhia 0.7% in zu an in ve thin a, thingtlang hmeichhia 0.9% in zu an in thin bawk. Khawpui mipa 43.3% chuan zu an in thin a, thingtlang mipa 40.5% chuan zu an in thin bawk. Tichuan Mizo hmeichhia 0.7% in zu an in thin a, Mizo mipa 42% in zu an in thin tihna a ni bawk. Mizo mipa zatve deuhthaw chu zu in ve thin an ni tihna a ni. Amaherawhchu, a tam zawk hian an in regular lem lova, nitin-a zu in thin chu khawpui mipa 5% vel chauh an ni a, thingtlang mipa 6.4% in an in thung a, tichuan Mizo mipa 5.6% hian nitin zu in thin ang an ni. Karkhata vawikhat in zauh thin hi khawpui mipa 36.9% an ni a, thingtlang mipa 16.8% an ni thung a, tichuan Mizo mipa kar khata vawikhat zu in zauh thin hi 28% an awm a ni.
Karkhata vawikhat pawh in tling lo, engemaw changa in ve zauh thin hi khawpui mipa 58.2% an ni a, thingtlang mipa 76.8% an ni thung. Tichuan Mizo mipa zu in ve zeuh thin chu 66.4% an ni tihna a ni.
He data hi National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-2006) in a tarlan dan a ni a. Hetiang hian Mizo ten zuk leh hmuam an tih nasat dan chu an khaikhawm a ni — Mipa 5 zinga 4 (83%) leh hmeichhia 5 zinga 3 (61%) chuan vaihlo kaihhnawih thil an hmuam/ei/zu a, mipa in meizial an zu nasa zawk a, hmeichhiain sahdah, khaini leh kuhva an ei nasa zawk a ni. Zu in aiin hetiang zuk leh hmuam lam hi a mipui nawlpui hian an ti nasa zawk , mipa 5 zinga 2 (42%) chuan zu an in thin a, hmeichhia 1% pawh tling mang lovin zu an in ve thin bawk niin an tarlang a ni.
Mizoram Snooker & Billiards Official Championship 2008-09
Mizoram Snooker & Billiards Association (MSBA) chuan hlawhtling takin 7th Mizoram Snooker & Billiards Official Championship 2008-09 leh 4th 9 Ball Pool Championship 2008-09 a buatsaih a, 7th Mizoram Snooker & Billiards-ah K. Lallawmkima, Mega Club champion-in, R. Lalrinsanga Cue Club chu pahnihna a ni a;
4th 9 Ball Pool Championship-ah Cue Club member R. Lalrinsanga champion ve thungin, pahnihna chu Charles H. Thangliana, Mualhawih StC a ni thung.
MSBA chuan 2009-2010 atana an hruaitu thar an thlang nghal a, president-ah John Kima; vice president B. Zoliansanga; gen. secretary Vanlalnghaka; joint secretary Robert Lalnunsiama; treasurer Peter Lalrintluanga; fin. secretary Vanveka. (Courtesy Evening Post)
4th 9 Ball Pool Championship-ah Cue Club member R. Lalrinsanga champion ve thungin, pahnihna chu Charles H. Thangliana, Mualhawih StC a ni thung.
Mizoram Village Council Elections Puts Congress on Front Seat
In the Village Council elections, the ruling Congress has so far secured 1487 seats and won absolute majority in 426 out of 554 Village Councils.
The opposition MNF is far behind securing 214 seats and won absolute majority in 26 Village Councils.
UDA secured 36 seats to form Village Councils in 3 villages while ZNP has bagged 41 seats and won absolute majority in 1 village.
The HPC also bagged 9 seats and can form Village Council in 1 village.
The Independents secured 112 seats and won absolute majority in 16 villages.
There are also 40 Village Councils where there is no a single party to form Village Council. Results of 10 Village Councils in Lunglei District, 14 in Mamit District and 15 in Champhai District are awaited.
In Aizawl District, the ruling Congress secured 549 seats and won absolute majority in 149 Village Councils while the opposition MNF is far behind securing 62 seats to form Village Councils in 4 villages.
HPC bagged 7 seats and got absolute majority in Tinghmun village while the Independents which secured 32 seats are poised to form Village Councils in 3 villages.
There are also 10 villages where no single party could form the Executive Body of the Village Councils.
In Serchhip District Congress secured 104 seats to form Village Councils in 27 villages. MNF got 18 seats and won absolute majority in 3 villages. UDA can also form 1 Village Council and secured 16 seats altogether.
There are also 9 drawn villages where there is no a single party to form the Village Council.
In Kolasib District, the ruling Congress secured 130 seats to form Village Councils in 30 villages. The MNF secured 23 seats and won absolute majority in 5 villages.
There are also 8 Village Council where there is no a single party to form the Executive body.
In Mamit District, result of 57 out of 71 Village Councils have been furnished to the DLAO till 4 pm today. Of these, the ruling Congress secured 143 seats to form Village Councils in 48 villages.
The opposition MNF is far behind securing 27 seats to form Village Councils in 5 villages.
In Rengdil, there is no a single party securing absolute majority to form the Village Council. In this District, result of 14 Village Councils are awaited.
In Champhai District, result of 85 out of 100 Village Councils have been received till this afternoon.
Of these the ruling Congress secured 251 seats and it is poised to form Village Councils in 78 villages.
The opposition MNF secured 34 seats to form Village Councils in 4 villages. Independents also secured 6 seats and can form Village Council in 1 village. Result of 15 villages are awaited.
In Lunglei District result of 122 out of 132 Village Councils have been received at the District Hqrs. till this afternoon. Of these the ruling Congress secured 310 seats to form Village Councils in 94 villages.
The MNF secured 50 seats and won absolute majority in 5 villages. Independents also secured 47 seats and is poised to form Executive Body in 9 villages.
There are also 12 drawn villages where there is no a single Party wining absolute majority.
Result of 10 Village Councils are awaited. In Marpara South of Lunglei District, polling continued for the second day today.
The polling was completed this afternoon and the result is likely to be delayed.
The opposition MNF is far behind securing 214 seats and won absolute majority in 26 Village Councils.
UDA secured 36 seats to form Village Councils in 3 villages while ZNP has bagged 41 seats and won absolute majority in 1 village.
The HPC also bagged 9 seats and can form Village Council in 1 village.
The Independents secured 112 seats and won absolute majority in 16 villages.
There are also 40 Village Councils where there is no a single party to form Village Council. Results of 10 Village Councils in Lunglei District, 14 in Mamit District and 15 in Champhai District are awaited.
In Aizawl District, the ruling Congress secured 549 seats and won absolute majority in 149 Village Councils while the opposition MNF is far behind securing 62 seats to form Village Councils in 4 villages.
HPC bagged 7 seats and got absolute majority in Tinghmun village while the Independents which secured 32 seats are poised to form Village Councils in 3 villages.
There are also 10 villages where no single party could form the Executive Body of the Village Councils.
In Serchhip District Congress secured 104 seats to form Village Councils in 27 villages. MNF got 18 seats and won absolute majority in 3 villages. UDA can also form 1 Village Council and secured 16 seats altogether.
There are also 9 drawn villages where there is no a single party to form the Village Council.
In Kolasib District, the ruling Congress secured 130 seats to form Village Councils in 30 villages. The MNF secured 23 seats and won absolute majority in 5 villages.
There are also 8 Village Council where there is no a single party to form the Executive body.
In Mamit District, result of 57 out of 71 Village Councils have been furnished to the DLAO till 4 pm today. Of these, the ruling Congress secured 143 seats to form Village Councils in 48 villages.
The opposition MNF is far behind securing 27 seats to form Village Councils in 5 villages.
In Rengdil, there is no a single party securing absolute majority to form the Village Council. In this District, result of 14 Village Councils are awaited.
In Champhai District, result of 85 out of 100 Village Councils have been received till this afternoon.
Of these the ruling Congress secured 251 seats and it is poised to form Village Councils in 78 villages.
The opposition MNF secured 34 seats to form Village Councils in 4 villages. Independents also secured 6 seats and can form Village Council in 1 village. Result of 15 villages are awaited.
In Lunglei District result of 122 out of 132 Village Councils have been received at the District Hqrs. till this afternoon. Of these the ruling Congress secured 310 seats to form Village Councils in 94 villages.
The MNF secured 50 seats and won absolute majority in 5 villages. Independents also secured 47 seats and is poised to form Executive Body in 9 villages.
There are also 12 drawn villages where there is no a single Party wining absolute majority.
Result of 10 Village Councils are awaited. In Marpara South of Lunglei District, polling continued for the second day today.
The polling was completed this afternoon and the result is likely to be delayed.
"BEFORE I WOULD ONLY DIE FOR KACHIN BLOOD, NOW I WILL DIE FOR ANYONE IN BURMA."
When asked about the situation back in Chin State, the Chin team replied, "There is always a way to work around the SPDC. It is dangerous, they try to stop us, but we pray and find a way. We have hope for change and will continue doing our part. We are happy to do this work."
The Arakan team leader said, "It is always possible to help the people. Sometimes it is dangerous but the people need our help and assist us in this-so we are all working together."
The PaO team said that in their area they could do many good things and they felt change would surely come. They saw no reason to give up. "We feel this is a good way to lead our lives and we believe that this work is good for our people, so we will try."
The Kachin team members said that even though it is difficult to work in their area due to the ceasefire and presence of Burma Army, there is always a way, and when they are blocked from helping Kachin people, they can then help other people.
The Karenni team medic said, "We are now glad to be able to help Karen people here and when this mission is over we will go back to our own areas to do a relief mission. You know our leaders have done a good job of building relationships among villagers under the Dictators' control and we can go to many places. The people are always glad to see us."
The Shan who were also with us on this mission volunteered to stay longer in Karen State to help with a follow on mission in an area of need. They have learned enough Karen to communicate and the medic never seems happier than when he is surrounded by patients. He sits in the middle of a group of people and always looks up with a smile and a look on his face that seems to say, "I am overwhelmed but I am trying my best and I like this very much".
The Karen teams, for their part, were very good hosts and introduced the other ethnic teams to gatherings at the various stops in the mission journey. These were opportunities for the ethnic teams to sing a traditional song or dance a traditional dance for the villagers and those displaced. Everyone loved it and friendships were built across ethnic lines.
As one Kachin team leader told us; "Before I would only die for Kachin blood, now I will die for anyone in Burma."
©FBR/BNN
Internet-a YMA tih mualpho avangin CYMA in hnamdang pawl hruaitute a kokhawm dawn.
Feb ni 23 a Central YMA CEC meeting chuan, internet-a mualpho taka YMA hming tarlan a nih avang leh Mizo inpumkhatna leh inunauna tichhe thei thil tam tak ziak a nih avangin March thla chhung ngei hian hnamdang (foreigner) a bikin Myanmar atanga lo chhuk pawl hrang hrang hruaitute koh khawm a tum a, YMA branch zawng zawngte chu foreigner census neih tir an tum bawk.
He thu ziak chung chang hi The Zozam Times chuan February 24 chhuak ah hetiang hian an tar lang a ni. Internet website pakhat Human Rights Watch-ah chuan ‘Life for Chin in Mizoram’ tih January 27, 2009-a post-ah chuan Mizorama Burma mi nia kan sawite dinhmun hrang hrang tarlan a ni a. Lung In tang (prisoner) ang mai kan ni, tiin an sawi chhuak a ni. He thuziak hi thui tak niin kum 2003-a YMA hmalakna leh Mizo mipui-ten an en dan kimchang taka tarlan a ni a. Chin Refugee pakhat chuan, India ramah hian lung in tang ang maiin kan awm a, zalenna kan nei lova, pawisa kan nei lova, chhungkaw enkawl theih-na tur pawh sum kan thawk chhuak thei lo a ni, tiin a sawi.
Chin hmeichhe pakhat, Mizoram chhunga awm chuan, Mizo te chuan pawisa min dil thin a, kan pek loh chuan police hnen-ah emaw YMA hnenah emaw an hriattir a, a vuak te pawh min vaw hial thin. He hmun hi kan tan chuan hremhmun ang chiah a ni, kan hmel atang ringawt pawhin inthliar-na (discrimination) a awm a, keimahni pawh kan in venghim zo lo a ni, tiin a sawi ve bawk.
Chin hmeichhe pakhat vekin, hlau leh harsa reng rengin nitin hun kan hmang a, YMA te hi kan hlau em em a, chuti chung chuan Burma rama thawnhaw (deport) ai chuan Mizo-rama thih chu kan thlang zawk lo thei si lo, tiin a sawi ve bawk.
He website-ah hian Chin mite chu kum 1988 a tangin Mizoram-ah an tla thla tan a, enkawlna (accomoda-tion)tha engmah an dawng lo angin a ziak a ni. Kum 2000 khan YMA chuan Chin mi 1000 a hnawt haw a, kum 2003 khan mi 10000 chu a nawr haw lui bawk niin an tarlang.
Haw tura an tih te chu Human Rights Watch chuan interview in, mi 22 an kawm zinga 16 te chuan YMA in haw turin a ti lui niin an sawi a, chutiang chuan sorkar thuneitute leh YMA tang-kawp chuan mi 10000 chuang a thawn haw lui niin an tarlang bawk a ni.
In luah tur zawn kawngah harsatna an tawk tih an sawi a, VC lehkha a ngai an ti a, kan neih si loh avangin man to tak taka kan luh a ngai a ni, an ti. Lehkha zirna lamah pawh, Mizoram mi dik tak a ni em? tih a ni zel bawk niin an sawi. Chin Fellowship Lunglei a member pakhat chuan, Mizo te chu Kristian deuh vek an ni chungin a hranpa a Biak in kan neih ve an phal lova, YMA member te chu kan chenna in-ah lo kalin a hrana inkhawmna nei tawh lo turtein min hriattir thin a ni, an ti bawk.Police te chuan tihluihna in kan Biak In te min khar sak a, tlawmngai pawl thenkhat lo kalin kan tawnga inkhawm kan kaih-hruai an phal lova, Mizo tawng chauh hmang tur tein min ti a ni, an ti a. YMA chuan, Chin mi reng rengin a hranpain Biak In an nei ve tur a ni lo tih a puang nite in an sawi a ni.
He website a tarlan a nih dan chuan March 2008 thleng khan Mizoramah chin mi 75000 - 100000 vel an awm niin a tarlang a. Heng mite hi kawng hrang hranga enhran leh tih duhdah an ni a, YMA chu pawllian tak niin member 350,000 vel nei a ni a, an thupui ber chu, ‘conservation of Mizo culture & herritage’ tih a ni tawp mai niin an tarlang a, heng harsatna an tawh hrang hrangah hian YMA chu a meizanghlaptu berah an puh a ni.
[buannel]
He thu ziak chung chang hi The Zozam Times chuan February 24 chhuak ah hetiang hian an tar lang a ni. Internet website pakhat Human Rights Watch-ah chuan ‘Life for Chin in Mizoram’ tih January 27, 2009-a post-ah chuan Mizorama Burma mi nia kan sawite dinhmun hrang hrang tarlan a ni a. Lung In tang (prisoner) ang mai kan ni, tiin an sawi chhuak a ni. He thuziak hi thui tak niin kum 2003-a YMA hmalakna leh Mizo mipui-ten an en dan kimchang taka tarlan a ni a. Chin Refugee pakhat chuan, India ramah hian lung in tang ang maiin kan awm a, zalenna kan nei lova, pawisa kan nei lova, chhungkaw enkawl theih-na tur pawh sum kan thawk chhuak thei lo a ni, tiin a sawi.
Chin hmeichhe pakhat, Mizoram chhunga awm chuan, Mizo te chuan pawisa min dil thin a, kan pek loh chuan police hnen-ah emaw YMA hnenah emaw an hriattir a, a vuak te pawh min vaw hial thin. He hmun hi kan tan chuan hremhmun ang chiah a ni, kan hmel atang ringawt pawhin inthliar-na (discrimination) a awm a, keimahni pawh kan in venghim zo lo a ni, tiin a sawi ve bawk.
Chin hmeichhe pakhat vekin, hlau leh harsa reng rengin nitin hun kan hmang a, YMA te hi kan hlau em em a, chuti chung chuan Burma rama thawnhaw (deport) ai chuan Mizo-rama thih chu kan thlang zawk lo thei si lo, tiin a sawi ve bawk.
He website-ah hian Chin mite chu kum 1988 a tangin Mizoram-ah an tla thla tan a, enkawlna (accomoda-tion)tha engmah an dawng lo angin a ziak a ni. Kum 2000 khan YMA chuan Chin mi 1000 a hnawt haw a, kum 2003 khan mi 10000 chu a nawr haw lui bawk niin an tarlang.
Haw tura an tih te chu Human Rights Watch chuan interview in, mi 22 an kawm zinga 16 te chuan YMA in haw turin a ti lui niin an sawi a, chutiang chuan sorkar thuneitute leh YMA tang-kawp chuan mi 10000 chuang a thawn haw lui niin an tarlang bawk a ni.
In luah tur zawn kawngah harsatna an tawk tih an sawi a, VC lehkha a ngai an ti a, kan neih si loh avangin man to tak taka kan luh a ngai a ni, an ti. Lehkha zirna lamah pawh, Mizoram mi dik tak a ni em? tih a ni zel bawk niin an sawi. Chin Fellowship Lunglei a member pakhat chuan, Mizo te chu Kristian deuh vek an ni chungin a hranpa a Biak in kan neih ve an phal lova, YMA member te chu kan chenna in-ah lo kalin a hrana inkhawmna nei tawh lo turtein min hriattir thin a ni, an ti bawk.Police te chuan tihluihna in kan Biak In te min khar sak a, tlawmngai pawl thenkhat lo kalin kan tawnga inkhawm kan kaih-hruai an phal lova, Mizo tawng chauh hmang tur tein min ti a ni, an ti a. YMA chuan, Chin mi reng rengin a hranpain Biak In an nei ve tur a ni lo tih a puang nite in an sawi a ni.
He website a tarlan a nih dan chuan March 2008 thleng khan Mizoramah chin mi 75000 - 100000 vel an awm niin a tarlang a. Heng mite hi kawng hrang hranga enhran leh tih duhdah an ni a, YMA chu pawllian tak niin member 350,000 vel nei a ni a, an thupui ber chu, ‘conservation of Mizo culture & herritage’ tih a ni tawp mai niin an tarlang a, heng harsatna an tawh hrang hrangah hian YMA chu a meizanghlaptu berah an puh a ni.
[buannel]
Vaccination drive gains momentum in hepatitis-hit Gujarat
Modasa (Gujarat), Feb 24 : More and more people are turning up for a vaccination drive launched in Modasa town of Gujarat after an outbreak of Hepatitis-B.
The dreaded disease has claimed close to 43 lives within a fortnight in Sabarkantha district.Doctors said people of all age groups were being vaccinated against the disease.
“As per the protocol, right from infants to ten-year-old children, we are giving 1.5 mm paediatric dose. Those who are above ten, we are given one mm dose.
We have deployed our five women workers for the vaccination drive.
Everything is going smoothly,” said V.N Vyas, a doctor.
People expressed relief that some action was being taken to contain the disease.
“Before taking the vaccination, I was apprehensive, but now I am feeling good. The government has done a good job though they have taken the preventive measures very late. Everybody has taken the injection. We would like to thank the government,” said Neha, a resident
The vaccination will be carried out in three phases. While the second doze will be administered after 30 days, third dose will be given after 60 days.
Earlier, state health minister told the state legislature that 224 medical teams were deployed in the district.
Simultaneously, the heath authorities have also circulated 30,000 pamphlets and launched a public awareness campaign to create awareness on Hepatitis-B.
Zomi Day Celebrated
By M Kaimuanthang
Churachandpur, Feb 21 : The 61st Zomi National Day has been celebrated in a decentralised way today by the Zo descendants living in every nook and corner of the world.
In Churachandpur the main programmes were held at the Simte Youth Organisation`s, hall from about 11 am with N Songchinkhup, president of the Zomi Council, ZC, unfurling the Zo flag followed by his address to the huge gathering.
It has been an occassion of colourful cultural exchange of the various tribes of Zomi`s and the time for them to listen to the message of God from Reverend Thanglian.
There was also a show of different types of the modern dances like the choreography which has been gaining its importance along with artistes rocking the gathering.
A special message was given by the ZRO headquarters in the programme under the aegis of the Zomi Youth Association, ZYA.
At another place in Mission Compound the occasion was with Khaizasong attending it as a special guest.
A Musical Nite in which various popular musical bands like Falcon, Zorock, Rig Vedas, RDI and so many more local artistes entertained the audience.
At different places and abroad and in the states of the country the day was observed by organising functions as per the reports received.
At Tonjang near Behiang along the border it was celebrated with fanfare. T Hangkhanpau was the chief guest on the occasion.
At Sugnu, Mualnuam, Suangdoh, Ainah and Lungthul (L) and other places the day was celebrated.
Churachandpur, Feb 21 : The 61st Zomi National Day has been celebrated in a decentralised way today by the Zo descendants living in every nook and corner of the world.
In Churachandpur the main programmes were held at the Simte Youth Organisation`s, hall from about 11 am with N Songchinkhup, president of the Zomi Council, ZC, unfurling the Zo flag followed by his address to the huge gathering.
It has been an occassion of colourful cultural exchange of the various tribes of Zomi`s and the time for them to listen to the message of God from Reverend Thanglian.
There was also a show of different types of the modern dances like the choreography which has been gaining its importance along with artistes rocking the gathering.
A special message was given by the ZRO headquarters in the programme under the aegis of the Zomi Youth Association, ZYA.
At another place in Mission Compound the occasion was with Khaizasong attending it as a special guest.
A Musical Nite in which various popular musical bands like Falcon, Zorock, Rig Vedas, RDI and so many more local artistes entertained the audience.
At different places and abroad and in the states of the country the day was observed by organising functions as per the reports received.
At Tonjang near Behiang along the border it was celebrated with fanfare. T Hangkhanpau was the chief guest on the occasion.
At Sugnu, Mualnuam, Suangdoh, Ainah and Lungthul (L) and other places the day was celebrated.
REPORT DOCUMENTS ABUSE OF CHIN CHRISTIANS
Human Rights Watch shows systematic, officially sanctioned religious freedom violations.
DUBLIN, February 21 – A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in January details serious and ongoing abuses against the Chin people, a minority group in Burma’s northwest who claim to be 90 percent Christian.
HRW’s research echoes a 2004 report by the Chin Human Rights Organization that described targeted abuse of Christians in Chin state, with the Burmese army subjecting pastors and church members to forced labor, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and sometimes death.
Based on interviews with Chin refugees in India and Malaysia between 2003 and 2008, HRW’s report describes how an increasing number of army battalions stationed in Chin state since 1988 have inflicted forced labor and arbitrary fines on the Chin people, as well as bullied them away from Christianity toward Buddhism.
The HRW report, entitled “We are like Forgotten People,” notes that soldiers frequently forced Christians to donate finances and labor to pagoda construction projects in areas where there were few or no Buddhist residents. They also occasionally forced Christians to worship in Buddhist pagodas.
One Chin pastor described how Burmese soldiers brought him to a pagoda and prodded him with their guns, commanding him to pray as a Buddhist. “They said that this is a Buddhist country and that I should not practice Christianity,” he told HRW.
DUBLIN, February 21 – A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in January details serious and ongoing abuses against the Chin people, a minority group in Burma’s northwest who claim to be 90 percent Christian.
HRW’s research echoes a 2004 report by the Chin Human Rights Organization that described targeted abuse of Christians in Chin state, with the Burmese army subjecting pastors and church members to forced labor, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and sometimes death.
Based on interviews with Chin refugees in India and Malaysia between 2003 and 2008, HRW’s report describes how an increasing number of army battalions stationed in Chin state since 1988 have inflicted forced labor and arbitrary fines on the Chin people, as well as bullied them away from Christianity toward Buddhism.
The HRW report, entitled “We are like Forgotten People,” notes that soldiers frequently forced Christians to donate finances and labor to pagoda construction projects in areas where there were few or no Buddhist residents. They also occasionally forced Christians to worship in Buddhist pagodas.
One Chin pastor described how Burmese soldiers brought him to a pagoda and prodded him with their guns, commanding him to pray as a Buddhist. “They said that this is a Buddhist country and that I should not practice Christianity,” he told HRW.
Chin National Day turns into Chin State Day celebration in Burma
New Delhi (Mizzima) - With the Burmese military junta's profound objection to the celebration of Chin National Day, ethnic Chin in Rangoon are albeit being forced to mark the day under different banners, organisers said.
On Friday, Chin people in Rangoon, celebrated the 61st anniversary of Chin Nation Day under the banner of 'Fresher Welcome' of University students.
"We requested the local authorities in the township and district levels in Rangoon but they rejected our request to allow us to hold the Chin National Day celebration," an organizer said.
"So, we had no choice but to celebrate our national day under a different name."
But in Hakha, capital of Chin State, authorities forced Chin community leaders to observe the Day as 'Chin State Day', a local resident said.
"Actually, we prefer to use the actual name 'Chin National Day'. But the authorities do not allow us to do so. So we have no choice," she added.
Chin National Day was adopted at the first Chin National Conference held on February 20, 1948 in Falam town in Chin state. During the conference, Chin leaders agreed to abolish the use of the chieftainship system of administration and agreed to form a democratic system of governance.
However, the Chin National Day was later renamed as the Chin State Day during the rule of the Burma Social Programme Party (BSPP) regime led General Ne Win, who assumed power in a military coup in 1962.
Salai Kipp Kho Lian, a Germany based Chin activist, alleged that changing the Chin National Day into Chin State Day is part of the junta's nationalization policy to eradicate the identity of ethnic minorities in Burma.
Kipp said it was on January 3, 1974 that the Burmese regime declared the Chin Special Division into Chin State so February 20 cannot be in anyway observed as Chin State Day.
"It does not make any sense to change Chin National Day into Chin State Day," Kipp said.
"It is apart of the Burmese regime's Burmanization campaign to eliminate ethnic groups," Kipp alleged.
But he said, "The more they [the regime] oppress us, the more we become active to promote our national identity."
On Friday, Chin people around the world including New Delhi, Denmark, and Malaysia marked the Chin National Day.
In New Delhi, more than 1000 Chin communities gathered in the western region of the city to celebrate the Chin National Day, where they performed traditional dances and sang folk songs to depict the culture of various ethnic groups among the Chin community.
On Friday, Chin people in Rangoon, celebrated the 61st anniversary of Chin Nation Day under the banner of 'Fresher Welcome' of University students.
"We requested the local authorities in the township and district levels in Rangoon but they rejected our request to allow us to hold the Chin National Day celebration," an organizer said.
"So, we had no choice but to celebrate our national day under a different name."
But in Hakha, capital of Chin State, authorities forced Chin community leaders to observe the Day as 'Chin State Day', a local resident said.
"Actually, we prefer to use the actual name 'Chin National Day'. But the authorities do not allow us to do so. So we have no choice," she added.
Chin National Day was adopted at the first Chin National Conference held on February 20, 1948 in Falam town in Chin state. During the conference, Chin leaders agreed to abolish the use of the chieftainship system of administration and agreed to form a democratic system of governance.
However, the Chin National Day was later renamed as the Chin State Day during the rule of the Burma Social Programme Party (BSPP) regime led General Ne Win, who assumed power in a military coup in 1962.
Salai Kipp Kho Lian, a Germany based Chin activist, alleged that changing the Chin National Day into Chin State Day is part of the junta's nationalization policy to eradicate the identity of ethnic minorities in Burma.
Kipp said it was on January 3, 1974 that the Burmese regime declared the Chin Special Division into Chin State so February 20 cannot be in anyway observed as Chin State Day.
"It does not make any sense to change Chin National Day into Chin State Day," Kipp said.
"It is apart of the Burmese regime's Burmanization campaign to eliminate ethnic groups," Kipp alleged.
But he said, "The more they [the regime] oppress us, the more we become active to promote our national identity."
On Friday, Chin people around the world including New Delhi, Denmark, and Malaysia marked the Chin National Day.
In New Delhi, more than 1000 Chin communities gathered in the western region of the city to celebrate the Chin National Day, where they performed traditional dances and sang folk songs to depict the culture of various ethnic groups among the Chin community.
Coldplay and The Killers stage all-star gig
Coldplay and The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers had performed at the Brit Awards at London’s Earl’s Court earlier in the evening, and they had to hurry across the U.K. capital to make it to the War Child charity event at The O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.
The two bands performed for 2000 fans, by putting on a selection of their own hits, and the crowd grew wilder when their guests joined them on stage.
“This is going to be the best encore you’ve ever seen,” the Daily Star quoted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin as saying before he introduced arlow and U2’s Bono to the stage.
Martin and Barlow duetted on Take That classic ‘Back for Good’ before Bono and Flowers came out to join the pair on The Killers’ 2005 hit ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’.
Railway Network for North Eastern Region
Lok Sabha, feb 20 :
All State capitals of the North East Region are proposed to be connected by Railway Lines wherever feasible.
Two state capitals are already connected by rail lines i.e. Guwahati and AGartala. Further works have been taken up for connecting State capitals of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
As per the present estimate, cost of providing linkages to four State capitals where works are already sanctioned is above Rs. 4200 crore. For State capitals of Sikkim and Meghalaya, survey has been taken up.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Ministry of Railways, Dr. R. Velu in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
All State capitals of the North East Region are proposed to be connected by Railway Lines wherever feasible.
Two state capitals are already connected by rail lines i.e. Guwahati and AGartala. Further works have been taken up for connecting State capitals of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
As per the present estimate, cost of providing linkages to four State capitals where works are already sanctioned is above Rs. 4200 crore. For State capitals of Sikkim and Meghalaya, survey has been taken up.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Ministry of Railways, Dr. R. Velu in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Pranab admits demographic change in Assam
NEW DELHI, Feb 19 – Conceding that unabated illegal immigration from Bangladesh may have led to demographic changes, External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee said that though the UPA Government would not downplay the problem, but it won’t like to overplay it either. The External Affairs Minister referred to the problem of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, while replying to the discussion on the President’s Address in the Parliament.
“I don’t want to minimise the problem but we don’t like to overemphasize it,” Mukherjee said responding to Opposition Leader, LK Advani’s charge that the UPA Government was ignoring the problem.
“Yes infiltration is taking place. It is a long and porous border of over 4,000 km. Over the last 60 years, there has been demographic changes. Therefore, fencing work is going on,” the External Affairs Minister said.
Significantly, yesterday, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Radhika Selvi admitted that the demography of the border districts of Assam might have changed, given the nature of the illegal migration from Bangladesh.
Asserting further, he said, “We are taking it to its logical conclusion. Construction of border fencing is going on and border outposts have been enhanced.”
All these measures have been taken and over 100,000 people have been handed over the Border Security Force (BSF) to send them back to Bangladesh, he said.
Mukherjee also referred to the repeal of the IM(DT) Act, and held that it was not the first time that the Supreme Court has scrapped an Act. It does not mean that Government will amend the law in conformity with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” he said.
On Tuesday, Opposition leader said that if the Supreme Court has given any verdict about Afzal Guru and Bangladeshi infiltration, there is no reason the Government should not respect it.
About infiltration and illegal immigration from Bangladesh, the Supreme Court has said that this is nothing short of external aggression. The Government is colluding with it. It is serious indictment of the UPA Government and it is surprising that after that instead of taking that indictment in earnest and trying to apply correctives they have amended the Foreigners Act and the Supreme Court struck down that amendment also, charged Advani.
“I want to assert that infiltration and illegal immigration going on in Assam and Eastern India are creating a potential danger of another partition of the country,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile, participating in the discussion on the President’s address, Congress MP. Kirip Chaliha said that the North Eastern Region (NER) and Assam is an area, the country has to pay attention.
Speaking in Assamese, Chaliha lauded the achievements of the UPA Government, referring to the social sector schemes like NREGA and Right to Information Act, said Assam wanted an end to the problem of militancy. “We want restoration of peace,” he said.
He appealed to the militants to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
In Rajya Sabha, participating in the discussion on President’s Address, Biren Baishya held that wrong policies pursued by the Centre have led to growing regional imbalance. Asserting that the flood is a national problem, which the State Government alone cannot tackle, he said the Centre should declare it as a national problem.
Continuing further, he said that insurgency problem of Assam and the North-East should be solved through political dialogue and not by bullets. He urged the Centre to start the process of political negotiations with ULFA and other militant outfits of the Region.
Referring to the problem of the illegal immigration from Bangladesh, he urged the Government to implement the Assam Accord. He also cautioned that due to influx from Bangladesh, the son of the soil would become minority in their own land. It is the duty of Government of India to safeguard the indigenous people of the State, he added.
Silvius Condpan and Kumar Deepak Das, among others also participated in the discussion.
“I don’t want to minimise the problem but we don’t like to overemphasize it,” Mukherjee said responding to Opposition Leader, LK Advani’s charge that the UPA Government was ignoring the problem.
“Yes infiltration is taking place. It is a long and porous border of over 4,000 km. Over the last 60 years, there has been demographic changes. Therefore, fencing work is going on,” the External Affairs Minister said.
Significantly, yesterday, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Radhika Selvi admitted that the demography of the border districts of Assam might have changed, given the nature of the illegal migration from Bangladesh.
Asserting further, he said, “We are taking it to its logical conclusion. Construction of border fencing is going on and border outposts have been enhanced.”
All these measures have been taken and over 100,000 people have been handed over the Border Security Force (BSF) to send them back to Bangladesh, he said.
Mukherjee also referred to the repeal of the IM(DT) Act, and held that it was not the first time that the Supreme Court has scrapped an Act. It does not mean that Government will amend the law in conformity with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” he said.
On Tuesday, Opposition leader said that if the Supreme Court has given any verdict about Afzal Guru and Bangladeshi infiltration, there is no reason the Government should not respect it.
About infiltration and illegal immigration from Bangladesh, the Supreme Court has said that this is nothing short of external aggression. The Government is colluding with it. It is serious indictment of the UPA Government and it is surprising that after that instead of taking that indictment in earnest and trying to apply correctives they have amended the Foreigners Act and the Supreme Court struck down that amendment also, charged Advani.
“I want to assert that infiltration and illegal immigration going on in Assam and Eastern India are creating a potential danger of another partition of the country,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile, participating in the discussion on the President’s address, Congress MP. Kirip Chaliha said that the North Eastern Region (NER) and Assam is an area, the country has to pay attention.
Speaking in Assamese, Chaliha lauded the achievements of the UPA Government, referring to the social sector schemes like NREGA and Right to Information Act, said Assam wanted an end to the problem of militancy. “We want restoration of peace,” he said.
He appealed to the militants to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
In Rajya Sabha, participating in the discussion on President’s Address, Biren Baishya held that wrong policies pursued by the Centre have led to growing regional imbalance. Asserting that the flood is a national problem, which the State Government alone cannot tackle, he said the Centre should declare it as a national problem.
Continuing further, he said that insurgency problem of Assam and the North-East should be solved through political dialogue and not by bullets. He urged the Centre to start the process of political negotiations with ULFA and other militant outfits of the Region.
Referring to the problem of the illegal immigration from Bangladesh, he urged the Government to implement the Assam Accord. He also cautioned that due to influx from Bangladesh, the son of the soil would become minority in their own land. It is the duty of Government of India to safeguard the indigenous people of the State, he added.
Silvius Condpan and Kumar Deepak Das, among others also participated in the discussion.
WHO ARE THE ZOMI?
The term 'Zomi' meaning, 'Zo People' is derived from the generic name 'Zo', the progenitor of the Zomi. In the past they were little known by this racial nomenclature. They were known by the non-tribal plain peoples of Burma, Bangladesh and India as Chin, Kuki, or Lushai. Subsequently the British employed these terms to christen those 'wild hill tribes' living in the 'un-administered area', and was subsequently legalised to be the names for the newly adopted subjects by Queen Victoria of England. However, they called themselves Zomi since time immemorial. They are Zomi not because they live in the highlands or hills, but are Zomi and called themselves Zomi because they are the descendants of their great great ancestor, 'Zo'.
In this regards, F.K. Lehman, Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Illinois (USA), who had done extensive study on the Chin of Burma, said:
'No single Chin word has explicit reference to all the peoples we customarily call Chin, but all - or nearly all of the peoples have a special word for themselves and those of their congeners with whom they are in regular contact. This word is almost always a variant form of a single root, which appears as Zo, Yo, Ysou, Shou and the like.'
Relating to this generic name, Fan-Cho a diplomat of the Tang dynasty of China, mentioned in 862 AD a Kingdom in the Chindwin Valley 'whose Princes and Chiefs were called Shou (Zo)' . In 1783, Father Vincentius Sangermano in his book, 'A Description of the Burmese Empire' described them as, "a petty nation called JO (JAW)" Sir Henry Yule, as early as 1508 mentioned about the YO country the location of which was "west of the mouth of the Kyen-dwen (Chindwin) the interior of Doab, between the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin, from Mout-Shabo upwards and the whole of the hill country east and north-east of the capital, towards the Ruby-mines, the upper course of Hyitnge, and the Chinese frontier" . Rev. Howard Malcolm also testified thus, "The YAW (ZO) is on the lower waters of the Khyendiwen (Chindwin) not far from Ava. The district is sometimes called YO or JO".
Another early use of the name ZO with reference to the Zomi (Kuki-Chin-Lushai), the first on the Lushai Hills side which till then was a terra incognito, was by Col. T.H. Lewin, the first white man to know the inhabitants of Lushai Hills (Mizoram). He wrote that he came to know, during the Lushai Expedition of 1871-72 that, 'the generic name of the whole nation is Dzo' Dr. Francis Buchanan also wrote of Zomi and Zomi language , while Captain Pemberton mentioned Zo or Jo in his 'Reports on the Eastern Frontiers of British India, 1835'. The fact that the Zomi were known as ZOU or YO or YAW, before their society evolved into clan based organisation and lineage segmentation, was pointed out by Dr. G.A. Grierson in his survey, thus,
'The name (Kuki and Chin) is not used by the tribes themselves, who use titles such as ZOU or YO or CHO'.
Rev Sukte T. Hau Go, a former lecturer of Mandalay University (Burma) also shared the same view,
"Zomi is the correct original historical name of our people, from the Naga hill to the Bay of Bengal. To the north of Tedim, the Thadous and other tribes call themselves Yo; in Falam, Laizo. The Tedim people call themselves Zo; the Lushais, Mizo; in Haka, Zotung, Zophei, Zokhua. In Gangaw area Zo is pronounced as YAW, in Mindat Jo or CHO; and in Paletwa Khomi. In Prome, Thayetmyo, Sandoway and Bassein areas they call themselves A-Sho. So, inspite of slight variations Zomi is our original historical national name ".
Regarding the truth of Zomi as the racial designation of the so-called Kuki-Chin people, U Thein Re Myint, a well known Burmese Writer, who knew Chin history, perhaps better than the Chin themselves remarks:
'Even though these tribes of people, who are called Chin, do not necessarily protest their name, their original name is, in fact, Zomi '.
Two British administrators, Bertram S. Carey and H.N. Tuck who place Zo people under modern system of administration record as thus:
'Those of the Kuki tribes which we designate as "Chins" do not recognise that name……they call themselves YO (ZO)…and YO (ZO) is the general name by which the Chins call their race'
Another European writer, Sir J. George Scott also claimed that, the Zomi never called themselves by such names as Kuki or Chin or Lushai. He wrote:
'The names like Kuki and Chin are not national, and have been given to them by their neighbours. Like others, the people do not accept the name given by the Burmese and ourselves; they do not call themselves Chins, and they equally flout the name of Kuki which their Assamese neighbours use. They call themselves Zhou or Shu and in other parts Yo or Lai.
It is, therefore, no wonder that Zomi use the term Zo, Zou, Zhou, Chou, Shou, Yo, Jo, Yaw, Shu, etc in their speech and poetic language as Zo-Vontawi, Zo-lei, Zogam or Zoram, Zo-tui, Zo-fa, etc; in naming geographical names such as Zotlang, Zopui, Zobawks; and in some of the clan names like Zophei, Zotung, Zokhua, Laizo, Bawmzo, Zote, etc. All these have a common derivation from the generic name, "ZO". It is also because of this fact that scholars like Dr. Vum Kho Hau, Prof. Laldena, Dr. Vum Son, Dr. Tualchin Neihsial, Dr. H. Kamkhenthang, Dr. Mangkhosat Kipgen, Cap. Sing Khaw Khai, Dr. J. M. Paupu, Pu K. Zawla, Pu R. Vanlawma, B. Langthanliana, Dr. V. Lunghnema, Dr. Hawlngam Haokip, Pu L. S. Gangte, Pu T. Gougin, Pu Thang Khan Gin Ngaihte, Rev. S. Prim Vaiphei, Rev. Khup Za Go, Pu L. Keivom, Rev. S. T. Hau Go, Dr. Khen Za Sian, Prof. Thang Za Tuan, Rev. Sing Ling etc. concluded that ZO is the ancestor of the Zo people (Zomi).
In this regards, F.K. Lehman, Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Illinois (USA), who had done extensive study on the Chin of Burma, said:
'No single Chin word has explicit reference to all the peoples we customarily call Chin, but all - or nearly all of the peoples have a special word for themselves and those of their congeners with whom they are in regular contact. This word is almost always a variant form of a single root, which appears as Zo, Yo, Ysou, Shou and the like.'
Relating to this generic name, Fan-Cho a diplomat of the Tang dynasty of China, mentioned in 862 AD a Kingdom in the Chindwin Valley 'whose Princes and Chiefs were called Shou (Zo)' . In 1783, Father Vincentius Sangermano in his book, 'A Description of the Burmese Empire' described them as, "a petty nation called JO (JAW)" Sir Henry Yule, as early as 1508 mentioned about the YO country the location of which was "west of the mouth of the Kyen-dwen (Chindwin) the interior of Doab, between the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin, from Mout-Shabo upwards and the whole of the hill country east and north-east of the capital, towards the Ruby-mines, the upper course of Hyitnge, and the Chinese frontier" . Rev. Howard Malcolm also testified thus, "The YAW (ZO) is on the lower waters of the Khyendiwen (Chindwin) not far from Ava. The district is sometimes called YO or JO".
Another early use of the name ZO with reference to the Zomi (Kuki-Chin-Lushai), the first on the Lushai Hills side which till then was a terra incognito, was by Col. T.H. Lewin, the first white man to know the inhabitants of Lushai Hills (Mizoram). He wrote that he came to know, during the Lushai Expedition of 1871-72 that, 'the generic name of the whole nation is Dzo' Dr. Francis Buchanan also wrote of Zomi and Zomi language , while Captain Pemberton mentioned Zo or Jo in his 'Reports on the Eastern Frontiers of British India, 1835'. The fact that the Zomi were known as ZOU or YO or YAW, before their society evolved into clan based organisation and lineage segmentation, was pointed out by Dr. G.A. Grierson in his survey, thus,
'The name (Kuki and Chin) is not used by the tribes themselves, who use titles such as ZOU or YO or CHO'.
Rev Sukte T. Hau Go, a former lecturer of Mandalay University (Burma) also shared the same view,
"Zomi is the correct original historical name of our people, from the Naga hill to the Bay of Bengal. To the north of Tedim, the Thadous and other tribes call themselves Yo; in Falam, Laizo. The Tedim people call themselves Zo; the Lushais, Mizo; in Haka, Zotung, Zophei, Zokhua. In Gangaw area Zo is pronounced as YAW, in Mindat Jo or CHO; and in Paletwa Khomi. In Prome, Thayetmyo, Sandoway and Bassein areas they call themselves A-Sho. So, inspite of slight variations Zomi is our original historical national name ".
Regarding the truth of Zomi as the racial designation of the so-called Kuki-Chin people, U Thein Re Myint, a well known Burmese Writer, who knew Chin history, perhaps better than the Chin themselves remarks:
'Even though these tribes of people, who are called Chin, do not necessarily protest their name, their original name is, in fact, Zomi '.
Two British administrators, Bertram S. Carey and H.N. Tuck who place Zo people under modern system of administration record as thus:
'Those of the Kuki tribes which we designate as "Chins" do not recognise that name……they call themselves YO (ZO)…and YO (ZO) is the general name by which the Chins call their race'
Another European writer, Sir J. George Scott also claimed that, the Zomi never called themselves by such names as Kuki or Chin or Lushai. He wrote:
'The names like Kuki and Chin are not national, and have been given to them by their neighbours. Like others, the people do not accept the name given by the Burmese and ourselves; they do not call themselves Chins, and they equally flout the name of Kuki which their Assamese neighbours use. They call themselves Zhou or Shu and in other parts Yo or Lai.
It is, therefore, no wonder that Zomi use the term Zo, Zou, Zhou, Chou, Shou, Yo, Jo, Yaw, Shu, etc in their speech and poetic language as Zo-Vontawi, Zo-lei, Zogam or Zoram, Zo-tui, Zo-fa, etc; in naming geographical names such as Zotlang, Zopui, Zobawks; and in some of the clan names like Zophei, Zotung, Zokhua, Laizo, Bawmzo, Zote, etc. All these have a common derivation from the generic name, "ZO". It is also because of this fact that scholars like Dr. Vum Kho Hau, Prof. Laldena, Dr. Vum Son, Dr. Tualchin Neihsial, Dr. H. Kamkhenthang, Dr. Mangkhosat Kipgen, Cap. Sing Khaw Khai, Dr. J. M. Paupu, Pu K. Zawla, Pu R. Vanlawma, B. Langthanliana, Dr. V. Lunghnema, Dr. Hawlngam Haokip, Pu L. S. Gangte, Pu T. Gougin, Pu Thang Khan Gin Ngaihte, Rev. S. Prim Vaiphei, Rev. Khup Za Go, Pu L. Keivom, Rev. S. T. Hau Go, Dr. Khen Za Sian, Prof. Thang Za Tuan, Rev. Sing Ling etc. concluded that ZO is the ancestor of the Zo people (Zomi).
Lobbying on for Umroi seat
Shillong, Feb. 19 : Hectic campaigning is on for the February 26 byelection to the Umroi seat in Ri Bhoi which fell vacant following the death of former chief minister E.K. Mawlong on October 18, 2008.
After the elections to all the three district councils, the candidates have started vigorous campaigning in the run up to the Umroi byelection.
Four candidates are in the fray, Stanlywiss Rymbai of the Congress, Mawlong’s son George B. Lyngdoh of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Erwin K. Syiem Sutnga of the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Independent candidate Phrina Warjri.
However, the main fight in Umroi is between the Congress and the UDP candidates as Independent Phirna and the HSPDP candidate Erwin do not have much support in the constituency.
UDP candidate George B. Lyngdoh projected the performance of the ruling MPA government during his campaign. He told the voters that if elected, the MPA government would be able to work for the development of the constituency.
On the other hand, Congress candidate Stanlywiss is harping on the change the party can bring if he is elected from Umroi.
The Opposition led by the Congress at present has 27 members whereas the ruling MPA has 32 in the House of 60.
The Congress considers this byelection crucial, as winning the Umroi seat will raise the Opposition tally to 28.
A Congress leader said if the party wins the Umroi seat, there are chances for the party to form an alternative government by approaching the Independents and other disgruntled legislators in the MPA coalition to switch over to the Congress.
The acting president of Meghalaya PCC, Deborah Marak, is camping in Delhi to invite the central leaders to campaign for the party candidate in Umroi.
“We have a winning chance in Umroi,” Marak added.
However, with the success of the MPA coalition in both the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), UDP candidate George is hopeful to retain the Umroi seat, which his father had won in the last year’s Assembly elections.
It was the controversies related to the Meghalaya House construction at Calcutta which went against Mawlong in 2003 Assembly elections and was defeated by Stanlywiss..
However, Mawlong again contested the Assembly elections in February last year and defeated the Congress candidate.
Delegates from Aizawl visit DMC, KMC
CEO Sangliankhuma and EO Vanlalsawma during an interaction with mediapersons in Dimapur, February 18. (Morung Photo)
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 18 : As part of a study tour undertaken to familiarise themselves with the functioning of municipal councils across the North East region, the Chief Executive Officer, Sangliankhuma and Executive Officer, Vanlalsawma of the ‘yet to be formed’ Mizoram Municipal Council, visited Dimapur and Kohima this week.
After intensive interaction with members of the Kohima Municipal Council and the Dimapur Municipal Council, the two visiting officials winded up their tour with a brief press conference at the DMC office in Dimapur.
The delegates informed that despite the Municipal Law having been passed since 2007, Mizoram is yet to have its own civic body.
However, with the election of the civic body likely to be held by October this year, the CEO and his officials are touring different places to study the workings of the civic body in preparation for the forthcoming Municipal election.
Speaking to mediapersons, the CEO, Sangliankhuma, and EO Vanlalsawma expressed their gratitude to the DMC for their hospitality and help rendered during their tour.
“The interactions we had with the KMC and DMC have been a great eye-opener to us,” said the CEO, while adding that this tour would act as the beginning of a new relationship between the two Northeastern states.
Having wrapped up their study tour, the two visiting delegates from Aizawl are scheduled to return home tomorrow after spending their last night at Dimapur under the hospitality of the DMC.
AR conducts free Vet Camp at Jalukie
Lt. Col. DV Nehra in this image released to media at the free vet camp held at Samziuram village in Jalukie on Monday.
Dimapur, February 18: The 14 Mobile Field Veterinary Hospital (MFVH) under the aegis of 32 AR/ 5 sector of HQ 3 Corps today conducted a free veterinary camp at Samziuram village in Jalukie.
A total of 2385 animals including cattle, pigs, poultry and dogs were treated, de-wormed and given vaccination under the supervision of Lt. Col. DV Nehra, Commanding Officer 14 MFVH along with a team of 4 veterinary dressers from the 14 MFVH. At the free camp availed by more than a thousand people, livestock and poultry were administered vaccines for communicable diseases like rabies, foot and mouth disease, HS and BQ etc.
Veterinary medicines worth Rupees Twenty Thousand were also distributed, besides pregnancy diagnosis of a few cattle and infertility treatment was also carried out. Moreover guidance queries of farmers on livestock feeding were answered by Lt. Col. DV Nehra, stated a release by Chairman SVC.
Addressing the gathering at the camp, Lt. Col. DV Nehra informed that under the Military Civic Action Aid Programme of Spear Corps the army had taken up the task of assisting villagers who depend mostly on their livestock for a living.
He said that in the past 4 months 14 MFVH has organised 13 such camps in Nagaland, Manipur, South Assam and Tripura.
He also disclosed that 25 such camps were planned for the financial year 2008-09, this being the 14th camp, the note stated. The region being a high rainfall area with marshy conditions, animals and livestock are more susceptible to out break of diseases for which vaccination of animals in necessary, Lt. Col. DV Nehra said.
The village chairman along with elders of the village expressed gratitude to the Army for the camp which benefited the local farmers, and further expressed desire of more such camps in the future.
A total of 2385 animals including cattle, pigs, poultry and dogs were treated, de-wormed and given vaccination under the supervision of Lt. Col. DV Nehra, Commanding Officer 14 MFVH along with a team of 4 veterinary dressers from the 14 MFVH. At the free camp availed by more than a thousand people, livestock and poultry were administered vaccines for communicable diseases like rabies, foot and mouth disease, HS and BQ etc.
Veterinary medicines worth Rupees Twenty Thousand were also distributed, besides pregnancy diagnosis of a few cattle and infertility treatment was also carried out. Moreover guidance queries of farmers on livestock feeding were answered by Lt. Col. DV Nehra, stated a release by Chairman SVC.
Addressing the gathering at the camp, Lt. Col. DV Nehra informed that under the Military Civic Action Aid Programme of Spear Corps the army had taken up the task of assisting villagers who depend mostly on their livestock for a living.
He said that in the past 4 months 14 MFVH has organised 13 such camps in Nagaland, Manipur, South Assam and Tripura.
He also disclosed that 25 such camps were planned for the financial year 2008-09, this being the 14th camp, the note stated. The region being a high rainfall area with marshy conditions, animals and livestock are more susceptible to out break of diseases for which vaccination of animals in necessary, Lt. Col. DV Nehra said.
The village chairman along with elders of the village expressed gratitude to the Army for the camp which benefited the local farmers, and further expressed desire of more such camps in the future.
A Call Centre in Aizawl Mizoram
Northeast India is also catching up. With Huge numbers of Educated Unemployed, it won't take time for Business to start Eyeing for StartUps in Northeast India especially in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya. A vast majority of youths already work in Indian business Hubs such as Bangalore, Gurgaon and Pune.This will give them a chance to work from Home rather than away from home.
The Northeast workers generally don't indulge in Office poltics which is the Opposite of their Indian counterparts. They are hard workers. So as recession starts pounding, businesses will look elsewhere to find cheap resources...and Thats Northeast India.
Muslims oppose anti-Semitic attacks in the UK
Several prominent British Muslim organisations and individuals signed a joint letter denouncing recent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain. The group has called upon all Muslims to help prevent attacks on Jews in the United Kingdom.
ON JANUARY 16, 2009, the Quilliam Foundation and more than 20 prominent British Muslims signed a joint letter denouncing recent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain and calling on Muslims to help prevent attacks on Jews in the United Kingdom. The letter is being circulated widely and has been sent to the majority of British mosques.
The letter comes as Jewish organisations in the UK and throughout Europe report a significant rise in anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish individuals, Jewish-owned property and synagogues in recent weeks.
The letter’s signatories include internationally renowned Imams, writers, academics and community activists. The signatories also include members of all major Islamic groupings including Deobandis, Barelwis, Salafis, Shias and Sufis.
The letter said:
The ongoing killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israeli forces has angered us all.
However, this does not, and cannot, justify attacks on our fellow citizens of Jewish faith and background here in Britain.
Usman Raja, a former supporter of jihadist groups and now a martial arts trainer and a youth-worker tackling Islamist extremism, said:
“On the streets the outrage among the Muslim youth is reaching fever-pitch. Attacks on perceived Jewish targets are on the increase and we can’t let this continue.
For centuries, the relationship between Muslim and Jews has been a relationship of family. It is unfortunate that only in the last few decades we have seen political circumstances combine to tear this family relationship apart.
We urgently need to re-humanise our relationships with the Jewish people. We can’t allow conflicts in the Middle East to create barriers between us and our fellow citizens.”
Copies of the letter are being sent to approximately 1,200 mosques and Islamic centres around the UK. All the signatories have signed the letter in their personal capacities.
ON JANUARY 16, 2009, the Quilliam Foundation and more than 20 prominent British Muslims signed a joint letter denouncing recent anti-Semitic attacks in Britain and calling on Muslims to help prevent attacks on Jews in the United Kingdom. The letter is being circulated widely and has been sent to the majority of British mosques.The letter comes as Jewish organisations in the UK and throughout Europe report a significant rise in anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish individuals, Jewish-owned property and synagogues in recent weeks.
The letter’s signatories include internationally renowned Imams, writers, academics and community activists. The signatories also include members of all major Islamic groupings including Deobandis, Barelwis, Salafis, Shias and Sufis.
The letter said:
The ongoing killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israeli forces has angered us all.
However, this does not, and cannot, justify attacks on our fellow citizens of Jewish faith and background here in Britain.
Usman Raja, a former supporter of jihadist groups and now a martial arts trainer and a youth-worker tackling Islamist extremism, said:
“On the streets the outrage among the Muslim youth is reaching fever-pitch. Attacks on perceived Jewish targets are on the increase and we can’t let this continue.
For centuries, the relationship between Muslim and Jews has been a relationship of family. It is unfortunate that only in the last few decades we have seen political circumstances combine to tear this family relationship apart.
We urgently need to re-humanise our relationships with the Jewish people. We can’t allow conflicts in the Middle East to create barriers between us and our fellow citizens.”
Copies of the letter are being sent to approximately 1,200 mosques and Islamic centres around the UK. All the signatories have signed the letter in their personal capacities.
Rs.6 bn required for National Games 2010 in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 10 The 35th National games, to be held in Kerala May 1-14, 2010, will require Rs. 6 billion (Rs.600 crore or $1.2 billion) for creating the sports infrastructure, authorities here said Tuesday.
The estimate was made during a meeting of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Kerala government officials.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan also held a meeting with officials.
The Games’ highlight will be that it would provide an opportunity to select athletes to represent the country in the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi told reporters.
“This would be the first time that competition would be held in 35 disciplines. Kerala events like kalaryipayettu and boat race will be included as exhibition sports,” he said.
State Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar said he expected the central government to chip in with considerable funds and that he was confident the entire required infrastructure would be ready.
Kalmadi said as the first meeting was over, a group from here would campaign for the funds from the central government.
Added Vijayakumar: “There will certainly be an allocation in the state budget this time and we also plan to have an annuity scheme where we can raise loans which have a deferred payment.”
State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has already said the state will tap funds from small investors and non-resident Keralites.
Vijayakumar said: “A brand-new stadium will come up here where the opening and closing ceremonies, besides athletics, would be held. Five new indoor stadiums, a swimming
The estimate was made during a meeting of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Kerala government officials.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan also held a meeting with officials.
The Games’ highlight will be that it would provide an opportunity to select athletes to represent the country in the 2010 Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi told reporters.
“This would be the first time that competition would be held in 35 disciplines. Kerala events like kalaryipayettu and boat race will be included as exhibition sports,” he said.
State Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar said he expected the central government to chip in with considerable funds and that he was confident the entire required infrastructure would be ready.
Kalmadi said as the first meeting was over, a group from here would campaign for the funds from the central government.
Added Vijayakumar: “There will certainly be an allocation in the state budget this time and we also plan to have an annuity scheme where we can raise loans which have a deferred payment.”
State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has already said the state will tap funds from small investors and non-resident Keralites.
Vijayakumar said: “A brand-new stadium will come up here where the opening and closing ceremonies, besides athletics, would be held. Five new indoor stadiums, a swimming
Girl commits suicide after failing DU exams twice
New Delhi, Feb 10 A 21-year-old Delhi University student hanged herself from a ceiling fan in her home in northwest Delhi after she failed for the second time in her exams, police said Tuesday.
Minu Sharma, who pursued a B.A. (correspondence) course, allegedly hanged herself at her parents’ home in Rohini Monday evening, police said.
A suicide note recovered from the home said she herself was responsible for taking the extreme step.
“Her family said Minu was alone in the house at the time of incident. They said she was depressed as she had failed in her second year exams twice,” said a police official.
Minu Sharma, who pursued a B.A. (correspondence) course, allegedly hanged herself at her parents’ home in Rohini Monday evening, police said.
A suicide note recovered from the home said she herself was responsible for taking the extreme step.
“Her family said Minu was alone in the house at the time of incident. They said she was depressed as she had failed in her second year exams twice,” said a police official.
Seminar on Bamboo Famine held in South Mizoram
An international seminar on ‘Mawta/Mautam’ Famine was recently held at Tipa (Tuipang) in South Mizoram. It was conducted by Mawta Famine Relief Committee (MFRC), well attended by victims from across the border and sympathisers from India and abroad. The report is below:
Mawta Famine Relief Committee (MFRC)
Famine seminar in Tipa Town ; Southern Mizoram State ; India .
Date: 17th – 21st January 2009
Conclusion:
The MFRC seminar was attended by more than 1,200 villagers from 123 villages inside Chin State , North West Burma .
Of these, nine villages within Thatlang Township in southern Chin State said they were receiving aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The UNDP has opened bank accounts for the villages in Thatlang Township and village leaders from villages must travel to Thatlang Town to withdraw the money in order to buy food. The money is sent in local currency, that is Kyats. Many villagers complained that they then had to travel to larger towns in the area to obtain food. For many, crossing the border into India is a more viable option, however in order to purchase supplies, villagers need to convert the kyats into Indian rupees, again many complained that this was extremely difficult, if not impossible. (Note: India and Burma trade in Singapore Dollars and Euros.)
In addition, villagers fear that the money being supplied by the UNDP is limited. They do not know if it will be supplied on a regular basis.
A further nine villages in southern Chin State said they were receiving aid from the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), via Country Agency for Rural Development (CAD).
In order to take advantage of the aid on offer, villagers must “Work for Food”. This means they must take part in road construction activities. They complained that no tools or machinery for road construction had been provided and that they are using pick axes and knives to build roads in mountainous jungle terrain. Only those villagers who take part in these activities are given food. This means a large sector of vulnerable people are being over-looked – inparticular the infirm; elderly; the very young and the disabled who cannot work.
They all argued that the food should be given without conditions of work attached, reasoning that they have been living without proper nutrition since the start of the Mawta or bamboo flowering in 2007 and are physically unable to construct roads or the like at this point in time.
However they all said road construction and accessibility was imperative in the region for their long-term survival and supported any project properly equipped.
In the short term, they requested immediate food drops from the United Nations World Food Programme without any conditions of work attached.
Current state of Mawta:
The Mawta or bamboo flowering has been documented three times in the region – the last time in the 1950s with devastating consequences. The Times of India reported that 15,000 people died as a result of famine triggered by the Mawta.
It occurs approximately every fifty years in the region when the bamboo flowers. It brings with it hundreds and thousands of rats who procreate at an alarming rate and who having eaten the bamboo fruits turn on farmers crops.
This Mawta started in 2007 and is expected to continue until 2011. It affects Mizoram State , Manipur , Bangladesh , Chittagong — all of which have been able to combat and contain the bamboo flowering this time round with aid from national and international governments.
Chin State in North West Burma is also affected but is in receipt of minimal a id relief. With villagers entirely dependent on the land, the consequences have been devastating and fears are growing that the worst is yet to come as the rats are spreading into areas where there is no bamboo or very little bamboo; such as Kapalet Township and Mindat Township in southern Chin State . This is also occurring in northern regions such as Falam Township and Tiddim Township.
Impact on Health:
Villagers have been unable to access proper nutritional food since 2007. In many cases they are entirely dependent on the jungle for food. This means digging for yam or eating leaves, jungle animals and the rats themselves.
This has impacted levels of health severely. People are dying of basic infections, triggered by food shortages.
In addition because they have lost their economic dependency on the land, they are unable to access medical treatment in the larger towns where facilities operated by the local government are available but again facilities are minimal and in many cases even if villagers had the money they are turned away by the operating authorities.
While in the region, I as Co-ordinator of MFRC and as a final year medical student opened four mobile medical units on the Indian side of the border with Burma ( Laki Village , Chapi Village and Mohro vIllage and Tipa Town ).
This project was supported by seven boxes of medicine supplied by International Health Partners (in conjunction with The Princes Trust).
I treated approximately five thousand and seven hundred people between the Summer of 2008 and January 2009. Of these, conditions which stood out in terms of repetition were Gastro-intestinal complaints; malnourishment; low immunity and panic attacks.
Many others were suffering from infections, which because they were not treated at the time have developed into more serious ailments.
Impact on Education:
Education is not free in Chin State . Without economic reliance on account of the Mawta, families in the majority of cases have taken their children out of school. Teachers have also walked out on account of there being no pay for them.
Many of these school children have since gone to the larger towns in Burma or to the border with India to seek food. Many families said they had no idea where their children were as many of them have failed to return to their homes.
Fear is a whole generation is being lost and as the younger generation leave – communities fear annihilation.
Impact on population:
In southern Chin State of the 147 villages that MFRC is working in, to date, five villages have emptied. In August of 2008 – only two had emptied. Clearly the condition is worsening.
In those villages where people still reside, the number of people per household has decreased. This is because the young and those that are physically able are leaving their villages to seek livelihoods and food elsewhere. They predominantly head to larger cities within Burma such as Rangoon or Palweta or Hakka in Chin State or they are heading to India ; Bangladesh ; Malaysia and Thailand as illegal immigrants, which in turn has a knock-on effect on social structures in these regions.
Recommendations:
It is clear that Burma ’s own government will not involve itself in the development of the region. They have not given food aid to the people and instead have pushed them into forced labour, without pay for generations.
Large swathes of land in the region have been forcibly turned over to jatropha plantations on the governments orders – creating bio-fuel for international sale. None of these monies — or monies from any other projects, such as China ; India or South Korea ’s 30-year-gas deal with Myanmar — are projected back into communities.
Therefore, we at the MFRC — a locally based organisation on the ground — suggest the following:
Mawta Famine Relief Committee (MFRC)
Famine seminar in Tipa Town ; Southern Mizoram State ; India .
Date: 17th – 21st January 2009
Conclusion:
The MFRC seminar was attended by more than 1,200 villagers from 123 villages inside Chin State , North West Burma .
Of these, nine villages within Thatlang Township in southern Chin State said they were receiving aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The UNDP has opened bank accounts for the villages in Thatlang Township and village leaders from villages must travel to Thatlang Town to withdraw the money in order to buy food. The money is sent in local currency, that is Kyats. Many villagers complained that they then had to travel to larger towns in the area to obtain food. For many, crossing the border into India is a more viable option, however in order to purchase supplies, villagers need to convert the kyats into Indian rupees, again many complained that this was extremely difficult, if not impossible. (Note: India and Burma trade in Singapore Dollars and Euros.)
In addition, villagers fear that the money being supplied by the UNDP is limited. They do not know if it will be supplied on a regular basis.
A further nine villages in southern Chin State said they were receiving aid from the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), via Country Agency for Rural Development (CAD).
In order to take advantage of the aid on offer, villagers must “Work for Food”. This means they must take part in road construction activities. They complained that no tools or machinery for road construction had been provided and that they are using pick axes and knives to build roads in mountainous jungle terrain. Only those villagers who take part in these activities are given food. This means a large sector of vulnerable people are being over-looked – inparticular the infirm; elderly; the very young and the disabled who cannot work.
They all argued that the food should be given without conditions of work attached, reasoning that they have been living without proper nutrition since the start of the Mawta or bamboo flowering in 2007 and are physically unable to construct roads or the like at this point in time.
However they all said road construction and accessibility was imperative in the region for their long-term survival and supported any project properly equipped.
In the short term, they requested immediate food drops from the United Nations World Food Programme without any conditions of work attached.
Current state of Mawta:
The Mawta or bamboo flowering has been documented three times in the region – the last time in the 1950s with devastating consequences. The Times of India reported that 15,000 people died as a result of famine triggered by the Mawta.
It occurs approximately every fifty years in the region when the bamboo flowers. It brings with it hundreds and thousands of rats who procreate at an alarming rate and who having eaten the bamboo fruits turn on farmers crops.
This Mawta started in 2007 and is expected to continue until 2011. It affects Mizoram State , Manipur , Bangladesh , Chittagong — all of which have been able to combat and contain the bamboo flowering this time round with aid from national and international governments.
Chin State in North West Burma is also affected but is in receipt of minimal a id relief. With villagers entirely dependent on the land, the consequences have been devastating and fears are growing that the worst is yet to come as the rats are spreading into areas where there is no bamboo or very little bamboo; such as Kapalet Township and Mindat Township in southern Chin State . This is also occurring in northern regions such as Falam Township and Tiddim Township.
Impact on Health:
Villagers have been unable to access proper nutritional food since 2007. In many cases they are entirely dependent on the jungle for food. This means digging for yam or eating leaves, jungle animals and the rats themselves.
This has impacted levels of health severely. People are dying of basic infections, triggered by food shortages.
In addition because they have lost their economic dependency on the land, they are unable to access medical treatment in the larger towns where facilities operated by the local government are available but again facilities are minimal and in many cases even if villagers had the money they are turned away by the operating authorities.
While in the region, I as Co-ordinator of MFRC and as a final year medical student opened four mobile medical units on the Indian side of the border with Burma ( Laki Village , Chapi Village and Mohro vIllage and Tipa Town ).
This project was supported by seven boxes of medicine supplied by International Health Partners (in conjunction with The Princes Trust).
I treated approximately five thousand and seven hundred people between the Summer of 2008 and January 2009. Of these, conditions which stood out in terms of repetition were Gastro-intestinal complaints; malnourishment; low immunity and panic attacks.
Many others were suffering from infections, which because they were not treated at the time have developed into more serious ailments.
Impact on Education:
Education is not free in Chin State . Without economic reliance on account of the Mawta, families in the majority of cases have taken their children out of school. Teachers have also walked out on account of there being no pay for them.
Many of these school children have since gone to the larger towns in Burma or to the border with India to seek food. Many families said they had no idea where their children were as many of them have failed to return to their homes.
Fear is a whole generation is being lost and as the younger generation leave – communities fear annihilation.
Impact on population:
In southern Chin State of the 147 villages that MFRC is working in, to date, five villages have emptied. In August of 2008 – only two had emptied. Clearly the condition is worsening.
In those villages where people still reside, the number of people per household has decreased. This is because the young and those that are physically able are leaving their villages to seek livelihoods and food elsewhere. They predominantly head to larger cities within Burma such as Rangoon or Palweta or Hakka in Chin State or they are heading to India ; Bangladesh ; Malaysia and Thailand as illegal immigrants, which in turn has a knock-on effect on social structures in these regions.
Recommendations:
It is clear that Burma ’s own government will not involve itself in the development of the region. They have not given food aid to the people and instead have pushed them into forced labour, without pay for generations.
Large swathes of land in the region have been forcibly turned over to jatropha plantations on the governments orders – creating bio-fuel for international sale. None of these monies — or monies from any other projects, such as China ; India or South Korea ’s 30-year-gas deal with Myanmar — are projected back into communities.
Therefore, we at the MFRC — a locally based organisation on the ground — suggest the following:
- · The United Nations World Food Programme in September 2008 made a commitment to provide food for 55,000 people in the region. While recognising difficulties encountered by the UN in securing access to areas, as a first-step, MFRC recommends that the UNWFP use helicopters at its disposal within Burma to drop food aid directly into these areas, which are inaccessible by road, without conditions of work attached.
- · The United Nations Development Programme should focus its efforts on the region’s development. It should be involved in road infrastructure; health and education for long-term security.
- · The United Nations should mobilse its agricultural sector to work in the region, predominantly to educate the villagers on alternative, more viable farming practices.
- · Cross-border aid from India should be considered for those villages, which are nearer India .
- · Food supplies from the larger towns where there is surplus should be distributed to those villages within Chin State where there are food shortages rather than exported overseas.
- · The United Nations needs to make a clear long-term commitment to the region. Namely, member states (specifically those who engage in business transactions with Myanmar — such as India and China ), should lobby against regional policies, which will further impede peoples of this region.
NTPC to set up hydroelectric project in Mizoram
A 460 MW hydroelectric project will be set up by state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Mizoram, officials said here Monday.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NTPC and the Mizoram government to commission the Rs.30 billion power project in Sahia and Lawngtlai districts of southern Mizoram.
The Kaladyne Hydro Electric Power Project (KHEPP) on the Kaladyne river will be NTPC's first hydro power project in the northeast and the second power project in the region after the 750 MW Bongaigaon coal-based thermal power project in Assam.
'The power project would be commissioned by 2013 and the surplus power would be supplied to neighbouring northeastern states after meeting the requirement of Mizoram,' secretary of the Mizoram power department K. Lal Nghinglova told IANS.
NTPC will execute the project on build, own, operate and maintain basis. Work will start within six months.
'Power tariff and the power-sharing formula would be determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in consultation with the NTPC, union power ministry and the Mizoram government,' Nghinglova said.
'It was decided that the electricity generated would be provided to the affected families (people displaced due to construction of the project) free of cost for 10 years from the date of commissioning.'
According to the MoU, all the recruitment of the workforce would be done from among the affected families and in case of non-availability of suitable personnel among them, the recruitment would be done from other parts of Mizoram.
The KHEPP project is the fourth hydel power project of NTPC. The three other projects being commissioned are in Himachal Pradesh (800 MW) and Uttarakhand (600 MW and 520 MW).
- By Sujit Chakraborty
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NTPC and the Mizoram government to commission the Rs.30 billion power project in Sahia and Lawngtlai districts of southern Mizoram.
The Kaladyne Hydro Electric Power Project (KHEPP) on the Kaladyne river will be NTPC's first hydro power project in the northeast and the second power project in the region after the 750 MW Bongaigaon coal-based thermal power project in Assam.
'The power project would be commissioned by 2013 and the surplus power would be supplied to neighbouring northeastern states after meeting the requirement of Mizoram,' secretary of the Mizoram power department K. Lal Nghinglova told IANS.
NTPC will execute the project on build, own, operate and maintain basis. Work will start within six months.
'Power tariff and the power-sharing formula would be determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission in consultation with the NTPC, union power ministry and the Mizoram government,' Nghinglova said.
'It was decided that the electricity generated would be provided to the affected families (people displaced due to construction of the project) free of cost for 10 years from the date of commissioning.'
According to the MoU, all the recruitment of the workforce would be done from among the affected families and in case of non-availability of suitable personnel among them, the recruitment would be done from other parts of Mizoram.
The KHEPP project is the fourth hydel power project of NTPC. The three other projects being commissioned are in Himachal Pradesh (800 MW) and Uttarakhand (600 MW and 520 MW).
- By Sujit Chakraborty
Culture, culture on the wall
By Shiv Visvanathan
India as a society is selective about its responses to violence. Some forms of violence like a caste atrocity or a riot, a rape or a slum demolition hardly create a ripple. Human rights activists can cry hoarse and yet life goes on as if the events were invisible. Yet there is another kind of event that sends tremors that amplify the event from a local incident to a national debate, even a global debate.
The recent events at Mangalore where a Sri Ram Sene composed of goons, beat up, harassed, young people having a good time in a pub is an example. This event was reminiscent of similar incidents in Meerut, where vigilante gangs harassed boys and girls sitting together in a park.
The media was outraged. The Congress MP, Renuka Chowdhury, led the fray claiming that it was sign of Talibanisation and demanded immediate action. Chowdhury’s reaction was a healthy one but her analysis a trifle overstretched. The Taliban are a global force committed to jihad. Surely these goons beating women could be hardly compared to “just warriors”. What was intriguing was not only the event but the response. It was a middle class performance where people sitting in a pub felt their rights had been violated and people attacking them felt their culture had been threatened. Things turned even quainter when politicians attacked “holding hands” as anti-culture.
Culture is a strange word, used as a pawn in a whole series of political moves.
The old story does not work here. When Goebbels said, “when I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun”, the economic historian Alexander Gerschenkron responded, “When I hear the guns, I reach for my culture”.
In India, the word ‘culture’ is used in a variety of ways. Culture refers to an identity, an umbilical chord, an epidermis, a pretext for rationalising behaviour, and an everyday habit. It is a second skin. But politicised, it has a different meaning. The historical dictum that nationalism is the last refuge of scoundrels can be extended to culture, which has become the last refuge of every goon wishing to join politics.
It creates an immediate constituency. It has become part of a new security discourse, where Indian culture, like Indian territory, is threatened every day. So the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and its clones, the Sri Ram Sene have become cultural security experts. They have a dual role.
They are the alleged victims and also a Kangaroo court effecting immediate “justice”.
Paradoxically, every code of civility we value is violated in this defence of “culture”.
This is not Talibanisation; it is to use a less facile word, the new goonification of public spaces in India.
The park and pub are probably the two public spaces easily available for younger people. Both get disciplined in the name of an imaginary “public” and an imagined “culture”. Let us not dub this as moral policing, a variant of the thought police made legendary by Orwell in 1984. Policing in India is a strange function. Parents, neighbours, peer groups, the crowd, all police you. In fact, policing is performed in India by everyone except police. So moral policing is misleading because it is not an act of censorship. What one witnessed is plain brutality justified in terms of half-baked politics. Beyond exclusion and negation these parties have no programme.
Brutality and philistinism appear to be their only axioms.
Their tactics are similar, the branding segmented. The Shiv Sena prefers Valentine’s Day, the Bajrang Dal, parks, the Ram Sene pubs and malls. It is a lumpen response to globalisation by those who feel repressed or left out. Let us dub this syndrome “pub envy”. What does it represent? It allows for sexual assault and physical harm of those labelled as different. The odds are stacked. It is a bully culture, philistine to core, with a sense of machismo whose juices flow after assaulting “forward looking woman”. The message is clear “the backward” looking ones are safe and hopefully sound.
There are warning bells we need to listen to. Where is this new political correctness, this philistinism in the name of culture leading up to? Let us be clear. There is a sense of the Indian body feeling more liberated.
Our youth are freer, easier, celebrating a society where socialism had once repressed the body and the body politic.
Today they are more hedonist, more guiltless about enjoyment. The mall, the pub and the park became a substitute for the exclusiveness of the club.
But in this clash, there is restricted notion of freedom meeting a narrow notion of culture. The idea of freedom is of consumption and privacy. Pub culture provides an ecology to those who can afford it. Pub culture is not quite public culture.
It does not provide a generalised notion of freedom. On the other hand, when a Gehlot or a Yediyurappa talks of culture, they talk of a conservative tradition, the codes, the mores of a middle class which restrained the body, and frowns at the ease with which the sexes meet today. This culture is also not shared. It is coercive and disciplinary rather than a shared language of creativity. In creating an opposition between pub culture and culture, they are expressing a hostility to these new modes of consumption and freedom. The danger lies in the fundamentalist and pompous conviction that violence is required to protect this “culture”.
We face a clash of two limited ideas of culture both claiming a set of virtues. If one claims “freedom” the other claims “duty” and “tradition”. Both are ersatz ideas of culture. Both need a hearing as long as they avoid violence. In fact it is violence that enfeebles the sena idea of culture. The sena idea of politics is what needs to be challenged. Whether as Ram Sene or Shiv Sena, its politics is illiterate and it sees violence as the answer to any dissenting, ethnic, marginal group asserting itself. The police, who probably share these values, watch in complicity. Only the media’s sense of outrage creates it as an event. To legislate on morals and aesthetics through such violence is futile.
The real issue is that India is moving to a mix of political correctness and intolerance, marked by violence. What is worrying is this pervasive use of violence to handle pickpockets, protesting workers, political Dalits, women, tribals, any group claiming justice, freedom and fairness.
Both express forms of repression, an envy of any form of desire or freedom. What one sees as a result is a loss of political creativity.
That is the real sadness. Violence or the microclimates of violence are ignored under discussions of freedom, consumption, youth or culture. Gehlot is right in saying pub culture produces its resentments and Yediyurappa, correct, in calling it a law and order problem. But both miss a simple truth. The fact is that their exoneration of violence threatens all forms of culture. The tragedy is that no one wants to face this.
India as a society is selective about its responses to violence. Some forms of violence like a caste atrocity or a riot, a rape or a slum demolition hardly create a ripple. Human rights activists can cry hoarse and yet life goes on as if the events were invisible. Yet there is another kind of event that sends tremors that amplify the event from a local incident to a national debate, even a global debate.
The recent events at Mangalore where a Sri Ram Sene composed of goons, beat up, harassed, young people having a good time in a pub is an example. This event was reminiscent of similar incidents in Meerut, where vigilante gangs harassed boys and girls sitting together in a park.
The media was outraged. The Congress MP, Renuka Chowdhury, led the fray claiming that it was sign of Talibanisation and demanded immediate action. Chowdhury’s reaction was a healthy one but her analysis a trifle overstretched. The Taliban are a global force committed to jihad. Surely these goons beating women could be hardly compared to “just warriors”. What was intriguing was not only the event but the response. It was a middle class performance where people sitting in a pub felt their rights had been violated and people attacking them felt their culture had been threatened. Things turned even quainter when politicians attacked “holding hands” as anti-culture.
Culture is a strange word, used as a pawn in a whole series of political moves.
The old story does not work here. When Goebbels said, “when I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun”, the economic historian Alexander Gerschenkron responded, “When I hear the guns, I reach for my culture”.
In India, the word ‘culture’ is used in a variety of ways. Culture refers to an identity, an umbilical chord, an epidermis, a pretext for rationalising behaviour, and an everyday habit. It is a second skin. But politicised, it has a different meaning. The historical dictum that nationalism is the last refuge of scoundrels can be extended to culture, which has become the last refuge of every goon wishing to join politics.
It creates an immediate constituency. It has become part of a new security discourse, where Indian culture, like Indian territory, is threatened every day. So the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and its clones, the Sri Ram Sene have become cultural security experts. They have a dual role.
They are the alleged victims and also a Kangaroo court effecting immediate “justice”.
Paradoxically, every code of civility we value is violated in this defence of “culture”.
This is not Talibanisation; it is to use a less facile word, the new goonification of public spaces in India.
The park and pub are probably the two public spaces easily available for younger people. Both get disciplined in the name of an imaginary “public” and an imagined “culture”. Let us not dub this as moral policing, a variant of the thought police made legendary by Orwell in 1984. Policing in India is a strange function. Parents, neighbours, peer groups, the crowd, all police you. In fact, policing is performed in India by everyone except police. So moral policing is misleading because it is not an act of censorship. What one witnessed is plain brutality justified in terms of half-baked politics. Beyond exclusion and negation these parties have no programme.
Brutality and philistinism appear to be their only axioms.
Their tactics are similar, the branding segmented. The Shiv Sena prefers Valentine’s Day, the Bajrang Dal, parks, the Ram Sene pubs and malls. It is a lumpen response to globalisation by those who feel repressed or left out. Let us dub this syndrome “pub envy”. What does it represent? It allows for sexual assault and physical harm of those labelled as different. The odds are stacked. It is a bully culture, philistine to core, with a sense of machismo whose juices flow after assaulting “forward looking woman”. The message is clear “the backward” looking ones are safe and hopefully sound.
There are warning bells we need to listen to. Where is this new political correctness, this philistinism in the name of culture leading up to? Let us be clear. There is a sense of the Indian body feeling more liberated.
Our youth are freer, easier, celebrating a society where socialism had once repressed the body and the body politic.
Today they are more hedonist, more guiltless about enjoyment. The mall, the pub and the park became a substitute for the exclusiveness of the club.
But in this clash, there is restricted notion of freedom meeting a narrow notion of culture. The idea of freedom is of consumption and privacy. Pub culture provides an ecology to those who can afford it. Pub culture is not quite public culture.
It does not provide a generalised notion of freedom. On the other hand, when a Gehlot or a Yediyurappa talks of culture, they talk of a conservative tradition, the codes, the mores of a middle class which restrained the body, and frowns at the ease with which the sexes meet today. This culture is also not shared. It is coercive and disciplinary rather than a shared language of creativity. In creating an opposition between pub culture and culture, they are expressing a hostility to these new modes of consumption and freedom. The danger lies in the fundamentalist and pompous conviction that violence is required to protect this “culture”.
We face a clash of two limited ideas of culture both claiming a set of virtues. If one claims “freedom” the other claims “duty” and “tradition”. Both are ersatz ideas of culture. Both need a hearing as long as they avoid violence. In fact it is violence that enfeebles the sena idea of culture. The sena idea of politics is what needs to be challenged. Whether as Ram Sene or Shiv Sena, its politics is illiterate and it sees violence as the answer to any dissenting, ethnic, marginal group asserting itself. The police, who probably share these values, watch in complicity. Only the media’s sense of outrage creates it as an event. To legislate on morals and aesthetics through such violence is futile.
The real issue is that India is moving to a mix of political correctness and intolerance, marked by violence. What is worrying is this pervasive use of violence to handle pickpockets, protesting workers, political Dalits, women, tribals, any group claiming justice, freedom and fairness.
Both express forms of repression, an envy of any form of desire or freedom. What one sees as a result is a loss of political creativity.
That is the real sadness. Violence or the microclimates of violence are ignored under discussions of freedom, consumption, youth or culture. Gehlot is right in saying pub culture produces its resentments and Yediyurappa, correct, in calling it a law and order problem. But both miss a simple truth. The fact is that their exoneration of violence threatens all forms of culture. The tragedy is that no one wants to face this.
The Great Divide
It is intriguing that there exists this curious stereotype of a communal divide in Manipur which sees only a distinct and formidable binary between the hills and the valley.
While nobody can deny there is such a divide, this is hardly the complete picture of the complex ethnic mosaic that Manipur is. It would even have been understandable if this stereotype was the major and overwhelming divide which renders all other fissures insignificant.
Perhaps the fault is with the vogue of adopting unconditionally the occidental approach to knowledge through a process of reductive analysis which by and large is about pigeon-holing human experiences into tight structures and vocabularies of sociological constructs. To a great extent this may be unavoidable for the lack of a credible elaborate competing system.
Moreover, even if it is arguable that this approach cannot encompass the entirety of human experience, it would still remain a very a helpful instrument in our understanding of society and its dynamics.
But even within this frame, there seems something missing in the analysis of Manipur’s great hill-valley divide. Just a closer consideration of some of the empirics of the frictions within the state should open eyes.
Take for instance the direct human casualties that have resulted out of this divide. It is practically none. Even during the heights of the June 2001 tension between “Manipur integrity” and “Naga integration” campaigners, undoubtedly one of the abiding and visible fault lines of this divide in current times, it should be of interest for observers of this conflict theatre to note that there was not even a single direct human casualty, not in the valley or in the hills.
What on the other hand what bit the dust, as we all remember, were government institutions, including the State Legislative Assembly building in Imphal, and in the hills, government school buildings, offices and such others, not necessarily in the immediate wake of the tension but in the lingering tails of the same agitation. There were also plenty of bandhs and blockades.
Contrast this with what happened in the hill-hill divide or to a lesser extent the valley-valley divide. In this, memories of the 1990s which would be still vivid to most of us, should say it all.
The Kuki-Naga feud was nearly an ethnic cleansing civil war situation and the inferno raged for nearly a whole decade. More than a thousand lives were lost, many villages razed to the ground, populations uprooted violently and permanently from various pockets, to be resettled in other pockets, clearly resulting in a sweeping remapping of ethnic demography.
Take again the Kuki-Paite clashes that followed in the later part of the same decade in the Churachandpur district, one which confounded everybody as the Kukis and Paites are supposed to be kindred communities. Nobody will have any doubt about the animosity involved in this feud though.
As for instance, a new station of the All India Radio commissioned at the time is still non-functional because of the objection to the base medium to be used – Kuki or Paite – by either of the two groups.
The valley-valley divide also saw a single day (May 3, 1993) or maybe two days of madness in which Meiteis and Meitei Pangals drew blood, but it was hardly the sustained feud of the variety witnessed in the hill-hill binaries we just mentioned.
It was more like a cruel and brutal aberration in history, as the then popular video magazine “Eye-Witness” (sold as cassettes before the advent of satellite television) run by Karan Thappar described it.
Yet, the pigeon holing of this entire experience into the broad, and by that virtue clumsy, category described as “hill-valley divide” continues. The empirics which demonstrate that the rest of the myriad deadly “inner lines” and “inner fissures” are nothing to be trifled are simply and conveniently swept under the carpet.
Surprisingly, those pushing it, apart from the usual suspects – politicians with vested interests – include some well-heeled and bright academics. Vested interest again? As somebody unabashedly interested in the welfare of Manipur, this is not a question of being defensive on behalf of anybody, valley or hills.
The caution which prompted us to make these observations is, wrong diagnoses always lead to wrong prescriptions, in the process perpetuating the problems at hand. The hill-valley divide exists and must be met with policy interventions, but the other divides cannot be erased by political rhetoric alone either.
While nobody can deny there is such a divide, this is hardly the complete picture of the complex ethnic mosaic that Manipur is. It would even have been understandable if this stereotype was the major and overwhelming divide which renders all other fissures insignificant.
Perhaps the fault is with the vogue of adopting unconditionally the occidental approach to knowledge through a process of reductive analysis which by and large is about pigeon-holing human experiences into tight structures and vocabularies of sociological constructs. To a great extent this may be unavoidable for the lack of a credible elaborate competing system.
Moreover, even if it is arguable that this approach cannot encompass the entirety of human experience, it would still remain a very a helpful instrument in our understanding of society and its dynamics.
But even within this frame, there seems something missing in the analysis of Manipur’s great hill-valley divide. Just a closer consideration of some of the empirics of the frictions within the state should open eyes.
Take for instance the direct human casualties that have resulted out of this divide. It is practically none. Even during the heights of the June 2001 tension between “Manipur integrity” and “Naga integration” campaigners, undoubtedly one of the abiding and visible fault lines of this divide in current times, it should be of interest for observers of this conflict theatre to note that there was not even a single direct human casualty, not in the valley or in the hills.
What on the other hand what bit the dust, as we all remember, were government institutions, including the State Legislative Assembly building in Imphal, and in the hills, government school buildings, offices and such others, not necessarily in the immediate wake of the tension but in the lingering tails of the same agitation. There were also plenty of bandhs and blockades.
Contrast this with what happened in the hill-hill divide or to a lesser extent the valley-valley divide. In this, memories of the 1990s which would be still vivid to most of us, should say it all.
The Kuki-Naga feud was nearly an ethnic cleansing civil war situation and the inferno raged for nearly a whole decade. More than a thousand lives were lost, many villages razed to the ground, populations uprooted violently and permanently from various pockets, to be resettled in other pockets, clearly resulting in a sweeping remapping of ethnic demography.
Take again the Kuki-Paite clashes that followed in the later part of the same decade in the Churachandpur district, one which confounded everybody as the Kukis and Paites are supposed to be kindred communities. Nobody will have any doubt about the animosity involved in this feud though.
As for instance, a new station of the All India Radio commissioned at the time is still non-functional because of the objection to the base medium to be used – Kuki or Paite – by either of the two groups.
The valley-valley divide also saw a single day (May 3, 1993) or maybe two days of madness in which Meiteis and Meitei Pangals drew blood, but it was hardly the sustained feud of the variety witnessed in the hill-hill binaries we just mentioned.
It was more like a cruel and brutal aberration in history, as the then popular video magazine “Eye-Witness” (sold as cassettes before the advent of satellite television) run by Karan Thappar described it.
Yet, the pigeon holing of this entire experience into the broad, and by that virtue clumsy, category described as “hill-valley divide” continues. The empirics which demonstrate that the rest of the myriad deadly “inner lines” and “inner fissures” are nothing to be trifled are simply and conveniently swept under the carpet.
Surprisingly, those pushing it, apart from the usual suspects – politicians with vested interests – include some well-heeled and bright academics. Vested interest again? As somebody unabashedly interested in the welfare of Manipur, this is not a question of being defensive on behalf of anybody, valley or hills.
The caution which prompted us to make these observations is, wrong diagnoses always lead to wrong prescriptions, in the process perpetuating the problems at hand. The hill-valley divide exists and must be met with policy interventions, but the other divides cannot be erased by political rhetoric alone either.
Tripura lead on Day 2
| Hosts dominate swimming and gymnastics, Manipur sweep judo | ||
Agartala, Feb 6 : Tripura’s Jyotisankar Debnath and Manipur’s Surabala Debi emerged Northeast’s fastest man and woman bagging the coveted gold medals in the 100metre sprint, clocking the region’s best timing of 10.6 seconds and 12.6 seconds on the second day of the North East Games here today. Tripura’s Sunita Jamatya was well on course to clinching the overall individual swimming championship by adding three more gold to her yesterday’s tally of two, out of which four were in individual events. Jamatya set afire the Raima Swimming Pool, neatly picking up three consecutive gold in the women’s 200metre breaststroke, 100metre butterfly and 400metre freestyle. Assam’s Sony Buragohain came close to her feat by capturing gold in 200metre backstroke, silver in the 400metre freestyle and bronze in the 200metre breaststroke. In the men’s section, Assam’s Arindam Gogoi and Rajib Bora won gold and silver respectively in the 100metre butterfly and 200metre backstroke. But Tripura’s domination in the aquatic events continued as Malkash Mia, Saddam Hossain Podder and Kirtipada Jamatya bagged medals in other events with ease. Manipur’s L. Mahesh Singh won the gold in the men’s 200metre breaststroke and L. Bankim Singh secured bronze in 400metre freestyle. Assam won two gold, two silver and three bronze, followed by Manipur with one medal each in the three sections. Assam, however, suffered a setback as the men’s hockey team lost by a solitary goal to Tripura in a group league match today. Manipur made a clean sweep of all the seven gold in judo. In the gymnastics team event, held in Netaji Subhash Regional Coaching Centre, Tripura reasserted their traditional supremacy by securing the gold with a whopping 359.35 points, followed by Assam’s silver with 166.15 points and Manipur’s bronze with 138.15 points. In the individual championship, too, Tripura’s Ajay Kumar Dey and Santu Das bagged gold and silver respectively while Manipur’s H. Mikhel grabbed the bronze. In the athletics events held in Dasharath Deb Stadium and Sports Complex, Assam and Tripura dominated the proceedings. Assam’s Pinki Shyam and Rajiv Tamuli bagged gold medals in the women’s 800metre and men’s shot put respectively while Pramila Bharali secured gold in women’s discus. Tripura’s Liton Debbarma bagged gold in high jump and Ratna Khatun captured gold in women’s long jump. Tripura sprinters Feroz Mia and Jahar Mia bagged the gold and the silver medals respectively in the men’s 800metre. Assam’s Pranjal Barua secured silver in the men’s 100metre sprint while Tripura’s Ratna Khatun bagged silver in the women’s event. Assam won another gold in javelin throw when National Games gold medallist Parag Jyoti Baishya hurled the javelin up to a distance of 64.68 metres but Manipur dominated the men’s 5,000metre with M.S. Singh and K.P. Singh winning gold and silver respectively. In the overall medals tally in athletics, Tripura secured four gold, five silver and two bronze while Assam bagged four gold and two silver and two bronze. In football, Assam drew with Meghalaya 1-1 and made an early exit from the group league stage. Defending champions Assam yesterday lost 1-2 against Nagaland. In the football matches being held in Kailasahar, 180km from here, Tripura trounced minnows Sikkim 9-0 with striker Kiran Chhetri scoring five goals. Liton Mazumder and Biswabhanu Jamatya also contributed with two and one goal respectively. Manipur drubbed Arunachal Pradesh 6-1 in the day’s other match. However, in the women’s section, Tripura pulled off an upset by drawing goalless with Manipur while Sikkim routed Meghalaya 6-0. | ||
Kuki Inpi dismayed
Imphal, Feb 6 : The Kuki Inpi Jiri-Tamenglong Zone has expressed dismay over the alleged act of the Government resorting to force against villagers of Moljol and Mongbung in its move to set up a rehabilitation centre for surrendered UG cadres there, reports our Jiribam correspondent.
Zonal Inpi president PT Singson decried that the Government's move would displace hundreds of villagers.
Saying that the Inpi will not remain a mute spectator to the State Government's initiative, Singson said that they will fight for the cause of the villagers.
Zonal Inpi president PT Singson decried that the Government's move would displace hundreds of villagers.
Saying that the Inpi will not remain a mute spectator to the State Government's initiative, Singson said that they will fight for the cause of the villagers.
Chipmunks Valentine special in Bangalore
Barely a week after the Delhi high court slammed the capital cops for arresting and prosecuting a couple kissing in public, Bangalore couples strolling in public will have to be watching out for extremist Hindu hoodlums who have vowed a Valentine day massacre for unmarried couples.
“…Our activists will go around with a priest, a turmeric stub and a ‘mangal sutra’ on February 14. If we come across couples being together in public and expressing their love, we will take them to the nearest temple and conduct their marriage….”, said Pramod Muthalik, the new face of India’s Hindu extremism, the self-proclaimed leader of Shri Ram Sene, a self-styled gangster force which recently attacked and groped young Indian women in a Mangalore pub. Although Muthalik’s understated threats can’t hide the stern warning to those looking forward to celebrating Valentine’s day with their valentines.
Shri Ram Sene is yet another Hindu extremist group, on the same lines as Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Sambhaji brigade and other like these that have sought political & economic opportunities in the era of terrorism. Not surprisingly, these groups have hardly ever done anything constructive, and have seldom shown the guts to join the military.
While the rest of India fights enemies across the border, such extremist groups are busy making hay by extorting and threatening their own instead of standing up to the real enemy across the border.
Muthalik is an opportunist at best, a terrorist pest at worst. A local hoodlum with political and law enforcement connections, he has managed to hog enough limelight for his 15 minutes of fame. No matter what color garb or flag, no matter what religion, and no matter what country, such people who terrorize and spread fear are to be recognized as terrorists. Such people are best left ignored when they try to hog fame and they shall soon be forgotten because that IS their fate. So this is the last time I will mention this idiot.
Third front formed in Assam to contest upcoming General Elections
Guwahati, Feb 6 : A third political front has been formed in Assam with the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF), the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) formally working out a seat sharing arrangement to fight the upcoming general elections.
At a meeting that ended late Wednesday, the AUDF, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the NCP agreed to have mutually acceptable candidates in eight of the 14 parliamentary seats.
“We shall meet again Thursday to finalise which parties would contest in the remaining six seats,” said AUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.
Of the eight seats decided so far, the AUDF will contest in four, and the CPI and the NCP in two seats each.
The idea to form a third front was necessitated after the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) decided to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the parliamentary elections in Assam.
Prior to the AGP-BJP pre-poll tie up, there were talks going on for a grand alliance of all non-Congress and non-BJP formations in Assam.
“Our main aim is to challenge the Congress and the BJP in Assam,” CPI leader Promod Gogoi said after the meeting.
The AUDF is the main player in the third front with the party winning 10 of the 126 Assembly seats in the 2006 state elections. The AUDF, a minority based party, is the third party after the Congress and the AGP to have the maximum number of legislators in the state Assembly.
“We are surely going to make a mark in the coming elections,” Ajmal said.
At a meeting that ended late Wednesday, the AUDF, the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the NCP agreed to have mutually acceptable candidates in eight of the 14 parliamentary seats.
“We shall meet again Thursday to finalise which parties would contest in the remaining six seats,” said AUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal.
Of the eight seats decided so far, the AUDF will contest in four, and the CPI and the NCP in two seats each.
The idea to form a third front was necessitated after the regional Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) decided to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the parliamentary elections in Assam.
Prior to the AGP-BJP pre-poll tie up, there were talks going on for a grand alliance of all non-Congress and non-BJP formations in Assam.
“Our main aim is to challenge the Congress and the BJP in Assam,” CPI leader Promod Gogoi said after the meeting.
The AUDF is the main player in the third front with the party winning 10 of the 126 Assembly seats in the 2006 state elections. The AUDF, a minority based party, is the third party after the Congress and the AGP to have the maximum number of legislators in the state Assembly.
“We are surely going to make a mark in the coming elections,” Ajmal said.
Quota meeting ignored women groups
Dimapur : The integrity of the resolutions from the so-called consultative meeting on January 29 over the 108th constitution (Amendment Bill) on 33% Women Reservation Bill, has come into question. The Nagaland State Women Commission today shot off a letter to the Nagaland chief minister, listing out a number of blunders. The commission has advised the CMO that the resolutions so adopted cannot be taken as consensus of the Nagas. Whatever decision was taken on January 29 should be kept in abeyance till a clear decision emerge after consultations with the Naga women.
One of the bungles the government made was in not inviting even apex Naga women organizations like the Naga Mothers’ Association, Eastern Naga Women Organization and women wings of the political parties. Moreover, even the Nagaland State Women Commission itself was not invited to the meeting when even constitutional statute has a stipulation to consult with the commission.
The letter, appended by Nagaland State Women Commission chairman Sano Vamuzo, demanded immediate redress of the points made by the NSWC in its letter . The commission took strong exception that the NSWC was not even invited to the “consultation” meeting on the 29th of January regarding reservation of seats for women in Nagaland. “…it is highly questionable” the commission stated.
The commission reminded the chief minister that the Nagaland Commission Act 2006, (clause 9) stipulated the state government to consult with the commission before formulating major policies. The same action is to be, while drafting legislations affecting women in Nagaland, the commission reminded in its letter. “…such consultations shall have persuasive value. In this instance, the draft bill was not given to the commission in spite of queries by the commission on the matter, before the public debate” the NSWC stated.
Also, the commission questioned the state government on the fact that women wings of different political parties were included in the debate when all political parties were invited. Further, no significant women apex organizations even the Naga Mothers’ Association and Eastern Naga Women Organization were ignored. “The commission considers with serious concern the fact that the Naga Mothers Association, an apex body of women was not invited, nor the Eastern Naga Women Organization which consists of six tribes” the commission stated.
”In the light of these anomalies, the commission demands that the resolutions so adopted cannot be taken as a consensus of the Nagas. The commission will be consulting all women organization at the earliest and the clear stand of Naga women on reservation of women will be conveyed to the state government” the commission sated. The commission also advised the state government keep in abeyance the decision of the January 29 meeting till the state commission for women recommends a clear decision of Naga women, which will emerge after consultations with Naga women.
One of the bungles the government made was in not inviting even apex Naga women organizations like the Naga Mothers’ Association, Eastern Naga Women Organization and women wings of the political parties. Moreover, even the Nagaland State Women Commission itself was not invited to the meeting when even constitutional statute has a stipulation to consult with the commission.
The letter, appended by Nagaland State Women Commission chairman Sano Vamuzo, demanded immediate redress of the points made by the NSWC in its letter . The commission took strong exception that the NSWC was not even invited to the “consultation” meeting on the 29th of January regarding reservation of seats for women in Nagaland. “…it is highly questionable” the commission stated.
The commission reminded the chief minister that the Nagaland Commission Act 2006, (clause 9) stipulated the state government to consult with the commission before formulating major policies. The same action is to be, while drafting legislations affecting women in Nagaland, the commission reminded in its letter. “…such consultations shall have persuasive value. In this instance, the draft bill was not given to the commission in spite of queries by the commission on the matter, before the public debate” the NSWC stated.
Also, the commission questioned the state government on the fact that women wings of different political parties were included in the debate when all political parties were invited. Further, no significant women apex organizations even the Naga Mothers’ Association and Eastern Naga Women Organization were ignored. “The commission considers with serious concern the fact that the Naga Mothers Association, an apex body of women was not invited, nor the Eastern Naga Women Organization which consists of six tribes” the commission stated.
”In the light of these anomalies, the commission demands that the resolutions so adopted cannot be taken as a consensus of the Nagas. The commission will be consulting all women organization at the earliest and the clear stand of Naga women on reservation of women will be conveyed to the state government” the commission sated. The commission also advised the state government keep in abeyance the decision of the January 29 meeting till the state commission for women recommends a clear decision of Naga women, which will emerge after consultations with Naga women.
Mumbai Police to launch no- honking campaign
Mumbai, Feb 5 : In a bid to bring down noise pollution, the traffic police in Mumbai has launched a no-honking campaign from Thursday.
The campaign aims to educate motorists on the need to avoid unnecessary honking. The traffic police will focus on roads like Mohammad Ali Road that produces the maximum noise pollution.
Around a hundred placards and banners will be put up in several parts of the city to discourage motorists from honking excessively.
Motorists accused of pointless honking will be fined Rs. 100, and repeated offenders may even face cancellation of their driving licenses.
The campaign is likely to be carried out for over a week.
The Idea Academy of theatre artists will also cooperate in the campaign by performing street plays on the adverse effects of unnecessary street honking on health.
Experts believe that continuous noise levels in excess of 90 decibels can cause loss of hearing and irreversible changes in nervous systems. The World Health Organization [WHO] has fixed 45 decibels as the safe noise level for a city.
Metropolitan areas in India usually register an average more than 90 decibels. Mumbai is rated the third noisiest city in the world, with New Delhi following closely.
Mumbai has a whopping 1.5 million vehicles including 110,000 auto-rickshaws and 55,000 taxis.
About 17 lakh vehicles ply on the city roads everyday.
According to a survey, most of the upper middle class households residing in metro cities own more than one vehicle
The campaign aims to educate motorists on the need to avoid unnecessary honking. The traffic police will focus on roads like Mohammad Ali Road that produces the maximum noise pollution.
Around a hundred placards and banners will be put up in several parts of the city to discourage motorists from honking excessively.
Motorists accused of pointless honking will be fined Rs. 100, and repeated offenders may even face cancellation of their driving licenses.
The campaign is likely to be carried out for over a week.
The Idea Academy of theatre artists will also cooperate in the campaign by performing street plays on the adverse effects of unnecessary street honking on health.
Experts believe that continuous noise levels in excess of 90 decibels can cause loss of hearing and irreversible changes in nervous systems. The World Health Organization [WHO] has fixed 45 decibels as the safe noise level for a city.
Metropolitan areas in India usually register an average more than 90 decibels. Mumbai is rated the third noisiest city in the world, with New Delhi following closely.
Mumbai has a whopping 1.5 million vehicles including 110,000 auto-rickshaws and 55,000 taxis.
About 17 lakh vehicles ply on the city roads everyday.
According to a survey, most of the upper middle class households residing in metro cities own more than one vehicle
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