Would pooling in of 5 aircrafts from Civil Aviation Ministry improve intra-region air connectivity in the North East?

In a landlocked region where air connectivity is very poor as compared to rest of the country and where there is almost virtually no intra-region air connectivity so far, it is a welcome gesture from DoNER ministry to ask Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to pool in five aircrafts to provide intra-regional air connectivity in the North Eastern States to connect all the state capitals and the major towns in the region under new scheme 'North East Airlines Services'.

DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had written a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel requesting him to extend the services of Alliance Air to connect all the state capitals and major towns in the region under a new scheme - 'North East Airlines Service'.

(Source)

This service is proposed to be run in 'Hub and Spoke' model with hubs at Guwahati for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim and Agartala for Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

Now as mentioned earlier, it is a welcome gesture by DoNER ministry; but would pooling of 5 aircrafts from Ministry of Civil Aviation indeed improve intra-region air connectivity? Well, I'm afraid so.

Why?

Consider this.

The northeastern region currently has 23 airports, out of which as many as 12 are non-operational. These include airports at Along, Daporijo, Kailashahar, Kamalpur, Khowai, Pasighat, Rupsi, Tezu, Tura, Turial, Ziro and Shella.

Also, all the 11 operational airports at Agartala, Aizwal, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat,Lilabari, Shillong, Silchar and Tezpur incur annual losses worth Rs 61 crore in terms of expenditure incurred on them and the revenue generated.

(Source)

With only 11 operational airports, the need of the hour is to make these 12 non-operational airports operational, if at all the state capitals and major towns of the North-Eastern states are proposed to be connected by air.

Under 'Vision 2020 for North East'- an ambitious plan of union government to remove isolation of NE Region by improving connectivity and infrastructural development; the government has though, undertaken to upgrade 10 airports in the region with an investment of INR 50 million and has also undertaken to upgrade non-operational airport during the 11^th plan.

So, until and unless the operational and non-operational airports upgraded and proposed greenfield airports completed, it has to be seen how pooling in of additional aircrafts would have effect in improving intra-regional air connectivity of the North-Eastern region. However, it may help people from the region traveling to other sectors if these additional aircrafts are used for routes in other sectors.

Woes of Monica Devi-A 'Question Mark' to Indian Sports

Despite the series of doping scandals hitting the Indian Weightlifters, when Laishram Monica Devi, a lifter from Manipur confronted the Executive Director (Teams) of SAI, R.K. Naidu and demanded her test result to be shown which says she has flunked the dope test and when she said, “Forget life ban, give me public execution if I am dope cheat”, at a press conference, I thought there may be some truth in what she says and that there may be something fishy about the dope test result that was disclosed just hours before she was to board her flight to Beijing to take part in the Olympics.

Back home at Manipur too, the report of positive dope result and the timing of declaration of result, didn’t go down well with the sportsperson and the people; with MOA (Manipur Olympic Association) deciding not to send participants to any National Championship and forthcoming National Games if Monica Devi is not sent to Beijing and citizens calling general strike on 8th August to protest dropping of Monica Devi at the eleventh hour.

Substantiating the general speculation that there may be something fishy about the dope test result, Monica Devi was cleared of all the charges. But alas, it came all too late for her to join the contingent to Beijing Olympics. India’s Olympic contingent Head Baljit Singh Sethi has said that there is no way Devi can compete. The entries closed on Aug. 7 for her event.

All this drama of doping charge at the eleventh hour and clearing of charges later, denying chance to sportsperson of this region to represent the country has put a big ‘Question Mark’ to the future of aspiring sportsperson of the region and the sports in India. Why this 'politics' to sabotage a sportsperson career and a chance to Olympics? Was it the case of preference over performance? Or as a colleague of mine suggested, it was a familiar case of intolerance of so-called mainstream Indian to the North-Easterner, which on any other time I would have differed but for the circumstances and timing of clearing the charges, which was in his favor.

Now, it would be interesting to see what action would be initiated against those responsible authorities. Or would there be any action at all?

-G. Tallo with inputs from AG

Woes of Monica Devi-A 'Question Mark' to Indian Sports

Despite the series of doping scandals hitting the Indian Weightlifters, when Laishram Monica Devi, a lifter from Manipur confronted the Executive Director (Teams) of SAI, R.K. Naidu and demanded her test result to be shown which says she has flunked the dope test and when she said, “Forget life ban, give me public execution if I am dope cheat”, at a press conference, I thought there may be some truth in what she says and that there may be something fishy about the dope test result that was disclosed just hours before she was to board her flight to Beijing to take part in the Olympics.

Back home at Manipur too, the report of positive dope result and the timing of declaration of result, didn’t go down well with the sportsperson and the people; with MOA (Manipur Olympic Association) deciding not to send participants to any National Championship and forthcoming National Games if Monica Devi is not sent to Beijing and citizens calling general strike on 8th August to protest dropping of Monica Devi at the eleventh hour.

Substantiating the general speculation that there may be something fishy about the dope test result, Monica Devi was cleared of all the charges. But alas, it came all too late for her to join the contingent to Beijing Olympics. India’s Olympic contingent Head Baljit Singh Sethi has said that there is no way Devi can compete. The entries closed on Aug. 7 for her event.

All this drama of doping charge at the eleventh hour and clearing of charges later, denying chance to sportsperson of this region to represent the country has put a big ‘Question Mark’ to the future of aspiring sportsperson of the region and the sports in India. Why this 'politics' to sabotage a sportsperson career and a chance to Olympics? Was it the case of preference over performance? Or as a colleague of mine suggested, it was a familiar case of intolerance of so-called mainstream Indian to the North-Easterner, which on any other time I would have differed but for the circumstances and timing of clearing the charges, which was in his favor.

Now, it would be interesting to see what action would be initiated against those responsible authorities. Or would there be any action at all?

-G. Tallo with inputs from AG

North-East India Investment Summit

Despite having vast investment opportunities in sectors like tourism, hydropower, infrastructure, healthcare, textile and handicrafts, horticulture and agro based industries, minerals etc., the North Eastern states has yet to witness any major investments in these sectors by private investors-be it domestic or foreign. The probable reason for this, could very well be the lack of knowledge about the region, little or no exposure of the investment potential of the region to the prospective investors and the dubious distinction this region has got, of being infested with various secessionist groups thereby making the potential investors feel the region is unsafe for huge investment and above all, lack of political will. Now, all this could change with the initiative of CII and if, the North-Eastern states has the political will to open up it's arm to the private investors.

In an effort to expose the investment opportunities in the region and to project this region as investor friendly, the Ministry of DoNER and CII in association with North East India Industry Ministers Forum and Government of Assam is organizing the first ever 'North East India Investment Summit' at this part of country on 11^th & 12^th January, 2008 at Guwahati. The summit is expected to be attended by delegates from US, UK, Austria, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Canada and the UAE and NRI, apart from representatives of 8 North-Eastern States. The state of Arunachal Pradesh would be represented by Khoda Ruja, Director Textile and Handicrafts along with Peto Ete, Jt. Director, Textile and Handicrafts and the representatives of Chokham-based Guna Tea Industry and Kungfu Tea Industry.

"Textile and Handicrafts Director Khoda Ruja, who is the state's nodal officer for the summit, told this daily that the team headed by him through power point presentation would highlight the fast scope of investment in hydro-power, tourism, industry, textile & handicrafts, horticulture, agriculture, floriculture and bio-diversity sectors of the state. The representatives of Chokham based Guna Tea Industry and Kungfu Tea Industry are also expected to attend the summit. Textile and Handicraft Jt. Director, Peto Ete as coordinator will accompany the team."

-Arunachal Front

But the million dollar question is...

Are the North-Eastern states prepared to make out the most of this summit?

Going by the past experiences, it is very unlikely. For instance, during the 'North-East Power Mart 2007' at Kolkata, which was organized by Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC) to showcase investment opportunities in power sector of the region; except for Sikkim and to some extent Assam and Tripura, rest of the North-Eastern states showed no or very little enthusiasm about letting in the private investors to their state. They seemed little informed about their states investment potential in the power sector. To quote one of the representatives during the Mart, "we being a very small state and all the schemes/projects related to generation, transmission or distribution being funded by the central government and taken up by the department itself, there is no scope for the private investors to step in". [Not the exact words] I wondered there and then, why were they there? Where's their business acumen?

Another instance is the North East India Trade and Investment Opportunity Week at Bangkok, where politicians just went for pleasure trip and not to attract investors to the region.

However, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the bureaucrats and the politicians who would be representing our state would present the state's investment potential well and woo the private investor's to invest in our state so that we may witness a surge in infrastructural development, development in health care, tourism sector etc., in near future.

Let's wait and watch.

Links to the North-East India Investment Summit:

North-East India Investment Summit
Programme Details
Online registration to participate in the summit can be made here.

North-East India Investment Summit

Despite having vast investment opportunities in sectors like tourism, hydropower, infrastructure, healthcare, textile and handicrafts, horticulture and agro based industries, minerals etc., the North Eastern states has yet to witness any major investments in these sectors by private investors-be it domestic or foreign. The probable reason for this, could very well be the lack of knowledge about the region, little or no exposure of the investment potential of the region to the prospective investors and the dubious distinction this region has got, of being infested with various secessionist groups thereby making the potential investors feel the region is unsafe for huge investment and above all, lack of political will. Now, all this could change with the initiative of CII and if, the North-Eastern states has the political will to open up it's arm to the private investors.

In an effort to expose the investment opportunities in the region and to project this region as investor friendly, the Ministry of DoNER and CII in association with North East India Industry Ministers Forum and Government of Assam is organizing the first ever 'North East India Investment Summit' at this part of country on 11^th & 12^th January, 2008 at Guwahati. The summit is expected to be attended by delegates from US, UK, Austria, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, Switzerland, Canada and the UAE and NRI, apart from representatives of 8 North-Eastern States. The state of Arunachal Pradesh would be represented by Khoda Ruja, Director Textile and Handicrafts along with Peto Ete, Jt. Director, Textile and Handicrafts and the representatives of Chokham-based Guna Tea Industry and Kungfu Tea Industry.

"Textile and Handicrafts Director Khoda Ruja, who is the state's nodal officer for the summit, told this daily that the team headed by him through power point presentation would highlight the fast scope of investment in hydro-power, tourism, industry, textile & handicrafts, horticulture, agriculture, floriculture and bio-diversity sectors of the state. The representatives of Chokham based Guna Tea Industry and Kungfu Tea Industry are also expected to attend the summit. Textile and Handicraft Jt. Director, Peto Ete as coordinator will accompany the team."

-Arunachal Front

But the million dollar question is...

Are the North-Eastern states prepared to make out the most of this summit?

Going by the past experiences, it is very unlikely. For instance, during the 'North-East Power Mart 2007' at Kolkata, which was organized by Indian Chambers of Commerce (ICC) to showcase investment opportunities in power sector of the region; except for Sikkim and to some extent Assam and Tripura, rest of the North-Eastern states showed no or very little enthusiasm about letting in the private investors to their state. They seemed little informed about their states investment potential in the power sector. To quote one of the representatives during the Mart, "we being a very small state and all the schemes/projects related to generation, transmission or distribution being funded by the central government and taken up by the department itself, there is no scope for the private investors to step in". [Not the exact words] I wondered there and then, why were they there? Where's their business acumen?

Another instance is the North East India Trade and Investment Opportunity Week at Bangkok, where politicians just went for pleasure trip and not to attract investors to the region.

However, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the bureaucrats and the politicians who would be representing our state would present the state's investment potential well and woo the private investor's to invest in our state so that we may witness a surge in infrastructural development, development in health care, tourism sector etc., in near future.

Let's wait and watch.

Links to the North-East India Investment Summit:

North-East India Investment Summit
Programme Details
Online registration to participate in the summit can be made here.

Arunachal village becomes first 'e-village' in the North East

In a report appearing in The Arunachal Times, Yagrung village near Pasighat became the first e-village in the entire North-Eastern region.

Sponsored by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, the College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat has implemented a research project titled "e-Arik (e-Agriculture): Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Agricultural Extension Services" at Yagrung, a small village some 16 kms from Pasighat town, thereby making it a first e-village in the entire North-Eastern region. This pilot project is aimed at developing prototype for village knowledge centre to suit Arunachal Pradesh in particular and North-East India in general

As a part of this project, the students, village youths, farmers and teachers from Yagrung, Tekang and Gangkong village are being given free computer course at village knowledge centre which is equipped with net connection, telephone, TV, DVD and radio.

Arunachal village becomes first 'e-village' in the North East

In a report appearing in The Arunachal Times, Yagrung village near Pasighat became the first e-village in the entire North-Eastern region.

Sponsored by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, the College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, Pasighat has implemented a research project titled "e-Arik (e-Agriculture): Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Agricultural Extension Services" at Yagrung, a small village some 16 kms from Pasighat town, thereby making it a first e-village in the entire North-Eastern region. This pilot project is aimed at developing prototype for village knowledge centre to suit Arunachal Pradesh in particular and North-East India in general

As a part of this project, the students, village youths, farmers and teachers from Yagrung, Tekang and Gangkong village are being given free computer course at village knowledge centre which is equipped with net connection, telephone, TV, DVD and radio.

Guinness Record on Highest Guitar Ensemble

After setting Guinness Record on Highest Drum Ensemble during the Autumn Festival last year, MTDF (Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum) has put another feather in the cap by setting a new Guinness Record on Highest Guitar Ensemble during this Autumn Festival 2007-Rhythms of Meghalaya.

The record earlier set by 1721 guitarists on June 3, 2007 at Kansas City, US strumming Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" was broken by an ensemble of 1730 guitarists strumming Bob Dylan's classic number 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' for more than five minutes in perfect rhythm at J.N. Stadium, Shillong, Meghalaya on October 26^th.

Kudos to MTDF for setting this new record. Now after Highest Drum and Guitar Ensemble, what next?

Read more about this event here & here.

Guinness Record on Highest Guitar Ensemble

After setting Guinness Record on Highest Drum Ensemble during the Autumn Festival last year, MTDF (Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum) has put another feather in the cap by setting a new Guinness Record on Highest Guitar Ensemble during this Autumn Festival 2007-Rhythms of Meghalaya.

The record earlier set by 1721 guitarists on June 3, 2007 at Kansas City, US strumming Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" was broken by an ensemble of 1730 guitarists strumming Bob Dylan's classic number 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' for more than five minutes in perfect rhythm at J.N. Stadium, Shillong, Meghalaya on October 26^th.

Kudos to MTDF for setting this new record. Now after Highest Drum and Guitar Ensemble, what next?

Read more about this event here & here.

Is it the case of Good Intentions going Wrong?

Like any North-Easterner, when I first read this and some blog reaction over this issue, I thought, why Delhi Police, why? Why and what made them (Delhi Police) think that we northeasterner are uncivilized and insensitive towards the local populace? How our food habits are threat to social order? How it was deduced that the women from the region are of ‘loose morals’, always ‘provocatively dressed’ inviting rape? Why this guidelines for the people of Northeast alone, and not for others? Why this ‘social profiling’?

But when I went through this controversial 20 pages booklet titled Security tips for North East students/Visitors in Delhi published in an endeavor towards their ‘With You, For You, Always’ by West District Delhi Police which has had the Delhi Police accused of ‘social profiling’ or ‘othering’, of implying people of the North East as uncivilized and women of having ‘loose morals’; the fact that it was penned by an officer from North East made me ponder over the whole issue again.

(Image source The Telegraph)

The booklet contains tips on Traveling to Delhi.., Finding accommodation at Delhi, Admission to Institutions/Colleges, What to do when in distress, Caution for parents in North East, Personal safety, etc., etc., among others besides the tips on Food Habits and Dress Code (reproduced below) which led to this entire outrage.

FOOD HABITS AND PARTIES

1. Bamboo shoots, Akhuni and other smelly dishes should be prepared without creating ruckus in neighbourhood.
2. Your party should not disturb next door.
3. Loud music should be stopped/discouraged after 10.00 P.M. (Supreme Court’s Order)

DRESS CODE

1. When in rooms do as Roman does.
2. Revealing dress be avoided.
3. Avoid lonely road/by-lane when dressed scantily.
4. Dress according to sensitivity of local populace.

Sans North-East in the title, the tip doesn’t seem that bad as is made out to be and in fact the tips would be helpful for others as well who are visiting or studying at Delhi. But the fact that it was especially drafted for people of North East put the people in poor light almost akin to people of the region being uncivilized, insensitive and of poor dressing sense, always in bad taste- to be told how to dress and what to eat.

And while drafting those guidelines, Robin Hibu (DCP-West), an IPS Officer from Arunachal Pradesh, wouldn't have anticipated that these security tips would snowball into a major 'ruckus', inviting strong criticism from the Northeast Students community at Delhi; after all, all he intended was only an 'elderly-brother' advice to Northeastern students and visitors from Northeast to remain safe at Delhi. In his own words

"I wanted to share my experience with young students. I have advised the students to dress according to the sensitivity of the local population and be wary of going to unknown places. When you come from that far, you tend to have difficulties in adjusting. It is not an order, just an elder-brotherly advice. If they don’t want to follow it, it’s up to them."

Now I wonder, if it is the case of all the good intentions going wrong, may be because of choosing wrong media (in the form of Booklet by Delhi Police) and with wrong authority (Police Officer)? An advice or tip for staying safe at Delhi from Robin Hibu, a fellow North-Easterner would have been much more appreciated than from Robin Hibu, an IPS Officer of Delhi Police and not in the form of booklet which put the people from North East in poor light.

(Cross posted)

Is it the case of Good Intentions going Wrong?

Like any North-Easterner, when I first read this and some blog reaction over this issue, I thought, why Delhi Police, why? Why and what made them (Delhi Police) think that we northeasterner are uncivilized and insensitive towards the local populace? How our food habits are threat to social order? How it was deduced that the women from the region are of ‘loose morals’, always ‘provocatively dressed’ inviting rape? Why this guidelines for the people of Northeast alone, and not for others? Why this ‘social profiling’?

But when I went through this controversial 20 pages booklet titled Security tips for North East students/Visitors in Delhi published in an endeavor towards their ‘With You, For You, Always’ by West District Delhi Police which has had the Delhi Police accused of ‘social profiling’ or ‘othering’, of implying people of the North East as uncivilized and women of having ‘loose morals’; the fact that it was penned by an officer from North East made me ponder over the whole issue again.

(Image source The Telegraph)

The booklet contains tips on Traveling to Delhi.., Finding accommodation at Delhi, Admission to Institutions/Colleges, What to do when in distress, Caution for parents in North East, Personal safety, etc., etc., among others besides the tips on Food Habits and Dress Code (reproduced below) which led to this entire outrage.

FOOD HABITS AND PARTIES

1. Bamboo shoots, Akhuni and other smelly dishes should be prepared without creating ruckus in neighbourhood.
2. Your party should not disturb next door.
3. Loud music should be stopped/discouraged after 10.00 P.M. (Supreme Court’s Order)

DRESS CODE

1. When in rooms do as Roman does.
2. Revealing dress be avoided.
3. Avoid lonely road/by-lane when dressed scantily.
4. Dress according to sensitivity of local populace.

Sans North-East in the title, the tip doesn’t seem that bad as is made out to be and in fact the tips would be helpful for others as well who are visiting or studying at Delhi. But the fact that it was especially drafted for people of North East put the people in poor light almost akin to people of the region being uncivilized, insensitive and of poor dressing sense, always in bad taste- to be told how to dress and what to eat.

And while drafting those guidelines, Robin Hibu (DCP-West), an IPS Officer from Arunachal Pradesh, wouldn't have anticipated that these security tips would snowball into a major 'ruckus', inviting strong criticism from the Northeast Students community at Delhi; after all, all he intended was only an 'elderly-brother' advice to Northeastern students and visitors from Northeast to remain safe at Delhi. In his own words

"I wanted to share my experience with young students. I have advised the students to dress according to the sensitivity of the local population and be wary of going to unknown places. When you come from that far, you tend to have difficulties in adjusting. It is not an order, just an elder-brotherly advice. If they don’t want to follow it, it’s up to them."

Now I wonder, if it is the case of all the good intentions going wrong, may be because of choosing wrong media (in the form of Booklet by Delhi Police) and with wrong authority (Police Officer)? An advice or tip for staying safe at Delhi from Robin Hibu, a fellow North-Easterner would have been much more appreciated than from Robin Hibu, an IPS Officer of Delhi Police and not in the form of booklet which put the people from North East in poor light.

(Cross posted)

AN ASSESSMENT OF AFSPA IN THE NORTH-EASTERN STATES

-Roto Chobin

In August 1942, The Armed Forces (Special Power) Ordinance was passed and promulgated by the then viceroy and Governor-general Lord Linlithgow to quash the congress, then crusading for the freedom. Again in May 1958, the legislator of both houses of parliament unanimously decided to pass the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act to suppress militants in the north-east, which was to become and known as Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) after two minor amendments when Manipur and Arunachal became a full-fledged Indian states in 1972 and 1986 respectively. And with these amendments, the Act could applied to all the seven states in the north-east of India viz., Arunachal, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the power to declare an area disturbed went to the Governor from state government. The dictions and clauses were seems to be largely borrowed from the Ordinance of 1942 to draft the Act of 1958. In other words, the AFSPA is a replication or distorted version of the Ordinance. And the only difference in the Ordinance and the Act is that the former was passed by the Foreigner to rule an alien country effectively while the later was passed by our own representatives to rule a citizen with iron rod.

Now, what exactly is AFSPA? And what makes this act so special? As a matter of fact, The AFSPA confer immense power, not to mention, impunity to the armed forces as it grants even a non-commissioned officer to shoot to kill any person based on mere suspicion to maintain public order [sic] under the powers of section 4(a). Can we really maintain peace and tranquility in the north-east region or anywhere by killing people? Doesn’t it lead to cycle of violence? The section 4(c) states that the army can arrest anyone without a warrant. Under section 4(d), the army can enter and search without a warrant. And, perhaps, this is when the army gets an opportunity to round-up women and children, and rape them mercilessly in the pretext of searching for unlawful things in the premises. And the section 6 institutes that no legal proceeding can be initiated against any member of the armed forces acting under the AFSPA without prior permission from the Central Government. The case of Manorama Devi, who was allegedly picked up from her house at the dead of night, tortured, raped and killed, evidently manifests that the army is indeed immune from prosecution processes. In section 2, the armed forces were defined as “the military and Air Force of the union so operating”. I would not be surprised if the Navy had also been included as from the Bay of Bengal the disturbed area is within a striking distance. The AFSPA is undeniably special for armed forces in India and exotic, too. And bequeathed especially and exclusively to northeastern states and J&K.

The human rights groups dubbed this Act a tyrannical and draconian act. The people all over in the north-east states are opposing and demanding for the repeal of the Act as it makes an ordinary army an indestructible monster. In July 2004, a dozen of Manipuri elder women took out a nude protest with a banner that boldly says, “Indian Army Rape Us” against security personnel in front of the Assam Rifles headquarters. Pebam Chitaranjan, an adviser of the Manipur students’ Federation of Bishenpur unit, immolated himself on Independence Day (15 august, 2004) citing in a suicide note that “It is better to self-immolate than die at the hands of security forces”. Irom sharmila, recently honoured by South Korea’s prestigious 2007 Gwangju prize for human rights, has been observing hunger strike and protesting against this Act since November, 2000 when security personnel massacred almost a dozen men at Malom, Manipur. Despite all these protestations, the legislators consider it is proper to maintain status quo in the North-east. In November 2004, the central govt. set up five-member committee under the chairmanship of Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, former judge of Supreme Court, to review the Act. He was assisted by Dr. S.B. Nakade, former Vice Chancellor), jurist P. Srivastav, IAS (Retd.), Lt. Gen (Retd.) V.R. Raghavan, former DGMO and Sanjoy Hazarika, journalist. The B.P. Jeevan Reddy committee submitted the report on June 6, 2005. However, this report has never been officially made public. But, unfortunately, a copy of this report was leaked and the gist of the recommendations was later appeared in the print media. The B.P. Jeevan Reddy commission report states that, “keeping in view the material placed before us and the impressions gathered by the committee during the course of its visits and hearings held within and outside the North East states, the committee is of the firm view that: the AFSPA ,1958 should be repealed. Therefore, recommending the continuation of the present Act, with or without amendments, does not arise. The act is too sketchy, too bald and quite inadequate in several particulars...” Notwithstanding the recommendations made by the five-member commission, the reports were neglected.

It’s almost 50 years since the AFSPA inception. If this legislation was formulated to deal with insurgency, it has failed to deliver the wishful result. On the contrary, proliferation of militancy and amplification of its operation attests the futility of this act. The lawmaker in Delhi seems to be more concern with law and order than the well-being of the people of the northeastern region. They belong to the radical school of thought that favours the AFSPA should remain in force and the armies think it is the answer to the terror hit areas. Ironically, the militants are as active as ever and remained untraced. The armies keep operating their combing operation day in day out. And in this chain of attack and counter attack, it is the civilian who usually bear the full brunt and often killed. The militants forcefully extort money, collect taxes and kidnap the commonalties for ransom while the armies arrest and torture them for aiding the militants. Take, for instance, the case of bomb blast by United Liberation Force of Assam (ULFA) near Medo village in Arunachal on April 25, 2007 which killed two security personnel. The Arunachal Times reported that the 82 Mountain Brigade of army retaliated by ransacking many houses and destroyed their household items and accused the villager for sheltering the militants. Furthermore, the security personnel forced the hapless villager to do laborious work without serving them food and water. This is one of the many cases that hold a little importance to the legislators in the Delhi. If terrorism by its definition is the systematic use of violence as a means to intimidate or coerce societies, then the armed forces are not at all different from the militants. Sometimes it occurs as if the militants and armies are jointly working together to harass the common ordinary people.

As of now, a proposal to declare entire Arunachal a disturbed area and bring it under the purview of AFSPA has popped up; the state legislators denied the recommendation though. However, it is hard to believe that any sane person could impose such draconian act on any state unless he is a Nazi or possess a profound hatred for the people of that region. Those of us who live in the expectation of good governance from our government and sincere and honest effort to tackle the militancy, The AFSPA will always give the impression of a legitimate decree to cleanse all the ethnic bit by bit in the North-east states through Armed Forces.

AN ASSESSMENT OF AFSPA IN THE NORTH-EASTERN STATES

-Roto Chobin

In August 1942, The Armed Forces (Special Power) Ordinance was passed and promulgated by the then viceroy and Governor-general Lord Linlithgow to quash the congress, then crusading for the freedom. Again in May 1958, the legislator of both houses of parliament unanimously decided to pass the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act to suppress militants in the north-east, which was to become and known as Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) after two minor amendments when Manipur and Arunachal became a full-fledged Indian states in 1972 and 1986 respectively. And with these amendments, the Act could applied to all the seven states in the north-east of India viz., Arunachal, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura and the power to declare an area disturbed went to the Governor from state government. The dictions and clauses were seems to be largely borrowed from the Ordinance of 1942 to draft the Act of 1958. In other words, the AFSPA is a replication or distorted version of the Ordinance. And the only difference in the Ordinance and the Act is that the former was passed by the Foreigner to rule an alien country effectively while the later was passed by our own representatives to rule a citizen with iron rod.

Now, what exactly is AFSPA? And what makes this act so special? As a matter of fact, The AFSPA confer immense power, not to mention, impunity to the armed forces as it grants even a non-commissioned officer to shoot to kill any person based on mere suspicion to maintain public order [sic] under the powers of section 4(a). Can we really maintain peace and tranquility in the north-east region or anywhere by killing people? Doesn’t it lead to cycle of violence? The section 4(c) states that the army can arrest anyone without a warrant. Under section 4(d), the army can enter and search without a warrant. And, perhaps, this is when the army gets an opportunity to round-up women and children, and rape them mercilessly in the pretext of searching for unlawful things in the premises. And the section 6 institutes that no legal proceeding can be initiated against any member of the armed forces acting under the AFSPA without prior permission from the Central Government. The case of Manorama Devi, who was allegedly picked up from her house at the dead of night, tortured, raped and killed, evidently manifests that the army is indeed immune from prosecution processes. In section 2, the armed forces were defined as “the military and Air Force of the union so operating”. I would not be surprised if the Navy had also been included as from the Bay of Bengal the disturbed area is within a striking distance. The AFSPA is undeniably special for armed forces in India and exotic, too. And bequeathed especially and exclusively to northeastern states and J&K.

The human rights groups dubbed this Act a tyrannical and draconian act. The people all over in the north-east states are opposing and demanding for the repeal of the Act as it makes an ordinary army an indestructible monster. In July 2004, a dozen of Manipuri elder women took out a nude protest with a banner that boldly says, “Indian Army Rape Us” against security personnel in front of the Assam Rifles headquarters. Pebam Chitaranjan, an adviser of the Manipur students’ Federation of Bishenpur unit, immolated himself on Independence Day (15 august, 2004) citing in a suicide note that “It is better to self-immolate than die at the hands of security forces”. Irom sharmila, recently honoured by South Korea’s prestigious 2007 Gwangju prize for human rights, has been observing hunger strike and protesting against this Act since November, 2000 when security personnel massacred almost a dozen men at Malom, Manipur. Despite all these protestations, the legislators consider it is proper to maintain status quo in the North-east. In November 2004, the central govt. set up five-member committee under the chairmanship of Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, former judge of Supreme Court, to review the Act. He was assisted by Dr. S.B. Nakade, former Vice Chancellor), jurist P. Srivastav, IAS (Retd.), Lt. Gen (Retd.) V.R. Raghavan, former DGMO and Sanjoy Hazarika, journalist. The B.P. Jeevan Reddy committee submitted the report on June 6, 2005. However, this report has never been officially made public. But, unfortunately, a copy of this report was leaked and the gist of the recommendations was later appeared in the print media. The B.P. Jeevan Reddy commission report states that, “keeping in view the material placed before us and the impressions gathered by the committee during the course of its visits and hearings held within and outside the North East states, the committee is of the firm view that: the AFSPA ,1958 should be repealed. Therefore, recommending the continuation of the present Act, with or without amendments, does not arise. The act is too sketchy, too bald and quite inadequate in several particulars...” Notwithstanding the recommendations made by the five-member commission, the reports were neglected.

It’s almost 50 years since the AFSPA inception. If this legislation was formulated to deal with insurgency, it has failed to deliver the wishful result. On the contrary, proliferation of militancy and amplification of its operation attests the futility of this act. The lawmaker in Delhi seems to be more concern with law and order than the well-being of the people of the northeastern region. They belong to the radical school of thought that favours the AFSPA should remain in force and the armies think it is the answer to the terror hit areas. Ironically, the militants are as active as ever and remained untraced. The armies keep operating their combing operation day in day out. And in this chain of attack and counter attack, it is the civilian who usually bear the full brunt and often killed. The militants forcefully extort money, collect taxes and kidnap the commonalties for ransom while the armies arrest and torture them for aiding the militants. Take, for instance, the case of bomb blast by United Liberation Force of Assam (ULFA) near Medo village in Arunachal on April 25, 2007 which killed two security personnel. The Arunachal Times reported that the 82 Mountain Brigade of army retaliated by ransacking many houses and destroyed their household items and accused the villager for sheltering the militants. Furthermore, the security personnel forced the hapless villager to do laborious work without serving them food and water. This is one of the many cases that hold a little importance to the legislators in the Delhi. If terrorism by its definition is the systematic use of violence as a means to intimidate or coerce societies, then the armed forces are not at all different from the militants. Sometimes it occurs as if the militants and armies are jointly working together to harass the common ordinary people.

As of now, a proposal to declare entire Arunachal a disturbed area and bring it under the purview of AFSPA has popped up; the state legislators denied the recommendation though. However, it is hard to believe that any sane person could impose such draconian act on any state unless he is a Nazi or possess a profound hatred for the people of that region. Those of us who live in the expectation of good governance from our government and sincere and honest effort to tackle the militancy, The AFSPA will always give the impression of a legitimate decree to cleanse all the ethnic bit by bit in the North-east states through Armed Forces.

No to AFSPA in Arunachal, Please

Who has the power to declare an area disturbed under AFSPA?

The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers (Amendment) Act 1972 defines thus:

"For section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:
[5] If in relation to any State or Union Territory to which this Act extends, the Governor of the State or the Administrator of the Union Territory, as the case may be, is in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of Armed Forces in aid of civil power is necessary, the Governor of the State of the Administrator of that Union Territory or the Central Government, as the case may be, may, by notification in the Official Gazetteer, declare the whole or such State of Union Territory to be a disturbed area."

In my earlier post I had mentioned, based on the report of financial express, that state government is proposing to declare the state as disturbed; the AFSPA says otherwise. But, whosoever and for whatsoever reasons, this most peaceful state is being proposed to be declared as disturbed, the verdict of the people is clear "No to AFSPA in Arunachal Pradesh". Read the report here.

You can find more on this Act posted by Kavita Joshi here.

No to AFSPA in Arunachal, Please

Who has the power to declare an area disturbed under AFSPA?

The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers (Amendment) Act 1972 defines thus:

"For section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:
[5] If in relation to any State or Union Territory to which this Act extends, the Governor of the State or the Administrator of the Union Territory, as the case may be, is in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of Armed Forces in aid of civil power is necessary, the Governor of the State of the Administrator of that Union Territory or the Central Government, as the case may be, may, by notification in the Official Gazetteer, declare the whole or such State of Union Territory to be a disturbed area."

In my earlier post I had mentioned, based on the report of financial express, that state government is proposing to declare the state as disturbed; the AFSPA says otherwise. But, whosoever and for whatsoever reasons, this most peaceful state is being proposed to be declared as disturbed, the verdict of the people is clear "No to AFSPA in Arunachal Pradesh". Read the report here.

You can find more on this Act posted by Kavita Joshi here.

Should Arunachal be put under the purview of AFSPA?

I was quite shocked to read this. When activists like Irom Sharmila Chanu, who is on fast unto death since 2000 to repeal this "Draconian Law" from her state Manipur, I couldn't understand as to why the state government felt the need to put the entire state under the purview of this "Draconian Law"? Has the state machinery become so weak that it is not able to maintain law and order so as to consider this State as Disturbed? Has the state government thought of the Human Rights Violation cases that would crop up (which I presume would do, if going by the Human Rights violation, reported in the States where this "Draconian Law" is in force) in the name combating militancy under this Act? Or will it really help in combating militancy without human right violation? Or does this most peaceful NE state really need AFSPA? Do put in your comments.

Find documentation on AFSPA here.

Should Arunachal be put under the purview of AFSPA?

I was quite shocked to read this. When activists like Irom Sharmila Chanu, who is on fast unto death since 2000 to repeal this "Draconian Law" from her state Manipur, I couldn't understand as to why the state government felt the need to put the entire state under the purview of this "Draconian Law"? Has the state machinery become so weak that it is not able to maintain law and order so as to consider this State as Disturbed? Has the state government thought of the Human Rights Violation cases that would crop up (which I presume would do, if going by the Human Rights violation, reported in the States where this "Draconian Law" is in force) in the name combating militancy under this Act? Or will it really help in combating militancy without human right violation? Or does this most peaceful NE state really need AFSPA? Do put in your comments.

Find documentation on AFSPA here.

The Bandh Culture

During my brief stint at Manipur I observed that once into Manipur you can’t plan in advance when you can leave Manipur and once out of it you are not sure when you will be able to return to Manipur because of ‘Bandhs’ which are like the weather of Ziro during this month – you never know when there will be rain. And to go by the people of Manipur, the state has earned the sobriquet of “Bandhpur”.

Coming back to our state, it seems we Arunachali’s are also following the Manipur’s way. The ‘Bandh’ seems to have become the mantra to register your protest about anything-be it lottery imbroglio, power cuts and the most recent- to force resignation of Minister on morale ground. And in doing so, let the common people be damned, the student community, which is the future of state, be damned-this was what the Papum Pare District Youth Welfare Society (PPDYWS) exactly did, by calling 10 hr Capital ‘Bandh’ on 1^st of March, incidentally when C.B.S.E. exam began, to force the UD Minister Nabam Tuki, to step down from the Post on morale ground.

Here, what I couldn’t understand was, why the PPDYWS resorted to Bandh Call when PIL was filed at Guwahati High Court against the alleged involvement of UD Minister in corrupt practices and that too when thousands of students in the twin Capital City of Naharlagun and Itanagar were to sit for their Board Exams. Why was the hurry? Shouldn’t they have waited for the law to take its own course? Or even if they wanted the Minister to step down from the post on morale ground, wasn’t there other form of protest like sit-in-dharna or taking out peaceful procession etc. Or was there any vested interest of certain section of people? (BTW..how do you justify taking entire population to ransom for fulfilment of interests of certain section of people?)

The Bandh Culture

During my brief stint at Manipur I observed that once into Manipur you can’t plan in advance when you can leave Manipur and once out of it you are not sure when you will be able to return to Manipur because of ‘Bandhs’ which are like the weather of Ziro during this month – you never know when there will be rain. And to go by the people of Manipur, the state has earned the sobriquet of “Bandhpur”.

Coming back to our state, it seems we Arunachali’s are also following the Manipur’s way. The ‘Bandh’ seems to have become the mantra to register your protest about anything-be it lottery imbroglio, power cuts and the most recent- to force resignation of Minister on morale ground. And in doing so, let the common people be damned, the student community, which is the future of state, be damned-this was what the Papum Pare District Youth Welfare Society (PPDYWS) exactly did, by calling 10 hr Capital ‘Bandh’ on 1^st of March, incidentally when C.B.S.E. exam began, to force the UD Minister Nabam Tuki, to step down from the Post on morale ground.

Here, what I couldn’t understand was, why the PPDYWS resorted to Bandh Call when PIL was filed at Guwahati High Court against the alleged involvement of UD Minister in corrupt practices and that too when thousands of students in the twin Capital City of Naharlagun and Itanagar were to sit for their Board Exams. Why was the hurry? Shouldn’t they have waited for the law to take its own course? Or even if they wanted the Minister to step down from the post on morale ground, wasn’t there other form of protest like sit-in-dharna or taking out peaceful procession etc. Or was there any vested interest of certain section of people? (BTW..how do you justify taking entire population to ransom for fulfilment of interests of certain section of people?)

A India..You don't know

Wanna know? Watch this video by Bittu Kri

(link via prasanth )