The head count exercise was undertaken as per the instruction of the Mizoram Government, which is regarded as the first step in the effort to repatriate all Bru refugees this year following instructions of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that it be completed by October end.

Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), which undertook the exercise said the relief camps were located at Kanchanpur sub-division in North Tripura district and the refugees were classified into two groups – those who migrated en masse in 1997 and those in 2009.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited Aizawl on May 25 asked the Bru leaders to ensure that all refugees were repatriated to Mizoram and said he would visit Mizoram again to oversee the repatriation process.

Our Correspondent adds: The MBDPF, apex body of the Reang refugees, has sought investigation at appropriate level over the distribution of inflammatory leaflets involving its leaders.

In a letter addressed to Superintendent of Police (SP), North Tripura district on Tuesday, A Sawinbunga, general secretary of MBDPF informed that some leaflets containing malicious campaign against the MBDPF were found in several places in Kanchanpur subdivision recently.

The leaflets written in local dialect read that Elvish Chorkhy, R Laldawngliana and A Sawibunga – all MBDPF leaders – are heading the Bru National Army, an outfit and they are working for the community to target Mizo people in near future.

The distribution of such leaflets has triggered tension among Bru and Mizo communities in Kanchanpur subdivision.

A team of MBDPF has already met Officer in Charge (OC), Kanchanpur subdivision and handed over some leaflets to him. A letter has been sent to the SP urging him to conduct a probe into the matter and nab the people responsible for the cowardly act.

In the letter, it also mentioned that the move is aimed to destabilise the existing mutual understanding between Mizos and Reangs (Bru) in the subdivision where more than 30,000 refugees are sheltered due to ethnic strife in neighbouring Mizoram.

Andres Iniesta celebrating the only goal at World Cup final match between his team Spain and the Netherlands on Sunday in the Soccer City, South Africa.

The lone goal was scored by Andres Iniesta 4 minutes before the stoppage time of the second extra time.

The intense match produced 12 Yellow Cards with Dutch receiving 9 of them, one was double yellow card for John Heitinga, Spanish were awarded 4 yellow cards.

Man of the match was Andres Iniesta, whose score lifted his team to the top of the world of Football.

Addressing a meeting of major NGOs and voluntary organisations here, Lalzirliana said that
“with too many people who refused to work hard and tried to earn a living by extorting money from businessmen including non-tribals, the peaceful atmosphere in the state has been in peril.”

Expressing great concern over the increasing extortion in the state, he said, “the rampant extortion by and in the name of NGOs not only threatened peace, but also brought a bad name to our society and religion.”

The home minister told the NGO leaders that such people might call it ‘donation’ but it is sheer extortion and is an offence as per the law.

“It is an offence, a crime, so the government cannot be a mute spectator,” he said that the law would be enforced by the government against the offenders, however, powerful they might be.

The meting was attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Home Lalrinmawia Ralte, Home Secretary Lalmalsawma and leaders of the Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or Mizo Women federation, Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) of Mizoram Elders association, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo Students association and the Mizoram Educated Welfare Association (MEWA).

Agreed there is log of individual brilliance but end of day the victory alone counts.

Some similarities listed here…
1. Lots of hype and expectations always but very less achievement as a team (read very less tournament wins)
2. Lot of money with respective sports board. (Read filthy rich) but comparatively less all-round talent in the teams
3. World famous leagues (IPL — cricket, EPL – football) and plenty of pride, revenue generation through the same
4. Teams known for individual brilliance and spectacular wins as result of same.
5. Demi god status for super stars (David Beckham, Sachin Tendulkar) in respective countries and perhaps rest of world.
6. Lack of consistency and winning habit.
7. Bad decisions turned against them (surprising most of times its against these teams)

PS: cricket fanatics don’t jump on with India’s recent Asia cup win. If you follow the game closely India is winning Asia cup after nearly 15 years which is just played by 4 nations (well ignore UAE & Nepal etc in cricket). This is an insult that India didn’t win for so long. But yes we should celebrate the recent win against lanka.

Comment made by Vaidhy Narayanan at Rediff.com. Thanks to Vaidhya for the insightful comment. This is so true!

For England, there’s no celebration this time around!

From the time I first visited Manipur I have been painfully aware of the divisions within the Manipur society. And I have also been aware how deeply ignorant the rest of us in India are about the history and geography of the area.

The first time I went to Ukhrul was in 1982 as a part of a women’s team to investigate into the human rights violations by the Indian armed forces during a counter-insurgency operation. The team was headed by Pramila Dandavate. In her first speech in Ukhrul she began by saying she was happy to be in the land of Arjun and Chitrangada. The people looked a little disturbed but politely translated the speech. She, like most of our team, was totally unaware that that one statement had many political connotations.

First of all, it was not until the eighteenth century that the kingdom was called by its present Sanskritised name of Manipur. Till then the kingdom was known as Meitrabak or Kangleibak. It was after the conversion of the Meitei King, Garib Niwaz, into Hinduism under the influence of one Shanti Das, a Brahman from Sylhet, that the culture underwent a process of Hinduisation. The traditional religious books were burnt, temples to the old Sanamahi God were destroyed, the Bengali script was imposed. This was done despite the strong opposition by the traditional priests and courtiers. The Meitei Kings started claiming they were descendants of Arjun’s son and they got integrated with the great traditions.

It was perhaps from this time that the cultural distance between the Hill people and the Valley people began to grow. A similar process can be seen in the relations between the Ahoms and the Nagas (and other tribal communities) after the Ahoms took to Hinduism. One of the most negative aspects of Hinduism was the caste system which denied the Nagas the right to equality and dignity. Added to the negative influence of Hinduism was the conversion of the Nagas to Christianity during the colonial rule.

Thus the present State of Manipur has five distinct nationalities with sub-groups in each. Broadly, in the Valley lives the majority community, the Vaishnavite Meiteis. However, there have been significant movements for a return to their pre-Hindu culture and revive their ancient script. Within the Meiteis there are the Brahmans which form a distinct community. The Meiteis have evolved a truly distinctive culture and civilisation with rich literary traditions and totally justified pride in their poetry, painting, theatre and dance forms. There are many Meitei armed groups, some of them asserting their pre-Hindu identity while others want separation from India.

The other community living in the Valley is the Manipuri Muslims who have a distinct history and cultural trajectory. In fact in recent years they have begun to assert their religious identity, especially after the first violence against Muslims in which Muslims were burnt alive and suffered all kinds of indignities. There are several Muslim armed groups representing the Muslims in Manipur.

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There are five Hill districts which form the larger geographical area of Manipur. The district of Churachandpur is the home of many communities of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group. These communities have affinities with the Mizos of Mizoram and Chins in Burma and in the past there have been movements for joining with Mizoram. These people are almost entirely Christian. There are several armed groups in the district reflecting the grievances of the people in the district.

The other four districts in Manipur—Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Senapati and Chandel—are inhabited by the Nagas. The Ukhrul district is the home of the Tangkhul Nagas; Tamenglong is home to the Zeliangrong group of tribes; the Senapati district is the home of four Naga tribes: Mao, Maram, Thangal, Poumai; Chandel is the home of eight Naga tribes: Aimol, Anal, Lamkang, Tarao, Kom, Maring, Moyon and Monsang. Some of these tribes have been described as Kukis by the British but they have opted to identify with the Nagas.

The fifth community is of the Indians, who include the shopkeepers, rickshaw pullers and a few industrialists. They maintain their own culture.

These communities do live side by side and do have relationships with each other, especially in the workplace, in the market and in public places. However, there is no composite culture that binds these five communities. Over the years the Meiteis have dominated the political life of the State, notwithstanding the fact that there has been a Naga Chief Minister or tribal civil servants. On a daily basis the tribal people suffer humiliations and indignities in their interaction with the dominant community.

In addition, the people of the Hill Districts have been systematically been denied their fair share in the development funds and all the good hospitals and medical facilities are available in the Valley; so also colleges and educational institutions; apart from the such facilities such as electricity and water. There is also a high degree of corruption which further marginalises the tribal communities.

The State Human Rights Commission is entirely dominated by the Meiteis and even for the short time that a Naga judge headed the Commission, he was not paid for more than six months.

The Meitei institutions and organisations exclude the tribals. For instance, the All Manipur Students Union does not include tribal students. The tribal students have their own All Tribal Students Association of Manipur.

In the imagination of a majority of Indians, the Manipur State is identified with Arjun, the Manipuri dolls with their unique costume and perhaps with the torch-bearing Meitei women called the nigh patrollers. We are unaware of the fact that four districts of Manipur are the home of the Nagas whose history is a different history from the history of the Meitei people of the Valley.

The Nagas in Manipur have been demanding that their districts be integrated with Nagaland which is contiguous. It is not the demand of the NSCN which was born only in the 1980s. The demand for integration of all Naga areas goes back to before India became independent. In fact the Naga National League under the leadership of Mr Daiho had raised the demand for integration of the Naga areas of Manipur in 1940s.

Although the Government did not concede to the demands of the Naga National League it did concede to the demand of the Naga National Council which demanded the merger of the Naga Hill district of Assam and the Tuensang district of the North-East Frontier Agency under the Ministry of External Affairs in 1957 and later this became the present State of Nagaland.

In August 1972 there was a joint agreement between the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the United Naga Integration Council and the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). The agreement stated: “It is agreed upon that the Congress Party does not oppose the Naga integration movement and does not consider the Naga integration movement as anti-party, anti-national, anti-state and unconstitutional activity.”

Why was it possible for the Meiteis to agree to the integration of Naga areas in 1972 and why are they opposing it today? The successive governments of Manipur have sabotaged the Indo-Naga peace process by opposing the extension of ceasefire to the Naga inhabited areas of Manipur. On one occasion in June 18, 2001 they even burnt down their own Legislative Assembly because the Central Government declared the extension of ceasefire to the Naga inhabited areas (all of them, not only Manipur). Then the Meities demanded that the day be declared “Manipur Integrity Day”. I had the dubious distinction of having my effigy burnt along with Prime Minister Vajpayee, Th Muivah on that occasion! This was because I had spoken on national television on the constitutional crisis.

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Now the constitutional crisis has become full blown. What are the issues?

1. In the Indo-Naga peace process whenever the Centre makes a promise the Manipur Government undermines it in the name of law and order problem. And the Government of India says it is helpless because law and order problem is a State subject. Thus the Central Government agreed to the NSCN’s demand that Th Muivah be allowed to visit his home in Ukhrul distirct. There was no apprehension of law and order because the Nagas had unanimously welcomed the decision and Th Muivah’s journey would have taken him through Naga areas. But the government of Ibobi sent his criminal force called the Indian Reserve Battalion which created a law and order problem by shooting into an unarmed crowd killing two students and injuring more than 75 villagers at the Mao gate.

2. The Legislative Assembly has 60 seats but the Nagas have only 10 MLAs. Therefore the MLAs are unable to represent the interests of their people. When the government speaks for “Manipur” in fact it does not speak for the Nagas because their MLAs’ voices are not heard. The Speaker refuses to even record their dissent. Seven MLAs have resigned. They have followed the procedure and the Speaker even accepted their resignation. But the Chief Minister did not want to have an official constitutional crisis, so the acceptance has been taken back.

All the major Naga organisations, including the Naga Hoho, the apex body of the Nagas, have given a statement that it is no longer possible for the Nagas in Manipur to live under the Meitei Government. It is a constitutional crisis which will not go away and it requires statesmanship and vision to resolve.

I have spent many years in Manipur and they have been the most meaningful ones in my life. I have learnt so much from the people living in that war-torn State. It genuinely pains me to write this article because it seems to be a betrayal of the friendship and warmth I have received from friends and acquaintances in the Valley. This article is as much an appeal to my fellow Indian citizens as to my Meitei friends to see that the integrity of Manipur lies by preserving Meitei culture and civilisation not by suppressing the development of other nationalities. I say this in much the same way I would say to my fellow Indians that the integrity of India can never be based on suppression of the democratic aspirations of Kashmiris, Bodos or other minority nationalities.

The author is a human rights lawyer and writer.

Picture from NEIST Golden Jubilee Celebration in Jorhat, Assam.

The last date for filing an entry form is September 30, 2010.

The competition themes are:

(a) Biodiversity of your locality (biodiversity around you, etc.)

(b) Traditional knowledge in healthcare and medicine (like ethno-medicine, ethno-medicinal plant, traditional knowledge on single plant phytomedicine, etc.)

(c) Water (traditional knowledge of water harvesting, etc.)

(d) Ethnic/traditional food

(e) Land/river erosion

(f) Traditional construction material and

(g) Superstition and its eradication.

The Project Report should be investigatory in nature and it should carry the information such as:

(a) Project title

(b) Name of the participating students with a passport size photo

(c) Name of the school/college and address with contact phone no and email address, etc

(d) Name of guide and supervisor

(e) Aims and objectives

(f) Methodology and materials used (if applicable)

(g) Results with diagram, tables, charts, data, etc.

(h) Conclusion and suggestion,

(i) Suggested plan of action and

(j) Biographical references and source of information.

“The student can submit the report either in English or in Assamese and the maximum word limit in 2000 words,” organisers said.

The competition will be held in two groups viz. group A & Group B. The group A will comprise of the students of Class VI to X (between age of 12-16 years) and group B will comprise of the students of Class XI to degree level (between age of 17-21 years).

The participants can group themselves into a group comprising of maximum three students and they will be required to produce a certificate from the head of the school or college where they are studying and they can take a teacher from the school or college as the supervisor or guide for the project.

In case of group “B” at least one student of the group should be from Science streams. The guidelines and the format of the project can be downloaded from www.rrljorhat.res.in.

Three copies of the project report, which should be neatly typewritten in A4 size paper with double spacing, should be submitted by registered post/speed post to:-

The Director, North East Institute of Science & Technology, Jorhat – 785006 on or before 30.09.2010.

The envelope should have the inscription “Golden Jubilee Investigatory Project Competition”. However, the participants can send an advance copy of the report to e-mail address gjcproject@rrljorhat.res.inThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The project reports will be evaluated in two phase viz. State level and North East level and the winners of the state level will be awarded with suitable prizes, certificate of appreciation and a CSIR-NEIST Golden Jubilee Year Plaque and the winners of the North East level will be awarded a studentship for two months to spend and work for two months at NEIST, Jorhat in the discipline of their choice.

The prizes will be awarded at a function to be held during final celebration of Golden Jubilee of NEIST.

Official website of NEIST: www.rrljorhat.res.in

Work on the Rs 359crore hydel project to produce electricity by harnessing the Tuirial river came to a grinding halt in 2003 in the wake of a controversy over payment of compensation “at inflated rates” for acquisition of land for the project.

Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla said the project was cleared by the Centre after he had taken up the matter with leaders in New Delhi, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week.

The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco) has been saddled with the responsibility to install the hydel plant with a revised outlay fixed at Rs 913 crore.

Though Neepco has decided to mobilize bulk of the resources for the Tuirial project by borrowing funds from banks and financial bodies, sub-marginal loans from the Centre and selling equities, officials of the company are still uncertain whether it would be able to meet the outlay.

A senior official of Neepco at its headquarters in Shillong last night said over phone that there would still be an unbridged gap between the envisaged outlay for the hydel project and funds to be mopped up from different sources.

The official said the project should be completed within three years provided the requisite funds are arranged.

The power tariff in the first year after commissioning of this much-vaunted project has been fixed at Rs 3.70 per unit.

The official, who did not wish to be named, said Neepco, which is almost certain that it would face a funds crunch for the project, would place its demand before the DoNER ministry and the Centre to bridge the gap between outlay and funds.

A senior official in the finance department of the Mizoram government pointed out that the funds from the DoNER ministry for the Tuirial project would be an additional grant besides the routine cash inflow for development projects in the hill state.

He said the government of Mizoram would get 12 per cent of the power generated from the hydel project free of cost.

Mizoram, at present, is a power-deficit state where the demand for power is 120MW while supply from various sources, including the state power department, is approximately 60MW.

The project envisages the construction of a 77-metre-high earthen dam across Tuirial, a tributary of the Barak.

A surface power station on the left bank of the river at the toe of this dam would be constructed at Bilkhawtlir for generation of 60MW of power at 45 per cent load factor.

The dread stems from Chapter 13 Verse 17 of the Book of Revelations in the Bible which says “… and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name.”

The problem has stemmed from the Unique Identification Authority of India stipulating that none could buy or sell property without the Unique ID card.

According to adherents of the belief, since buying or selling of property made one a follower of the Beast, one having the UID card, which authorized property transactions, automatically made one a follower of the Devil.

Those refusing to be enumerated belong to the Mizoram Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church of Mizoram.

Champhai District Magistrate Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said when he summoned Lalzawna the leader and high priest of a sect he was told that his religious belief would not permit him to register his name and he was ready to face any punishment.

Serchhip Deputy Commissioner H said that adherents of the belief claimed they had the religious freedom to disobey the government and were not afraid of punitive action.

“They are not afraid of being prosecuted for their beliefs as they are more afraid of being identified with the Devil,” one enumerator said.

The Presbyterian Church Synod, the highest decision making body of the largest Church in the state on June 13 issued a message to all members asking them to cooperate with census officials as it was the duty of every citizen to do so.

“We (the believers) should not be afraid of the Beast (Devil), rather the Beast should be afraid of us as we believe in God who is more powerful,” the message said.

The Church said that UID was important to identity bona fide citizens of the country and also help in identifying illegal immigrants and terrorists.

The Church also condemned people who were issuing booklets about the ‘Number of the Beast’ to terrify  church members.

The message of the Presbyterian Church was read out in all church branches in the state, but there were still some who were skeptical, a church elder said.

Enumerators were instructed by District Magistrates of all the eight districts in the state to identify those refusing to cooperate on religious grounds.

The reports lying with five District Magistrates indicated that there were 939 families who have refused to have their names registered in the NPR, official sources said.

Aizawl district has the largest number of of 483 families including 132 from Aizawl city followed by 158 families in Champhai district.

Serchhip district had 135 families and Lawngtlai district 130 families, while there were 33 families in Kolasib district refusing to be enumerated, the sources said.

District Magistrate Bidhuri convened a meeting for people who refused to cooperate with the census officials on June 11 where only two persons, after being given explanations, agreed to cooperate with officials.

The rest refused to budge from their stand even after the authorities told them that they could be fined up to Rs 1,000 and liable for imprisonment of up to three years.

They were also informed that they could be deprived of their right to franchise, ration cards, works under NREGS and other benefits from the government.

“As they have refused to believe our explanations, we may be left with no other option, but to take punitive action against them,” one official said.

The fear of the Beast is not new among Mizo Christians as many of the sects and cults have refused to enroll their children in school believing enrolment would make them adherents of the Devil.

Many have refused to have ration cards to avail rice at a cheaper rate on the same grounds even though most of them belonged to poorer sections of the society.

Middle-aged ladies carrying baskets-full of firewood and packets of vegetables talking animatedly into the device or daily wage-earners sending text messages between shifts are a common sight on the winding hilly roads.

The latest economic survey reveals that out of a population of around 10 lakh, 5,61,917 people carry mobile phones — a fact which, officials think, is remarkable since the economy is heavily dependent on the service sector for sustenance.

Agriculture and industry contribute less than 40 per cent to the economy, the survey states. – (Agencies)

The National Press Team will be touring Mizoram from June 14 -19, 2010, during which it will visit different villages and towns, where scheme projects under Rural Development, PWD, PHE departments are underway or have been succesfully completed.

During their stay, Press Information Bureau (PIB) leh Rural Development Department officials will conduct and guide their tour.