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North East : Naga peace process : Talks virtually deadlocked with NSCN(IM)

	May 23, 2005

The much hyped peace talks between the Manmohan Singh Government and the militant Naga outfit, the NSCN (Isak-Muivah), are virtually deadlocked, and if media reports are any indication, the bone of contention is integration of Naga-inhabited areas with the proposed Greater Nagaland. The militant outfit has warned for the fourth time this month that it would not hesitate to pull out of the peace talks if Delhi continued to dilly-dally on the issue of integrating Naga-inhabited areas.

NSCN (I-M) information and publicity secretary Akaho Assumi, who was privy to several rounds of talks with Delhi, accused former bureaucrat and present Arunachal Pradesh Governor S.K. Singh of scheming to sabotage the peace process.

In a stinging rejoinder, Assumi said: ‘The Arunachal Pradesh Governor is speaking the language of right-wing Indians, which resulted in a confrontation for more than five decades.’

Another top NSCN (I-M) functionary, K. Chawang, said the militant organisation would hold an emergency meeting of its ‘civil set-up’ tomorrow, for which all senior leaders of the unit had been summoned to Camp Hebron.

Chawang, however, declined to divulge why such a meeting had been convened so soon after NSCN (I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah’s departure from Nagaland. Muivah had said on arriving in Dimapur early last week that Nagas must be ‘prepared for any eventuality’.



Bangladeshi migrants : Gogoi sees red over reports of influx

A new Raj Bhavan report on illegal migration to Assam, reminiscent of the one compiled by the present Governor’s predecessor a few years ago, has provoked Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi into labelling it a worthless document based on hearsay rather than facts.

Lt Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh had ostensibly compiled the report for a conclave of Governors convened by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, but the meeting was cancelled. The document, which was allegedly leaked to the media, expresses concern over large-scale infiltration from across the border with Bangladesh.

Gogoi described Gen. Singh’s observations as ‘sweeping comments’ that have not been backed by evidence. ‘We would have examined the report had it contained facts,’ he said during a media briefing on the occasion of his government completing four years in office.

The Chief Minister’s strong reaction to the Governor’s report came amid an anti-migrant campaign in Upper Assam. The movement began with a youth organisation of Dibrugarh announcing ‘economic sanctions’ against Bangladeshi migrants, triggering an exodus of suspected illegal settlers from the town.

Gogoi said: ‘I had not given any importance to the report submitted to the Centre by the previous Governor, S.K. Sinha, on the issue of infiltration and I am not according any importance to this report, too.’

He claimed illegal migration was actually down to a trickle and his government was committed to stopping it totally. ‘It is with the aim of getting rid of illegal migrants that my government has committed itself to updating the National Register of Citizens within two years with March 25, 1971, as the cut-off year.’

The Chief Minister said Gen. Singh’s report was creating confusion among the people. He fired a salvo at the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for allegedly fuelling the oust-Bangladeshi campaign in the state and creating a communal divide.

‘They are trying to create a Godhra-like situation in the state, but we will not allow this to happen in the land of Srimanta Sankardev and Ajan Fakir,’ Gogoi said.

The Chief Minister said he had no doubt that the BJP was behind the anti-migrant campaign launched by the Chiring Chapori Juba Mancha in Dibrugarh.

The youth organisation had used SMS to urge people not to engage the services of illegal migrants or accept them as tenants. The campaign began on April 25.

On how the government intended to rid Assam of illegal migrants, he said ‘thana-level committees’ had been formed to detect and deport these people. ‘If anyone has a complaint, they should register the same with the district authorities concerned and we will ascertain the nationality of the suspect and inform the complainant about the findings within a month.’

The Chief Minister said insurgency was a bigger problem than infiltration.



Move to check influx

The Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has taken steps to prevent Bangladeshi migrants from entering the state. MDA spokesman Paul Lyngdoh said police have been alerted to prevent Bangladeshis fleeing Assam from entering Meghalaya. Director-General of Meghalaya Police W.R. Marbaniang said security has been tightened at the checkgates.

The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) and the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Peoples (FKJGP) have decided to start their own programme to check influx of Bangladeshi migrants along the Guwahati-Shillong Road.



ULFA breaks ambush lull

Silent for some time, the guns of the banned ULFA have boomed again to kill a soldier and injure four in the Upper Assam district of Sivasagar.

The ambush on a convoy of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police followed twin blasts on the rail track between Gossaigaon and Fakiragram stations in Kokrajhar district last night. Two railway employees were injured in the second blast, which occurred nearly two hours after the first. Train services on the route were suspended for the night.