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NSCN-IM charged with pushing Nagalim

	July 05, 2004

The Assam-Nagaland Border Coordination Students Union has accused the NSCN(I-M) and the Nagaland government of pushing their expansionist agenda by encouraging encroachment.

The Extra Assistant Commissioner, Dipankar Das Dhansiri, and a police constable were shot dead by NSCN(I-M) militants when they were leading an eviction drive along the Nagaland-Assam border areas.

The main Opposition, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) scathingly criticised the incident, wondering if the Nagaland government had any role to play in it.

Vice-president of the union Gambaru Muchahary said the incident was an instance of the NSCN(I-M)’s attempt to turn its dream of Greater Nagaland into reality. The joint platform comprises the All Assam Students Union, All Bodo Students Union, the Assam Tea Tribe Students Association and the All Assam Gorkha Students Union.

He alleged that the Nagaland government was expanding its territory by forming Neiuland and Kuhoboto sub-divisions under Dimapur district in the disputed area by violating border agreements between the two states to maintain the status quo.

The student organisations criticised the government for its failure to protect the lives and property of the people. When Nagaland is building infrastructure in the disputed areas, the Assam government is treating its own people settling in the border areas as second class citizens, ABSU president Rabiram Narzary said.

The AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya demanded a permanent solution to the border dispute between the two states, saying the politicisation of the issue must be stopped.

The organisations also demanded that land pattas be allotted to the indigenous Assamese people settled in the forest reserves. The AASU adviser said the union would launch a 100-hour hungerstrike from 9 am of July 9 in support of the demand.

AGP president Brindaban Goswami, addressing a news conference, said Assam would not concede a single inch of its land. He urged the state government to ensure security to the people living in the border areas.

Goswami also called upon the people to extend support to the AGP to launch a massive mass movement to oust the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government, which has failed on all fronts.



Downsizing of Ministries

As the constitutional deadline (July 7) for reducing the size of the Ministries approaches fast, the Chief Ministers of the north-eastern states are spending sleepless nights finding ways how to meet the ticklish situation. “Who should be axed” is their major dilemma.

The rumbling and grumbling is public despite the best efforts of many ministers and chief ministers to put a brave face on inner political turmoil.

According to observers, factors of good governance are unlikely to be the yardstick by which political bosses will decide on downsizing. Every chief minister will be calculating the damage potential of those he is considering sacking. One step may be securing of resignations of all ministers and then building the team of their choice. This is a tried and tested formula from the days of country’s first Prime Minister Nehru and later Indira Gandhi. It has the sanction not just of the Congress High Command but of the Constitution.



Assam

The waiting game continues for the Assam ministers as chief minister Tarun Gogoi was scheduled to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday with a new list of Ministers for approval.

Gogoi said the names of the ministers and the structure, like how many would be accommodated in the cabinet, could be finalised only after consultation with Sonia Gandhi.

Apart from Gogoi, most of the ministers are now camping in New Delhi to lobby for their inclusion in the ministry. A Congress source close to the chief minister said to avoid his colleagues’ clamouring for ministerial berths, Gogoi is putting up at his brother and Koliabor MP Deep Gogoi’s residence in Delhi.

The Congress source said though several ministers would lose their jobs after the downsizing, a few new faces are likely to be inducted. Speaker Prithvi Majhi, Chandan Sarkar and Haren Das are likely to get a shot at the ministry.



Manipur

Manipur Ministers were likely to quit en masse on Sunday to facilitate Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh to downsize his ministry.

Ibobi Singh had been in New Delhi for the past week along with some of his senior ministerial colleagues to finalise the list. He returned to Imphal on July 2. The chief minister is said to have made the list final during his meeting with AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

At present, the strength of the Secular Progressive Front (SPF) ministry is 32, excluding the Speaker and the deputy Speaker. The new law requires Ibobi Singh to prune the ministry size to 12.

The SPF comprises the Congress, which heads the coalition, the CPI and the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP). Ibobi Singh is also likely to submit the new list of 11 ministers to governor Arvind Dave either on Sunday or Monday. The swearing-in is likely to be on Tuesday. The sources said Ibobi Singh is expected to retain some senior tribal and Congress ministers, who have the potential to trigger dissension within the party in the event of missing the bus.



Meghalaya

Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang is refusing to buckle under pressure while downsizing his ministry. He submitted his list of 12 ministers to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is awaiting her approval. Though things were going according to plan when Lapang travelled to Delhi with his list, last minute lobbying by the ministers and MLAs in the national capital led to speculation about a possible change in the original list.

Sources said the list is likely to include J.D. Rymbai, Friday Lyngdoh, H.D.R. Lyngdoh, Mukul Sangma, Debora Marak, Manirul Islam Sarkar, Cyprian Sangma and Nehlang Lyngdoh of the Congress, United Democratic Party president Donkupar Roy, Meghalaya Democratic Party president Martle Mukhim and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (Khnam) chief Paul Lyngdoh, besides the chief minister himself.