Nepal updates (August 27, 2011)

1) Prashant Jha writes this: Linky

A day after he presented his credentials, the new Indian ambassador to Nepal, Jayant Prasad, faces his first major challenge of formulating and implementing a unified Indian position with regard to the government formation process underway in Nepal. The decision will bring to the fore all of New Delhi’s dilemmas regarding domestic Nepali politics.

Efforts at forging a consensus government have failed. The Nepali Congress asked the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) to give in their weapons immediately and make ‘irreversible progress’ on the peace process, primarily the integration and rehabilitation of combatants, first before they could be supported to lead a government. The Maoists asked for government leadership first, and promised to move on the peace process subsequently. There will now be elections through a majority vote in parliament. The Maoists have now projected vice chairman Dr. Baburam Bhattarai as their candidate, while the Nepali Congress has put forward its parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel to be PM.

For the Maoists to win, they need the support of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), which consists of five Madhesi parties, or the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist). For Mr. Poudel to win, he will need the support of both the UDMF and the UML. Neither UML nor the Madhesi parties have made their positions clear yet, but the overwhelming mood among Madhesi MPs is to support the Maoists. Madhesi parties feel that the radical left is a natural ally in terms of issues of ‘state restructuring and federalism’, and calculate they can extract a better power sharing deal by supporting the Maoists. Senior leaders of the UML, such as former PM Madhav Kumar Nepal, K.P. Oli, and general secretary Ishwor Pokharel, are understood to be veering towards NC though the younger MPs in the party want to give time-bound support to the Maoists making it conditional on progress in the peace process.

Some comments are in order at this stage:
a) The Madhesi feeling of support for Dr. Bhattarai's candidacy is not a unilateral move that has not been blessed by the South Block.
b) The feeling of disenchantment in the UML cadre is understandable given the factionalism that has ridden the UML, its Khanal vs. Nepal vs. Oli. The fact that Oli and Nepal are on one side does not mean that they are friends and comrades, except in grandiose posturing. Both are out to get their pound of flesh vis-a-vis Khanal.

NC leaders have told India that the CA will get dissolved without a new statute, and in that scenario, it is in Delhi’s interest to have an NC PM leading the government. If the Maoists are allowed to return to power, ‘democracy would be in danger’. For their part, the Maoists have argued that progress in the peace and constitutional process is possible only under their leadership. ‘Isolating and encircling’ them, as was tried when Madhav Kumar Nepal led an anti Maoist coalition between 2009 and 10, was doomed to fail, both Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and Dr. Bhattarai have assured Delhi that they will implement past commitments if voted to power.

The whole problem with the Maoists is that they do not understand a single thing about upholding the honor of committing to a task. So what exactly do they mean by "implementing past commitments?" Write that in red ink (if need be) on the running Sarda river. Whatever that is, Jha is a bit too optimistic to opine that:

If India still wants to see the framework succeed, it should not try to block the Maoists from forming a government by influencing the Madhesi parties against them. The Maoists have said they would move forward on the regrouping of combatants immediately and hand over the weapons as soon as their government is formed. They can be held accountable for these commitments, and the threat of allies withdrawing support would generate additional pressure on them.
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The dishonesty and overwhelming ambition of the Maoists collides with the fear and insecurity of the status quoist older parties. The internal rifts within each party make inter-party compromises even more difficult.

How does the latter square with the former? Let me read this: Maoists are ambitious, their ambition is in capturing the State with power or without, as the need may be. The other parties are a bumbling mass of idiocy. The Maoists have not adhered to their past commitments. Yet, India should let it go and not be suspicious because Dr. Bhattarai is now the contender. Thank you, sir.
2) Meanwhile, Jayant Prasad meets Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel and any number of meanings can be attached to these meetings. That said,

At present Prasad is secretary at the public diplomacy section of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, serving for the last 1 1/2 years. He is a career diplomat who started in career in 1976. Prior to his current role in the EAM, he has served as the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan and Algeria. Moreover, he has also served in different sectors of the strategic departments of Geneva, Paris and Brussels. Prasad is the son of former Indian ambassador to Nepal Bimal Prasad (1991-1995) who was appointed by then prime minister Chandrashekhar. He replaces Rakesh Sood in the Ambassadorial role.

Meanwhile,

Departing Ambassador Rakesh Sood will now be posted in Paris as the Indian ambassador there. The delay by the French government in forwarding its agreemo, thanks to public holidays in France, contributed to his delayed departure and Prasad’s delayed arrival.

3) Elsewhere in Darjeeling: Linky

Social and religious issues so long overshadowed by the larger cause of statehood has starting resurfacing in the hills, now that a political settlement has been reached on Darjeeling with the signing of the agreement to set up the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Hundreds of Buddhists today took to the streets in Darjeeling to revive some of their longstanding demands, one of them being a paid holiday on the birthday of Lord Buddha. The Lepchas, an indigenous community, also brought out a rally to demand a development council. The Buddhists made the demands under the banner of the All Buddhist Minority Welfare Association, which consists of various Gorkha communities like the Tamangs, Gurungs and non-Nepali tribes like the Sherpas, Bhutias and Yolmos.
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Religious minorities, which includes Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Jains, make up about 40 per cent of the hill population. “The state government has come up with a policy to declare a particular district Minority Concentrated District (MCD) if the minorities form 25-30 per cent of the population. But the same status has not been extended to Darjeeling district despite its higher concentration of minorities,” said Bomzon. The association claimed that 12 districts in Bengal have been accorded this status. “The government has accorded this status where the concentration of Muslim population is high. They have conveniently forgotten us,” said Bomzon. “An MCD status would entail benefits for construction of houses and stipends for education to minority members, among others.” North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Cooch Behar are among the 12 MCDs in north Bengal.

4) On the Indo-Nepal border and a reviving circus: Linky

The SSB official said people from Nepal could trade only through Pashupatinagar and Panitanki. “The customs offices are situated in these two places and if people from Nepal want to trade, they can do so from these two points, but not from Manebhanjan.” Gohian admitted that even cattle were being stopped by his personnel. “That is because most of the cattle are brought in from the other side of the border. The bribe allegation is totally false,” he said. The India-Nepal border is porous and one can step into Nepal from any place undetected.

5) More on the Gorkhaland agitation with no need to go over it beyond a certain point: Linky 1 and Linky 2

Updates (October 28, 2010)

1) Does this signal an end to the BSF woes, possibly not? Linky

In line with a major policy decision taken a few months back, Bangladesh and India both have begun construction of structures within 150 yards of the zero line along the international border at designated areas. While this is a deviation from the Indo-Bangladesh Boundary Agreement 1974, on the parts of both countries, it is essentially addressing the needs of both too. The agreement restricts any construction within 150 yards of the zero line. Bangladesh allowed India to erect fences at a dozen places having important establishments including religious installations that could not be dismantled due to the sensitive nature of those. Terrains at some of those places are also difficult for erecting fences beyond the 150 yard zone. India recently began construction of the fences. India also allowed Bangladesh to construct structures within 150 yards of the zero line at 11 points of the country.

The arrangement came following a proposal from India early last year. India had been seeking to erect such fences within 150 yards of the zero line at 46 places since the last BNP regime. Talking to The Daily Star, Director General of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam said yesterday, "As we have agreed to the Indian proposal, India is also reciprocating by allowing Bangladesh to construct a bridge in Laxmipur, expansion of a wall in Hili, construction of approach roads in Moulvibazar and Bhomra, and several other initiatives. Our mutual agreement has created a very positive environment. Both countries are now willing to resolve long standing minor issues," he said, "This will help boost border trade on both sides."

Following last year's Indian proposal, BDR inspected various border points the same year, and submitted clearance to the Bangladesh home ministry about 12 out of the 46 points. India and Bangladesh conducted combined surveys of these areas as well, the BDR DG said. "We are continuing such surveys to see if accepting the Indian proposal will affect Bangladesh adversely in anyway," he added. As per the understanding, India will erect single channel fences at those 12 areas instead of barbed wired double channel ones like it erected beyond the 150 yard zone within its own territory. He made it clear that both countries are constructing the structures within their own boundaries.

Back in the early 1990s when India began erecting fences within permissible border areas on grounds of preventing smuggling and illegal migration among other reasons, it faced some problems. It identified the 46 points at the total 4,156 kilometres (km) long border, where it could not erect fences beyond 150 yards from the zero line. For now, Bangladesh has accepted the Indian proposal for erecting the fences within the 150 yard zone at 12 of the points. Bangladesh will decide about the remaining 34 places only after a joint verification in Assam and Meghalaya, said Bangladesh official sources.

Bangladesh foreign ministry sources said India told them that the fences will be erected over a period of time, and no timeframe has been fixed for completion of the joint survey. India however requested to expedite the verification process, they said. The officials, quoting Indian sources, said only 248 km of the allowed 571 km of such fencing along the border between Bangladesh and the Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya has been completed. Work is in progress for 123 km more, while for the remaining length (200 km) there are objections either from Meghalaya or Bangladesh, they added.

India has so far fenced 3,300 km of the border beyond the 150 yard zone within its own territory in line with the boundary agreement. According to BDR sources, the Indian authorities started erecting fences within 50 yards of the zero line at Azampur frontier under Akhaura of Brahmanbaria on Saturday. They said the neighbouring country already placed alignment designs for the 12 places. An official of the Bangladesh home ministry said, on condition of anonymity, that the government agreed to allow India to erect the fences within the 150 yard zone because of difficult terrains beyond that point. Citing examples, he said there is a religious establishment within five yards of the zero line at Hili border, and there is a wall at the boundary pillar in Benapole.

2) Faruk Khan's visit to India Linky

The minister said Bangladesh and India came up with some major developments such as establishment of border haats [commodity markets], agreement on movement of trucks between the countries, import of 3 lakh metric tonnes of par-boiled rice and 2 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from India and ensuring cotton-import quota for Bangladesh.

On Saturday, Bangladesh and India signed an MoU for establishing two border haats along the Meghalaya border. These haats will be opened by mid-February next year. Some 20 types of goods -- mainly agri and agro-based -- will be displayed for sale where currencies of the both countries will be accepted. Another major development of the visit, as the commerce minister claimed, was allowing transit for trucks from Nepal to Bangladesh up to Land Customs stations. India committed to do it during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in January this year.

India has also agreed to consider Bangladesh's demand of excluding 61 items, including garments, from its sensitive list of 480 items, said Faruk Khan, adding that Bangladesh will get to import 11 lakh bales of cotton from India this year out of its total import demand of 55 lakh bales. The commerce minister termed the cotton deal the biggest success of his visit. So far this year, Bangladesh did not get 1.35 lakh bales of cotton from India despite opening of LCs. Bangladesh imports 30-35 percent of its cotton requirement from India.

India has also made other pledges including accreditation of certification of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI), reduction of items in its sensitive list, withdrawal of tagging "Made in Bangladesh" label on each jute bag exported to the country, he said. During the visit the business communities of the countries signed four memorandums of understanding (MoU) including setting up of a joint venture packaging industry in Bangladesh by Indian SRS Group and Nitol Group of Bangladesh. The Indian company will invest $50 million in this venture.
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Khan said the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, probably in January next, would help settle issues like allowing duty and quota-free export of apparel products to India. Referring to the non-tariff barrier in export of jute bags from Bangladesh to India, Khan said he discussed it with Indian Textile Secretary Rita Menon who assured him of necessary change in the law. Khan said allowing more garment items and jute bags from Bangladesh will reduce the huge trade imbalance between the two neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, Bangladesh would be able to export duty-free 1.7 million pieces of textile products in the last quarter of this year while a fresh duty-free quota of 8 million pieces would take effect from January 2011, he added.

3) Transit rights and other matters Linky

Bangladesh will hold talks with Nepal and Bhutan soon on allowing them to use Chittagong and Mongla ports, and sign Memorandums of Understanding as per the joint communiqué signed by the prime ministers of Bangladesh and India. Dhaka will also have talks with Delhi on the matter as both Nepal and Bhutan will need Indian land corridor for using the two ports. "We will visit Nepal and Bhutan soon, may be at the end of this month or early next month, to discuss the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports by the two countries. After reaching a decision with them, we will discuss it with India," the adviser told The Daily Star later.
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He mentioned that the shipping ministry is overseeing setting up of land customs offices at some border points. Procedure of operation has been settled for trucks from Nepal and Bhutan which will cross 200 metres from zero point, he added. The meeting emphasised building power transmission lines immediately for import of 250 MW electricity from India. It also discussed taking up more projects with the $1 billion Indian credit.
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Asked about sharing of the Teesta water, the adviser said it will take time to estimate the quantity of water the two countries now get.

4) News adds on the MOUs Linky

Four more MOUs were signed between Bangladesh and India during the commerce minister's visit to India. Of them three were signed with the Tata group. "Tata wants to study the feasibility of assembling Tata pickups in Bangladesh and production of retail parts of Tata vehicles used in Bangladesh. It also wants to open driving schools." Indian SRS Group and Bangladeshi Uttara Packing have also signed an MOU on setting up a joint packaging factory in Bangladesh. Both the countries have decided that trucks of both countries can enter 200 meters inside their borders.

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Elsewhere
5) ULFA talks: Linky

A local court today granted bail to ULFA political adviser and senior leader Bhimkanta Buragohain who served seven years in Tezpur jail. Additional Judge of Sonitpur district and sessions court Hemadevi Phukan Bhuyan granted Buragohain, popularly known as Mama, bail on the submission of surety of Rs 25,000 each for two bail petitions moved by his nephews Anup Phukan and Kula Mohan Barua.

Telegraph adds: Linky

Buragohain will now be taken to Guwahati Central Jail. He is likely to be released in a day or two after his one of relatives submits a bail bond. The court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) here had already granted bail to the Ulfa leader regarding one pending case and is awaiting submission of a bail bond. “I feel good as I am free now. I have not been able to meet my people for a long time. I have met a few of my relatives today on the court premises and felt really good,” Burgohain, while talking to The Telegraph today over phone from Tezpur, said. “I am happy that the process of releasing the jailed leaders of the outfit has started. However, our chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and other key leaders like Chitraban Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury are still inside the jail. I hope they are also released soon as the ongoing peace process can gain momentum only after the release of all the jailed leaders,” he said.

6) India-Burma trade: Linky

While India is almost prepared for the Indo-Myanmar border trade, the Myanmarese government has many works to finish for the same, an official said today. PK Neihsial, Superintendent of Central Land Custom based at Champhai, informed DoNER Secretary Jayati Chandra, who visited the proposed border trade area at Zokhawthar, said the border trade was yet to be commissioned. “While Mizoram almost prepared for the border trade, the Myanmarese government has not executed works as expected. Among others, the road from Tiau (border point) to Tiddim is yet to be made an all-season road,” the official informed the DoNER Secretary.

According to the customs official, border trade was taking place unofficially on one or two items of the 40 trade items listed for the border trade. He said fertilizers, bicycles, vehicle spare parts and medicines were at the top of the list of the items which Myanmar wanted to import from India. Neihsial also said all the departments concerned were ready to occupy their offices at the Land Custom building once the border trade took off.

7) The GJM travails: Linky

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has decided to seek the opinion of all its leaders across the country before accepting the proposed set-up for the hills, an indication that the outfit is walking a tightrope and wants to avoid a Sixth Schedule-like fiasco that also brought out Subash Ghisingh’s nemesis. Sources confirmed that Morcha president Bimal Gurung would invite its unit leaders from across the country for deliberations on the interim set-up and Gorkhaland. “The meeting will be held very soon,” a source said. The date could probably be October 30, another source said.

The Morcha has formed units in the seven northeastern states besides Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It has a unit in Calcutta, too. The Nepali-speaking people from across the country had supported the Morcha agitation for Gorkhaland as they saw in it a solution to the identity issue of the Gorkhas. The new state, it was said, would give the Gorkhas the identity they had been craving for by differentiating between the Nepali-speaking Indians and the citizens of Nepal. Although the party has been insisting that the proposed arrangement is only temporary and the statehood movement will continue, Gurung and his think tank are wary because the initial agitation was for a new state and not a new administrative set-up. Under the circumstances, the Morcha wants a consensus to be reached before the interim set-up deal is inked. Observers said the Morcha did not want a repeat of the Sixth Schedule fiasco, another reason why a consensus is needed.

In the past, the Centre, the state and the Subash Ghisingh-led GNLF had signed a Memorandum of Settlement for conferring the Sixth Schedule status on the three hill sub-divisions of Darjeeling. The status could not be conferred because of a spontaneous opposition in the hills. The delay in amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution — the process starting almost one-and-a-half years from when the settlement was inked in 2006 — to include the Darjeeling hills proved to be Ghisingh’s nemesis. “Gurung is aware how Ghisingh, who was then considered the undisputed leader of the hills but had to go because of the mass opposition. The Morcha leadership does not want a repeat and will try to convince its unit leaders that the interim set-up is only for two years and that the party has not set aside the Gorkhaland issue,” said an observer.

The party is likely to firm up its decision on the interim set-up only after receiving feedbacks from its unit leaders. In fact, the Morcha yesterday asked its leaders from the Dooars and Terai to submit their opinions complete with their address and phone numbers. “A similar exercise will be conducted when members of other units are invited for discussion,” the source added. The prospect of settling the interim issue within the next political-level talks seems real as Gurung seems to have worked out a strategy to solve the territorial dispute. He has hinted that the solution is in the formation of a joint verification committee that will survey the Dooars and Terai and submit a report by 2011. “(After that) the government has to agree to include the Nepali-dominated areas in the administrative arrangement that will be in force till 2012,” he said yesterday.

8) On Anthony Shimray: Linky

Immediately after his arrest, the NSCN-IM’s special envoy, V.S. Atem, had written an angry protest letter to the Centre. But sources said the outfit soon realised the harm done to the talks and its chairman Isak Chishi Swu wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — and Muivah to the home ministry — explicitly “withdrawing” that letter.

Updates

1) Activists to launch movement for ‘Greater Jharkhand' Linky

The ‘Greater Jharkhand' would comprise Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal and Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundergarh and Sambalpur districts of Orissa, besides Jharkhand, founder president of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), Surya Singh Besra told a press conference here.

2) Mizoram: Linky

Forty five villages in Mizoram were required to be relocated due to the fencing work on the Indo-Bangladesh border. Of the villages, 29 in Lawngtlai district, seven in Lunglei district and two in Mamit district needed to be relocated, Home Minister R Lalzirliana told the assembly yesterday.

3) Linky

On September 19 Maoists abducted seven policemen from Bhopalpatnam in Bijapur, over 500 km from Raipur, close to the Andhra Pradesh border. Three policemen were killed a day later. Assistant sub-inspector Sukhram Bhagat and constables B Toppo, Narendra Bhosle and Subhash Ratre are held captive. “The Chattisgarh government has established a backdoor contact with a section of the military unit of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). It is holding secret talks with the rebels,” the reliable source told IANS. “We are looking into their (Maoists) demands. We have conveyed our intention that the deadline should be extended comprehensively. No demand can be met with a trigger on our heads,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Linky

Some CPI(Maoist) leaders are trying to field their wives and relatives in the forthcoming Assembly polls. At some places, they are themselves planning to contest the polls slated for October-November.

Sources said that a former area commander of CPI(Maoist), Prithi Raj Hembram alias Police Da, is contesting the polls from Chakai constituency in Naxal-infested Jamui district. He is trying his luck as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate. The constituency is presently represented by Falguni Prasad Yadav of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Hembram hails from Chandramandi police station area of Jamui district. In police records, Hembram was named in 13 incidents of Naxalite violence in the region. “But he has been granted bailed in all the cases pending against him,” said Jamui Superinten-dent of Police Kamal Kishore Singh.

Devta Devi, wife of Gaurishankar Jha, a former zonal commander of Maoists’ north Bihar regional committee, is all set to contest the election from Riga seat in Sitamarhi district. Devta, who is at present block pramukh of Purnahia block in Naxal-hit Sheohar district, is lobbying for a ticket from a national party. Jha, who is credited with establishing the base of the Maoist outfit in Sheohar, Sitamarhi and East Champran, is currently lodged in Sitamarhi district jail.

Another Naxalite leader Sanjeev Yadav alias Vijay ji is trying to field his wife from Gurua Assembly seat in Gaya district. A member of Bihar-Jharkhand Special Area Committee, Yadav is trying to get a Janata Dal (United) ticket for his wife. Gurua is at present represented by Shakeel Ahmad Khan of the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Though Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesman of JD(U) Shivanand Tiwari denied that any Naxalite leader approached the party for a ticket from Gaya or Aurangabad, sources said that Yadav was in constant touch with some senior leaders of the JD(U). In 1990 Gurua was represented by a top Naxal leader, Ramadhar Singh alias Guruji.

Sources said that Singh’s son Ashok is making all out efforts to get a ticket either from the JD(U) or the RJD from Rafiganj seat in Aurangabad district. Intelligence sources said that at least half a dozen Maoists or their relatives would be contesting the forthcoming Assembly poll from different constituencies. While some of them would fight the elections as the official candidates of recognised parties, many others may contest as independents.

A politburo member Kameshwar Baitha has already been elected as a member of Parliament from Jharkhand’s Palamu. Baitha had contested the elections from behind the bars.

4) ULFA update Linky

The fleeing of a group of ULFA members, of whom five are said to be close to outfit commander-in-chief (c-in-c) Paresh Baruah, from Bangladesh to Assam last Wednesday has made Dispur go euphoric. It is as if a dialogue with the proscribed outfit could start any day. On Monday, the Centre’s interlocutor for peace talks with the ULFA, PC Haldar, met Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and discussed the peace process with the outfit. Gogoi said that the ULFA members who had deserted their camps in Bangladesh were in Assam "to join the peace process and are not in the custody of the police but in their own places among their own people." Therefore, as the Chief Minister said, the development "has made us more hopeful of holding talks at the earliest." He also said that more and more ULFA members were realizing the futility of an armed struggle and deciding to come and join the peace process.

What will be the centrality of the peace process? In an e-mail statement to the media on Monday, Paresh Baruah said, "Every member of the group, including me, has no complaints about going to the negotiating table for a respectable dialogue, but without compromising our ideology. There is no pro-talks or anti-talks group within ULFA." He harped on the "unity" of the outfit and rubbished the reports of a split in it. He said that there were differences within the outfit only on "the way to going to the negotiating table, which is a minor one."

How does one construe this? A realistic interpretation of the latest Paresh Baruah discourse cannot lose sight of the fact that he is still adamant when it comes to the "ideology" of the outfit, though this time there is no mention of a "sovereign Assam" outside the ambit of the Indian Constitution. The question now is whether Baruah has already dropped the demand for a "sovereign Assam" and replaced it with the "ideology" of the outfit, implying the advocacy of the cause of Assam within the framework of the Indian democracy in relation to the discrimination meted out to the State by New Delhi, or whether by "ideology" he still means "sovereignty", merely changing the word to mean the same thing. If the former is true, with Baruah on board one fine day, the peace process might yield the desired results. But if the ULFA c-in-c is still insisting on the absurdity of a sovereignty outside the purview of the Indian Constitution, he is either sending out the message that he has nothing to do with the peace process because he cannot at all dispense with the many illicit businesses on foreign shores in which he has huge stakes, or living in a fool’s paradise, failing to see the writing on the wall.

Can a man who has been the c-in-c of an outfit such as the ULFA for the past 31 years be living in a fool’s paradise? Can he be still unintroduced to the reality of the day — that in Assam there is no support for the ULFA-defined sovereignty and the educated youth, who are the future of the State, have nothing to do with such sovereignty because they want to be stakeholders in the happening of the India of the 21st century — an India poised to overtake China as the world’s fastest growing major economy by 2015? He cannot be. Baruah is informed by the fact of life in Assam, and yet he must pretend that he comes across starkly different facts of life because he must sustain the myth that he has championed Assam’s cause all along, despite the hijacking of his outfit’s agenda by hostile foreign powers in Bangladesh after 1990. Wisdom lies in doing away with such pretence; terrorism dressed up as insurgency cannot have any ideology.

It is meaningless for the ULFA leadership, especially Baruah, to cling on to the "sovereignty" demand when they know it only too well that the Government of India will never preside over its own dismemberment. And why should it? The people of Assam already enjoy the sovereignty bestowed on them by virtue of they being citizens of a sovereign nation-state. As simple as that.

Elsewhere, Linky

Central Government’s interlocutor PC Haldar today met the jailed leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in the Central jail here for a detailed discussion on the possibility of initiating the process of talks, while, three more members of the militant outfit returned from Bangladesh last night bringing the number of those who came back to the State within this week to 31.

5) Nepal SATP update:

There are sharp disagreements between the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and the Nepali Congress (NC) on how to end the current stalemate on Government formation, reports Kantipuronline. The NC argues that the parties should agree to a ‘package deal’ on the fundamental issues of the new constitution, critical issues of the peace process and power sharing arrangements before its candidate for the Prime Minister’s (PM) post, Ram Chandra Poudel, withdraws his candidacy. The Maoist party, meanwhile, continues to stand by its previous position that the withdrawal should precede any deal. Speaker Subash Nembang convened a meeting of the Maoists, NC, Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and Madhesh-based parties on September 28 to break the deadlock, but in vain. The ninth round of the PM poll is scheduled for September 30.

6) Gorkhaland Linky

The Adivasi and Rajbangshi outfits of the Dooars and Terai and Cooch Behar district today said they would request Mamata Banerjee to visit the regions, the invitation opening up the Trinamul Congress scope to expand its base in north Bengal where the Left Front has been losing ground since last year’s Lok Sabha polls. The Adivasi and Rajbangshi pleas also mean the Congress, which in other circumstances could have cashed in on the erosion of the Left support base, will have to yield space to Mamata.
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For Trinamul, this is a chance to make inroads in the region. Unlike in the hills where the party can at best ride piggy back on the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, in the plains Trinamul can count on the support of the tribals to set up its own base. The 2009 parliamentary polls revealed that the Left’s vote share had gone down significantly, compared to 2004, in the tribal-Nepali dominated Dooars and Terai and in Rajbangshi-concentrated Cooch Behar.

Adivasi leader Barla said one of the reasons for the tribals moving away from the Left was that despite several representations, the state government had done little to improve the infrastructure in the region. “Besides, tea workers who have been living in the gardens for generations have not been given land rights.” A CPM minister of north Bengal said: “The tribals and the Nepalis constitute nearly 80 per cent of the population of the Dooars and Terai and that is a cause for worry for the Left. Trinamul is likely to get good support from them’’.

7) Assam Rifles uvacha Linky

The Assam Rifles has set up a full-fledged field intelligence unit with the strength of 200 personnel to gather information on militants and smuggling activities along the Indo-Myanmar border, Yadava said. The setting up of the unit assumes significance in view of growing militant activities and largescale smuggling of arms from across the border. He said the officer-dominated unit was deployed in the sector headquarters all over the Northeast and the men working in the unit are well trained to gather intelligence along the Myanmar border.

The official said there was a need to beef up intelligence along the border, as many militants from the Northeast take shelter in Myanmar after leaving Bangladesh. The men posted at the unit will mingle with the local population to gather information. “Earlier we had only an ad hoc intelligence unit and now we have the full fledged unit,” the official said. Yadava admitted that there was movement of the Northeast militants along the border, but the difficult terrain and weather conditions hampered anti-insurgency activities. He added that 26 more battalions will be sanctioned by the Centre to guard the Myanmar border, but the delay was because of the pending decision on the part of the government whether the BSF should raise these battalions or not.

8) NSCN Linky

NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chishi Swu is expected to land in New Delhi soon for the next round of parleys with central leaders. Sources in the NSCN (I-M) said Swu’s coming was a sign of breakthrough in the Naga peace talks. “Major general” Phungthing Shimrang, the convenor of the ceasefire monitoring cell of the NSCN (I-M), admitted that there has been a breakthrough in the talks and Swu was expected to land in New Delhi soon though the date had not been fixed yet. Sources in the NSCN (I-M) said there was a problem with Swu’s travelling documents and Delhi was trying to clear them.

9) This one is in a special category of its own, thats why we have our "Incredible India" section: Linky

Violating protocol, Magadh University vice-chancellor (VC), Arvind Kumar, interrupted Bhutan Prime Minister Jigme Thinley while he was delivering a special lecture with a bouquet of demands. The note contained three demands, including financial assistance for the construction of a building for Buddhist studies on the university premises. Thinley politely turned down the demand for the financial help, saying it was not within his rights to grant funds for any construction work. The Bhutan cabinet and not the Prime Minister has the authority to make such commitments, he said. The two other demands pertained to a book grant and the establishment of a Buddhist chair in the department of Buddhist studies. The Bhutan Prime Minister accepted them.

The incident last night on the varsity premises embarrassed several dignitaries, including Gaya district magistrate Sanjay Kumar, who told the Telegraph “Besides violation of protocol, the incident revealed that the organisers of the Magadh University function were not even familiar with the basic etiquettes. Interrupting a foreign dignitary in the middle of his speech is something unheard of.”

Incrediblo, thy name is Indian politicso!

1) Rahul oxygen for Kosi’s terror twins Linky

The Congress has unwittingly given a fresh lease of life to Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Anand Mohan — the incarcerated underworld operators who were gasping for survival. Last year, the two dons, whose names once struck terror in the Kosi belt, were sentenced to life terms in prison. While Pappu was convicted in the murder of CPM legislator Ajit Sarkar, Mohan was found guilty for lynching IAS officer G. Krishnaiyyah in 1994. Both are serving term in jail. Their appeal against the order is pending in the Supreme Court. Their efforts to hold their sway through their wives suffered a body blow in last year’s Lok Sabha polls. While Ranjita Ranjan, wife of Pappu Yadav, lost her Lok Sabha seat, Lovely Anand, the wife of Mohan, was crushed in Sheohar, where the BJP’s Rama Devi won.

The Congress’ attempt to find a foothold in Bihar has apparently given a new lease of life to the two “dons”, whose political obituary pundits were busy writing, till the oldest party of India roped in the duo ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s visit on Saturday. Pappu Yadav has already established his control over the Youth Congress by getting his staunch supporter Lallan Yadav elected as its state unit president and his wife nominated as the party’s spokesman. Anand Mohan, too, has succeeded in getting Lovely serve the Congress in the run up to the assembly polls. Both Ranjita and Lovely canvassed in the Kosi belt’s hinterlands to ensure the success of Rahul’s visit. The walls in Saharsa were plastered with his pictures standing in the middle of Ranjita and Lovely. The posters described Rahul as the “future leader” of India while urging the people to respond to his call for a change of rule in the state.

2) Assam elections and freebies Linky

With the 2011 Assembly election nearing and about one-and-a-half months having already elapsed for his treatment in Mumbai, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is now racing against time to implement all the 87 populist schemes before the election. From New Delhi, Gogoi today instructed all the ministers to submit detailed progress reports on the implementation of his special schemes as well as the new development schemes/projects that had been announced in this year’s annual Budget latest by September 15. He also asked Employment Generation Mission Chairman CK Das to submit the progress report on employment-related matters by September 15. According to sources, Gogoi will start discharging his duties from September 13 at Dispur and oversee the implementation of all the populist schemes set to be implemented on a war footing.

The Chief Secretary has already set targets for the departments concerned for the implementation of the schemes. The departments have been asked to send all proposals of the schemes to the Planning and Development (P&D) and Finance departments well ahead of time. The agility on the part of the Chief Minister should have got applause from all quarters, but conscious circles in the State are taking it differently. “Had Gogoi been agile over the last nine years, the picture of the State would have been different today, the flood-ravaged Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts would have got a lot of relief, the ageing embankments in the State would have got a fresh lease of life, and the State would not have lost crores of Central funds meant for various Centrally sponsored schemes and projects for which the Centre has refused to release the subsequent instalments due to the failure on the part of the State Government to submit the utilization certificates of the first instalments of the funds released,” they said. They are surprised at the unusual haste on the part of the Chief Minister to implement the short-term schemes at the cost of the long-term ones.

3) Gorkhaland Linky

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha today claimed “victory”, with the Centre and the state “tentatively” agreeing to hand over excise, the regional transport authority and the management of forests and the cinchona plantation to the proposed interim authority for the Darjeeling hills. All three subjects had so far been outside the purview of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, which the new set-up will replace. However, contentious issues like the territorial jurisdiction of the new arrangement, its composition and the mode of appointing its members were not part of today’s official-level tripartite talks and have been left to be sorted out at the political round. Another point that remains to be thrashed out is the tenure of the interim set-up. While the Morcha wants it to end by December 31, 2011, the state government has been insisting that it should be stretched to five years.
...
At the same time, funds meant for the Border Area Development Project (BADP) is unlikely to be given over to the new authority as it is directly under the Union home ministry. The Morcha has demanded that the DGHC workers must be regularised before the new set-up is put in place. “The state government, which was represented by the home secretary has agreed to look into the matter,” said Giri. The council currently has 6,321 casual workers. The hill party today told the state and the Centre that if peace was to be restored in the region “at least the Gorkha-dominated areas of the Terai and Dooars” must be included in the interim set-up. “Detailed discussion on this would be taken up only at the political level,” said Giri. Sources in Delhi said it had been agreed that the new body would be called Gorkhaland Regional Authority.

Meanwhile, Linky

Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh today refused to be dragged into the controversy over the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s demand to include the Terai and the Dooars in the interim set-up even as an anti-Gorkhaland outfit here demanded the BJP MP’s resignation for being “biased”. The Bangla O Bangla Bhasha Banchao Committee, which had called a 24-hour bandh here to protest the official-level tripartite talks with the Morcha and which coincided with the Citu-sponsored countrywide strike, burnt the effigy of the BJP leader a few hours ahead of his first visit to town.

“Since his election, Singh has never visited Siliguri or allocated any money from his local area development funds for the plains. So far, he has only visited the hills and has only worked for the interests of the Morcha. He has allotted money for the hills only, although his constituency includes the Siliguri subdivision also,” said Mukunda Majumdar, the president of the Bhasha Committee. “We demonstrated this morning against his political stand which encourages the partition of Bengal and we want him to resign from his post. A by-election should be held to elect a new MP from the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency who does not have any such biased political stance,” Majumdar said. His outfit is against the Morcha demand for a new state and the inclusion of the Dooars and the Terai in the set-up proposed for the hills.

Updates

1) Oz elections is a bloody mess -- and needing a loong separate post from the weekend papers I could amass. A hung and dry Parliament keeping statisticians on tenterhooks. We may have to wait for another week or so to know who has the best shot for the minority government --- Labor or Liberal. Seems like Labor have just a tad of an outside shot now. The independent MPs seem to be having a whale of a time, shining in the limelite that the media could shower upon these folks.
2) Nepal elections are another bloody mess. It is de javu time. The only seriously funny incident worth noting this time is that:

The Maoist chief, who had entered the ring on Monday claiming he could win since he had managed to woo a bloc of four parties from the Terai, which had been sitting neutral earlier, proved to have been deluded as 206 lawmakers abstained from voting, opposing the Maoists’ failure to fulfil their peace commitments. With 111 MPs voting against him, the 55-year-old former prime minister could get only 10 votes from outside his party, tantalisingly short of the halfway mark of 300 needed to form the new government.

When will they stop this farce?
3) Some important news on the top maoist Polituburo, not reported broadly enough. Linky

A fast track court today awarded life imprisonment to two top Maoists — Amitabh Bagchi (53) and Tauhid Mulla alias Kartik (36). The court of Alok Kumar Dubey handed down the order after the duo was found guilty of waging war against the nation and also indulging in unlawful activities. The judgment comes exactly a year after the two were booked by the Ranchi police on August 24, 2009. Bagchi, a CPI (Maoist) politburo member and secretary of the central military commission of the outfit, and Mulla, a Bengal state committee member — are from Shyampukur in Calcutta and Murshidabad respectively. Bagchi was calm when the court delivered the verdict around 4 in the afternoon but Mulla appeared nervous. He repeatedly pleaded with the court to find him a way out.

The court delivered the judgment on the basis of a large number of Maoist documents and books recovered from Bagchi. Moreover, no policemen or witnesses turned hostile in the case. Additional public prosecutor S.N. Khanna said there were eight prosecution witnesses, but none for the Maoists. Bagchi’s books — Jail Break Jehanabad and Dandkaranya Nai Jansatta — were found to be highly provocative by the court. Moreover, the documents in his possession had details of the outfit’s structure and names of cadres manning the outfit. The two were arrested last year from Ranchi railway station.

A case was registered against the duo at the Chutia police station under Section 121 of IPC (waging war against the government) and Section 10 and 13 (B) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and 17 Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act. The judge, in his order, said the crime committed by the two was more heinous than the ones involving the killing one or two persons. “They have been found guilty of preparing the whole generation to wage war against the nation,” the court said.

Bagchi has several pseudo names, including Amit, Anil, Sumit, R.K. Da, Suman and Sumananda Singh. He is the son of one Ranjeet Bagchi, a resident of Shivdas Bhaduri Street under Shyampukur police station of Calcutta. Mulla is son of Farid Mulla of Bucha Danga under Newada police station of Murshidabad district in Bengal. Sources said Bagchi happened to be the member of the CPI (Maoist) politburo, as well as a member of the Central Military Commission, the body that decides the armed strikes by Maoists across the country, and a member of the rebel central working committee and the eastern regional command.

4) Linky

Maoist rebels suffered another blow today as one of their top ranking commanders, who was wanted for murder, extortion and loot for seven years, surrendered before North Chotanagpur IG Manoj Mishra and DIG U.P. Singh in Bokaro, sending out signals of widening crack, in the rebels ranks. The surrender of Ramendra Singh alias Pankaj Singh (51), who was the in charge of outfit in Rohtas, Kaimur, Aurangabad, Jehanabad in Bihar and Chatra, Koderma in Jharkhand, came as a bolt from the blue for the Maoist organisation, which is yet to come to terms with the July 16 surrender of another top leader and explosives expert Varun Manjhi.

5) Can you believe this story? They first caught Nickole Tamang, an out of the blue capture in the first place. Then, he escaped. If I were Madan Tamang's kith or kin, I would nt know whether to laugh or cry at this bloody farce. Linky

Nickole Tamang apparently escaped yesterday morning when one of the policemen guarding him stepped away from him to take a cellphone call as the signal was feeble. CID officers said that a little before 6.30am, Nickole told constable Arabinda Kumbhakar he wanted to go to the toilet attached to the ground floor room of cottage No. 29, where he was being detained. A few minutes later, the constable — the other on-duty guard had gone out for tea — received a call on his cellphone. But the signal being weak, Kumbhakar stepped out of the room and walked further away where the reception was clearer.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader came out of the toilet after some time and, finding the constable busy speaking over the phone in another corner of the cottage, quietly slipped out, the police said. “It appears that Nickole cleverly guessed from the fading voice of the constable that he was moving away from the room. He grabbed the opportunity to escape,” a police officer said. Kumbhakar found Nickole’s room empty after he finished his conversation and raised the alarm. Police records show that Kumbhakar was away from his post between 6.32am and 6.40am, handing Nickole, the prime accused in the Madan Tamang murder case, eight minutes to make his getaway.

6) The Naga bodies can mess with the Meiteis, can they mess with the ULFA? One bunch of thugs beating up another. Instant karma. Linky

Reacting to the threats by NSCN (IM) that it would evict Assamese people living in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh if the economic blockade launched by AASU and AJYCP activists in the wake of NSCN (IM) attacks on the villagers of Charaipung area in Assam continues, the pro-talk faction of United Liberation Front of Asom said it would begin an economic blockade against Changlang district by closing the Margherita-Changlang road at Margherita from 5 am tomorrow for 72 hours. Announcing the protest programme, general secretary of the group, Jiten Dutta informed that if NSCN (IM) did not withdraw their threat to the Assamese people of Tirapdistrict, it would block all the roads leading to Arunachal Pradesh from Assam. It may be mentioned that the road that leads to Khonsa, district headquarter of Tirap, from Jaypur in Dibrugarh district has been blocked by activists of AJYCP, AASU and other organisations since August 21 last.

At the press meet convened at the Press Club here today which was also attended by the vice president of the faction, Prabal Neog, Dutta stated that theywould also take similar action against the people of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland living in Assam if NSCN takes any action against the people from Assam living in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh or in Nagaland.

Here is more on the contested border between Assam and Arunachal. Linky

The border in the district, which is 101 km in length falls under four Police Stations, namely Titabor, Borhola, Teok and Mariani and there are as many as 13 border outposts, namely Panikhaiti, Bekajan, Gorajan, Gahorichowa, Bandar Chaliha, Kheremiya, New Panikhaiti, Rajabari, Gabharu, Disoi Valley, Chutiabari, New-Chungtia and New Sonowal. The people of Nagaland have encroached the whole disputed bordering areas of Assam by and large and made permanent settlement there. Sometimes tension prevails between the local people of Assam near the border and Naga encroachers due to various disputes. There are ample evidences of threatening the local entrepreneurs by the armed militants of the neighbouring district in those areas in earlier times. In such a situation, it is an astonishing fact how the interstate border is going on without a permanent border magistrate there since last 12 years.

Meanwhile,

The United Naga Council (UNC) of Manipur has extended the 20 day economic blockade on Manipur which was to end on Tuesday morning by another 25 days after New Delhi allegedly failed to intervene into their demands. A spokesman of UNC told the local press that they are extending their agitation since their demands are not fulfilled. A meeting of the Council was also held in Senapati district headquarter, 60 km north of here on Saturday.

The only saving grace this time is that: Linky

The extension of the blockade on National Highway 39 and 53, the life-lines of the State, forced Central para-military forces to intensify their routine road opening patrol (ROP) along the 65 km Mao-Kangpokpi sector of NH 39 on Tuesday. Speaking to The Assam Tribune, SP Nishit Ujjwal of Senapati district, said that the ROP has been intensified by six companies of CRPF and two companies of BSF along the route. “We have also alerted the police”, he added. The police official also confirmed the arrival of around 190 goods trucks from outside the State along the NH 39. A CRPF team also escorted around 32 empty trucks from Imphal to Nagaland sector of the Highway on Tuesday. When contacted over telephone, Nagaland police at Khuzama check gate bordering Manipur’s Mao Gate confirmed the movement of emptytrucks with CRPF escorts. Meanwhile, sources here said that another fleet of around 300 goods trucks are on their way to Imphal through the Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar Highway (NH 53).

Thank god for small happinesses.
7) Meanwhile, the CPI custodian has changed tack?! Linky

CPI’s national executive committee member Promode Gogoi today said that 60 lakh of the 2.6 crore people of Assam were Bangladeshis, and the problem of foreigners in the State should be solved by updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Talking to newsmen here today, the veteran CPI leader said: “In 1997, the then Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta told the Parliament that there were 40 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam, and that 40 lakh Bangladeshis have increased to 60 lakh now.” He said that nowhere in the world, foreigners were given the voting right. “AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal is doing business in Kuwait, but he cannot cast his vote there. It’s only in Assam that a large number of foreigners have got the voting right,” Gogoi said, and added: “It’s condemnable that the State Government has put on hold the work of the NRC pilot project following a protest programme by an organization.”

Updates

1) UT status for Gorkhaland Linky

The Centre is considering granting Union territory status to the Darjeeling hills on the lines of the Delhi model after the expiry of the proposed interim authority’s tenure. The term of the interim authority, according to the Centre’s proposal, ends on December 31, 2011. The Centre is trying to find a permanent solution to the statehood problem, particularly with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha unwilling to accept an extension in the proposed authority’s term. The Centre feels there is little possibility of the Bengal government agreeing to the Morcha demand for additional territory — the party wants the Dooars and the Terai besides the Darjeeling hills — or statehood.

Granting Union territory status to the hills is being seen as a face-saver for the stakeholders with all sides compromising on their stand on additional territory, officials in New Delhi said. The proposed plan, based largely on the National Capital Territory model of Delhi, will offer an elected Assembly with sizeable legislative powers to the hills. At present, only two of the seven Union territories — Delhi and Puducherry — have elected legislative Assemblies. The Centre wants the Bengal governor to play the role of the lieutenant governor. However the Centre’s plan needs to cross several hurdles, including convincing the new government at Writers’ Building after the Assembly polls next year.

2) If one had read the Namrata Goswami's four scenarios, one of them visualizes the Northeast as a tourism haven. Here is a report on this matter: Linky

According to a report of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, India’s position based on foreign tourist arrival is 41, while that of China is four and Malaysia 11. Even Thailand, with 14.5 million tourists, is far ahead of India.

“The pages of a magazine in an airline have beautiful advertisements of the Incredible India campaign. The tourism department of Tamil Nadu proudly splashed the pages with all the beautiful destinations one can visit... Now turn to the page where the advertisement is about the tourism prospects of Assam and the pictures of chief minister Tarun Gogoi and tourism minister Rockybul Hussain stare back at the reader. Is this what Assam has to offer to its tourists?” asked Shantikam Hazarika, the director of Assam Institute of Management at a seminar on Tourism, Destination North East Tourism as an Engine of Growth, at Sankaradeva Kalakshetra today. The auditorium burst into applause — more appalled than thrilled.

3) Updates on ANVC Linky. Read it along with my previous report on ANVC at Linky

The Meghalaya government is examining the memorandum on the demand of the Garo hills-based militant outfit, the Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), for a Garoland Autonomous Council. Meghalaya chief secretary W.M.S. Pariat today said the state government was examining the various points in the ANVC memorandum.
...
The primary demand of the ANVC is creation of the Garoland Autonomous Council, unlike the existing district councils in the state. The Garo hills has the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, a constitutional body formed more than 50 years ago. However, with the setting up of the Garoland Autonomous Council, the ANVC hopes to get direct funding from the Centre to run the administration. The autonomous body suggested by the ANVC is on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.

On June 30, the outfit had agreed to the extension of the tripartite ceasefire agreement for three months on the condition that its demand for setting up of the Garoland Autonomous Council, among others, would be fulfilled within this period. The ANVC entered into the ceasefire with the Centre and the state on July 23, 2004. Though the initial demand of the militant outfit was for the creation of a separate Garo state, they now want the state government to set up an autonomous body, the Garoland Autonomous Council. During a meeting on July 30 with government officials, the ANVC promised that it would make sure that the ceasefire ground rules were strictly adhered by its cadres.

The Rock for Peace concert organised by the outfit in Tura in the West Garo Hills on August 15 was an initiative to show the government that it wanted peace and development to go hand in hand. The ANVC is also planning to take up similar initiatives in the future, which it hoped will pave way for early solution to their various demands pending for the past six years. During the period of ceasefire, there was relative peace in the three districts of Garo Hills. Other than the usual ceasefire monitoring committee meetings with the ANVC, there were two rounds of political talks this year with the outfit initiated by the Centre’s mediator, P.C. Haldar.

4) Meanwhile in Assam, Linky

Traffic was disrupted for several hours on National Highway 37 after protesters blocked the road at Bamunigaon under Chaygaon police station this morning. Several hundred protesters were on their way to block the Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport when they were stopped by a contingent of state police and CRPF. The protesters, comprising Garos and non-tribals from the Goalpara-Kamrup areas, were demanding exclusion of their villages from the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council’s jurisdiction and holding of panchayat elections. “We are demanding that our villages be taken out of the Rabha Hasong Council and panchayat elections be held immediately,” Pradip Kalita, vice president of the Kamrup district unit of Ajanajati Surakhya Manch, said over telephone. The Manch had organised the march to the airport along with several other organisations representing the Garo community in Kamrup and Goalpara districts, like the Garo National Council and the Garo Women’s Council.
...
Panchayat elections in the Rabha Hasong council areas were put on hold after various organisations, led by the All Rabha Students Union, objected to it. Non-Rabha groups, on the other hand, demanded the elections be held leading to clashes in 2008. Kalita said majority of the 779 villages under the Council was inhabited by non-Rabhas and hence there was no justification of keeping these villages under its jurisdiction. “Approximately 500 villages are not inhabited by Rabhas, so where is the justification?” he asked. Garo organisations also raised the demand for a Garo autonomous council in Assam, comprising areas inhabited by the community in Kamrup and Goalpara districts. “We have no objection to such a council as long as the non-tribal villages are not included,” Kalita said. According to him, there are approximately 300 such villages.

One has to understand the constraints faced by GoI and babus when such inter-community angst exists on the ground. Not like there is no inter-community angst elsewhere in India, but the situation is so grave in the Northeast that the "rent-a-crowd-and-make-a-ruckus" mentality constrains the bulldozing of prosperity to this part of the country.
5) Elsewhere, from SATP: Why would nt taking to arms not be a career-based move if the state government does stuff to prove the terrorism-politicians' nexus?

Shillong Times reports that the surrendered Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) cadres are slowly taking charge over some crucial business interests in Meghalaya. Sources said the surrendered cadres are also getting the bulk of contract works in North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU). The unemployed youths in the State allege that the Government is tilted towards the surrendered militants instead of encouraging educated youths for productive growth. Sources said that whenever any tenders are floated by NEHU the officers of the construction wing direct the youths to meet and seek permission from Julius Dorphang, the former self-styled HNLC ‘chairman’ and his associates. Incidentally Dorphang is also a seasoned businessman now. Some registered contractors of NEHU on request of anonymity said, "Surrendered HNLC cadres are the bosses in NEHU and they are the ones who control the tendering process now."

According to these contractors, the surrendered HNLC has formed its own association of contractors particularly for NEHU construction works. All registered contractors seeking work in NEHU have been advised to seek membership of the association or they would not be allowed to participate in the tendering process. "We are required to pay a commission ranging from two to five per cent of the total value of the project to the surrendered HNLC association for each and every contract allotted to us," a contractor said. The report adds that the surrendered militants take full charge during the submission of tenders. They are at the gate to scan all tenderers and oversee the entire tender process. Contractors are actually short listed and selected by these former militants. Sources have also informed that most of the parking bays under the Meghalaya Urban Development Agency (MUDA), too, are controlled by the surrendered HNLC cadres.

6) It was only recently feared the a tri-some on motorcycles would launch attacks on paras and melt away in the crowd. I am seeing the first report of such a modus operandi. Linky

A surprise attack by a Maoist trio on a CRPF camp in Vishnugarh near Bokaro-Giridih border and an ensuing gun battle resulted in the death of a rebel in the small hours today. Two Maoists and a CRPF jawan also suffered bullet injuries in the incident. Around 3:45am, three Maoists on a bike, armed with AK-47 and SLRs, entered the block office of Vishnugarh from the back gate where the CRPF’s 22 Battalion was camping. They opened fire and a jawan, Mukesh Kumar, sustained a bullet wound in his hand.
...
CRPF officers said the Maoist attack reflected a strategy used by terrorists in Kashmir — attacking an establishment from the rear end. While the gunfight was on, hundreds of local residents were offering a special puja at a Shiv Mandir barely 500 metres away. Although the camp has a 10-point security network round the clock, devotional songs from the Shiv Mandir drowned the sound of rebel firing and delayed reinforcement, said a CRPF guard.

May be it is time we accepted that the maoists' success is because they out-think the cops. That is one reason why we need to neutralize the well-educated strategists in the Politburo. Some of the tribals may be willing pawns in this war, but the key to win the war is to cut the head off (no puns intended). At this stage, there should be no sympathy for the Politburo, even if there is some empathy for the tribals.
7) Linky

A group of Bhutanese refugees expelled from their Himalayan homeland nearly two decades ago left Nepal for Britain on Monday to begin new lives after living in United Nations-run camps for years. Thirty-seven refugees left Monday and will be followed by many more, said Stephen Jaquemet, an official with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Nepal. Britain is the eighth nation to take in Bhutanese refugees. So far 32,000 have left for Western countries, most to the United States. More than 100,000 ethnic Nepalese — a Hindu minority in Bhutan for centuries — were forced out of Bhutan in the early 1990s by authorities who wanted to impose the country’s dominant Buddhist culture. They have lived as refugees in Nepal ever since.

Updates

1) India-BD trade issues Linky

On August 5, the commerce minister and the prime minister's economic adviser shared views with members of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the impediments in the path of bolstering exports to India, our largest neighbour with whom we happen to have a very hefty trade deficit. Despite bilateral negotiations and even some unilateral trade concessions from India, our exports remain a fraction of the more than $3 billion that India annually exports to us. Does this mean we don't have anything the Indians want? Nothing can be farther from the truth -- as seen in the quantity of products Indian traders informally take back across their border. The problem lies elsewhere.

Many entrepreneurs blame non-tariff barriers, such as cumbersome product testing and certification, inadequate land-port facilities and lack of pass-through traffic for trucks and cargo containers. Entrepreneurs claim product testing and certifications alone account for 70 percent of the export bottleneck. If so, the imbalance in trade can be mitigated by getting products testing and certifications from Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), recognised by its Indian counterpart. But does India have confidence in the standards and testing competence of BSTI? It may hurt our national pride to admit it, but the BSTI needs to improve its capabilities and ensure the integrity of testing and certification.

As a result, Jamdani sari exported to Kolkata now gets stuck at the land port for up to six months, waiting for textile testing done only in Chennai. And the Indian bureaucracy is responsible for this and many similar examples that remain thorns in our shoes. But the BSTI itself is also at fault. It lacks both the technicians to carry out sophisticated tests and assessments and often also the equipment for modern product testing. Most damaging is the common perception that certifications can be purchased and test results manipulated by greasing palms. Over the past 20 years, I have had many policy-level interactions with the BSTI and its ministry (Industries). I know the government is aware of BSTI shortcomings and has, over the years, undertaken many programmes to ameliorate the BSTI -- some funded locally but most funded by development partners, such as the European Union and International Trade Centre.

Despite this, the local business community has little confidence in the institute, so we can hardly fault India for taking issue with its certifications. India even included an upgrade project of BSTI facilities on the list of 14 projects to be funded by its $1 billion loan agreement. Yet such technical enhancements have done little to allay the business community perceptions of corruptibility and lack of professionalism at BSTI thus far.

To break the BSTI free from the clutches of nonchalant bureaucrats, rent-seeking syndicates and incompetent technical staff, we need public-private partnerships (PPPs). Product testing and certification jobs are revenue generators. The cost of setting standards can be largely borne by pro-bono professional inputs from private sector organisations. Many private technical organisations, industry-specific trade organisations and universities would find it financially feasible and expedient to form PPPs with the BSTI, and to raise its services world-class levels in testing, certification and standards-setting. International bodies can even vet (or cross-certify) these, for instant recognition overseas. Local and foreign entrepreneurs in Bangladesh would pay for such professional services. Such PPP arrangements ensure investment in: proper equipment; capable hired hands; market-based, demand-driven training; and professionalism among top management. Instead of being a blemish on Bangladesh's image, the BSTI would then actually be a driver of growth.

2) Prime accused of Gorkha leader Tamang’s murder arrested Linky

The West Bengal criminal investigation department (CID) made a significant breakthrough late on Sunday night by arresting Nicole Tamang, the prime accused in the murder of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang. Nicole is a central committee member of Bimal Gurung’s Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which is leading the struggle for a separate Gorkhaland state. Gurung is one of 23 people against whom FIRs have been registered.

CID sources said the involvement of Nicole had been proved on the day of the murder as his mobile phone had been found on the site of the crime. “However, Nicole went into hiding. Our officers arrested him from his ancestral home at Kaijalay, Darjeeling, after receiving specific information,” a CID officer said. Sources said tracking call details of Nicole’s mobile revealed his direct involvement in the murder. His calls to hired killer Kayla strengthened CID’s belief. Kayla, the sources said, stabbed Madan with patang, a local weapon, while he was addressing a rally in Darjeeling on May 21.So far, 11 people, including Nicole, have been arrested in the case.

Nicole was Bimal Gurung’s driver, but quickly rose through the ranks and became a member of GJM’s central committee. Till Madan’s murder, Nicole used to accompany Gurung to important meetings.

Telegraph adds Linky

Nickole, the ninth person to be arrested in the case, has been charged with murder and conspiracy. He was produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Darjeeling amid tight security and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

3) Francis Rabha, one of the top leaders of the 109th 'Battalion' of ULFA, is killed in an encounter with the 12 Battalion CRPF.
4) Linky

The Manipur government put one more feather in its cap by opening a medical institute in Imphal West today, three days after starting a National Institute of Technology (NIT). The government-run Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital at Porompat of Imphal West was upgraded to the 300-bed Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS). This is the first medical institute to be run by the state government and the second one in Manipur after the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), which is under the Union health ministry. The Medical Council of India on July 14 sanctioned the new institute. The MBBS course at JNIMS has 100 students. Eighty-five of them are from the state while the remaining seats have been filled up with students from other states nominated by the Union health ministry.

At the inauguration ceremony, Governor Gurbachan Jagat said the opening of the NIT and medical institute pointed the direction in which the state should move towards the path of development, peace, reconciliation, education and health for all. The governor said the government should start planning and provide attractive packages for the these doctors and engineers of tomorrow so that they do not go outside the state for jobs. Jagat lauded chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh for making “tremendous efforts” personally to open the two institutes. Ibobi Singh said the institute would produce enough doctors for the requirements of the state. He also pointed out that by 2025, Manipur would be requiring 1,000 additional doctors to provide quality health service. Health minister Ph. Parijat Singh expressed happiness that the present government could realise long cherished dreams of the people and fulfil their demands. He promised speedy infrastructure development for the institute and the hospital.

5) See my earlier post on this matter: Linky

The Bangladesh government has asked countries, including India, where it suspects the killers of its founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are hiding to track down and arrest the absconding men. Dhaka suspects that at least two of them, former captain Abdul Majed and Risaldar Moslehuddin, are hiding in India and has written to New Delhi to seek their custody. "We have sought Indian assistance for tracking down and arrest the remaining killers... We asked India to return them if they really are staying there," Home Minister Sahara Khatun said.

Twelve Bangladesh Army officers were convicted for leading a putsch in which Rahman and most of his family members were killed 15 August, 1975. Five of the 12 convicts were hanged earlier this year. One of them has died while six are absconding. Ruling Awami League general secretary and minister Syed Ashraful Islam told newspersons that the absconding killers "living particularly in western countries" could be extradited through court clearance from those countries.
A senior police official at the police headquarters told BSS, the official news agency last week, that ex-lieutenant colonel Khandaker Abdur Rashid was hiding in Libya and often travelled to Pakistan while S.H.B.M. Noor Chowdhury was in Canada but sometimes travelled to Britain. Ex-lieutenant colonel Shariful Haque Dalim is staying in Kenya and Rashed Chowdhury is in the US.

6) Hydro power in the NE (there are some whines in the report) Linky

...
For hydroelectric power projects, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam are deemed the best places as these two States are very rich in water resource. Moreover, other States of Northeast India also have some potentiality for hydro-power. A report based on a survey conducted by the Department of North Eastern Region (DoNER) also confirms it — the potential of generating energy is to the extent of a staggering 50,328 MW.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), which has carried out the preliminary ranking study of India’s national hydroelectric power potential in 2001, gave the highest status to the Brahmaputra river system. The 168 schemes considered in the northeastern States have been estimated to possess a cumulative power potential of 63,328 MW. These schemes are at various stages of investigations and development. The developments have been carried out by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), North Eastern Electric Power corporation (NEEPCO), Brahmaputra Board, State electricity boards and several private companies. Since power demand in the industrially backward northeastern States is quiet low as compared to the national requirement, the northeastern power potential will mostly feed the other States of the country. Some of the projects will be the largest project of India, such as the 3000-MW projects of Dibang and Lohit rivers, three 2000-MW projects of Subansiri to name a few, of which the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri project is expected to be completed by this year.

India already has a large number of dams, many of which are multipurpose dams of which irrigation is one of the major objectives. So far as the Northeast is concerned, power generation is the main objective, escaping the requirement of flood cushioning and flood moderation which is vital in the Brahmaputra and Barak Valleys. Since the dams constructed are of ‘‘run-of-the-river’’ type, they are not designed and aimed to accommodate the peak-flood discharge and hence will not work for flood moderation during monsoon. None of these projects have irrigation component, except the Pagladiya dam project of the Brahmaputra Board which was abandoned halfway due to problems associated with rehabilitation and resettlement.
About 103 dam projects have been cleared by the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Government of India, in the northeastern region of various magnitudes. The main hydro-power projects in the Northeast are Ranganadi, Doyang, Khandong, Loktak and Umium. Lohit, Tipai-mukh, Siang, Subansiri, Dibang, Kulsi, Jiadhal, Simsang etc are under construction. Among all these multipurpose dam projects, most of the dam projects are related with the Brahmaputra and its tributary rivers like Kapili, Doyang, Khandong, Subansiri, Lohit, Dibang and Kulsi.

7) Nepal update: Linky

The Maoists have indicated that after the next round of election if unsuccessful, they would look for other alternatives. It is not clear what that means. Their central committee will be meeting on the 19th. The Nepali Congress has not changed its stand. They are insisting that a consensus should be forged on vital issues of peace process mainly on integration and rehabilitation of Maoists combatants before they could change their stand.

8) Oz elections: I must admit that I am a bit too late to the electioneering. Nevertheless, I read with amusement how Tony Abbott who was a no-namer from the Liberals side -- the man who had won his party's leadership over Malcolm Turnbull by a single vote, the man who was never in the scene till Joe Hockey committed hara-kiri over the conscience vote on the emissions trading legislation, the man whose opposite number (Kevin Ruud) was enjoying astronomical popularity ratings, etc. came to be a contender for the top post. Similarly, amusing is the fall from grace of Kevin Ruud -- losing his ability to communicate in public, especially in the aftermath of the Copenhagen climate change fiasco (to the Oz side, that is), thumbing his nose at the Cabinet processes, calling the chinese "ratf***ers" in open mic, losing the party control to the machinations inside ALP, etc. In the midst of all this lies the "Welsh woman" -- a pejorative for Julia Gillard, a first generation immigrant from Wales, a political operator par excellence, defying conventional mores and leading an "unAustralian" way of life, etc. This sure as heck is a soap opera par imagination.

A PTI report that is floating claims this: "Gillard likes to see Australia as a ‘republic’" Linky. Having followed her interviews fairly closely, I can say that the report is wrong as well as right. JG claims that she would like to see a Republic, but she herself would not do anything towards that goal. She claims that a Republic needs more than just politicians' involvement and if it does happen in her regime, she would be happy for that. But she would nt go around "wasting" her time and dividing the people vertically in that goal. That is a more nuanced take on the matter than what the PTI report says. JG in her interviews comes across as a fairly intelligent lady, while TA comes across (at least to me) as someone whipping the hysteria of "boat peoples", mining super-tax, etc. But nothing is guaranteed once these folks are in power, nothing, absolutely nothing.