C M Y K
www.morungexpress.com
The Morung Express
Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 67
“
www.morungexpress.com
Salman to marry Lulia Vantur by year end?
By Sandemo Ngullie
It’s a new political party. What? Did I say something funny?
The Morung Express POLL QUESTIOn
Vote on www.morungexpress.com SMS your answer to 9862574165 Is it time for present Naga leaders to hand over responsibilities to the younger generation? Yes
no
Others
GPRN/NSCN suspends Tatar DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MexN): The GPRN/ NSCN has suspended Motsuthung, Tatar, from the party membership indefinitely from March 10 through a ‘Suspension Ahza’ from general secretary of the GPRN/NSCN, N. Kitovi Zhimomi. This was done following “anti-party activities and possessing dishonest and unprincipled character, thereby breaching the party discipline,” informed the Ahza.
NAYO addresses butcher malpractices Our Correspondent Kohima | March 10
The Northern Angami Youth Organization (NAYO) today expressed deep concern over the malpractices of butchers in Kohima, and the resentment about the same from the public/consumers which was brought to its notice. It has urged the Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) and Kohima Chamber of Commerce & Industries (KCCI) to immediately take correctively measures on butchers who come under their purview. Stating this in a release, NAYO president Peter Rutsa and press secretary Rukravolie Rülho said if this is not done, the NAYO will be compelled to take action on defaulters in the interest of the aggrieved consumers. NAYO also urged the KMC and the meat suppliers (pork) to settle their differences over the price of pork meat at the earliest and in the interest of both the seller and the consumers in Kohima.
Rupee hits 60.85 vs dollar
C M Y K
MUMBAI, MARCH 10 (PtI): Rising for the fifth day in a row, the rupee on Monday appreciated 22 paise against the US dollar to end at an over sevenmonth high level of 60.85 on heavy capital inflows into equities that surged to a fresh record. Sustained dollar selling by exporters and some banks also aided the rupee sentiment, limiting the impact of the US dollar’s gain in overseas markets.
Church impacting lives through Sports Ministry [ PAGE 2]
Investigators chase ‘every angle’ in missing jet
[ PAGE 11]
[ PAGE 8]
reflections
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4
”
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand Nitish’s arrogance higher than Mt Everest: Modi
C M Y K
–Thomas Aquinas
Ronaldo becomes wealthiest footballer [ PAGE 12]
[ PAGE 9]
MH370 remains missing in Unconstitutional acts of “unprecedented mystery” Goi challenged in court
KUALA LUMPUR/ PHU QUOC ISLAND, MARCH 10 (ReUteRS): The disappearance of a Malaysian jetliner is an “unprecedented mystery”, the country’s civil aviation chief said on Monday, as a massive air and sea search now in its third day failed to find any trace of the plane or 239 people on board. Dozens of ships and aircraft from 10 countries scoured the seas around Malaysia and south of Vietnam, and questions mounted over possible security lapses and whether a bomb or hijacking attempt could have brought down the Boeing 777-200ER airliner flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A senior police official told Reuters that people armed with explosives and carrying false identity papers had tried to fly out of Kuala Lumpur in the past, and that current investigations were focused on two passengers who were on the missing plane with stolen passports. “We have stopped men with false or stolen passports and carrying explosives, who have tried to get past KLIA (airport) security and get on to a plane,” he said. “There have been two or three incidents, but I will not divulge the details.” Interpol confirmed on Sunday at least two passengers used stolen passports and said it was checking whether others aboard had used false identity documents. The head of Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said a hijacking attempt could not be ruled out as investigators explore all theories for the loss of
People prepare to release a sky lantern during a candlelight vigil for passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday, March 10. The search operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which has involved 34 aircraft and 40 ships from several countries covering a 50-nautical mile radius from the point the plane vanished from radar screens between Malaysia and Vietnam continues after its disappearance since Saturday. (AP Photo)
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. “Unfortunately we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft,” he told a news conference. “As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft. We have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible.” A senior source involved in preliminary investigations in Malaysia said the failure to find any debris indicated the plane may have broken up midflight, which could disperse wreckage over a very wide area. “The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet,” said
the source. Asked about the possibility of an explosion, such as a bomb, the source said there was no evidence yet of foul play and that the aircraft could have broken up due to mechanical causes. The United States extensively reviewed imagery taken by American spy satellites for evidence of a midair explosion, but saw none, a U.S. government source said. The source described U.S. satellite coverage of the region as thorough. Flight MH370 disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, about an hour into its flight from Kuala Lumpur, after climbing to a cruising altitude of 35,000 ft (10,670 metres).
Underlining the lack of hard information about the plane’s fate, a U.S. Navy P-3 aircraft capable of covering 1,500 sq miles every hour was sweeping the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula from where the last contact with MH370 was made. No distress signal was sent from the lost plane, which experts said suggested a sudden catastrophic failure or explosion, but Malaysia’s air force chief said radar tracking showed it may have turned back from its scheduled route before it disappeared. The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Related story on page 9
KOHIMA, MARCH 10 (MexN): The Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) has welcomed the issue of notice on March 10 by the Delhi High Court to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, and the Indian High Commission at Ottawa Canada, in a writ petition filed by Luingam Luithui, his wife Peingamla Luithui, and members of the immediate family and clan, demanding the full restoration of the citizenship rights of Luithui and his wife. Luingam Luithui, a founding member of the NPMHR and a senior civil rights activist, and his wife, has been living in virtual exile in Canada ever since 1995. The petition is about reclaiming the rightful citizenship of Luithui and his wife. “It seeks declaratory and substantive reliefs and prays for the enforcement of various constitutional, statutory citizenship rights and other allied fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India,” informed the NPMHR in a press release from its Secretary General, Dr. Gina Shangkham. The petition also challenges the constitutional validity of provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Passport Act, 1967 and accompanying rules, insofar as these empower the State to effectively exile and banish a citizen of India by birth through refusal or impounding of their passport or travel document and thereby preventing such citizen from returning to India and exercising their constitutional citizenship rights. The NPMHR noted that “This tragic violation of their fundamental rights is a direct result of unconstitutional acts and omissions of abuse of process, and of fraud and deception perpetrated by the Government of India, making it impossible for them to return to India, and forcing them to take Canadian citizenship after almost a decade of statelessness abroad.” “Luingam Luithui and his wife have been forcibly exiled from India,” stated the NPMHR, adding that it believes in “the sanctity of the Court and rule of law and has complete faith that justice will be done in the writ petition, and the unconstitutional acts and omissions and frauds committed upon the Petitioners will be reversed.”
The petition has also arrayed as parties the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Government of Canada, which came to the rescue of Luithui and his wife upon their abandonment abroad by the Indian State. It was further informed that aside from Luingam and Peingamla Luithui, twelve others forming their nuclear and extended families and members of the Luithui clan and other family elders, the Chairman of Langdang Phungcham, and the Pastor of Langdang Phungcham Baptist Church are also petitioners in the present writ. They are also praying for the enforcement of their fundamental rights which are being violated by denying the Luithui and his wife to return to the family and community. The matter came up for hearing before the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi, Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, and Justice Siddharth Mridul. The Petitioners were represented by Senior Advocate, M.S. Ganesh, assisted by Shomona Khanna, K. Seshachary, and Sahana Basavapatna, Advocates. Luingam Luithui has been involved from his youth in the formation of many massbased platforms and has served in various human rights organisations. A signatory to the letter petition that eventually resulted in the Supreme Court of India’s judgment on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in NPMHR v. Union of India (1998 2 SCC 109), his human rights work transcends borders and peoples. During the Emergency period, as a student in Delhi he actively, along with others, worked for the rights of ordinary citizens. In the latter part of the 1980s, recognising the need for an indigenous peoples’ platform for Asia, he took the lead in setting up the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) eventually becoming its first Secretary General for two consecutive terms from 1992 till 2000. He was also involved in United Nations’ processes on human rights actively contributing to the UN’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In 1993, as a special invitee, he addressed the UN Conference on Human Rights, Vienna on issues of indigenous and tribal peoples in Asia.
NPMHR welcomes Delhi HC notice in Luingam Luithui petition
ANSTA questions govt’s Assam Police detain 40 at disputed border land denial of fund diversion Morung Express news
KOHIMA, MARCH 10 (MexN): The All Nagaland School Teachers’ Association (ANSTA) today responded to the denial of the Commissioner & Secretary, Department of School Education, over the diversion of funds received under the SSA programme. “In this regard, the Association would like to ask the concerned authority that – if there is no fund diversion why two months salaries (Oct and Nov) of SSA teachers could not be paid on time when SSA authority had already released (32,49,74,085 Crores) on 17-9-13 and credited to the State Govt. Account in favour of DSE in the Head account of 0202 Education vide Challan No. 5 for payment of 5 months salaries w.e.f. June to Nov. 2013. If the fund being earmarked for the salary of teachers is not diverted, then where had two months salaries disappeared and could released (Oct. salary) only in the month of Feb. 2014 and Nov. pay is not released till date,” observed the ANSTA in a press release from its general secretary, P. Vashum, and president, Ponchulo Wanth. It further noted that it has been clearly mentioned in the “Appointment Order & ascertained through RTI” that SSA teachers had been appointed against the posts created through P&AR “by observing all formalities and appointed on a regular basis whose service shall not co-terminus with SSA
projects. In other words, they are now State Govt. employees.” In view of this, the Association has appealed the State Government to “carry the burden of paying their salaries from the state resource/fund during non-release of fund from the funding agencies so that they get salaries on regular basis like other state government employees.” It may be noted that the Nagaland SSA Teachers’ Association (NSSATA) is boycotting work from March 10 for non-payment of salaries for the past four months (November 2013-February 2014). The ANSTA has also questioned that “if state govt. is accorded due priority to salary requirement as claimed, then the salary component of the teachers should not be touched under any circumstances so as to avoid current type of problem in the near future.” With regard to the “outgoing agitation” of the NSSATA, the ANSTA has appealed the Government several times to “do the needful in time and also requested SSA teachers not go ahead with their programme as it will affect the students, but both the parties failed to comply.” The ANSTA reiterated that students should not suffer for the “unresponsive attitude of govt./teachers” and therefore, urged both parties to address the issue “with all seriousness and bring out an amicable solution without further delay.”
Dimapur | March 10
The Assam Police on March 10 detained 40 persons from the disputed border land sandwiched between Karbi-Anglong, Assam and Dimapur, Nagaland. With no proper, or rather official, landmark demarcating the inter-state border on the western fringes of Dimapur, people continue to lay claim of the disputed land. While the Nagaland government has chosen to keep silent on the issue, officials on the Assam side maintain the border land in question falls
within the jurisdiction of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. People from Nagaland, who are laying claim to the disputed land, maintain that it is within Nagaland with the Lengri River (also known as Baloo Noti to locals here) taken as the natural boundary west of Dimapur. According to locals here, the Lengri River is the verbally accepted boundary between Dimapur and Karbi-Anglong starting from New Field Checkpost till the Dillai check-post. Beyond Dillai check-post, the upper reaches of the Lengri River as a border line is debated.
The forty (40) people, who were arrested Monday, were reported to be in the process of clearing forest. The Additional Superintendent of Police, Karbi-Anglong, when contacted, said that the people were arrested near Rangapahar Border outpost falling within Dhansiri Reserve Forest. They were arrested without much resistance, the ASP said, while adding that one tried to escape but was prevented. Crude forest-clearing implements were confiscated from them. One of the arrested was from Lumding, and the rest were from Nagaland, the ASP said. The one
from Lumding originally hails from Nagaland but resides in Lumding, it was added. All were taken to Diphu Police Station. Further, people continue to flock to the disputed forested land despite the deployment of armed police personnel and promulgation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC on the Nagaland side of the border. On March 8, a clash between Indisen villagers and a group of around a hundred people was averted. The group of people were reported to be headed to the disputed site to clear forest for farming.
Gang rape victim allegedly harassed, beaten by cops DIMAPUR, MARCH 10 (MexN): The Tikhir civil society has presented a memorandum to Nagaland’s Director General of Police today alleging that the victim of gang rape on January 12, 2014, was “harassed and beaten” by police officers of the women’s cell of Dimapur police station. “When the victim and her family went to the women cell police station Dimapur on the evening of (13-01-2014), the police officers on duty had harassed and beaten the victim. Moreover the plea of the victim’s family for medical examination was refused and instead coerced the victim’s family to withdraw the FIR,” noted the
tikhir organizations submit memo to nagaland DGP
memorandum from the Tikhir joint council comprising Tikhir Women Association (TWA), Tikhir Tribal Union Dimapur (TTUD) and Tikhir Students’ Union Dimapur (TSUD). The victim, a teenager and student, was allegedly abducted and gang raped by Benathung Kikon (20) of Yukham village, Yanthungo Odyou (24) of Yukham village and Wobenthung Ngullie (27) of Nirro village on January 12 this year. The memorandum alleged that the Inspector in-charge, Dimapur
Women Police Station, its CIBSI and a C/N (Constable) were the officers involved in harassing the victim on January 13, whose FIR was “re-lodged” and medical examination done only on January 14. The Tikhir civil society stated that several memorandums were written to the DC and SP, Dimapur, but the progress of the case is “very unsatisfactory.” Hence, the joint council has reiterated that “Serious action as per the law should be taken promptly against all the ac-
cused. Moreover no bail should be granted.” The memorandum called for “Serious action as per the Service Rules” to be initiated against the police women promptly with wide information in the print media. The joint council stated that it will initiate further serious necessary action in case of unsatisfactory action to the above demands. “In case of failure of the above demands, the state Government will be held solely responsible for any untoward incidents to the accused and the errant police women,” noted the memorandum signed by Y. Tushila Caroline, President TWA, N. Yutsu, President TTUD and Peter Limti Tikhir, President TSUD.
C M Y K