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Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 22
The Morung Express “
www.morungexpress.com
Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be
Village elders order gang-rape of woman [ PAGE 8]
reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
Priyanka Chopra tagged “an Arab terrorist” by Americans
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Friday, January 24, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4 –Grandma Moses
NERCU cautions on electrification works [ PAGE 2]
Syria peace talks stuck over Assad’s future
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Wawrinka reaches maiden Australian Open final
subsistence cultivation has decreased in all districts except Mon, Longleng and Kiphire,” affirms Vangota Nakhro, a long time leader with the Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development (NEPED), noting this to be a problem as “we find that there is no agricultural system that adapts better to climate change than shifting cultivation.” In part, this has also been accepted by farmers as less labour is needed on
terrace fields as compared to a jhum field. Then, “men do not render enough labour required for jhum, concentrating instead on earning daily wages,” say women farmers from villages across Nagaland. While State schemes might have opened up a way for the Naga rural populace to earn more, the policy seems to have led to “dwindling of the culture of work and toil,” notes Tsuhah, as “easy money” is available through schemes
and selling land to those who can plant large scale cash crops (giving rise to a growing section of landless people in Nagaland). “Young people feel much more alienated from land today,” she says. Women who held vast knowledge of soil types and agriculture techniques now find themselves completely marginalized. Though many have indicated that they do not want any more new crop varieties pumped into their fields, they are not ones to decide what to plant or avoid— this decision is made by village authority, a stronghold of men. So while men work a lot less on the field, leading to the inadvertent “feminization” of agriculture in Nagaland, the latter is becoming a slave population with more strange crops being pumped into their fields without their consent. Of this they have limited knowledge or cultural affiliations and marketing is often a hassle. Misinformation is galore too. “A government official once came and told us that millets are like mud,” reports a farmer from Noklak in Tuensang district, known to cultivate plenty of millets that are, in fact, far superior to rice in nutrients. Millets are said to facilitate bio diverse agriculture, allowing as many as 60 crops to grow along side it on a jhum field. WTRC, however, depends heavily on timely rain and the only other things that
Newmai News Network
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), informed Newmai News Network today that the State Government of Manipur has consented to send its representatives to a ‘political level’. The sources also said that the Centre has intimated the UNC regarding
the latest development to prepare for the 7th round of ‘tripartite talks’ involving the Government of Manipur, New Delhi and the Naga body on February 6 at Senapati district headquarters. The Government of India has requested the calling off of
Dimapur | January 23
KPLT imposes 96hour Karbi bandh • B andh from 5am Jan 24 to 5am Jan 28 • C ommuters will be provided police escort Morung Express News Dimapur | January 23
All Manipur and Nagaland bound vehicles including private, passenger and goods transportation will be affected for four days starting January 24 following the Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Council total bandh called by Karbi Peoples’ Liberation Tigers (KPLT), an armed outfit operating in Karbi Anglong, Assam. According to the Karbi organisation, the bandh, called to boycott Republic Day celebrations, will be in effect for 96 hours beginning from 5am on January 24 to 5am on January 28. KPLT has said the Republic Day should be viewed as a ‘black day’. The announcement has come even as the Journalists Forum of Assam asked people in the region to defy the ‘diktats’ of various militant organisations to boycott Republic Day. Following the announcement, transporters are making a hasty move to reach their destinations before the bandh comes into effect. It has been informed, however, that armed police escort will be provided for vehicles in convoy plying NH 29 and 36 till the bandh concludes. The Additional Superintendent of Police, Karbi Anglong, Bolin Deori on Thursday evening said that for vehicles taking NH 29, police escort will be provided, starting from Khatkhati till the border with Golaghat district. For vehicles plying NH 36, police will escort vehicles in convoy from Dillai Sunday Bazaar till the district border with Nagaon. Stating that the Assam Police will remain alert, the ASP said that security personnel have already started conducting ‘area domination operations’ in sensitive locations and will continue to do so. Escort will be provided depending on the number of vehicles taking the two national highways at any given time during the day. C M Y K
January 25, 2014 is declared working day Kohima, January 23 (DiPr): On account of preparations for celebrations of Republic Day, Saturday, January 25, 2014 has been declared as a working day for all government offices all over Nagaland.
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50 years on, farmers pushed to the margin Morung Express News
No, too much Tv is not good. By the way can’t find my ammunition boots seen them.
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65-year-old, widowed, with her children having left her, Honglin Khiamniungan from Thang village in Tuensang district has only her grains as security. Still able to cultivate her field through jhum, she has 11 containers (1 container holds about 60 tins, or about 1200 kilograms) of Foxtail millets, and one small container of Proso millets. These are her life’s savings. Once she is too old to farm, Honglin expects to be looked after by youth from the village, as well as by her neighbours. The generation after Honglin may not be as fortunate, if her condition can be termed so, because agriculture patterns and attached community ethics are rapidly changing in Nagaland. If taste, nutrition and durability decided what crops a Naga farmer would pick in the yesteryears, largeness and marketability are factors they have been asked to choose today. “There has been a decrease in bio diverse farming, traditional to Naga cultivation, and increase in mono cropping with the advent of cash crops,” says Wekowe-ü Tsuhah, who works with Naga farmers
Honglin Khiamniungan (65) is seen here standing at the door of her granary in Tuensang, whose thatch roof was built with the help of other villagers.
on a regular basis through the North East Network in Nagaland. Cash crops (timber, rubber, cardamom, ginger, etc.) have been promoted on a wide scale by different departments of the Government of Nagaland to increase the cash economy of the people— to the extent that food and nutrition have been rapidly replaced by cash. Ironically, in the past 50 years, poverty in Nagaland has risen more than in any other State in India, accord-
ing to the Planning Commission of India’s report in 2009-10. A territory that had survived for centuries without any State administration has become impoverished in the last five decades of governance. Wet Terrace Rice Cultivation (WTRC) has also been pushed to cut down on the “environmental damage” supposedly caused by jhum (subsistence/shifting) cultivation, aka ‘collective work.’ “As per our study, area under
grow with paddy on such are small fish, snails and frog. “Currently we are driven by the funds available from outside rather than the needs of the people,” explains Nakro, of the government set up. “Though farmers also need to gain purchasing power, our prime focus should be on food security and sovereignty. Keeping climate change in mind, monocropping could make our population highly vulnerable,” he suggests, adding, “In this, we have to revive highly climate change resilient crops like millets. Shifting cultivation needs to be revived, not abandoned.” An official of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra suggests that various departments of the government, agriculture or horticulture, have been giving varied options to the farmers which involve the sowing of cash crops which fall at odds with the concept of food security leading to farmers being increasingly confused and opting for whichever crop whoever suggests will fetch them the best price for that year. “Such practices need to be controlled and the government needs to have coherent plans on the same,” he suggests, a suggestion similar to Nakro’s: “departments with overlapping areas is alright as long as their policies and practices are synchronized.” Which, 50 years down the statehood lane, it is not.
all agitation programmes in view of the positive development. The intimation was reportedly sent by S Saha, Deputy Secretary, MHA, New Delhi. Meanwhile, the UNC will hold an emergency meeting on this development in Senapati on Friday.
Governor encourages plans GoI, GoM agree to 7th round of tripartite talks with UNC for Hill Agriculture 2050 Dimapur | January 23
Morung Express News Dimapur | January 23
Nagaland Governor, Dr. Ashwani Kumar, has expressed happiness that despite the economic slowdown in the country, the farm sector is expected to achieve a growth rate of nearly 4.8% this year. “The happiest news is that North Eastern region also showed an upward growth in Agriculture. Even the state of Nagaland seems to have done well. Cereal productivity increased at the rate of 2.7% and pulses 2.56%. Furthermore, oilseed production in the state increased by 8.8%,” the governor said. Kumar also said that Nagaland State witnessed a “spectacular growth” in horticulture and vegetable production and that the production of fruits almost doubled during the 11th Plan period. “These are positive indicators,” he added. The governor was addressing the inaugural programme of the national seminar on ‘Emerging challenges and prospective strategies for Hill Agriculture in 2050’ organized by Indian Association of Hill Farming in collaboration with ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, here at ICAR Complex Jharnapani, on Thursday. “Of course the challenges for still better quality seeds, processing, packaging and marketing facilities and location specific research have still to be overcome,” Kumar said. On the second part of the theme ‘prospective strate-
gies,’ Kumar said agriculture scientists have to first identify the emerging challenges and then formulate the prospective strategy to overcome the challenges. He said another option is to conceptualize a futuristic and inspirational vision of Hill Agriculture in 2050 and then formulate a strategy to reach that destination. “2050 is still 37 years away. Therefore, we need to develop an all encompassing vision for that time period. One vision could be from the point of view of an agriculture expert. The other vision could be from the point of view of an ordinary farmer. As confessed earlier, I am not an agriculture scientist but I can visualize the concerns of a hill farmer,” the governor said. With the world population expected to reach around 9.5 billion in 2050 and the demand for food to go up 60% than at present, the governor said as a hill farmer in 2050, his concern would be to produce maximum quantity of food and fodder and to make money by selling fruits, vegetables, cash crops, meat and milk to the people in the plains. The hill farmer would also like to exploit the forests keeping in mind the concern for ecology and environment and, most importantly, water and its conservation. “I will wish all my agriculture land to be drip-irrigated so that there is no flooding and soil erosion,” the governor echoed the wish list of the hill farmer in the near future. Kumar further said that the hill farmer of 2050
would want all modern technical infrastructure facilities in his farmland including good road connectivity, electricity, telecommunication, latest laboratories, food processing, packaging, storing and online marketing. “Therefore, the demand of the hill farmers will be high yielding crops and cattle....we will continue to be organic not by default or neglect but by choice,” he added. Earlier, on his arrival the governor also inaugurated the citrus processing unit and later released publications on the seminar and ICAR Nagaland Centre. Former vice chancellor, YSPUH&F, Solan, Dr. KR Dhiman, who delivered the keynote address, said that more than 63% of agriculture land in the country comprises of rain fed or hill agro-ecosystem but which contributes less than 40% of the total food grain production. Dhiman said the challenge ahead was to make the raid fed and hill agro system speed up food production to feed the ever growing population. Director, ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Umiam, Dr. SV Ngachan, former director, NIRJAFT Kolkata, Dr. KK Satapathy and ex-DDG Horticulture, ICAR, New Delhi, Dr. SP Ghosh, also spoke on the occasion. Joint director, ICARRC Nagaland Centre, Dr. Bidyut Deka, delivered welcome address and Dr. RK Singh, Pr. Scientist-cum-head, IICAR Umiam and secretary IAHF, proposed the vote of thanks.
The first ever ‘political level’ dialogue on ‘Alternative Arrangement’ demanded by the United Naga Council (UNC) is likely to be held on February 6. Sources, quoting the
For Justice: Kohima marched in protest Morung Express News Kohima | January 23
Six days after the barbaric assault of Kevilenuo Rio, thousands of women folk, both young and old from various villages and organizations responding to the call of the Chiechama Women Society (CWS), took to the streets of the State Capital in a silent protest march today. The incident has sent ripples of shock through Kohima after a childbearing Kevilenuo was attacked and tortured by Nganuo Kelhoukreinuo Pienyü of Kohima Village accompanied by three boys from Nerhema Village, Ruokuokhozo Kiewhuo, Neikielhoulie Chatsu and Ruokuotuo Vimerha. The protest march which started from the High School junction here converged at the Kohima District Jail and then went to the office of the Deputy Commissioner Kohima for submission of a memorandum. The memorandum stated that an FIR should be immediately registered against the culprit and the three boys from Nerhema for the “barbaric assault and attempted murder” of Kevilenuo. The memo also asked for a non-
A silent march was held in Kohima on January 23 to protest the attack on a woman by another woman and three men.
bailable warrant to be issued to all the persons involved in the crime, and any person attempting to bail out the accused criminals be treated as “partners conniving in the heinous crime.” The memorandum called upon the concerned authority to declare, without delay, the punishment to be awarded to Nganuo and her three cronies to the public through the local media while calling upon befitting punishment to the persons involved in the “barbaric act.” Commotion broke out as the protestors reached the District Jail when they demanded to see the face of the culprits; the office of the DC also witnessed resentment from the crowd. However,
untoward incidents were averted due to the timely intervention of police personnel. CWS members cooled the situation down, appealing to the protestors to avoid anything that will overshadow the demands of the organization. DC Kohima, Honje Konyak, assured that befitting punishment would be awarded to the culprits, adding that the administration, police and judicial administration will leave no stone unturned in giving punishment to the culprits as per the law. He sought co-operation from the public so that justice is delivered to the victim. Members from CWO, AWO, NAPO, NAYO, NAWO,
KVWO and many others including men folks joined the protest rally. Various women spoke at short halts expressing anguish and resentment against Nganuo Kelhoukreinuo Pienyü stating that such an incident should never take place again, and that the culprits should be severely punished. The speakers called upon law enforcing agencies to deliver justice in time to the victim. Meanwhile as news of the assault flashed through social networking sites, bloggers outside Nagaland voiced their disappointment. They expressed their support to the victim, demanding justice for her and befitting punishment to the culprits.
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