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The Morung Express
Dimapur VOL. IX ISSUE 120
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www.morungexpress.com
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reflections
By Sandemo Ngullie
“I`m 10 yrs old, I don`t want dolls. I want Samsung Galaxy 10.1.”
NFHRCC: withhold issuing work order in Mon sector Morung Express News Dimapur | May 3
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Sunday, May 4, 2014 12 pages Rs. 4
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The miracle of the seed and the soil is not available by affirmation; it is only available by labor Curfew Continues in Srinagar for Third Day
The Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has appealed the PWD (Roads & Bridges) to withhold the issuing of work order in Mon sector pending further discussion. The decision to appeal the PWD (R&B) to withhold this work order was made after the NFHRCC came in receipt of a letter, long overdue, dating to January 20, 2014 only on May 3. The letter’s content related to allotment of work contract. Thursday’s meeting was initially scheduled to be a joint review meeting with regard to progress of work between the NFHRCC, the PWD (R&B) and the contractors involved in the first phase of the Foothill Road project. The PWD (R&B) could not attend the meeting citing “pre-engagement,” while contractors could not turn up either. The NFHRCC, however, received progress reports from the contractors. With regard to the Mokokchung sector, contractor Yashitsungba Ao stated that work on the ‘Longtho to Changki Agri link road’ is complete and is awaiting fresh work order for the Longtho-Yajang C segment. In the Wokha sector, the progress report from P. Imty Ao stated that work could not progress in the Governor’s Camp to Old Ralan segment (9km) due to “villagers demand for a new alignment.” The Wokha sector spans 62km in all. Beyond Governor’s camp up to MI Dam Project, the letter stated that the work assigned has been completed, except a stretch of ‘road formation embankment’ in the Meriyan-Governor’s Camp segment. The NFHRCC has called an emergency meeting on May 4 to discuss matters relating to route alignment at Rengmapani. The R&B engineer in-charge of the area and a JE from Dimapur division along with the contractors have been requested to attend the meeting.
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Unlocking educationLessons of another kind [ PAGE 2]
Mumbai Indians finally get on board
[ PAGE 9]
[ PAGE 12]
Rescuers struggle to help Afghans hit by landslide [ PAGE 11]
–John Rohn
Assam violence: Thousands flee Naga political groups their homes fearing more attacks meet to strengthen
GUWAHATI, MAY 3 (AFP): Police found nine more bodies on Saturday after a deadly rampage by tribal separatists in Assam, taking the death toll to 32 following two days of violence. The latest fighting in the area, a site of frequent ethnic clashes, began on Thursday with the killing of 11 Bengali-speaking Muslim villagers, followed by more bloodshed on Friday when 12 others were slain. Police said it was not immediately known when the nine villagers whose bodies were recovered on Saturday had been killed. “The death toll has gone up to 32,” police inspector general S N Singh told AFP. “Security has been further tightened with police and paramilitary troopers deployed in strength.” The nine bodies, including those of women and children, were recovered from Narayanguri village in Baksa district, 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Assam’s main city of Guwahati. This week’s attacks come as the country votes in a multiphased general election that began on April 7. Polling winds up on May 12, with results to be announced four days later. Voting in Assam has ended, with April 24 the last day of polling. Police blamed the attacks on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which has been demanding a separate homeland for decades. Investigators said they arrested around 20 suspects on Saturday in the violence-hit districts of Baksa and its neighbour, Kokrajhar. “So far we have arrested about 20 people,” said a senior police official, who did not want to be named. Witnesses said some of the victims were killed as attackers opened fire on them while they
Villagers walk with their belongings leaving their violence-affected village of Narayanguri, in Assam on May 3. Police in India arrested 22 people after separatist rebels went on a rampage, burning homes and killing dozens of Muslims in the “worst outbreak of ethnic violence” in the NE region in two years, officials said Saturday. (AP Photo)
slept in their homes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday to “restore normalcy” in the area, while con-
demning the attacks. “(My) heart reaches out and grieves for all those who lost their near and dear ones,” Singh said in a statement. The attacks have prompted security forces to launch a mas-
sive hunt for the guerillas and have spurred some 5,000 people to flee from their homes, police officer Singh said. The officer added that an indefinite curfew has also been imposed in the violence-torn districts, with police given shooton-sight orders and army soldiers on standby. The victims of the attacks were Muslim migrants who have been locked for years in land disputes with indigenous Bodo tribes in the tea-growing state that borders Bhutan and Bangladesh. Media reports said Muslim villagers were targeted as a punishment for not voting for candidates backed by the rebels. Chief minister Gogoi said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would probe the violence and involvement of any political parties. “An NIA probe has been sought and anyone found guilty, including politicians, will not be spared,” Gogoi told reporters after a state cabinet meeting on Saturday. While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has criticized the Congress-led state government for inaction and failure to protect its people, some student groups have demanded Gogoi’s resignation. Seventeen people were killed in clashes in the same region in January, and thousands of others fled their homes for fear of further attacks. Survivors of Thursday’s attack in Kokrajhar district described how a group of around 20 masked gunmen had carried out the killings late at night. “We were asleep when gunmen barged into our home and sprayed bullets, killing my elderly mother, my wife and my fouryear-old daughter,” Siraj Ali told a local TV channel, as he sat beside the bodies in a police station. “I don’t have anyone left in my family now,” Ali said.
Lenten Agreement
KolKATA, MAY 3 (MExN): Top leadership of three Naga political groups, currently part of the Naga Reconciliation Process, took part in a five-day reconciliation meeting organized in Kolkata from April 29 to May 3, 2014 with the intent to “engage and explore creative ways to fulfill the Lenten Agreement.” “In pursuit for the realization of the Lenten Agreement, the Forum for Naga Reconciliation facilitated a series of formal and informal meetings among the leaders of the signatory groups. On recognizing the necessity, the three Naga political groups agreed to have a close-door residential meeting among the top leadership,” the FNR stated in a press release today. The top leadership of GPRN/NSCN Gen. Khole Konyak and N. Kitovi Zhimomi; NNC/FGN leaders Zhopra Vero, Vice President and Zaleo Sapu, Home Minister, “responding to this necessity” participated in the meeting. The FNR valued their presence with much appreciation. However, it was informed that FGN President, Brig. S. Singnya was unable to attend the meeting due to ill-health. Furthermore, the travel of NSCN/GPRN leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Th. Muivah to Kolkata was not cleared by the Government of India, and hence, they were unable to personally attend. In their absence, they were represented by General (Retd) VS Atem, Khevihe Chishi Swu and TT Among. In the course of the 5-day meeting, the three Naga political groups expressed the “necessity of Naga reconciliation as a means to a shared future and extended their willingness to work for it till it is achieved,”
the FNR informed. As part of the confidence building measures the representatives identified positive and negative aspects of the process and specified key steps on how the Naga reconciliation can be further reinforced. “They explored together the values of Truth, Mercy, Peace and Justice and emphasized on how they were vital to the journey of Naga reconciliation,” noted the FNR. The representatives, through a process of envisioning, shared their vision for the Naga people and expressed desire to engage in more confidence building measures as a way of “trashing out difficult issues in the interest of the shared Naga future.” While appreciating the Government of India for their cooperation to Naga Reconciliation, the FNR remained “concerned by this recent attitude, thereby raising questions of doubt and insincerity.” The Forum for Naga Reconciliation further informed that the Naga Reconciliation Process is in the interest of the common good of all concerned. It stated that “For too long the internal division of the Nagas has been projected as one of the causes for the protracted conflict.” Hence, in this time of peace, where Naga political groups are “reconciling and seeking ways to find unity in purpose,” the FNR urged “Nagas, our neighbours and the Government of India to have more understanding and extend even moral support to the process. The realization of Naga reconciliation is in the mutual interest of all those who desire justice, peace and reconciliation in the region.”
Nido Tania case: Court ssA teachers’ picketing enters third day takes cognizance of CS Fourth day oF picketing oF S/deo oFFiceS on May 5, Monday
NEW DElHI, MAY 3 (PTI): A Delhi court today took cognizance of the charge sheet filed against seven accused in the Nido Tania murder case and asked the agency to provide copies of the final report to the four adult accused on the next date of hearing. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pritam Singh directed the CBI to supply the copies of the charge sheet and other documents annexed with it to the four adult accused on May 7 in connection with the death of 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania. The matter against the three juveniles will be sent to the Juvenile Justice Board. CBI has dropped murder charges on the accused allegedly involved in the death of Tania, son of an Arunachal Pradesh MLA, on the ground that his killing was not premeditated but a result of altercation over breaking of glass counter. The charge sheet was filed by the CBI yesterday against seven people, including three juveniles, in the case. CBI has filed the charge sheet for the offences of culpable homicide, illegal confinement under the IPC and the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act against Farman, Pawan, Sunder Singh and Sunny Uppal, who are currently in judicial custody. Earlier, the accused were booked for the offence of murder by the Delhi Police but the CBI dropped the murder charge in its charge sheet. The case was transferred to
CBI from Delhi Police for further investigation after the victim’s parents had met Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, demanding speedy justice for Tania. They had alleged police negligence in the case and also demanded action against the guilty personnel. The accused were apprehended after relatives of Tania, a BA first year student in a private university, alleged that he had an altercation with some shopkeepers at Lajpat Nagar market here on January 29 after they made fun of his hair style. Following the altercation, the shopkeepers had allegedly thrashed him. He was brought dead to AIIMS the next day. The death of Tania, son of a Congress MLA, evoked angry reactions from people of the northeast living in the national capital who alleged police had failed to protect him. Police had booked the four adult accused under Section 302 (murder) of IPC after the postmortem report showed Tania died due to injuries to his head and face caused by a blunt object. Initially, police had on February 3 arrested three of the accused under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. On February 10, police arrested Sunny and slapped murder charge against all the four accused. Two minors, who also allegedly assaulted Tania, are facing an inquiry before the Juvenile Justice Board here.
KoHIMA, MAY 3 (MExN): The Nagaland Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Teachers’ Association (NSSATA) continued picketing District Education Offices (DEO) across the State for a third day, and has stated that a fourth day of picketing will be on May 5, Monday. “The NSSATA continue to stand firm on its earlier resolutions. Till date, no approach has been made by the state government and its implementing agencies to negotiate with the aggrieved party on acceptable terms. The aggrieved party have been requested to call off its present stir through certain agencies of the state in some instances with assurances of paying salaries, i.e., of Dec, 2013 to Feb, 2014,” the NSSATA stated in a press release today. The NSSATA reiterated that the Centre has “already sanctioned and deposited the second installment for the financial year 2013- 2014, which does not cover only from Oct’ 13 to Feb’ 14, but it covers the months of Oct’ 13 to March’ 14. In support of it, it is learnt through RTI that an amount of Rs. 91.8311 Cr has been sanctioned by the central Government against salary component for the financial year 2013-2014 which is sufficient for payment of all dues for twelve months, i.e., from April’13 – March’14.” In light of this, the NSSATA demanded the Nagaland State Government and its imple-
Secy to Finance Department (Budget) clarifies on SSA salaries KoHIMA, MAY 3 (MExN): Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Finance Department (Budget), Y. Kikheto Sema (IAS), has informed that a deposit of Rs. 23 Crore by the State Mission Authority of the SSA to the Naga-
land State Government account was made recently and as per the Drawing and Disbursing Officer-wise sub-allocation submitted by the School Education Department, the Finance Department has issued directions
to the Treasuries vide Order No. BUD/11-31/2011-12 dated May 1, May 2014 to honor the salaries of the Teachers under SSA for 3 months i.e. with effect from December 2013 to February 2014. Full text on page 5
Resume classes given ‘time bound assurance’: NSF KoHIMA, MAY 3 (MExN): The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), while reiterating the earlier stance of the Federation in supporting the cause of the NSSATA for nonpayment of salary, has once again appealed to the department concerned to “give time-pound assurance to the SSA teachers” and asked them to resume normal classes at the earliest. In a press release from its general secretary Esther Rhakho and secretary education Bangdi Chawang, the NSF informed that its officials have met the department in
concern and SSA officials on many occasions urging them to “press upon the Ministry of Human Resource Department to release the money at the earliest.” The NSF has also appealed to the NSSATA to resume their normal classes in the interest of the students should the department give a “time-bound assurance” for the release of their salaries. “However till date nothing has been materialized and it is the innocent students who are being made to bear the brunt of this impasse,” noted the NSF.
The Federation has learnt that the further stated that, “It has been learnt that the MHRD has already released the money, therefore NSF once again urge upon the department and the government to release the salary by 1st week of May as the innocent students are victims of this undesirable episode.” In addition, the NSF asked the NSSATA to be “cautious and sensible” while “expressing your resentment or fighting for your legitimate rights, more so being an employee serving under government rules and undertakings.”
menting agencies to “make the full payment immediately.” With regard to Finance Department Clarification on release of SSA salaries from the Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, Finance Department (Budget), Y. Kikheto Sema, the NSSATA questioned why “comparisons have been made against the state of Na-
galand with those of inefficient states of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir with regard to SSA implementation and why not with other successful states?” The NSSATA informed that in Jammu & Kashmir, the RTE Act is not yet implemented. “Further citing about the net loss of Power and NST Depart-
ment and the difficulties faced by the state to pay its employees has no connection when it comes to payment of salaries to the SSA employees as the centre has already done the needful,” noted the NSSATA. In light of all the above, the NSSATA has decided to stage a fourth day of picketing of SDEO offices on Monday, May 5.
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