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monDAY • november 09 • 2015
DIMAPUR • Vol. X • Issue 305 • 12 PAGes • 4
T H e
ESTD. 2005
P o W e R
The opinion which other people have of you is their problem, not yours Only democracy can decide future: Taiwan opposition PAGe 9
The Morung Express Poll QuEsTion
Vote on www.morungexpress.com sMs your answer to 9862574165 Will you be willing to provide your private land towards road construction and development in your area? Yes
no
others
Has Naga civil society groups (Hohos, students, mothers, etc) been compromised by the Nagaland state government? Why? Yes
63% 23%
no others
14%
Details on page 7
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Editor, The Morung Express
Investigators “90 percent sure” bomb downed Russian airliner C M Y K
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CAIRO, NOVEMBER 8 (REUTERS): Investigators of the Russian plane crash in Egypt are “90 percent sure” the noise heard in the final second of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb, a member of the investigation team told Reuters on Sunday. The Airbus A321 crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Sharm al-Sheikh tourist resort eight days ago, killing all 224 passengers and crew. Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian security forces in Sinai said they brought it down. “The indications and analysis so far of the sound on the black box indicate it was a bomb,” said the Egyptian investigation team member, who asked not to be named due to sensitivities. “We are 90 percent sure it was a bomb.” His comments reflect a higher degree of certainty about the cause of the crash than the investigation committee has so far declared in public. Lead investigator Ayman al-Muqaddam announced on Saturday that the plane appeared to have broken up in mid-air while it was being flown on auto-pilot, and that a noise had been heard in the last second of the cockpit recording. But he said it was too soon to draw conclusions about why the plane crashed. Confirmation that militants brought down the airliner could have a devastating impact on Egypt’s lucrative tourist industry, which has suffered from years of political turmoil and was hit last week when Russia, Turkey and several European countries suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh and other destinations. It could also mark a new strategy by the hardline Islamic State group which holds large parts of Syria and Iraq. Asked to explain the remaining 10 percent margin of doubt, the investigator declined to elaborate, but Muqaddam cited other possibilities on Saturday including a fuel explosion, metal fatigue in the plane or lithium batteries overheating. He said debris was scattered over a 13-km (8-mile) area “which is consistent with an in-flight break-up”.
‘Work for the good of all’
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— Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Aston Villa hold Man City to scoreless draw
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Bihar’s ‘Grand Alliance’ defeats Modi wave Nagas are a people & a nation
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 (REUTERS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a heavy defeat on Sunday in an election in Bihar, India’s third most-populous state, signalling the waning power of a leader who until recently had an unrivalled reputation as a vote winner. Modi’s second straight regional election setback will galvanise opposition parties, embolden rivals in his own party and diminish his standing with foreign leaders amid concern he may not win a second term as prime minister. “This is a clear indication that Modi’s popularity may now have peaked,” said Satish Misra, a political analyst at the Observer Research Foundation. The loss in Bihar will also hamper Modi’s push to pass economic reforms, because he needs to win most state elections in the next three years to gain full control of parliament. Investors are already fretting over the speed of change in Modi’s India, and worries over an additional stumbling block will likely knock financial markets on Monday. In the most significant vote since he won power 18 months ago, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost in Bihar after running a campaign that sought to polarise voters along caste and religious lines. It was the most expensive state election ever fought by the BJP, with more than 90 top party figures addressing 600 rallies over the last six weeks, party officials said. “The Bihar election was
— The UN is not the final word Morung Express news Dimapur | November 8
supporters of Congress party celebrate after learning the initial results outside the party headquarters in new Delhi, november 8. (REUTERS)
a very important battle for us. We will have to analyse each and every aspect of the result,” said Ram Madhav, a BJP general secretary. “There are lessons to be learned.” An anti-Modi alliance led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was ahead in 179 seats in the 243-seat regional assembly, an overwhelming majority, tallies compiled by the election commission showed. Modi tweeted that he had called to congratulate Kumar, whose regional “grand alliance” could now become a template for politicians seeking to prevent Modi’s march
towards untrammelled power under India’s federal system. The defeat could also dampen the mood as Modi heads to Britain for the first bilateral visit by an Indian leader since 2006. Modi is due to address a crowd next week at London’s Wembley stadium. Modi’s BJP-led alliance was ahead in 58 seats where trends were clear. Some regional party leadersexpressedbitternessover a campaign that thrust Modi into thespotlight-headdressedmore than 30 rallies - turning the electionintoareferendumonhispersonal leadership. Analysts said a prime min-
ister has never before invested so much time in a state election. “The role of the prime minister is to govern the country, and not become the lead campaigner in a state election,” one senior BJP state leader said, asking not to be named. Bihar is one of its biggest electoral prizes and the most pressing challenges of India prevail there, including widespread poverty, corruption and poor infrastructure. If independent, its 104 million people would be the world’s 13th-largest nation, more populous than Germany. Related News on Page 8
Membership to the “elite club” of the United Nations (UN) is “not the final word on the stories of peoples and nations.” Peace activist Niketu Iralu said this while paying a ‘tribute to our people’ during the inauguration of the Naga Archives & Research Centre (NARC) at Toulazouma on November 7. “To limit the status of nationality only to those who have become members of the elite club of the UN is a conceptual construct made by a few old nations in a hurry. Membership of this Club is not the final word on the stories of peoples and nations,” he said while speaking to a gathering of intellectuals, political leaders, elders, youth, including from the neighbouring Meitei and Asom communities. The world and mankind are going to discover possibilities for societies and communities to live together than what have prevailed thus far, he reiterated. Conscious of the course the Naga movement has traversed, with its rights and wrongs, Niketu Iralu believed that “the pioneers of the Naga struggle did the right thing in launching their struggle.” “I do believe that by taking their stand to desperately defend their identity based on the facts of their history, the Nagas have achieved something, they have covered some distance, namely, that they are a people and a nation.” Iralu defined the “toughest challenge for all mankind” today to be the “feeling for one’s own iden-
tity and defending it, at the same time accepting joint responsibility by all to help one another to learn to live together in mutual trust and goodwill.” Yet, this will be the way wherein “we will be able to grow safely together on this planet earth, our common shrinking, threatened sanctuary.” The NARC is an ‘almanacmuseum’ for the Naga national struggle—curated by a group of researchers led by Rev. Dr. VK Nuh, the museum has records from the heydays of the Naga struggle that include official documents on ceasefire, imposition of draconian laws, speeches, biographies, photographs, audio files, artefacts etc. The peace activist and ardent social worker emphasized on the need for Naga people to “know ourselves correctly without fear or pretence.” Making a simple analogy, he reflected, “If compared to others we have discovered we have completed only up to Upper Primary School level, we do not need to waste our time and resources and damage ourselves by regretting we are not able to do what others who are University graduates are capable of doing and achieving! We need to discover what we have achieved and know that we are not more than what we really are. But we need to rejoice and find confidence in the fact that we are not less than what we are.” In that, Nagas today, noted Iralu, should be “humble, compassionate towards one another, realistic, responsible, and intelligent enough and build on the foundation your grandfathers and pioneers have achieved and passed on to you.”
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BJP in mood of denial: NPCC Repaying a ‘Debt of Honor’ to the Nagas
DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 8 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today stated that the Bihar election result has “truly demonstrated the inner mind and prayer of the nation which was under siege by intolerance.” “Electorates of Bihar have sent a strong message to the nation and the world by defeating the communal forces of BJPRSS despite high voltage campaign by Prime Minister Modi and BJP president Amit Shah,” said a press note from the NPCC. The NPCC further said that the Nagaland state BJP leaders are “still in a denial mood...justifying their existence by arguing that it does not mix with any religious body.” It termed this as “akin to a murderer pleading innocence despite getting caught red handed while committing the act.” “Nagas are not
fools to be easily taken for a ride as RSS apologists mistakenly believe,” it said. The NPCC stated that intolerance has become the “order of the day” and that “human life particularly those of religious minorities and oppressed castes like the Dalits and Adivasis have no value in the new order that is being dictated by the RSS...” It advised that the state BJP leaders “should break their silence on intolerance and minority bashing...” On BJP’s claim that “many congress workers have joined their communal bandwagon,” the NPCC said: “we know that some disgruntled congress workers have strayed away to hitch a ride with them, but realizing that it has no political destination for the Nagas, they are repenting and are looking forward to join back to where they truly belong.”
Morung Express news Kohima | November 8
During World War II, a British pilot named Ray Jackson was shot down in Phek. He was rescued by two Chakhesang men, who took care of him and brought him back to safety. Since then Jackson carried with him a debt of gratitude towards the Nagas, and in 2010 he helped build a basketball court for the children of Phek. Ray Jackson’s story is but a fraction of the British gratitude towards the Nagas, whose help during WWII was immense and crucial. “The whole concept of Kohima Educational Trust (KET)/Kohima Educational Society (KES) came about because of the gratitude of the British soldiers towards Nagas who fought in the battle of Kohima,” says Dr. P Ngully, Chairman of the KES. President of the KES Charles Chasie states that the “emotional bond” between the Nagas and the Bristish “bridges across the seas.” Remembering the Battle of
Kohima, WWII veterans converge every year at a memorial in York Minster, England, which bears a famous epitaph to commemorate the battle and remember fallen comrades. The last such meeting was held in 2004 during the 60th anniversary of the Battle, where some veterans decided to travel to Kohima to commemorate the anniversary. This was the beginning of the Kohima Educational Trust (KET), an idea by Gordon Graham, as a means to build relationship with the Nagas and to pay back a ‘Debt of Honour,’ as the veterans put it. The KET began with funds raised from the pensions of the veterans, focusing on the future of the Nagas, with special attention to education. Gradually, the children and grandchildren of the veterans also started contributing to the Trust. The Kohima Educational Society (KES), the KET counterpart in Nagaland was set up in 2007. Since then, the KET/KES have provided scholarships to students from Class 8 to 10 and in 2014 it was ex-
tended to class 11 and 12. So far, 162 Naga students have been beneficiaries of the scholarship. The criteria for receiving this scholarship are based on the socio-economic status of the student, the association of any relatives with the WWII veterans and the commitment of parents towards the child’s education. The scholarship covers the whole of Nagaland with most students hailing from Eastern Nagaland. Apart from scholarships, the KET/KES has also set up a reference library at the State Library Kohima with rare books on the battle of Kohima signed by the authors. Recently, the trust has also constructed a 30 bedded hostel at Pangsha for students of that area, who often seek education from nearby villages without proper accommodation. The KET/KES is also involved in a health education program, which was instituted in the name of Dr. Keath Halnan, a founding member of KET. The programme provides basic health training,
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The KES Concert
The KES concert, to be held on November 11 at RCEMPA, Jotsoma, is a fundraiser towards the trust’s activities. While the British veterans have contributed much to the Nagas, their Nagaland counterparts in the KES, also felt the need to raise funds to contribute their part of the goodwill. All the money made from the concert will go to the KET/KES scholarships for Naga children. Each KET/KES scholarship is given out in the name of a particular contributor, with the aim to strengthen the relationship between the student and the sponsoring family. Similarly, the scholarships enabled by the concert will be given out in the name of the performing artists. The concert will feature renowned artists including the Euphony choir, Alobo Naga, Tetseo Sisters, Tali Angh, Methaneilie Jütakhrie and Purple Fusion.
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Myanmar holds first free election in 25 years
YANGON, NOVEMBER 8 (REUTERS): Voting unfolded smoothly in Myanmar on Sunday with no reports of violence to puncture a mood of jubilation marking the Southeast Asian nation’s first free nationwide election in 25 years, its biggest stride yet in a journey to democracy from dictatorship. The party of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to win the largest share of votes cast by an electorate of about 30 million, who chose from among thousands of candidates standing for parliament and regional assemblies. But a legacy of military rule means she cannot become president after the election, even if her Na-
tional League for Democracy (NLD) wins a landslide. Concern arose about the fairness of the election after activists estimated that up to 4 million people may be unable to cast a ballot. And on the eve of the poll, the NLD said a suspiciously large number of extra voting tickets had been issued in some areas, with one family in Yangon getting 38. Religious tension, fanned by Buddhist nationalists whose actions have intimidated Myanmar’s Muslim minority, marred the election campaign. Among those excluded from voting were around a million Rohingya Muslims who are effectively A Kayan woman, from one of Myanamr’s ethnic minority groups, shows her ink-stained stateless in their own land. finger after she voted, in front of a polling station in Panpet village, Demoso township, Still, there was excitement Kayah state november 8. (REUTERS)
among voters about the first general election since a quasi-civilian government replaced military rule in 2011, which is widely regarded as a referendum on the country’s unsteady reform process. “I’ve done my bit for change, for the emergence of democracy,” said 55-year-old former teacher Daw Myint after casting her vote for the NLD in Yangon. Suu Kyi’s car inched through a scrum of news photographers outside the Yangon polling station where the 70-year-old Nobel peace laureate came to vote. She was stony-faced as bodyguards shouted at people to move aside. Most of the well-wishers gathered there were lucky to get more than a
glimpse of the garland in her hair. A cry of “Victory! Victory!” went up from the crowd as she went inside. Many voters voiced doubts the military would accept the outcome of the vote if Suu Kyi’s party is victorious. But in the capital, Naypyitaw, military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said on Sunday there would be no re-run of the last free vote in 1990, when Suu Kyi won but the army ignored the result. She spent most of the next 20 years under house arrest before her release in 2010. Asked how he would feel if the NLD won this time, Min Aung Hlaing told reporters: “If the people choose them, there is no reason we would not accept it.” Related News on Page 9
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