October 1st, 2016

Page 1

C M Y K

www.morungexpress.com

SaturDaY • OctOber 01• 2016

DIMAPUR • Vol. XI • Issue 270 • 12 PAGes • 5

T H e

ESTD. 2005

P o W e R

Revolution comes when human beings set out to correct decadent institutions Philippines Prez Duterte likens himself to Hitler, wants to kill millions of drug users PaGe 09

o F

T R u T H

— H. Rap Brown

17th NSF Martyrs’ Memorial Trophy

U-DISE: School urged to furnish correct, genuine data PaGe 05

PaGe 12

Nation-Wide Alert Sounded NAGAS IN TRANSITION: from myth to modernity Morung Express News Dimapur | September 30

An Indian soldier keeps vigil in Jammu and Kashmir. Following intelligence reports that terror attacks were planned in the country, the central government on Friday issued a nationwide alert. (AP File Photo)

Home Minister Rajnath reviews security, states issued advisory New Delhi, SeptembeR 30 (iANS): In view of intelligence inputs that some Pakistan-based terror groups may carry out attacks in various parts of the country, the central government on Friday issued a nation-wide alert and directed states to heighten vigil to foil any such attempts. In an advisory, the Union Home Ministry conveyed to the states that additional forces should be deployed in all sensitive places, strategic installations, markets, religious places and other key areas to ensure security, an official source said here. The centre also directed that metropolitan cities should be particularly asked to be extra vigilant. According to sources, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat -- four states bordering Pakistan -- have been asked to be extra vigilant as there are reports that some terrorists and suicide attackers might have crossed over to India during the last one month or so, and could act now as

Petrol price hiked by 28 paise per litre; diesel price cut by 6 paise a litre

part of their retaliation to the “surgical strikes” by the Indian Army across the Line of Control (LoC). The directives came close on the heels of Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewing the national security scenario with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, top officials of the Home Ministry, and the top brass of various central security organisations including the Border Security Force (BSF). “Elements in Pakistan and terror groups may try to carry out attacks in India, including in some vulnerable installations in the metropolis, to avenge the surgical strikes that left significant casualties both among terror groups and regular Pakistan army,” a source said. The surgical strikes by the army came 10-11 days after Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had attacked an army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir which left 19 Indian soldiers martyred. Earlier during the day, Home Minister Singh reviewed the security situation in the country, particularly along the border with Pakistan in states like Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and directed central security organisations to be on high alert. “BSF and other central police organisations functioning under

the Home Ministry have been put on high alert along the India-Pakistan border,” an official source later said. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) top brass have been asked to intensify security at all industrial units, airports and other locations wherever they are deployed. All BSF units deployed along the international border in Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat have been directed to step up vigil. The BSF has been ordered to increase the number of personnel deployed at sensitive posts along the Pakistan border, the sources said. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and top officials of security and intelligence agencies also attended the review meeting. Rajnath Singh also held separate meetings with the chiefs of important central security forces, including National Security Guard (NSG), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and CISF. Singh met CISF Director General O.P. Singh, NDRF Director General R.K. Pachnanda and NSG chief Sudhir Pratap Singh and discussed general preparedness. These were routine meetings but were significant in the wake of the army’s surgical strikes across the LoC, sources added.

In the context of the Naga situation, is the “There” better than the “Here” or vice-versa? Naga writer and chronicler Kaka D Iralu asked thins during his keynote address at the state level seminar on ‘Nagas in transition: from myth to modernity’ organized by Eastern Christian College (ECC) here on Friday. Even as the outside world and the present educated Naga generation tend to “paint a picture of ignorance, savagery and mythology” while talking about past Naga society, Iralu took the participants of the seminar to a journey of “revisiting” the socio cultural past (democracy, legal and land ownership) of the Nagas and urged them ponder whether Nagas were “indeed savages yesterday or on the contrary, a most cultured people.” According to Iralu, Naga democracy, unlike many other democracies, was completely free from the influence of any caste or class system. “Equality of every individual was a unique feature of our democracy which spread from the family level, to clan level and onto the village level. In this democracy, there was no ‘high born’ or ‘low born’ that can uplift or demean an individual’s status in the village polity. This equality of status was a uniform practice in every Naga village”, he said. Iralu quoted the comments of Captain Butler, a British soldier and anthropologist who came in contact with the Nagas in 1842: “A purest form of democracy exist among these people…everyone follows the dictates of his own conscience…something unimaginable to be in existence for even a single day.” He also said that long before Thomas Jefferson penned down the famous words, “All men are born equal”, Naga forefathers were already practicing that reality in their village republics. On Naga jurisprudence, Iralu said legal justice was pronounced not in a courtroom but in the court of the lawgiver - God or the creator. He said oath taking or swearing ceremonies were done under the open skies where the oath taker pronounces terrible consequences upon himself and his posterity in case he was making a false claim over a dispute.

Naga writer and chronicler, Kaka D Iralu, addressing the seminar on ‘Nagas in transition: from myth to modernity’ on Friday at the Eastern Christian College, Dimapur. (Morung Photo)

“An individual’s crime could also implicate a whole clan. And so, because of these restraints, no individual can do whatever he likes in the given society. In such a system of law there was also no need for jails or police force to enforce law and order”, he said. Iralu said while land in other societies or nations belonged to a king, government or feudal landlord, in Naga society, land is privately owned by individual villages and shared by clans and families in private ownership. He said under this system, any individual in any Naga village is a legitimate land owner by virtue of his membership (or citizenship) to his own native village. Coming to the present reality, Iralu said Indian democracy under which Nagas live today, has nullified even the right to life through laws like the Armed Forces Special Act 1958, Disturbed Area Act 1955 and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967. “As for our legal rights, even after seven decades of Indian so called democratic rule, the lives of over two hundred thousand Nagas who have died to preserve our ways of life, remains un-compensated and un-addressed. As for our legal rights pertaining to our day to day affairs, many of our cases are pending in the courts lost in a maze of stay orders where justice is denied and kept under suspension”, he stated. He further said that equal land ownership has been replaced by “multimillionaires in our midst, who by collaborating with the invaders of our land have made

NBCC Youth appeals for improvement of roads NLSF to pursue demand

DimApUR, SeptembeR 30 (mexN): The Youth Department of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) has written a letter to the Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang appealing for the improvement of road conditions in Nagaland. It informed that the youth department’s 32nd Annual Session was convened at Ahthibung recently. During its session the youth expressed its solidarity to the government as it manages and plan

for the future of the State in the context of globalization and increased international cooperation. We also empathize with the government that in spite of resourcefulness, in terms of natural and human resources, the state remains underdeveloped, it said. The NBCC Youth Department however expressed anguish at the deplorable conditions of roads in Nagaland. “It is the opinion of the youth that the government must adopt a holistic approach that un-

derscores the need for a road system that guarantees maintenance, safety, liveability and a sense of community if all round development must happen,” it said. Stating that there is lack of equilibrium between the vehicles we drive and the road conditions we travel, it pointed out that with the monsoon coming to an end the whole State is left with potholes with yawning gaps, mud and water stagnation on the roads making it tough for common mo-

torist to drive. “Citizens are vexed with bumpy rides on such roads. Apart from bad roads, it is the delay in re-carpeting those portions of roads dug up for laying pipeline and cables by different government departments and private agencies,” it added. Considering that the problem has reached its zenith and is, consequently, creating great hardship among citizens, the NBCC Youth Department sought the Chief Minister’s immediate attention to the matter.

Naga Hoho asks Gov to ‘salvage’ Nagaland Univ

Public Information

All press statements, memorandums, articles, reports and news related documents should be sent to the official email address:

morung@gmail.com

Press releases will be accepted only till 8:00 pm Editor, The Morung Express C M Y K

The Morung Express App for Android phones is now available for free at the Google Play Store. Download now.

their millions and now own thousands of acres of prime land”, at the expense of poor villagers who are compelled to sell their lands to maintain their families. While clarifying that he is not calling for Nagas to remain static in the past, Iralu however stated that “it would be a dangerous adventure on our part to just plunge into the modern world without a knowledge of who we are and what we were.” The need of the hour, he stated is to guide the younger generation into the 21st century, while firmly anchored in our unique past. Earlier, Vice Chairman, Managing Board ECC, Ajungla Longkumer, in her inaugural speech said the struggle by different ethnic groups, particularly the Nagas, for their identity and justice has brought forth questions to the process of globalization and modernity. Ajungla said identity is a way of asserting one’s place in society and history, which provides a framework for people’s self-understanding. “These elements in the life of the Nagas have been suppressed. A conscious recovery of them is essential in our struggles for dignity. The Nagas’ struggle for identity is an attempt to secure the rightful space for indigenous people in the wider human discourse and relationship”, she said. Ajungla informed that the seminar was organized with the purpose to exchange ideas, an exposure to understanding the identity of the Nagas and aid in observing the process of transformation in all aspects of Naga society. Related news on page 2

DimApUR, SeptembeR 30 (mexN): The Naga Hoho has written the Nagaland State Governor, who is also the Rector of Nagaland University, expressing concern at the quality education in the university. The Naga Hoho, in its press note stated that “a poor choice was made in appointing the Vice–Chancellor and it still continues.” It alleged that “in the appointment, personal loyalty got the better of more relevant considerations like competence, academic eminence and personal integrity. The result has been disastrous and till now we are paying the consequences.” The Naga Hoho lamented that even after 22 years of existence, Nagaland University is “unable to attain its height as a Central University at par with other progressive Cen-

tral Universities.” It said that the NU over the past 10-15 years was “pressed down with many unhealthy issues of financial misappropriation by the institutional heads resulting in a series of agitations and removal of VC and officials of the University on corruption charges.” It further stated that the “university had experienced years of CBI inquiry and some other investigated cases are still pending while some officials have been removed, some have left after their tenure.” It further expressed concern at the sub-standard infrastructural development in the three campuses, and lamented that the university is yet to have a strong academic foundation/environment. The Naga Hoho expressed surprise to learn that “for the past 4-5 years NU has been

surrendering plan money (yearly plan for university development) allocated for development in spite of underdevelopment of the university, the latest being 1.69 cores surrendered during the 9th Aug 2016 Finance committee meeting.” “This speaks volumes of incompetency on the part of the university and consequently many colleges in the state have better infrastructure than NU. Besides, the current trend of heavy employment from other states particularly from Manipur and Assam in NU points to obvious sidelining of the hundreds of local qualified unemployed youth in the state,” it alleged. Stating that the Vice Chancellor “can make or unmake a university,” the Naga Hoho urged the Governor to

“salvage” the university at par with other progressive universities in the country. “We strongly urge that the new VC appointment should be without any bias and political interventions,” it said. It stated that a person of “high moral integrity, an eminent academician with reputed credentials, a nonpolitical appointee, a person who understand and can work for the upliftment of the Naga people and for their high quality educational development and social development in general.” The Naga Hoho stated that in the past few tenures “we have had VC’s who do not understand the mentality of the people of the region and thereby the academic as well as overall development of the University have brought to a standstill.”

for govt law College

• Aggrieved by delay in declaring results, error in marksheets & question paper • Demands for a separate Law College in Nagaland and change of syllabus Morung Express News Kohima | September 30

The new team of the Nagaland Law Students’ Federation (2016-2018), held a press conference on September 30 at the Nagaland Legal Service Authority Hall. For the first time the Federation has elected its woman president, Imlibenla Lemtur. The others elected are Medochütuo Kiewhuo as the General Secretary, Yunang Konpi as Vice President, Toshika Wotsa as Finance Secretary, Nungshimeren Jamir as Speaker, Inakhu Z. Assumi as Deputy Speaker, Roland Zeliang as Information and Publicity Secretary, Pangsugmanen as Asst. General Secretary, and Putinok as Education and Statistical Secretary. The new team highlighted the plan of action NLSF will take up in the course of their tenure. Some of the grievances expressed were the delay in declaring results, error in marksheets and question papers, demand for a separate Law College, and change of syllabus. Citing the unfair marking system, the NLSF mentioned that none of the Naga students have scored first division ever since the establishment of

Law schools in Nagaland. This has further led to the inability of the law students to compete with other students, or pursue higher studies due to the low percentage given in their results despite the efforts of the students. There is no internal marking system, and there are errors committed in the questions during exams, stated the new team, adding that repeated questions appear in the question paper during exams. President Lemtur also showed a marksheet which bore her name and registration number but with a different roll number and mark scores. The team also highlighted its demand for the present law syllabus to be updated. NLSF in its 7th Biennial General Conference resolved and adopted to pursue with the Government of Nagaland for the establishment of a Government Law College in Nagaland and also to pursue the establishment of a Law Department in Nagaland University. “Nagaland is the 16th State of India and we have achieved 50 years of Statehood, but we do not have a separate Law college till now. We are regulated by law in our everyday lives. Every decision comes in tandem with the law,” mentioned Kiewhuo. The team further plans to conduct an inter college moot court competition. Meanwhile, the present team has resolved to start an RTI campaign in all Departments. “If any discrepancy is detected, we believe that suo moto will be taken by the authority, if not we will resort to PIL to punish those corrupt officials. If the government thinks that we are a playground, we will turn it into a battlefield and we will fight till the end,” said Medochütuo Kiewhuo, General Secretary.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.