Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXXII No. 192
DIMAPUR, SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022 Pages 12 ` 5.00
T20I: India beat SA by 82 runs; level series 2-2 SPORTS, PAGE 12
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Youth fury over ‘Agnipath’ singes nation
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US is there for India: Biden admin INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 9
If political solution not secured, Assembly election will be held in 2023, says Patton Staff Reporter
A policeman aims to fire in the air to disperse people protesting against ‘Agnipath’ scheme in Danapur, Bihar (R) Smoke billows from a train after it was set on fire by protestors in Ballia (UP), Friday. (PTI)
One dead; Railway stns, highways turn into battleground NEW DELHI/SECUND E R A B A D / PAT N A , JUN 17 (PTI): A man was shot dead in police firing in Telangana’s Secunderabad, trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles attacked, as railway stations and highways turned into battleground in many states on Friday amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath, the contentious defence recruitment scheme. Assurances by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Army chief failed to cut ice with hordes of angry youth, carrying bamboo sticks and stones, storming railway premises across cities and small towns and laying siege to highways, creating a security scare. Over 300 trains have been affected and more than 200 cancelled so far due to the protests, the Railways said, reflecting the enormity of the agitation. Coaches of seven trains have so far been set ablaze by protesters, officials said, adding carriages
India logs over 12k new Covid cases for second day NEW DELHI, JUN 17 (PTI): India reported a single-day rise of 12,847 Covid-19 cases for second consecutive day on Friday, taking the tally of cases to 4,32,70,577, while active cases increased to 63,063, the Health Ministry said. Further, 14 fresh fatalities were reported, pushing the overall death toll to 5,24,817. The active cases now constitute 0.15 per cent of the total infections, while the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.64 per cent, the health ministry said. The case fatality rate was 1.21 per cent. An increase of 4,848 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
This is it!
“TV channels compete to show protests and violence. Here protestors compete to be seen on TV” K Y M C
of three running trains in the East Central Railway (ECR), headquartered in Bihar’s Hajipur, and one empty rake in Kulharia, also in the same zone, were damaged by protestors. As the depredations against the recruitment scheme continued for the third day across India, from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana and Bihar to Madhya Pradesh, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Army chief Gen Manoj Pande tried to assuage the concerns of the agitators with little success. Centre’s decision to increase the upper age limit will benefit a large number of youth, Shah said. He added that the recruitment process in the Army had been affected for the last two years due to Covid pandemic and Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sensitive decision by showing concern for the youth of the country. “I appeal to the youth that the process of recruitment in the army is going to start in a few days. They start their preparation for it,” Rajnath Singh tweeted, calling the scheme a “golden opportunity” for the youth. But the protests spread, seemingly uncontrolled, with crowds squatting on tracks and highways, pelting
trains and buses with stones, toppling vending kiosks at train stations and burning used tyres on tracks. Fiery orange flames leapt out of the windows of trains at Secunderabad, and Lakhisarai and Samastipur in Bihar, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky that could be seen from several kilometres away. Broken tubelights, benches and stones littered several railway stations across the country. Policemen in anti-riot gear were seen chasing away the protesters, hundreds of whom were rounded up. Demonstrators also blocked highways at several places in Buxar, Bhagalpur and Samastipur with burnt tyres. Besides targeting railway properties, the protesters attacked the house of deputy chief minister Renu Devi and the car of a BJP MLA in Bihar. One person was fatally injured when Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel fired to disperse the rampaging protesters at Secunderabad station. The injured are being treated in the state-run Gandhi Hospital. Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital Indore, Haryana’s Narwana and many places in West Bengal
and Jharkhand witnessed protests.
Initial recruitment process by next week
As protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme intensified, the Army, Navy and the Air Force on Friday announced that they will start the enrolment process under the new model by next week while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the youths wanting to join the armed forces to start preparing for the induction. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari told PTI that the selection process by the Indian Air Force for recruitment under the new scheme will start from June 24 while the Army said it will begin the initial exercise within two days. While the Indian Navy said it will start the recruitment process “very soon”, a senior naval commander said the notification for the recruitment would be out within a week. The three services are planning to deploy the first batches of recruits under the new scheme both in operational and non-operational roles by June next year, senior military officials said.
DIMAPUR, JUN 17 (NPN): Amid a renewed push for the long-expected solution to the Naga political issue, deputy chief minister, Y. Patton on Friday said that elections would be held if solution is not arrived at before the Assembly polls, scheduled to be held by end of February 2023. Patton said this while talking to media persons on the sideline of the felicitation programme held for Viku L Achumi and Imsennaro Walling, who successfully cleared the UPSC civil services examination 2021 with 567th and 585th allIndia ranking respectively. The programme was organized under the aegis of Central Nagaland Students Association (CNSA) at Hotel Saramati. Addressing the programme, Patton urged both
Y. Patton along with Viku, Imsennaro and others at the felicitation programme held on Friday. (NP)
the candidates from Nagaland to be role models for the youth, expressing the hope that many would follow their footsteps. He lauded the duo for bringing laurels to Central Naga Tribes and Nagas in general by clearing the UPSC exam, noted that it was not easy to crack UPSC exams where lakhs of aspirants competed intensely every year. Asserting that there were no shortcuts to success, Patton said it took hard work, dedication and sacrifices to be successful, adding
Prez poll: 15 nominations filed so far NEW DELHI, JUN 17 (PTI): Fifteen candidates have filed their nominations for the presidential election with the papers of three of them rejected for want of proper documents, sources said on Friday. While 11 filed their nominations on the first day of filing the papers on June 15, three filed their nominations on Thursday and only one on Friday. One nomination was rejected on the first day and two were rejected on the second day. A nomination paper of a candidate for the election has to be made in the prescribed format and subscribed by at least 50
electors as proposers and at least another 50 electors as seconders. Rs 15,000 as a security deposit should also be deposited. Oppn to meet: Opposition parties will meet on June 21 to discuss the candidate for the Presidential election. The meeting will be chaired by NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Sources say that 17 parties will attend the meeting. The parties have to arrive at a consensus on the candidate’s name after Sharad Pawar declined to contest. The opposition parties had on Wednesday decided to field a joint candidate in the Presidential polls next month. The meeting of
North East region battered by heavy rain and floods Agencies/Correspondent
NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI/SHILLONG, JUN 17: Heavy rain lashed large swathes of the North Eastern region on Friday, including Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, worsening the flood situation in several places, even as the Met department forecast more downpour in the region over the next five days. Extremely heavy rain was recorded at isolated places in Meghalaya, Assam, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and heavy to very heavy downpour in Nagaland and Tri-
Locals look at a section of road washed away by flood waters at Dhamdhama in Nalbari district of Assam, Friday. (PTI)
pura, an official of the Met department said. Over 11 lakh people in 25 districts have been impacted in Assam alone. According to state govern-
ment data, 1,510 villages under 72 revenue circles are currently underwater. Neighbouring Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh too have not been spared.
that Achumi and Walling had proven that there was no hurdle too difficult to overcome if one had the zeal and determination. He mentioned that civil services aspirants should possess the right attitude, a positive mindset and lead a disciplined life if they wanted to succeed. “Education gives you the weapon, but it is you who should choose and fight the battle,” he commented. He urged youth of the State to take more time to read books, gather necessary information and cul-
The death toll in Assam due to floods and mudslides this year rose to 46. In Meghalaya 13 more died on Friday, including seven minors and a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper, due to rainfall-induced landslides on Friday. The total number of fatalities due to the landslides in the State rose to 33, officials said. (Read more on p-4) The IMD, in its forecast issued on Friday, said that “heavy to very heavy” rainfall will continue over Meghalaya till next Tuesday. Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunji) in East Khasi Hills received 972 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30
a.m. on Friday- highest in June since 1995, IMD said. According to officials, 5.43 lakh people have been affected in 607 villages in Meghalaya with severe damage to houses and loss of livestock. Fresh landslides were reported in several areas of Guwahati and parts of Dima-Hasao, Goalpara, Hojai and Kamrup in Assam. Several rivers are flowing above the danger mark in Assam, including Brahmaputra at Nimatighat and Dhubri, Kopili at Nagaon, Puthimari at Kamrup, Pagaladiya at Nalbari, Manas and Beki at Barpeta.
opposition leaders, called by Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was held here for building a consensus on a joint opposition candidate. In the meeting, a resolution was passed to field a common candidate. “In the forthcoming Presidential election which is being held on the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, we have decided to field a common candidate who can truly serve as custodian of the Constitution and stop the Modi government from doing further damage to Indian democracy and India’s social fabric,” it said.
tivate good habits to keep their mind and body fit, while abstaining from harmful habits of alcohol and drugs. He also cautioned against misuse of modern technologies. Appealing to Achumi and Walling to take up any assignment and place of posting with a sense of satisfaction and joy and work with dedication and sincerity, the deputy chief minister remarked that the duo had the added responsibility to proving others that Nagas were second to none and, given the chance, they could be fine officers. He said Nagaland would certainly need their services in later years and hoped that a request would be made at the right time to the authorities concerned by the State government seeking their deputation as and when required. (Cont’d on p-8)
Prez poll: NLA informs MLAs DIMAPUR, JUN 17 (NPN): In view of the election to the office of the President of India scheduled to be held on July 18, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) secretariat has informed all the MLAs that in the event of contest, the poll would be taken between 10am and 5pm in the conference hall, Annexe room, Assembly secretariat, Kohima. It may be mentioned that the process to file nominations for the presidential election began on July 15, 2022 after the Election Commission (EC) issued a notification calling upon the electors to fill the vacancy.
NASSA resumes duty after two weeks of protest Correspondent
KOHIMA, JUN 17 (NPN): Nagaland Assembly Secretariat Staff Association (NASSA) resumed duty on Friday exactly two weeks after it launched protest against the “arbitrary amendment” of service rules and reappointment of Dr. PJ Antony as the administrative head of department (AHoD). NASSA vice president, Rocus Rino, told Nagaland Post that NLA secretariat resumed normal functioning on Friday. He disclosed that many of the files, which had (Cont’d on p-4) been left pending for the past
two weeks, have now been processed. He said files relating to the Presidential poll with Constitution related procedures were also left pending. However, after the Election Commission had communicated on the urgency of the files to be processed, the same were set into motion. With the assurance and intervention of the high powered parliamentary committee, he said NASSA and JAC have kept the agitation in abeyance till Monday, and hoped that the issue would be resolved positively within the stipulated time.
Notification issued to link Aadhaar with voter list Past accords failed to bring solution: Raising NEW DELHI, JUN 17 (PTI): The government on Friday issued rules allowing linking of electoral roll data with Aadhaar, making electoral law gender neutral for service voters and enabling young citizens register as voters four times a year instead of the present one. Four notifications were issued under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 passed by Parliament late last year to bring in the rules. Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to announce that four notifications in this regard have been issued in consultation with the Election Commis-
sion. The government has all along maintained that sharing of Aadhaar details will be voluntary. The Election Laws (Amendment) Act seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters “for the purpose of establishing the identity”. It also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers from “persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in the electoral roll, and to identify registration of the name of the same person
in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency”. At the same time, the bill as passed by Parliament makes it clear that “no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed”. In an interview to PTI on May 14, the then chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra had said that sharing Aadhaar details will be voluntary for voters, but
those not doing so will have to give “sufficient reasons”. Rijiju shared a chart to say that the notifications will enable “linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places”. He also said that now a citizen who turns 18 on the January 1 or April 1 or July 1 or October 1 in a calendar year can immediately apply for voter registration. “The four qualifying dates will considerably enhance the voter base,” he said. As of now, January 1 is the only cut off date to register as a voter. (Cont’d on p-8)
DIMAPUR, JUN 17 (NPN): NSCN (I-M) member collective leadership cum care-taker ministry of kilo affairs Rh. Raising on Friday said that the past agreements or accords could not bring solution because they were not principle-based and cautioned Nagas not to repeat the past mistakes. Noting that some said “something is better than nothing” regarding solution, Raising emphasised that there was no early or delayed solution as being talked about as all solutions were principle-based. He said any agreement– small or big – was considerable if it was transi-
tional to the final goal, otherwise no accord or agreement was far better than accord of treason. On the question of sovereignty, Raising said sovereignty did not exist outside the people, but it was with the people. “It is the soul of our nationhood. The principle of democracy says ‘sovereignty is with the people.’ It is one of the main agreed points of the Framework Agreement,” he stated. Claiming that Nagas were the worst victims of “divide and rule” and “define and rule” policies of the aggressors, Raising said that Nagas were divided and placed in different admin-
istrative units so that they were reduced to a negligible minority and colonised. Further, Raising asserted that a political organisation or a party or a political leadership may be mandated by a people to fight for their cause or advocate for their cause. However, he said no organization, party or leadership in history was ever mandated by the people to sell out their rights of the people. He said that treason was the work of traitors, who did not represent the people and nor their issue, adding that traitors and collaborators were two faces of the same coin. (Full text on p-6) K Y M C