Insurgency / Northeast

Guwahati, January 9: With the NSCN(IM) leaders already in Delhi for talks with the Centre, several smaller underground outfits of the North-East have started showing readiness to come to the negotiating table.

One of the first to have shown such interest is the Dima Halam Daoga, a group operating in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district. The DHD has been demanding a separate state for the state’s Dimasa tribals.

Last week, the outfit announced a unilateral ceasefire for six months, with its vice-chairman Dilip Nunisa saying it was encouraged by the manner in which the Government had responded...

Imphal, January 08: Thousands of people marched in a procession in the state capita] here today against any move to disintegrate Manipur during the first over Naga peace talks on Indian soil between the centre and the NSCN(IM) in New Delhi tomorrow. The processionists gathered at Thau ground. Around 12.45 pm the rallyists marched towards Khuyathong, then proceeded towards Nagamapal and passed through Wahengbam Leikai, Keishamthong, Yaiskul and marched on at Thambuthong and Thangapat areas, it proceeded towards Wangkhei, New Checkon, Minuthong and culmianted at Khuman Lampak. where a public...

Imphal, Jan. 8: Manipuris vowed to protect the territorial integrity of the state today, a day before the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) leaders Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for talks on the issue of “Greater Nagalim”. A mammoth rally, organised by the Solidarity Committee on the Territorial-Ethnic Integrity of Manipur (SCTEIM), was supported by more than 300 social organisations, including women’s organisations. Nearly one lakh people from all communities, including Nagas, attended the rally.

The rally began from the...

Imphal, January 07: Kuki Inpi Manipur has resolutely stated that there should be no peace talks or agreement between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India before the Kuki problem is settled amicably. In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Vajpayee, KIM president Haokholet Khongsai wondered how the Centre could invite a man who ordered the killing of 900 innocent lives and was responsible for uprooting 350 villages without even being tried in a proper law court of the country. If the killing and destruction was the result of a conflict between Nagas and Kukis as some quarters ‘unjustly...

Jan. 7: A day after the NSCN (Khaplang) declared that the much-awaited Naga peace talks in Delhi would be an exercise in futility, an organisation representing the Kuki community of Manipur pleaded with the Prime Minister and his deputy not to sign any agreement with the Isak-Muivah group. In identical memoranda to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and government interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah, the Kuki Inpi, Manipur, charged the NSCN (I-M) with killing over 900 Kukis and displacing members of the community from 350 villages.

Holkholet Khongsai, president of the Kuki Inpi, said the Kukis...

GUWAHATI, Jan 5 – Though the security agencies are well aware of links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the first time, the security forces have come to know about the links between the ISI and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) following the arrest of the outfit’s vice-chairman Dhiren Boro in Gangtok.

Highly placed security sources said that the security agencies always had doubts about links between the ISI and the NDFB, but the doubt was confirmed after the arrest of Dhiren Boro...

Imphal, Jan. 5: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and some of his ministerial colleagues today visited the hub of Manipur’s Naga community, Senapati district, in a bid to smoothen feathers ruffled by his government’s refusal to withdraw the cases pending against NSCN (I-M) leader Thuingaleng Muivah. The daylong tour would have been interpreted as routine, but for the chief minister’s stand, which has antagonised the Naga community.

Trying his best to convince the Nagas that the government was not prejudiced against them, Ibobi Singh announced a slew of welfare schemes for the community...

Calcutta, Jan. 4: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar today said the border areas of Tripura have become a terror hub because of the neglect of the northeastern state’s natural resources and the lack of development projects initiated by the Centre. Sarkar said the biggest worry has been the emergence of al Qaida in the Northeast with the support from the NSCN (Khaplang), the Ulfa and other militant groups. “They are using the Northeast as a base to work their way into the heart of the country, using local militant groups as pawns,” he said.

Sarkar asked Bangladesh to hand over “terrorists”...

Imphal, January 03: ‘Kalpana’ a Manipuri digital film produced by Goodwill Pictures is doing well. The premier show was held today at Friends Talkies. The Rs two lakhs budget film has already earned half the cost at Kakching and Thoubal. Produced by Rajendra and Seema the film running nearly two hours signals the heralding of new stars. Lalit, Seema and some other senior artistes who had already proven their mite performed well. The new stars Kaiku and Manda performed well acting with ease and pleasing he spectators with their fresh looks and charm. The story revolves around two sisters who...

Jan. 2: Assam police today moved the chief judicial magistrate of Kamrup for a production warrant against the arrested vice-president of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) even as Sikkim police produced their prize catch in the court of the district sessions judge (east and north) in Gangtok. Dhiren Boro, his wife and accomplices have been booked under four Sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). It is the first instance of the legislation being employed in Sikkim. The militant leader and his wife Pratima, also an NDFB member, had been living in Gangtok for...