Politics / Northeast

GUWAHATI, June 19 – A representative meeting of the Co-ordination Committee of Tribal Organisations, Assam (CCTOA) here today demanded clear-cut statement in the Draft National Policy for the Tribals (DNPT) on the protection of the tribal areas. The meeting demanded incorporation of a new schedule in the Indian Constitution on the tribal languages too.

It also described the opposition from certain organistions to the efforts at including the plains tribals of the State in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution as unfortunate. It expressed its concern over the incidents in Dhemaji district in...

NEW DELHI, June 18 — Asserting that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre was concerned with the growth of extremist violence and other forms of terrorist activities, Minister DONER, PR Kyndiah offered his assistance in resolving the problem of militancy in the North-East.

Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of the Conference of Chief Secretaries and Vice Chancellors (VCs), the Minister said that he could play the role of a catalyst as the main initiative would have to be taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs. But he added that the problem of militancy was not merely...

SHILLONG, June 16 – In its bid to undo the ‘saffronisation’ of education initiated by the previous NDA regime, the present Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has started a ‘detoxifying’ process, Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh said on Tuesday, reports PTI. “The process got underway with the setting up of a three-member panel of eminent educationists of the country three days ago,” Singh told reporters here.

“We are not desaffronising education but detoxifying it. The panel was asked to look into the issue and give reports by 15-20 days,” he said...

SHILLONG, June 16 – Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, who was a ‘negotiator’ between the Centre and several underground outfits in the North-east for talks during the NDA regime, today said he was ready to offer his services to continue the process, if invited, reports PTI.

“If my service is needed, I will be glad to offer it for the good of the country...But I don’t like to be an uninvited guest,” Zoramthanga told reporters before flying to New Delhi. He said the present Congress-led Government had not discussed the issue with him so far. Asked if he would take up the matter during his...

KOHIMA, June 14 – Taking exception to the letter by senior Congress leaders of the North- east to the Centre, Naga NGOs have charged former chief minister S C Jamir and the other signatories with ‘sabotaging’ the ongoing peace process at a time when the Nagas were hoping for an early settlement of the protracted political conflict through dialogue, reports PTI. Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and Naga Mothers Association (NMA) condemned the Congress leaders’ stand on the ongoing peace process and their insistence on declaring NSCN(I-M) as a...

NEW DELHI, June 11 — Asserting that the Union Government was interested in defusing the disturbances in the North-East, Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil today disclosed that the Centre was in the process of finalising the next course of action in the Naga peace process, even as he ruled out redrawing of the territorial boundaries of the North Eastern States. The Union Home Minister’s disclosure came even as a delegation of Naga Hoho landed in the capital to lodge protest over the UPA Government’s pledge not to tinker with the territorial integrity of the North Eastern States. They wanted the...

NEW DELHI, June 7 - Falling short of making promises on opening dialogue with underground outfits in the North East, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has expressed its determination to tackle militancy in the region as a matter of urgent national priority. President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, in his address to both the Houses of the Parliament, which also happened to be his first address to newly-elected members of the 14th Lok Sabha, unveiled the UPA government’s plans and programme. The address itself was reiteration of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) announced earlier.

However, UPA’s...

GUWAHATI, June 5: Indigenous communities of the north-eastern region have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the draft National Policy on Tribals formulated by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the provisions provided therein and the manner in which the indigenous peoples were projected in it. Characterizing the national policy as arbitrary, ill-informed, patronizing and fundamentally flawed, the three-day regional consultation on the draft , which concluded at Akajan in Dhemaji district today, called for a complete redrafting of the document with proper consultations with the people...

SHILLONG, June 4 – The Meghalaya Government will soon take up the issue of state-based militant camps in Bangladesh with the new government at the Centre, as part of a fresh approach towards tackling the menace of militancy. Chief Minister DD Lapang and Home Minister Robert G Lyngdoh will visit New Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to discuss militancy in the state, besides the issue of North-east-based militant camps in Bangladesh after the state budget session in the end of the current month.

It may be mentioned here that the Border Security Force (BSF) has handed over a fresh...

AKAJAN (Dhemaji), June 4 – The north-eastern regional assembly of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ Organisation with Allies after three-day deliberations at Rural Volunteers’ Centre, Akajan in Dhemaji district, today came out with a ‘position statement’ on the Government of India’s Draft National Policy on Tribals (DNPT).

It said that in the interim period till the finalisation of the policy document, in all new development activities, industrial or commercial, interventions must be suspended in the indigenous and tribal people-inhabited areas. All policies and laws affecting indigenous and...