Politics / Northeast

Imphal, January 11: An all-party emergency meeting presided over by Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today conveyed to the Centre that the territorial integrity of the state would be maintained ‘at any cost’.

The meeting was held in the wake of the NSCN (I-M) leaders’ demand for formation of ‘greater Nagaland’ placed during the ongoing peace talks with the Centre in Delhi.

The resolution adopted at the meeting said the people of Manipur would ‘‘unitedly oppose attempt by any authority to disintegrate the state’’.

‘‘The territory of Manipur belongs to Manipuris (different communities...

Imphal, January 10: Opposition DPA constituent partner Manipur Peoples' Party said it will take up arms, if necessary, if Government of India concedes to the demand of NSCN (IM) to amalgamate all Naga inhabited areas under one administrative umbrella. Addressing news persons at the MPP office today, president of the party and firebrand leader O Joy said the present peace talks between Govt of India and the NSCN (IM) to solve the Naga issue is based on four points put forward by the underground outfit. While pursuing a solution to the vexed issue, drastic measures should not be taken that could...

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...

GUWAHATI, Jan 7 – Lack of cooperation from the State governments has hampered the functioning of the National Commission for Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribe (NCSC&ST) in the region, as several departments of the Assam Government involved in the affairs of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), have not responded to the directives and queries of the National Commission for the last two-three years. Things have come to such a pass that the NCSC&ST field office here does not even have the latest data on the SC and ST population in the State. “The State Government is not...

New Delhi, Jan. 7: Swivelling the spotlight back on foreigners overstaying in India, the Centre today obtained concurrence from states on issuing citizens’ identity cards and announced the launch of a three-month drive from April to flush out illegal immigrants. The multi-purpose identity cards will be issued on the basis of a proposed national citizens’ register.

A pilot project for the identity cards will be launched in specific areas in 13 states, including Bengal, Assam and Tripura, which have a sizeable number of immigrants from Bangladesh. If the finance ministry releases Rs 14 crore...

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...

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...