Politics / Northeast

NEW DELHI, March 2: After Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee now wants to try out the ceasefire experiment in the entire Northeast. The truce proposal - in all probability a conditional offer - is likely to be announced in Parliament later this month. According to sources, it will be offered to all insurgent outfits, including both the Isak-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, ULFA, National Democratic Front of Boroland and those operating in Tripura. The Chief Ministers of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh today "informally" gave...

NEW DELHI, March 2: The Prime Minister's Office and the ministry for home affairs are locked in a fight over whether or not to extend the ceasefire in the Northeastern states on the lines of the Kashmir truce. The home ministry has ruled out any such possibility, but officials admit that the PMO has a different stand on the issue. "If the PMO decides on extension of ceasefire in all the Northeastern states on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir, it will create a major problem for the Centre, especially the MHA, to control militancy and maintain internal security in the region," sources said. "The...

GUWAHATI, February 28: A seminar on 'Politics and Reorganisation of Northeast India' was held recently at Diphu Government College under the auspices of the university Grants Commission. It was organised by the Department of Political Science of which BC Bhuyan, Head of the Department, was the chief co-ordinator. It was inaugurated by professor Anuradha Dutta of Gauhati University on February 1. In her inaugural speech, Dutta remarked that the Northeast was going through a process of turmoil and attributed the crisis to the Constitutional machinery. She pointed out that neglect by the Centre...

NEW DELHI, February 26: For the second year in a row, the Railway Budget held out nothing new for the Northeast, provoking sharp reaction among the members from the region. Members belonging to the Assam Congress besides S K Bwismuthiary stormed to the Well of the House to lodge their protest. While no new trains were introduced in the region, the Railway Budget also did not have any provision to increase frequency of the existing trains from the region. The prominent among the demands for increasing the frequencies were the Rajdhani Express and the Guwahati-Dadar Express. The frequencies of...

KOHIMA, February 24: Union Home Minister L K Advani today assured the people of the Northeast that New Delhi would do all possible to restore peace in the region, saying "Centre is very much conscious about the happenings in the north eastern states," reports PTI. Expressing happiness over the people's desire for peace, the Home Minister said the Centre has been trying to discover ways and means to restore peace, bring development, generate employment opportunities in the strifetorn region. The NDA government was very concerned from the outset about the Northeast and continuously endeavoured...

AIZAWL, February 16: Chief Minister Zoramthanga has asked the Prime Minister to allot Mizoram a separate All-India cadre as the officials posted under the present AGMUT cadre were not under the control of the State government, which created hindrance in running a smooth administration, reports UNI. The Chief Minister raised the issue during a meeting with Atal Behari Vajpayee in New Delhi on Wednesday, official sources said here. Zoramthanga observed that while the three newly-formed States had a separate cadre, Mizoram, which achieved statehood in the late eighties, still lacked one despite...

AGARTALA, February 19: The work on putting up a fence along the international border in Tripura will begin on 15 March. The decision was taken at a meeting here. The Chief Minister, officials of the state government, Union home ministry, BSF, Border Road Organisation and the four D of Tripura were present in the meeting. Initially the work will begin along a 40-km stretch, officials said. The BRO earlier sought approval from the Union home ministry. Rs 9 crore has been approved by Centre at the first phase for implementing the project. It has been estimated that about Rs 27 lakh will be needed...

NEW DELHI, February 19: The Northeastern States were slammed by the President, KR Narayanan for leakage of development funds, even as he hinted at against any truce offer for the underground outfits by calling for firm action against the militants. The President's address may come as a major embarrassment to the Northeastern States as question marks were put on their track record of utilisation of public funds. The President's critical remarks were in fact a reflection of the Centre's hardboiled attitude towards the erring states on this score. "Substantial developmental resources flow into...

GUWAHATI, February 18: Anup Chetia, general secretary of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), currently under detention in Bangladesh, was on Sunday convicted by a Dhaka court and sentenced to three years in jail for illegal possession of foreign currencies of as many as 16 countries. Reports from Dhaka said Mohammad Humayun Kabir, the special tribunal judge, also fined Chetia alias Golap Barua 5,000 Bangladeshi taka or about $92 in addition to the three-year prison term involving 'hard labour.' Chetia, now 50, was arrested by Bangladesh immigration and security officials from...

NEW DELHI, February 18: The Bangladesh Government has been yet again furnished with a detailed list of camps being run by the Northeast militant outfits including the ULFA in the country, with a plea for firm and demonstrable action against the rebels. The response by the Bangladeshi official delegation headed by Mohammed Janibul Huq, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, was hardly heart-warming for India, as it did not have anything new to add to their often-repeated assurance of not allowing soil of their country to be used for anti-India activities. The issue figured at a...