Politics / Northeast

PURUM, January 20: The Union home ministry will be convening a meeting of the four chief ministers of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya soon to thrash out the question of extending the ceasefire between the government of India and the NSCN(IM) into all Naga inhabited areas falling within their states. This was stated by the Union joint secretary home, in charge of the Northeast, GK Pillai during a meeting with media persons at Purum in the Senapati district on January 18. However, Pillai either out of deliberate omission or unintended slip did not mention the Arunachal Pradesh chief...

GUWAHATI, January 18: The Union Law Ministry has given its green signal to the proposal to set up a judicial commission to probe into the alleged insurgent - politician nexus in the Northeastern States. The Joint Secretary (Northeast) of the Union Home Ministry, GK Pillai told The Assam Tribune that in view of the allegations and counter-allegations of nexus between insurgents and political leaders, the Union Home Ministry mooted a proposal to set up a judicial enquiry commission headed by a Supreme Court Judge to probe into the allegations. The mater was referred to the Union Law Ministry for...

NEW DELHI, January 16: The Government of India today suggested setting up of a Boundary Commission with specific terms of reference to settle the boundary dispute of Assam with the neighbouring States of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Two suits filed by the Government of Assam against Arunachal and Nagaland for the demarcation of the boundary and encroachment of its areas were taken up today by a three-Judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India. In this case, the Supreme Court had earlier sought the assistance of the Attorney General of India to suggest the...

GUWAHATI, January 11: The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) has favoured a 'regional morcha' by uniting all tribal groups to uphold the regionalism in the State. Addressing a press conference here today, the AJYCP president Apurba Kumar Bhattacharyya alleged that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has lost its all regional character and hence it has no right to remain in power. In this context, Bhattacharyya informed that AJYCP would take initiative to unite all small groups for the morcha in the greater interest of the State. 'There is no difference between AGP and BJP and considering...

NEW DELHI, January 3: The two-day national executive meeting of BJP is likely to discuss the situation in Northeast, developments in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the extension of ceasefire and the impact of the WTO agreement on agricultural sector, reports PTI. The executive meet which beings here tomorrow would discuss internal security with special reference to peace initiatives in Kashmir and the militant violence in the Northeast States especially in Assam, party vice president Jana Krishnamurthy told reporters here today. 'The party is one with the Government on the ceasefire decision...

A Naga separatist group in India's troubled north-eastern region says two of its bases inside Burma have been attacked this week.

The chief of the military wing of the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), Khitobi Zhimomi, told the BBC that Burmese troops smashed two of his bases in the Sagaing division of western Burma this week.

Former army chief General Malik: Made two visits to Burma

He described this as a major attack and said only a timely withdrawal from the two bases saved the NSCN guerrillas from suffering major losses.

However, he did not rule out...

TURA, August 10: The Tura campus of the Northeastern Hill University (NEHU), even after years of its establishment, continues to function from the hostel of the Government Boys High School. A site selection committee for looking into the acquisition of land for the permanent campus has already selected a large area outside Tura on the National Highway. But now there is concern among the people of Garo Hills that even this selection will only be on paper as the state government is yet to pay up. The Garo Graduates' Union (GGU), an influential and intellectual group, has expressed concern over...

JORHAT, August 9: Development activities along the Assam-Nagaland border within Jorhat district have taken a backseat over the past few months as an amount of Rs 23 lakh sanctioned by the state government for welfare works in the area for the financial year March 2000-2001 is still awaiting release. A bone of contention between the two neighbouring states since the past few decades, frequent skirmisher along the border over allegations of land encroachment have been a constant pain in the neck especially for the Assam Government, which has all along claimed that land-hungry Naga folks have...

NEW DELHI, August 8: In a significant development, the Union Government on Monday set deadlines for Mizoram Government to take back the Reang refugees currently taking shelter in neighbouring Tripura, in a fresh attempt to resolve the Reang refugee problem. Although the settlement, arrived at a tripartite meeting convened by the Ministry of Home Affairs with the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura, here on Monday left the Left Front government all smiles, it had a reverse effect on its Mizoram counterpart. The meeting, chaired by the Union Home Minister, LK Advani was attended by Tripura...

NEW DELHI, August 6: After the Central Government's permission to allow foreigners to visit Nagaland, the Union Home and Tourism Ministries have received demands for lifting restrictions on the foreign tourists in other Northeastern states as well. These states, including Manipur, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, have made a beeline for the two Ministries, and requested that foreigners should be allowed a free access in order to boost tourism. The government had last month lifted the ban on foreign tourists in certain districts of Nagaland. A decision on the demands of the other Northeast states...