Category: KanglaOnline

There is a very unfortunate misconception in Manipur about the duty of a citizen with regards to law keeping. This is about the act of reporting by ordinary citizens to law keeping authorities of unusual events they witness which may constitute a breach of law. Rather than consider this attitude as an obligation, ordinary citizens often treated this as sneaking. Perhaps this is a reflection of the respect the people by and large have of the law, all the same this must not result in what the popular adage says, throwing the baby away with the bath water. For the truth is, every citizen must realise the responsibility he or she has to shoulder in the enterprise of law keeping. What may be necessary is, as in countries like the USA, to make this responsibility obligatory by law. That is to say, not reporting a potential crime, especially those which will not result in personal safety compromised, should be made a cognizable offence under the law.
In a lawless and violence ridden place like Manipur, this argument would need some qualification. Ordinary citizens cannot be expected to report on the movement of armed combatants of the raging insurgency in the land. For one thing this would amount to putting their own lives in danger, and for another, insurgency is no ordinary crime and as so many have articulated in the past, it is in many ways a radical expression of dissent, and its solution would have to be nuanced, rather than the usual linear policing crime fighting approach. However leaving this issue for the government to tackle imaginatively but firmly, there are so many other cognizable breaches of law by ordinary citizens which other more conscientious citizens must take it upon themselves to prevent through the invocation of the law using the simple handles available to them. The simplest of these is reporting these matters to the police or other concerned authorities. To take just a few examples, in the past one month, the entire state has been somewhat shaken awake by the aggressive campaign of the government to clean up illegal power connections in the Imphal area. All these illegal activities were happening right under the noses of every citizen, in particular those who have been honestly paying the taxes for whatever amount of power they consume.
Yet in all this while, there has never been even a single report of putative breach of law from any citizen. This is despite the fact that these thefts are from the common pool of service resources and thereby robbing from it by anybody would amount to robbing from everybody, in particular the honest consumers. Thankfully, at least in the case of electricity, there has been a public interest litigation, PIL, which is in a way a last resort in the absence of a citizen vigil which should have been always present. The despairing fact about Manipur is, electricity is just one case of neglect of citizen duty, for there are plenty more. Water supply is another very prominent one. Today, if a survey were to be done, half of Imphal households would be tapping piped municipal water illegally, and in manners not prescribed, making siphon holes larger than allowed, thus depriving other consumers of their shares of potable water. Yet again, as in the case of electricity, everybody witnesses this but apart from a bitter frown here and there, nobody has thought it his duty to complain that he is being robbed in broad daylight.
Having said this, the blame for this confounding reluctance of the citizens to keep vigil of public utilities, and also against other similar crimes, must also go to the government, in particular the police. There have been far too complaints of policemen on duty refusing to take notice of complaints by citizens. Instead, such whistle blowers often end up more harangued for they are looked upon by the police with suspicion and the onus of proving their complaints thrown back at them. The time has come for a radical change of attitude both of the police as well as the citizens. If they must work hand in hand, they must both be sensitized as well as made to realise what wonders they can do by cooperating with each other towards improving everybody’s everyday quality of life.
 

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/nQZHqndoNFk/

By Nameirakpam Bobo MeiteiWhat hope does a state give to its people? The hope that their state is altogether a different establishment in which every individual can claim his or her rights, and if this state turns out to be quite the contrary, and its conducts barely reflecting the wishes of its people, instead of giving hope it has begun to terrorise its very own people, then should people come forward to court a establishment which is willing to treat its people as subjects rather than respectable citizens? When a state has reached a point where no one feels the need to approach it to seek justice and all that it can bestow to those who have empowered them is tyranny should people live on under it?
One academic laid down several questions regarding the conducts of the Indian government in the state of Manipur on removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA), one among them was “How many people in India know about AFSPA and the existing problem of insurgency in the reason and why people are gung-ho in asking the Act be repealed when they themselves have no solution to the existing insurgency problem?”
Only a clause in the Act is what people need to know, the clause that gives complete immunity to guilty security personnel. While attempting to solve a complex prolonged-matter the state has to be consistent and any fruitful result is for the betterment of the people. But what if their attempts have proved futile while enough damage has been to a people who are caught up in the conflict? What difference can one see between those proscribed groups, the state is fighting supposedly on behalf of the people, and its soldiers, which have been given the task to handle and have turned against those who they have sworn to protect? Should we expect that state agents behave just like those proscribed group or worse than them because they happened to be caught up in a conflict zone?
Here one doesn’t overlook the existing insurgency, while one is asking the Act be repealed from the affected region. One understands that existing problem should be solved, perhaps with a different approach altogether since the old approach of “combat and destroy” doesn’t prove productive, and can expect to be more human; start conducting in a fashion that reflects the wishes of the people, human rights not being violated and if violated they should have faith that justice will be done.Some say why the elected representatives in power don’t say much against it and how they have come back with a majority to power? But why did the government give in the army’s opposition to the removal despite strong recommendation by several committees set up under the behest of prime minister? Even if the state government wished how much of its wish could be carried out when it finds itself in a situation in which New Delhi can easily override state power? If one is to talk about the voting back Ibobi government in Manipur, which didn’t say a word against during election campaigns, one could also question the overall maturity of Indian democracy. Despite the clear knowledge that BJP leaders were responsible for the demolition of Babri Mosque why they have voted back repeatedly in a secular India?
Perhaps India has become a virtual military state in which civilian concerns are no more valued in the regions suffering from insurgency. If India claims that it has the power to destroy external forces at wars then it should also be convinced of its ability to eliminate those elements which have only been considered detrimental, and if it cannot, then perhaps it should reconsider its strategy and try to address the decade-old problem through political means. Unfortunately no serious initiative has come forward from New Delhi except some leaders dropping at election times and scattering few lines asking to “join the mainstream” when those who have been living in the very heart of Delhi from this region don’t feel that they are treated as a part owing to the cast attitudes of the people. One just have to look at the ongoing decade-old peace dialogue between NSCN(I-M) and Delhi, what milestone both the parties have brought forward before a person who was boy when the peace talks started and now the author of this piece?   
If New Delhi wants people from this region to join the so-called “mainstream” perhaps it should value the dignity of those who live in the so-called disturbed zones under the sly shade of Armed Forces Special Power Act. How could a humiliated people come forward to join a “mainstream” which it sees as the violator of their basic fundamental rights and making a mockery of their dignity? 

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/iucKyRGQbYg/

IMPHAL, April 28: Manipur will be the country’s first state to receive the casket containing the relic of Saint John Bosco – popularly known as Don Bosco at Imphal airport on April 29.
It will be received by the friends and followers of Don Bosco and official functions will be held at Little Flower School Imphal and Don Bosco School Langjing on April 29.  It will be taken to Don Bosco Tamenglong on 30th and the official function to honour the great friend of youth will be held in Don Bosco Chingmeoirong on May 1.
On May 2 the relic will be taken to Pangmol, Maram, Mao en route to Kohima, Wokha, Mon, Dimapur etc in Nagaland.
The relic inside the casket is the skeleton of the right hand of Don Bosco, which is inserted in the chest of Don Bosco’s statue.
The casket with the relic of Don Bosco, which began a 130-nation pilgrimage on January 31, 2009, will be taken to different Salesian institutions in the North-East during its two months’ tour in the region.
The relic will also be carried to various centres in Moran, Doomdooma, Tinsukia, Naharkatia, Amguri, Jorhat, Dergaon and later to Guwahati and other Salesian institutions in the region.
The pilgrimage is part of the preparation for the 2015 bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth and also to mark the 150th year of the founding of the Salesian congregation.
The casket began its journey on April 25, 2009, from Italy’s Valdocco, Turin, in the Basilica of ‘Mary Help of Christians’ and is set to cross five continents, where Salesian members are serving the youth in particular.
Salesians of Don Bosco, the congregation founded by Don Bosco, have schools, colleges, vocational training institutes and social organizations spread in the entire North-East.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/m0dqgZmFq8U/

AFGHANISTAN, May 12 (AP): Prime minister Manmohan SIngh called Osama bin Laden`s death an opportunity for the region to unify Thursday and pledged ongoing support for Afghanistan, which has long been caught in the middle of the power struggle between his country and rival Pakistan.
Manmohan Singh`s first visit in six years appeared to signal that India sees an opportunity to pull Afghanistan closer to its side as Islamabad`s precarious relationship with the U.S. is further strained by the bin Laden strike.
But Singh walked a cautious line between showing support for Afghanistan and trying to assuage any fears in Pakistan that he was enlisting Afghan President Hamid Karzai against India`s longtime rival.
He said bin Laden`s death can be an opportunity to put aside decades-old regional rivalries and work for peace across Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“I sincerely hope that all countries of this region — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India — would recognize that this is a unique moment in the history of this region. Thereby we all should agree to work unitedly to end this scourge of terrorism,” Singh told journalists at a press conference in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., was killed in a U.S. commando raid on his hideout in Pakistan earlier this month. Pakistan was not consulted about the raid and complained afterward about the violation of its sovereignty.
Despite his call for regional cooperation, Singh`s trip signaled shifts in the regional power play between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, in which Afghanistan has often been caught in the middle. With Pakistan`s international stature taking a hit after the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden, India may see an opportunity to pull Afghanistan closer to its side — further pressuring Islamabad.
A joint declaration issued by Singh and Karzai said that the two countries agreed to work to strengthen their bilateral agreements. And India announced in the declaration that will give an additional $500 million to the Afghan government for development programs. That brings India`s total development aid to the country to $2 billion.
“India is your neighbor and partner in development,” Singh told a gathering including Karzai and other senior officials earlier in the day. “You can count on us as you build your society, economy and polity.”
But both India and Afghanistan are clearly wary of appearing to be teaming up against Pakistan. The last sentence of the joint declaration states: “The two sides affirmed that their strategic partnership was not directed against any other state or group of states.”
Karzai called Pakistan a good partner, noting that he had a productive meeting with Pakistan`s prime minister just last month.”We`d like expand this relationship with them to have an effective campaign against terrorism — for the benefit of Pakistan, for the benefit of Afghanistan, for the benefit of India,” Karzai said.
Singh said: “We would like to develop the friendliest possible relations with all countries of this region. That includes Afghanistan. That includes Pakistan as well. There is no question of Pakistan feeling that good relations between India and Afghanistan are at the cost of Pakistan.”
But Singh did call for an investigation into whether the Pakistani government knew about bin Laden`s location.
“The picture that emerged immediately after this incident was a picture which caused some amount of confusion,” Singh said.
Singh last visited Afghanistan in 2005, but Karzai has been a frequent visitor to India.
Pakistan, which supported the Taliban`s rise to ensure it had a friendly government on its western border, has deeper ethnic and cultural ties with Afghanistan. Pakistan has long bristled at the post-Taliban government`s friendly terms with its major rival, which supports Karzai`s administration with aid money.
Afghanistan is likely to become more reliant on these warring regional allies as its NATO partners face pressure to withdraw troops. The U.S. plans to start decreasing forces in July, and all NATO partners are committed to handing over responsibility for security to Afghan forces by 2014. And Bin Laden`s death has some in NATO countries pushing for even quicker drawdowns.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/_im9rjF5BQo/

IMPHAL, March 24: Police commandos have arrested at least six militant cadres from different parts of the state while conducting separate counter insurgency operations since yesterday.

A statement issued by the Superintendent of Police Imphal West district, has stated that a team of the district police commandos along with women police constable arrested three cadres of the proscribed KCP (MTF) including two women yesterday from near Shija Hospital at about 7 am in the morning.

The arrested individuals have been identified as one Thonglenmang Haokip, 26, s/o Yanthang Haokip of Dongsum Village, Senapati district, Akim Haokip, 40, w/o Alet Haokip of Dongsum village at present residing at Kangchup Chingkhong and Wahengbam (O) Chaoba alias Asharani alias Asha Devi, 26, w/o W. Tomba alias Shyamkumar of Naransena Maning Leikai at present staying at Langol Ningthou Mathak.

It said that the trio disclosed that they were working under one Tomba since the past one year. A 9mm pistol along with magazine and five live ammunitions, three Chinese hand grenades and three detonators were seized from their possession, it added.

It further stated that in a follow up action another cadre of the outfit was arrested from Langol crossing identified as one Wahengbam Tomba alias Shyamkanhai, 32, s/o W. Heramot of Naransena Maning Leikai Ningthou Mathak.

The individual disclosed that he was working under Tachou alias Ebai who is residing outside the state. He has been assigned to serve demand letters, extortion and kidnapping, it said.

The statement further stated that the same day a combined team of the Imphal East and West district police commandos arrested a cadre of the KCP (Pibarel) at around 6 pm from Singjamei Waikhom Leikai.

He has been identified as one Yumnam Rajen alias Chandra alias Korou, 41, s/o Y. Komol Singh of Langmeidong Mamang Leikai, stated the release.

On spot verification he disclosed that he was working under the command of s/s general secretary of the outfit. One 9 mm pistol having five live ammunitions has been recovered from his possession it said.

On the other hand, another statement issued by the SP Thoubal district police claimed that a team of the district commandos arrested one cadre of the PULF yesterday around 6:30pm while conducting a search operation at Shikhong bazaar.

The arrested cadre is identified as one Md. Warish Khan alias Ibungo alias Shaiba, 20, s/o Md. Etobi of Shikhong Hanuching Manak.

A 9mm pistol with magazine containing two live ammunitions were recovered from his possession, it said.

Read more / Original news source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Kanglaonline/~3/7JhgOKssqvM/