Delhi date for NC Hills talks

Guwahati, Aug. 12 : The Centre has convened a meeting of Assam’s chief secretary and director-general of police to review the situation in North Cachar Hills and its adjoining districts in Delhi next week.

The meeting, convened by Union cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar on August 20, assumes significance as it comes in the wake of Dispur’s efforts to convince the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) to join the peace process by adhering to the new ground rules of surrendering weapons before initiating talks.

Sources indicated that Dispur would press for at least 20 additional companies to tone up security agencies in NC Hills. It will also ask the Centre to check Naga militants from fanning trouble between the Dimasas and non-Dimasas and set up border outposts in vulnerable areas of the district bordering Assam’s Cachar and Karbi Anglong districts and the state of Nagaland. Of the 151 paramilitary companies in the state, 59 are in NC Hills.

The sources also said the meeting would discuss the charter of demands placed by the DHD (J) while offering unilateral ceasefire. “The meeting will discuss how much can be conceded if the DHD (J) agrees to the revised guidelines,” one of them said.

That Dispur has taken the meeting seriously is evident from the fact-finding trip undertaken by chief secretary P.C. Sharma and new DGP Shankar Barua to the district’s Maibong subdivision on Friday.

The duo are said to have convinced the DHD’s Nunisa group to adhere to the new ceasefire guidelines of depositing arms, besides sounding out the rival faction DHD (J) on following suit.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi yesterday revealed that Dispur was in touch with the Jewel faction.

Sources said the Prime Minister’s Office and the ministry of home affairs have been closely monitoring the situation in North Cachar Hills, particularly after a spate of violence since 2008 that led to inordinate delays in getting two critical national projects — gauge conversion and East West Corridor — completed.

However, things have changed to a great extent since the NC Hills Autonomous Council was suspended on charges of gross financial anomalies, including alleged diversion of funds to militant coffers.

“Violence has come down and train services have resumed. Things are improving. The meeting could show the way forward as there are talks about DHD (J) joining the peace process now that the Nunisa faction has taken the first step of depositing arms,” a source said.

Situation in North Cachar Hills reviewed

GUWAHATI: Union Home Secretary G K Pillai met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here on Thursday and is understood to have discussed the prevailing situation in trouble-torn North Cachar Hills district of the state amid indications that the notorious Black Widow faction of Dimasa rebel group Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) could lay down arms to make way for negotiations with New Delhi.

It was not immediately known what transpired at the meeting, also attended by top civil and police officials, but the sources said the meeting primarily discussed the issue of Black Widow’s offer of ceasefire.

In a letter to Gogoi recently, the outfit had desired to lay down arms in the interest of a ceasefire vis-à-vis peace in NC Hills.

On his arrival here, Pillai left for NC Hills in a chopper but had to return midway due to inclement weather.

Later, talking to mediapersons at the Raj Bhavan, Pillai said he had come to Assam to understand the prevailing situation in NC Hills.

“I will come again in September and visit the refugee camps (in NC Hills) and meet the various communities living there,” Pillai said.

Zeme Nagas cry for help

Villagers ask Nagaland government to intervene

Women take out a peace rally at Haflong in North Cachar Hills district on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections Kohima/Guwahati, June 14 : Zeme Nagas have sought the immediate intervention of the Nagaland government to check the alleged human rights violation in the trouble-torn North Cachar Hills district of Assam and safeguard the life and property of the people living there. The community has also accused Dimasa rebels of being behind the run of terror in the autonomous district. In view of the cycle of attacks, Assam Governor S.C. Mathur took over the administrative control of the district under powers vested in him by the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The chief executive member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council was sent to judicial custody for alleged links with militants. Mathur, it is understood, was reluctant to assume charge and wanted the government to improve the law and order situation in the district by choking militants’ funds routes, expediting the East-West Corridor and ensuring resumption of train services. He even had a threadbare discussion last night with advocate general A.K. Phookan, chief secretary P.C. Sharma and hill area development commissioner P. Sharan. “Raj Bhavan was apprehensive because it did not want to fail in improving the situation in North Cachar Hills. All his queries had been answered to his satisfaction at last night’s meeting,” a source said. Though the notification to this effect is yet to be issued by Dispur, both the newly appointed superintendent of police Anurag Tankha and principal secretary Diwakar Nath Mishra today inspected the office of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council. The tour was part of the administration’s efforts to beef up the security at the council office. While the administration chalked out its own plans, a Naga organisation appealed to youths to protect the innocent Dimasas. “Let them live in peace”, Gwangphun Gangmei, general secretary of Zeliangrong Hoho, the apex body of Zemes, Liangmais and Rongmais, said. Several Naga tribes and organisations have appealed to Zemes and Dimasas to halt violence in the hills. On its part, the Nagaland government once again assured the displaced Zeme Nagas that it would take up the matter with the Centre and the Assam government. Nagaland commissioner H.K. Khulu recently visited the refugee camps in Jalukie subdivision of Peren.

North Cachar Hills limps back to normalcy

By Kishalay Bhattacharjee

Guwahati, Jun 3 : Violence-hit North Cachar Hills seems to be back on the rails, at least for the time being.

"N C Hills is returning to normal. You must see that trains are running for the last five days. No incidents, we are working hard," said P P Singh, Inspector General of Police, STF, Assam.

But it is an uneasy calm in the hills of North Cachar.

"N C Hills situation must improve, it will take time but we will go in a very big way," said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

It took three months for the Gogoi government to wake up to the situation in N C Hills. And two high profile arrests from the government with allegations of militant nexus seems to have turned the situation round.

There are indications that the militant outfit DHD(J) may lay down arms any day now. But is there enough political will to sustain this?

BJP slams Govt over NCHAC issueBJP slams Govt over NCHAC issue

Guwahati, Jun 2 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Assam Pradesh on Sunday slammed the State Government for recommending action against the elected North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) and alleged that the ruling Congress has always been plotting to overthrow non-Congress governments.

Addressing mediapersons here, the functionaries of the party made it clear that the BJP had no objection to law taking its own course in the case of certain members of the council, but the entire autonomous council should not be held responsible and suspended in total disregard to democratic aspirations of the people.

“If there are allegations of corruption or involvement in diversion of funds to the coffers of the extremist groups against anybody in the executive committee of the NCHAC, then action should be taken as per the law of the land,” said the BJP.

Terming the recommendation as undemocratic, anti-tribal and against the mandate of the people of NC Hills, the BJP said that it was an attempt by the Congress government to cover up its miserable failure in tackling the present volatile law-and-order situation.

“At a time when the NC Hills is passing through a very critical period in terms of social and political dynamics, suspension of the NCHAC will only further alienate the people of NC Hills,” said the BJP.

On the other hand, referring to the breakdown of the BJP-ASDC alliance, the BJP said that the Congress had succeeded in its machinations and the ASDC in its attempt to cling to power had played to the tunes of the Congress.

“But now the ASDC has paid a heavy price by dancing to the tune of the Congress which sees no use of the ASDC after the Lok Sabha elections,” the BJP said.

The BJP also said that the Congress wanted to keep the NC Hills district a perennial conflict zone for its own advantage.

Two senior officials remanded in police custody

Guwahati , Jun 1 : Two senior officials including a the chief executive of a district autonomous council, arrested for allegedly financing the banned Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) group, were today remanded in two days police custody.

The chief executive member Mohet Hojai North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) and joint director of social welfare department R H Khantwo were produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate after they were arrested yesterday at Haflong for allegedly financing the Dima Halam Daogah militant group.

The police had seized Rs four lakh in cash from the residence of Khan prior to his arrest.

Three NC Hills villages torched

Nagaon, May 12 : The fire of ethnic hate continued to rage in the North Cachar Hills today as militants torched 80 abandoned homes in three villages in Maibong around noon, hours after a goods train escaped derailment when the driver spotted that a stretch of the track was missing.

A railway spokesman in Guwahati said security forces and the driver of the Lumding-Badarpur goods train noticed a section of the track missing near Mupa station around 7.30am this morning.

The train was later taken back to Lumding.

Hours later, around 11.30am, villagers near Maibong town noticed a group in army fatigues rushing towards Zeme Naga villages — Guilung I, Guilung II and adjoining Jhalwa.

Families had abandoned their homes in all three villages, anticipating attacks.

“We saw smoke billowing out of the villages just half-an-hour after the armed group passed us by,” said a villager from an adjoining village.

Police are yet to ascertain the group that carried out today’s attack.

A team of Maibong police rushed to three villages after the attack and launched a massive combing operation to arrest the culprits. “There was nothing except the gutted houses,” a police official said after returning from the site of the incident.

This is the fourth such incident of arson in North Cachar Hills within a fortnight. The police said Maibong subdivision is now dotted with abandoned villages.

To provide food, shelter and healthcare facilities for the homeless villagers, the district administration has opened relief camps at Laisong KM LP School (921 inmates), Hajaichak guest house (108 inmates), Tungje community hall (99 inmates), Kalachand (220 inmates) and Samsadpur (for the homeless of Phaiding village).

Maibong subdivisional officer (civil) Ghana Kanta Pegu said district administration was ready with sufficient relief materials despite Maibong staring at a food crisis.

“Since the rail services are suspended in the district, this area is witnessing a tremendous shortage of essential commodities. The shortage has led to skyrocketing of prices.,” said Amit Johri of Maibong town.

United might to curb violence

Dispur mulls a ‘mini’ Unified Command to tackle terror in North Cachar Hills

A counter at Lumding railway station vandalised by railway employees, posted in the NC Hills, in protest against regular attacks by militants. A Telegraph picture Guwahati/Silchar, May 11 : A miniature version of the Unified Command will work to rein in the North Cachar Hills militants after Dispur decided to use all its might to check the terror run in the district. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today asked law-enforcing agencies and the army to start “all-out” joint operations against those involved in the latest violence, without naming any group. He also asked the minister for veterinary and hill areas development, Khor Sing Engti, to camp in the district to instil confidence among the people. A source said a “mini” Unified Command-like structure would be put in place. Besides, the civil administration will participate in security meetings that will be held at 4pm every day for effective co-ordination. The recent clashes between Dimasas and non-Dimasas, looming food scarcity because of disrupted road and train services, derailment of development projects, with construction firms engaged in the East-West Corridor project threatening “absolute withdrawal”, are some of the reasons that prompted the government to “act and talk” tough. A source said the last two meetings held in Dispur on the security scenario and progress of development projects saw sparks fly among the stakeholders. “The picture painted by most at the meetings was bleak. It is not that there is little security arrangement in the district. The army representative in the last meeting requested for a free hand to deal with the situation based on intelligence inputs supplied by the state agencies. Today’s announcement by the chief minister is an outcome of those deliberations,” the source said. The hill district has 52 companies of paramilitary forces, a brigade-plus strength of army and several thousand policemen. Though there have been operations in the district, it was never a joint exercise — the necessity of which has been stressed by the local administration for some time. “We conduct operations on our own. At the most, we share some information now,” a security official said. Condemning the incidents of violence in the past few days, Gogoi said: “The government will leave no stone unturned to bring the situation under control and the culprits behind the incidents would be brought to book.” He said compensation would be given to the next of kin of those killed as well as for the injured. Rehabilitation will also be provided to those who lost their belongings in the violence, he said. At least three people were killed and several houses gutted in ethnic attacks on Dimasa settlements, allegedly by Jeme and Hmar tribals, in the past two days. Deputy commissioner S. Jagannathan said over phone from Haflong that night curfew was imposed throughout the district yesterday and would be extended for “five or six more days”. The two apex tribal organisations, the Jeme Naga Tribal Council and the Dimasa forum Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom, on the other hand, have called for a truce between two warring communities. They have also called a peace meeting in Haflong on Tuesday. Dilip Nunisa, the chairman of the pro-talks militant organisation, Dima Halam Daogah, has accused the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) of inciting the non-Dimasa tribals against the Dimasas.

Woman gunned down as militants raid Assam village

Guwahati: A woman was killed and 12 others were injured as militants opened fire on villagers at Yeah in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district on Tuesday afternoon.

Subhash Das, Principal Secretary, Home, said a group of extremists raided the village and resorted to indiscriminate firing.

They also set ablaze about 15 houses in the village located close to the Assam-Nagaland border. Security forces rushed to Yeah but they were yet to ascertain the identity of the attackers.

In Baska district, two militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom were killed in an encounter with the security forces.

One revolver, one 9 mm pistol, two live cartridges, two empty cartridges, one 7.68 pistol, 12 detonators, two magazines, 12-metre fuse wire, assorted ammunition and some documents were recovered.

Get on with corridor, NHAI tells all firms

Work in progress at the East West Corridor. A file picture

Guwahati, Feb 13 : Under pressure to meet the 2010 deadline, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has asked all firms engaged in the construction of a 135km-stretch of the East West Corridor passing through the volatile North Cachar Hills to resume work or face termination of contracts.

The NHAI told the firms to pull up their socks at meetings held in Guwahati early this month and also at its Delhi headquarters last week.

Work has been suspended on five of the six stretches in the North Cachar Hills. The overall progress in these stretches has been abysmally slow, ranging between 4 and 20 per cent, against the 30 per cent in the state.

“Construction of the railway gauge conversion has also resumed. Security reasons cannot be an excuse all the time. From the PMO to the home ministry to the surface ministry, everybody is concerned about the matter,” a source in Dispur said. 

The DHD (J) rebels have been disrupting work on the corridor and Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion projects — attacking employees of the firms from time to time. 

A source in the NHAI said the firms have been also asked to enlist the support of the local people by creating awareness about the benefits of the project.

“Security is no doubt a concern but there are ways to move ahead. Enlisting the support of the local people could go a long way in making things move. Such projects cannot be completed without the help of residents, contractors and other departments. The firms knew what they were getting into when they entered into a contract with us. It is not that North Cachar Hills became disturbed overnight,” the source said. 

Another hurdle the NHAI has been facing is shifting of electric poles. “We will request the ASEB to play a more active role in shifting the poles,” a source said.