Editorials

Most urban agglomerates in India today are veritable disasters, typically for the same set of reasons, primary among them being the lack of foresight as well as capriciousness in planning. Planners by and large have not an iota of knowledge about urban ecology, and the matter of sustainable cities is mumbo-jumbo for them. Of course, if self-sufficiency is to be a criterion, there cannot be any such thing as a sustainable city. For, cities have always relied on their rural hinterlands for food...

The recent ethnic carnages in Karbi Anglong must be taken more seriously than the politicians of Assam (and of course, New Delhi) would like one to. The killing of 28 (till the last count) non-Karbis by Karbi militants must be seen not as a mere law and order problem problem caused by some youths gone astray. The ghastly incidents must be perceived from the point of view of the ethnic imbroglio that the Northeast is. There have been too many gory precedents in the region so as not to apprehend...

Elections are one psephological carnival in a democracy that politicians revel in celebrating. Like conventional fetishist rituals, elections too are times for a changing. The old order does not changeth yielding place to the new. Just, the old and the relatively old garbs are discarded. Come polls, and you find a host of them in new attires. If they are not in a trendy set of clothes, then they certainly talk different. Such acts have now become intrinsic to the Indian electoral process...

The tragedy of the Naga political movement has been the annihilation of Nagas by Nagas themselves. Nagas have remained divided along various lines. Radicals and moderates (from killing of Theyieu Sakhrie to that of Kaito Sema) among the insurrectionists themselves. Undergrounds and overgrounds (from killing of Imkongliba Ao to that of the Kevichusa brothers). And somewhere complicating all these delicate equations and rendering all calculations awry are the perennial inter-tribe schisms. And...

How connotations change! Not-so-many years back the term ISI, to Indians, meant integrity, quality. Now to Indians in general and those who belong to the Northeast, particularly Assam, the very term is something to beware of. It is more than just an innocuous appellation - it is anathema. It is an organisation that threatens to destroy the political fabric of the region. Matters, as they are, are bad enough. Ethnic equations are always difficult to understand. But Pakistan's disruptionist agency...

Swaraj Kaushal's allegations against the Prime Minister must be taken more seriously than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary for the Northeast would want one to. With political circles rife with stories that Kaushal had actually been "sacked" or that Kaushal had actually been "removed", the interlocutor for the Indian government decided to go on the offensive. This he did in a first person account which appeared in a New Delhi newspaper on July 25. Whatever might have been the...

Every time cadres of an organisation surrender -be it orchestrated, coerced or voluntary- it is usually the outfit too which stands to gain a lot. A surrender by particular cadres is an act of purification. The doves are purged out, and the hawks remain. Those who stick to the guns are inevitably die-hards who are committed to their cause, whatever it might be. For them, the means and the ends are all that matter. Not so much in the case of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Those who...

Hello, You have received this mail either because you/your organisation is involved in the region better known as India's "Northeast", or take an active interest in the area. For long, there has been a desire among (concerned) members of the online community to have an e-zine pertaining to the Northeast. Northeast Vigil intends doing precisely that. Northeast Vigil is meant to be a forum. It will collate published and unpublished material on the Northeast for dissemination among its readers...