Northeast Vigil

The run-up to the signing of the agreement to extend the ceasefire by one year in 1999 could not have been more ominous. The chief interlocutor of the Indian side, Swaraj Kaushal, made an unceremonious exit from the scenario. Kaushal had been in constant touch with the leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, but left things hanging fire. Quite literally at that. On that occasion, Muivah had told this writer (see Northeast Vigil issue...

HAD he not become the leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), he would probably have been serving in a mission. The last time that negotiations were held between the Indian government and the Naga guerrillas in the late Sixties, playing a key role was a suave young man in his mid-30s. Thirty summers later, the same man was set to play a bigger role in the current negotiations. But the soft-spoken NSCN chairman, Isak Chishi Swu, has not had much to speak about -- real talks...

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...

DEHRA DUN: Issues of the Northeast were eclipsed at a much-hyped workshop deemed to focus on the human rights of marginalised and tribal communities held here in the first week of October. The Northeast could not have fared worse. Activists of the Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), the only rights activists from the Northeast, had to return without even uttering a single word at the workshop. A journalist who tried to raise the issue of how difficult it is for both human rights...

It was heartening to see mediapersons being the panelists at a forum on the role of the media. In a random survey of various seminars held on the issue in New Delhi in recent times, one found that among the speakers jurists accounted for 35 per cent, bureaucrats accounted for 35 per cent, politicians were 20 per cent, and mediapersons only 10 per cent. The mediapersons who usually speak at such fora usually belong to the management cadre in media establishments. The hackneyed "role of the media"...

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 National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) has finally come out with the reasons that "necessitated the awarding of capital punishment" to Dally Mungro and two of his associates on 18 August 1999 at Jotsoma village near Kohima in Nagaland. An official statement made available to "Northeast Vigil" said many people from Khaplang's group had approached the NSCN leadership for talks and the latter responded positively. But late Dally and SC Jamir had stopped them and torpedoed the entire...

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...

WHAT EXPERTS/ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY THE QUESTIONS: (1) Does the Northeast really need a separate "forest policy"? What can be so special about the Northeast that would merit a separate "forest policy"? (2) If such a policy comes into being, will it actually augur well for the Northeast? what should be the key features of such a policy? (3) The rich biodiversity of the Northeast is well-known. But can a separate forest policy make much of a difference in a situation where the prospects of a...