1. Art and Diseño

HIMALAYAN MIRROR
NORTHEAST
GANGTOK, THURSDAY 29 JANUARY 2015
3
Anti-leprosy activist since 1948
honoured by Assam
Tripura, Mizoram
officials summoned over
refugee repatriation
Agartala/Aizawl, Jan 28
(IANS) : The union home
ministry has summoned
Tripura and Mizoram officials to New Delhi Jan 30
to discuss the repatriation
of
Mizoram's
tribal
refugees, sheltered in
northern Tripura for more
than 17 years, officials
said Wednesday.
"The home ministry has
convened a meeting of
officials of Tripura and
Mizoram in New Delhi
Jan 30 to resume the repatriation of tribal refugees
to Mizoram," Tripura's
Relief and Rehabilitation
Department Additional
Secretary Karnamani Das
told IANS.
"The (Tripura) state
government has been asking both Mizoram and the
union home ministry to
repatriate
the
tribal
refugees to their villages
in Mizoram. A serious
socio-economic problem
has cropped up due to the
long stay of the refugees
in Tripura," said Das, who
would represent Tripura in
the meeting.
Senior officials of the
union home ministry
would also attend the
meeting.
An official in Aizawl
said Mizoram Chief
Secretary Lalmalsawma
held a meeting with the
home department officials
Tuesday to finalise the
strategy for the New Delhi
meeting. Friday's meeting
assumes significance in
view of the Supreme
Court directions Jan 16
about the refugees.
The apex court directed
the central and the state
governments of Mizoram
and Tripura to hold con-
sultations within four
months to formulate plans
to continue repatriation of
the refugees to Mizoram
from the Tripura relief
camps.
"Mizoram
Chief
Minister Lal Thanhawla
while speaking in the
meeting of the North
Eastern Council Jan 2 in
Shillong, proposed that
those
refugees
who
refused to return to
Mizoram despite concerted efforts, should be settled permanently in
Tripura," the official
added.
"In the last road map for
the
repatriation
of
refugees, only 6,647 tribals had returned to
Mizoram from Tripura till
November last year," the
official quoted the chief
minister as saying at the
NEC meeting.
About 35,000 Reang
tribals, locally called
"Bru", are staying in six
camps in northern Tripura
since October 1997 after
they fled their villages in
western Mizoram following ethnic troubles after
the killing of a Mizo forest official.
The refugee leaders in
the relief camps said they
were reluctant to return to
their homes unless their
genuine demands were
met. "We have submitted
a memorandum to a central government team to
solve
our
10-point
demands, including permanent solution to the
ethnic problems," refugee
leader and Mizoram Bru
Displaced People's Forum
(MBDPF) general secretary Bruno Mesha told
IANS over phone from
Kanchanpur, 190 km
north of here.
The refugees' demands
include economic rehabilitation of the repatriated
refugees, adequate security, allotment of land,
employment, free ration
for two years and financial assistance of Rs.1.5
lakh per family.
The MBDPF leaders
also requested the central
government team that till
the time they are repatriated to Mizoram, the
amount of relief items,
including rice, should be
increased and their living
conditions in makeshift
camps
should
be
improved.
Following an order of
the Tripura High Court,
the union home ministry
had last year constituted a
seven-member committee
headed by Rajiv Gauba,
the ministry's additional
secretary, to oversee the
condition of the refugees
in the Tripura camps.
The central team visited
the refugee camps last
year and submitted its
report to the Tripura High
Court.
Tripura
and
Mizoram share a 109-km
border. The Tripura High
Court passed its order
June 24 following a petition filed by a lawyer.
The refugees also
demanded that they
should be given facilities
and status like that of
Kashmiri Pandits and
Tamil refugees and should
be allotted land. They also
demanded creation of
model villages in Reang
tribals' inhabited areas,
better security and sanitation and education for the
tribals in Mizoram.
Meghalaya CM thrust on
‘Destination Meghalaya’
Shillong, Jan 28 :
Meghalaya chief minister
Mukul Sangma has
expressed his willingness
to implement the ambitious plan of the state
government, 'Destination
Meghalaya', with a special thrust on education,
healthcare, hospitality
and investment in renewable natural resources.
The CM, while addressing the Republic Day
function after unfurling
the National Flag in Tura
on
Monday,
said,
"Investment in relevant
sectors will have to be
increased to develop
strong human resources
with special focus on
skilled workforce and
increased vegetative coverage across the state,
which will not only
attract investment to generate employment but
also help address environmental concerns".
\He said the process for
setting up two engineering colleges has been initiated and that the sanction for the permanent
campus for the state's
technical
university,
'Captain
Williamson
Sangma University', was
under process.
"The government will
support appropriate private investments to make
Meghalaya an education
destination," he added.
Mukul said establishment
of two medical colleges
in the state and nursing
schools in all the districts
was under progress.
Guwahati,
Jan
28
(IANS) : A 94-year-old
social activist, who dedicated his life to fighting
leprosy in Assam's Karbi
Anglong district since
1948, was Wednesday
honoured by the state government.
Gandhian and social
activist Janardan Pathak
became the first person to
be conferred with the
"Amal Prabha Das Award
for Social Service" for the
year 2013.
The award was instituted by the Assam government in 2013 to honour
people for their distinguished service to the
society.
Pathak was honoured
for his service to the
nation while following the
principles of Mahatma
Gandhi. He has worked
for fighting leprosy in
Karbi Anglong district
(then called the Mikir
Hills) since 1948.
The activist Wednesday
said he would donate the
award money - Rs.60,000
- to a trust to help poor
students of the backward
district in the form of
scholarships so that they
can pursue future studies.
"I met Mahatma Gandhi
for the first time on May
25, 1945. I told him I want
to work for the society. He
asked me to complete my
studies first and then go
back to the northeast
region and meet social
reformer Thakkar Bapa,
who will show me the
path," said Pathak after
receiving the award.
"Following Gandhiji's
instruction, I came back to
Assam in 1948. Thakkar
Bapa told me to go to the
Mikir Hills district, where
leprosy was taking a
severe toll. I started the
Gandhi Seva Kendra in
Sariahjan in 1948, and
since then I have been
running the kendra," he
said. Sariahjan is 65 km
from Karbi Anglong district headquarters Diphu.
Pathak recalled vividly
the day of Gandhi's assassination -- Jan 30, 1948.
"Gandhiji's assassination was a dark moment
for humanity. It changed
the course of my life forever. I was shocked to
learn about his death and
all I could do was pick up
a fistful of earth and dedicate my life to the path
shown by him. I have
never looked back and I
have no regrets," he said.
On leprosy, he said:
"Leprosy is almost eradicated now. But those days,
it was a serious problem.
Patients were treated like
Congress aims big in
Assam civic polls
NDFB-S militants in
Assam in December last
year.
Following his arrest in
the remote region and
became one among the
tribals. He also took steps
to start schools for the
tribal people. It is the service to the people that led
him to become the first
deputy chairman of the
Mikir Hills District
Council despite being a
non-tribal."
Senior Karbi ultra held
Diphu/Guwahati, Jan
28 : The self-styled
defence secretary of the
Karbi Peoples Liberation
Tigers (KPLT) and
another hardcore militant
were arrested from central
Assam's
Karbi
Anglong district on
Wednesday.
The two were apprehended along with a 0.22
mm pistol and some
ammunition during a
joint police and Army
operation
from
Dokmoka bus stand,
Superintendent of Police
Mugdhajyoti Mahanta
told a news agency.
The 'defence secretary'
was identified as Bordili
Hangjang alias Abin
Hangjang alias Francis
Tereng and the other
ultra is Dilip Tokbi.
The Army Unit at
Diphu under Chindits
Brigade of Red Horns
Division had launched
the
joint
operation
against
the
KPLT,
defence sources said.
Bordili is being interrogated, Mahanta said.
KPLT was formed in
January 2011 with an
objective of carving an
Autonomous Karbi State
out of Assam and is
mostly active in Karbi
Anglong district and
parts
of Arunachal
Pradesh.
First and last day of month
to be 'dry day' in Assam
Guwahati, Jan 28 :
Ruling Congress today
promised of doubling the
allocation to Rs 1,000
crore in the next five
years to 74 municipal
boards and town committees across Assam if it
wins the forthcoming
elections of these.
Aiming to capture nearly more than 50 of the 74
municipal boards and
town committees on
February 9 poll, Assam
Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi also promised to
give 2 per cent subsidy on
loans taken by rickshaw
and hand cart pullers,
vegetable vendors or
other small traders while
taking loans from banks.
"Our party's promise is
that if Congress comes to
power, we will give RS
1,000 crore to the bodies
over next five years," he
said at a press conference
here.
This promised amount
will be in addition to
whatever revenues the
respective bodies will
generate, he added.
"Currently over 50
bodies are under our control and our performance
will be better than last
time. In the last five
years, we had given Rs
500 crore," Gogoi said.
The senior Congress
leader said once the party
comes to power, it will
bring a "special package"
for development of smaller cities.
"BJP and (Narendra)
Modi talks about only
making big cities as smart
cities and in their list,
even Guwahati is not
there. How will overall
development take place if
we talk about only big
cities? Congress will
focus on small and midlevel cities," he said.
Talking about slum
dwellers, Gogoi said the
municipal boards and
town committees in select
cities will give housing or
provide financial assistance of Rs 25,000 each
household of the poors
and the homeless people.
Besides, hostels for
outstation students will
also be constructed in
some major educational
places like Guwahati,
Jorhat and Dibrugarh, he
added.
NIA seeks custody of top NDFB-S militant
Guwahati, Jan 28 : The
National
Investigation
Agency (NIA)'s Guwahati
unit has sought the custody
of Sanju Bordoloi, alias
Sibigiri, a top leader of
National Democratic Front
of Boroland's Songbijit
faction (NDFB-S), who
was arrested in Bangalore
on Monday.
Acting on a tip off from
NIA and Assam Police,
Sanju (30) was arrested by
Bangalore Police in the
Electronics City area.
The NIA(Guwahati) had
issued a lookout notice for
Sanju after Bodo militants
killed at least five Adivasis
in Santipur village of
Dhekiajuli in Sonitpur district, allegedly on his
behest, on December 23,
2014.
Over 76 people died in
the carnage triggered by
untouchables. My colleagues and I had to work
hard to remove the stigma
about the disease."
Pathak underwent antileprosy volunteer training
while studying in Wardha
in Gujarat.
Pabitra Bora, who has
penned Pathak's biography, said: "Pathak served
Bangalore, an NIA team
from here reached the state
on Tuesday. "The team
may bring the militant
back
on Wednesday
evening. Then, we will
produce him before the
NIA court and seek
remand," a NIA official
said. During preliminary
interrogation, Sanju has
confessed to his involvement with the Bodo outfit.
"He is a top leader and a
council member of the outfit. He is from Morigaon
district and fled to
Bangalore after the violence," the official added.
He said Sanju managed to
dupe police due to his nonBodo origin. Sources said
Sanju arrived in Bangalore
on January 21 and was
staying at a rented house in
Neeladri Nagar in the
Electronics City area. He
was believed to have
undergone arms training at
a
Naga
camp
in
Bangladesh in 2009.
The NIA, which is probing the December massacre, is interrogating four
other NDFB-S militants.
Guwahati, Jan 28 :
Assam has declared the
first and last day of every
month, except December
31, as "dry day" and prohibited sale of any type
of alcoholic product in
the state.
"The government has
decided to stop selling
any type of alcoholic
products on the first and
last day of every month
with immediate effect.
However, December 31
has been kept out of this
order," Superintendent of
Excise Ajay Kumar
Bayan told a news
agency here.
He said this rule existed earlier also but was
withdrawn a few years
back.
"Assam government
has also banned selling
and consumption of alcohol, which are sold in
other states. This is primarily done to address
the issue of huge revenue
loss to neighbouring
states, where alcohol is
cheaper than Assam,"
Bayan said.
As per the gazette notification, no one will be
allowed to sell liquor in
Assam if these are procured from other states,
he said.
"If we find any violation, action will be taken
as per law," Bayan said.
EC directs Liezietsu to file
reply to rebel petition
Kohima: The Election
Commission of India has
reportedly directed president
of Naga People's Front (NPF)
Central
Nagaland,
Shurhozelie Liezietsu, to file
his reply on a petition filed by
the dissident group who have
formed a parallel party and
claims to be the original NPF
in the state. The ECI yesterday issued directive to
Shurhozelie, asking him to
respond latest by February
16, stated a release issued by
dissident party working pres-
ident Nuzota Swuro here
today. A copy of the ECI
directive issued to Liezietsu
was also made available to
the mediapersons. The dissident NPF group under the
president of Noke Wangnao
had filed a petition with the
ECI on January 22 seeking
recognition of the Noke-led
NPF as the 'original NPF' in
the state. Nuzota said that the
petition was filed on January
22 before the ECI and it took
cognizance of the petition
yesterday.
Three people of a family killed
in road mishap in Guwahati
Guwahati, Jan 28 : At least
three people of a family
including a child were killed
in a road mishap in Guwahati
on Wednesday.
The mishap took place at
Narengi tiniali in the city,
where the family members
were killed when a truck hit
them who were riding in a
motorcycle.
"Biren Sarma and his daughter were killed on spot and his
wife succumbed her injuries
in Guwahati Medical College
Hospital, " a police official
said. After the incident angry
local people damaged the
truck and a police vehicle.
(IBNS)