New police stations
The State Government has upgraded Shallang Outpost to a police station on creation of the Shallang police station. The areas coming under its jurisdiction shall cease to be under the Nongstoin police station. Further a new police outpost has been created at Lad Rymbai.
Vice raids
The Excise staff of East Khasi Hills conducted raids in restaurants and stalls in December and detected 45 cases with a seizure of 381.780 litres of I/D liquor and 461.945 litres of IMFL.
The funeral of Neil Hamborn Warjri, resident of Mawlai Mawroh who died during the attack by militants at Williamnagar Jail recently, will be held on February 5 at the Catholic Cemetery.
Dr Peter Ward Kharbhih, brother of QM Kharbhih of Jaiaw Pdeng, passed away on February 3 in England.
Andreas M Badwar (Bah Mung) former headman of Malki passed away on February 4. The funeral will be held on February 6 at the Catholic Cemetery at Malki at 2pm.
Anthony Curtis Mylliemngap, son of Milobel Mylliemngap of Lawsohtun Block VI, passed away on February 3. His funeral will be held on February 5 at the Unitarian Church Cemetery at Lawsohtun at 2pm.
Romesh Warjri, an employee of Secretariat and son of (L) Spainly Warjri from Nongkrem passed away on Feb 3. His funeral would be held at Presbyterian Church cemetery, Nongkrem on Feb 5.
Editor,
It seems that we are living at a time where ideologies don’t matter anymore. Shore term solution are no solution for a better life. I believe that elections are not a verdict only for candidates but for the society as a whole. It is a report card for the last immediate five years and the years before that. There is an aroma of social responsibility in the air but only during election time. I would like to see this frequently rather than once in five years. Maintenance is almost an everyday affair. I agree with Donaldson Shanpru and others that it is important for the institutions that do have the infrastructure(s) to pave a way to promote a thinking society rather than allowing a social stupor at a large scale. And when I say institutions, I mean all of them (durbars, schools, colleges, churches, etc). I believe that logical deductions are the only way forward. For instance, I don’t want to see another government fulfilling its promise to raise the standard of the health institutions in our state by buying a Meghalaya House in Vellore. I strongly feel the state itself must make an effort to provide the people with such a platform so that we can collectively shine. Why not Jantar Mantar in our State? A working proof of true democracy! As a common man, I’ve often asked myself why is it that when some organizations exercise their democratic right, my democratic right is completely crushed? I mean the bandhs, road blockades, etc. Having a state sponsored platform like this will not only help our organizations work better with the government for a common good with transparency, but also instill in all of us a sense of social responsibility.
Winston Churchill said to the House of Commons in 1946: “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues and freebooters. Not a bottle of water or a loaf of bread will escape taxation, only air will be free…They will fight among themselves and India will be lost in political squabbles.” Maybe we are proving him right! Maybe because we see it every day, we fail to notice. It has become an acquainted way of life. We know that roads are built in such a manner that they would need repairs annually so that the economy will be rejuvenated for some section of the society, or, so that some political candidate can hold us to ransom for his election mileage since we do have a short memory. I believe we do have experts who still keep the faith and would love to get to the spider rather than spending their valuable lifetime in cleaning cobwebs, but then, maybe, they too have been silenced to oblivion by those who see a spider as a chicken that lays golden eggs.
Maybe our political candidates/ political aspirants might argue on Churchill’s statement that this was about then and not now, but having seen (and it looks like we will be seeing more) in debates on TV, etc. that politicians do love to make accusations at each other and then use that as an alibi; and even as a moral yardstick for themselves, based on the degree that they can comfortably comply. It is mostly like the story of Lum Kyllang and Lum Symper being played before our eyes. And, you know that attitude – ‘if I don’t do it, someone else will’. Why can’t this attitude be turned for a better collective good rather than for a personal gain? Is it possible? Or have we lost faith in ourselves? I know that one has to have a sense of shame in order to have redemption; otherwise that person will not repent and therefore he/ she is really not looking for redemption in the first place. In a society where everything is inter-connected, one man’s redemption is every man’s rescue. And therefore, it is important that we come together towards this responsibility. Logical deductions backed with honestly collected facts are the only way forward. I also believe that a person who does not understand the necessity of the ideology is most likely to abuse his power and destroy the system because a system is nothing more than an institutionalized ideology.
Let’s open ourselves up for a better collective future. Let’s champion the better for our good.
Yours etc,
Donald C Syiem
Via email
From Our Correspondent
Agartala: Among 249 contesting candidates in the Tripura Assembly polls, Biplab Kumar Ghosh of Congress has emerged as the richest contestant with assets worth Rs. 9.29 crores, according to a report released by National election watch (NEW).
Biplab Ghosh, who is contesting on the Congress ticket from Matabari Assembly constituency, is followed by Congress candidate Dilip Sarkar of Badharghat Assembly constituency with Rs. 4.58 crores worth of properties and Pranajit Singha Roy contesting on behalf of Congress party from Radhakishorepur assembly constituency with assets worth Rs. 4.03 crores.
As per the analysis of Financial and Income Tax details of the contestants for the state assembly election, a total of 16 candidates are counted as crorepatis who are going to contest the poll on February 14.
Of the 16 ‘crorepati’ candidates, 12 belonged to the opposition Congress, one to the ruling CPI-M, one to BJP and the rest are independents, Tripura Election Watch (TEW) secretary Biswendu Bhattacharya said Monday.
During the last assembly election in 2008, altogether 301 candidates had participated in the contest. Out of the total, 2% were crorepati candidates.
The detailed report also revealed that 66 candidates are showing their assets less than Rs. 1 lakh.
Babul Banik of SUCI contesting from Suryamaninagar assembly constituency has been declared as zero assets, as per the survey conducted by NEW.
Similarly, Pranesh Das of Amraa Bangalee from Pabiacherra assembly constituency showed his asset of only Rs. 100. Shibani Bhowmik of SUCI (C) fighting from Town Bardowali has assets worth Rs. 500.
Comparing the political party-wise average assets, the average asset per candidate of Congress party were counted at Rs.98.07 lakhs, whereas the asset of CPM per candidate is Rs. 28.98 lakhs.
Other than, BJP has been counted at Rs. 10.06 lakhs and for IPFT, the rate stands at Rs. 4.21 lakhs.
Among the highest income candidates, Biplab Kumar Ghosh has been declared having the highest income worth Rs. 40.77 lakhs as per his last income tax return.
He is followed by Congress candidate Satyaban Das from Pabiacherra assembly constituency with declared income of Rs. 38.24 lakhs while; Pranajit Singha Roy has a total income worth Rs. 30.38 lakhs.
Bhattacharya said of the total candidates in fray, 19 have criminal cases against them. Charges have been framed against 12 of the candidates and one of them has been accused under Prevention of Corruption Act, he said.
Expressing concern over the PAN and Income Tax returns filed by the 249 candidates, National Election Watch programme coordinator Mashqura Fareedi said, “88 per cent of the candidates didn’t file any income tax returns.”
She said nine candidates, including five from CPI(M), three from Congress and one from BJP, with assets of over Rs 40 lakh did not declare their PAN details.
The defaulter included state Finance Minister Badal Choudhury. (with inputs from PTI)
The Meghalaya jails seem to be terribly unguarded spaces. Imagine some militants having a free run of the land and gunning down jail officials with impunity. The situation in Garo Hills is spiralling out of control and police do not seem to have a clue on how to tackle the menace. Militancy in Garo Hills is no longer a political problem but a law and order one. And the reason why militants have gone amok is because they enjoy political patronage. Each group is in cahoots with some politician or the other so no one wants to take action. The police too prefer to look the other way. But is this how the law enforcers should be working? Are they not supposed to be completely apolitical and to serve the nation and its citizens? Sadly we see them subservient to political whims and fancies. Otherwise what prevents them from building up a water tight case against the militants when they are arrested? Arresting is only one part of policing. Evidence gathering and charge-sheeting are the next important steps. The police always falter at this crucial point. It does not speak too highly of them. The conviction rate in Meghalaya is one of the lowest in the country, so crime has only one way to go and that is up.
At this critical juncture when police are supposed to be most alert and to keep watch in case there are electoral transgressions, a higher up in the police establishment is accused of collecting money from contractors and government suppliers at the behest of politicians, to finance the elections. This is pure and simple corruption. When the law enforcers are themselves guilty of crime how can they catch other criminals? They become the laughing stock.
Some days ago an editorial in these columns lauded the East Khasi Hills Police for arresting the HNLC sympathisers who had allegedly fired at the Lumdiengjri Police Station as well as those who had unfurled the flag of the banned outfit on January 25th last year. This effort by the District Police is not necessarily a directive from above. The present SP, East Khasi Hills is well experienced in handling militancy and the credit goes to him and his team for nipping the problem in the bud. We do not want a resurgence of militancy in the Khasi Hills. The problem is with the Garo Hills and how the police higher ups view the problem. Do they have a policy on tackling militancy? Perhaps the situation in Garo Hills has gone way out of hand. It is time for the Centre to be briefed about the ground situation through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) since the politicians are all in league with the enemies of peace and police seem hamstrung to address this pernicious problem.
Seoul: South Korea and the United States launched a joint naval exercise involving a US nuclear submarine on Monday, as tensions rise on the Korean peninsula ahead of an expected nuclear test by North Korea.
A defence ministry spokesman confirmed the three-day drill — condemned as a “warmongering” exercise by North Korea — was underway in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) off the southeastern South Korean port of Pohang.
Although South Korean military officials stressed the drill was scheduled before the North threatened to detonate its third nuclear device, the presence of the submarine has been seen as a warning to Pyongyang.
The USS San Francisco, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, is joined in the drill by a 9,800-tonnes Aegis destroyer, the USS Shiloh.
“The exercise includes at-sea operating training, detecting and tracking a submarine, anti-air and anti-ship live fire training and anti-missile training,” the Yonhap news agency quoted one military official as saying.
The drill comes as the North has ramped up daily threats of a nuclear test in response to expanded UN sanctions imposed after its long-range rocket launch in December.
The North insists the launch was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in orbit. But most of the world viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated UN resolutions triggered by the North’s previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Seoul’s defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters today that the North had completed all technical preparations for another nuclear test.
“The only thing left to make is a political judgment,” Kim said, calling on Pyongyang to show restraint. Recent satellite imagery has confirmed activity at the northeastern nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, with the North covering the entrance to a test tunnel in an apparent attempt to external monitoring.
Over the past week Pyongyang has issued a series of daily warnings threatening action over the sanctions, including a promise on Saturday of the “toughest retaliation”. Yesterday, state media reported that the North’s young leader, Kim Jong-Un, had chaired a high-level meeting to discuss a “great turn” in bolstering military capability and issue “important” guidelines to top officials. (AFP)
Kohima: The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has reacted to Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s statement that the booklet published by NPCC contained ‘mere allegations’, the Congress has termed Rio’s statement as ‘far from truth.’
In a statement issued by NPCC on Monday said the booklet titled ’10 Years of NPF misrule in Nagaland – A Decade of Scandals and Corruptions’ was an ‘exposé’ of how the Naga Peoples Front (NPF) led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Government indulged in ‘rampant corruption for the sole aim to embezzle and amass their ill-gotten wealth on the expense of the state exchequer.’
NPCC argued that the ‘exposé’ was based on the revelations obtained on the floor of the House through relentless questionings from the opposition.
NPCC also took a dig at Mr Rio’s claim on commitment towards ‘facilitating the solution’ and ‘paving the way’ on the Naga political issue stating that this was ‘nothing but only a lip service’ in an effort to justify DAN government’s ‘hip-hop stand’ on the same issue which has brought ‘nothing but a betrayal to the Naga peoples’ aspiration.’
NPCC said if the NPF legislators had resigned at the opportune time as desired by the Congress legislators, the Nagas would have not faced this election and instead the ongoing peace process could have some concrete shape by now.
The statement also pointed out that NPF campaign on its commitment to bring a solution to the Naga political issue within three months time was made in 2003 and that the same was being echoed even after a decade.
Reacting to the allegation that Congress was to be blamed for blocking the visits of the Central leaders to the state and the release of funds, NPCC said it was a diversion tactics adopted by NPF led DAN Government.
The NPCC pointed out that the Central Government could not trust the DAN Government because of its ‘rampant indulgence in corruption’ in every level of governance, misuse of funds in CSS, fraudulent withdrawal of money from the state exchequer. (UNI)
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Parliamentary secretary for science and technology Phurpa Tsering has advocated for giving more emphasis on the tourism sector of the state for creating employment avenues in the state.
“Emphasis on tourism industry will generate self-employment and income to the educated unemployed youths and mitigate their financial dependence on their leaders”, he said during a public meeting at Dirang in West Kameng district on Sunday.
Tsering, on a week-long tour to the district, also announced financial packages for construction of Tourist Lodges at Zimthung and Salari villages in the district, official sources informed here on Monday.
“God has bestowed West Kameng and Tawang districts with tremendous natural beauty which attracts largest inflow of tourist both-domestic and international annually to this belt. Apart from horticulture, our educated unemployed youths should take up tourism related activities for their self-sustenance,” he suggested.
Tsering also reviewed various ongoing developmental schemes and programs at Darbu, Rahung, Zimthung, Namthung, Munna Camp, Panchavati, Chander, Salari, Pangma, Khalibok, Barchipam, Sagar Krong, Dirang Basti and Lish Gonpache villages.
He also announced slew of packages from his local area development fund and Border Area Development Package.
The package included repair of Rahung power-house, water connectivity at Salari village, approach roads to Gompas at several villages, repair of dilapidated school buildings, boundary walls and posting of requisite teachers in schools. (PTI)
Islamabad: The Jamaat-e-Islami has rejected the Pakistani Taliban’s call to act as a guarantor for any talks between the banned militant group and the government, with a top leader questioning the administration’s stance on such issues.
“We are in favour of talks because issues cannot be resolved without negotiations, but the Jamaat-e-Islami cannot become a guarantor because we have nothing to do with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and they did not contact us to seek our opinion,” Jamaat deputy secretary general Farid Ahmed Piracha said.
“How can we become a guarantor (for the talks) when the government is not ready to implement even the resolutions of parliament,” Piracha told the Dawn newspaper. In a video message released on Sunday, Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said his group would hold talks with the government if PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam head Maulana Fazlur Rehman acted as guarantors. Ihsan also demanded that the government should release several top Taliban leaders ahead of any talks. (PTI)
By Poonam I Kaushish
Move over political jihadis, it’s the season of the cultural terrorist whereby the licence to allegedly distort becomes a ticket to jail. Underscoring today’s India where our polity use religion and caste to pander to their respective vote-banks and every view is considered an act of sedition. Their final act of patriotism!
Think. Barely, had India celebrated its 64th Republic Day that our secular and democratic credentials were trashed by three States Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Raising the ante on Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution which grants a citizen the right to freedom of expression.
On three counts. One, the Rajasthan Government registered an FIR under the SC/ST Atrocities Act against famed sociologist Ashis Nandy for his controversial remarks on SC/ST corruption at the just-concluded Jaipur Literature Festival. Said he, “It is a fact that most of the corrupt come from OBCs and SCs and now increasingly the STs”. Trust livid Dalit icons BSP’s Mayawati and LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan forcing Nandy to approach the Supreme Court which stayed his arrest. Two, Tamil Nadu banned noted actor-director Kamal Hasan’s 100 crore magna opus Viswaroopam which deals with the issue of terrorism on the fallacious that it would hurt the sentiments of ‘unknown’ Muslim groups and create a law and order problem. Surprisingly, the Chennai High Court’s division bench upheld the State Government’s petition. Notwithstanding, the film was cleared by the Censor Board and released in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. That too without creating a law and order problem.
A shocked Hasan who might lose his house has threatened to do another MF Husain and go into ‘self exile. “If Husain can do it Hasan can too”, said the emotional actor. Recall, the legendary painter was literally chased away from his homeland by right-wing Hindutva brigade, who took offence at his paintings on goddesses and his depiction of BharatMata,
This is not the end of political intolerance. West Bengal maverick Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee banned celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie from coming to Kolkata to promote a film based on his book ‘Midnight’s Children’, ostensibly, for security reasons. He flew back to London disgusted.
Undeniably, Nandy, Hasan and Rushdie indicate the narrow-minded climate of political discourse we live in wherein even relatively innocuous statements can be twisted and misrepresented to suit our ‘holy cows’ netas narrow ends, shore up their image and commitment to their constituencies.
Raising a moot point: Is India heading towards an era of intolerance and cultural terrorism? Is the polity afraid of the clash of ideas in our public life? Is it mere coincidence or a sign of an increasingly knee-jerk, reactionary country where one of the South’s most loved film icons is forced to go public to painstakingly reassert his secular identity? Or Nandy and Rushdie have to move court and leave.
The brutal fact is that India is in the grip of bigotry, narrow mindedness and cultural terror, that no historian or social scientist can honestly do his/her research objectively. Sadly, cultural terror is the latest facet of the dirty politics that our netagan have stooped to. Worse, they seem to be getting away with it without even soiling their hands.
Underscoring, that increasingly the leaders are talking more and more in banalities and platitudes where life is lived in the slim strip called the official and every joke, wit, satire, humour or defiance treated as a monster. Big deal if this makes public discourse impoverished and toothless.
Bringing things to such a pass whereby our netagan afflicted by the I, me myself syndrome seem to be only interested in grabbing headlines whenever they can. As far as individual freedom is concerned they couldn’t careless. It’s all about making the right pseudo-secular noises to humour their respective vote-banks, promote their self-interest by creating dissension among the aam aadmi resulting in making them rich and powerful. And India more conflict ridden deeply mired in hatred and violence specially vis-à-vis caste and religion. Alas, this is not the first time. Many films, books even cartoons have been banned, innumerable artists have faced taboo and forced out in a country which prides it self for being the birthplace of so many apostles of peace and non-violence —- Gandhi, Buddha and Mahavir. If one doesn’t like a film just collect a crowd and burn the theaters where it is shown. If you don’t like a novelist’s book get the Government to ban it or issue a fatwa against the author.
Only recently, Shah Rukh Khan was cornered for his views on what it is to be a Muslim in India and got caught in the crosshairs of an unseemly Indo-Pak spat post Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik that India provide security to him. Leading the heartthrob of millions to say he was a proud Indian
Remember an innocuous cartoonist Assem Trivedi was arrested for sedition by Mamata in Kolkata. Before him another of his tribe famed Shankar cartoons of Ambedkar in NCERT school books were posthumously removed. Notwithstanding if India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, called sedition laws “objectionable and obnoxious”.
Where does India go from here? To another SRK storm, to more uncertainty for “Vishwaroopam”, more tension for Nandy? Whereby, celebrities and films are fast becoming soft targets with knee-jerk reactions taking over debates and calibrated decisions.
In this milieu can we trust our leaders? Conservative and fundamentalist Muslims can hate Nandy, Hasan and Rushdie. They can burn their effigies but we do not need self-appointed guardians to tell us what we can read, seeing a film, what we can wear, what we can eat or drink. We should be free to worship the way we want, to believe what we want, whom and how we should love. Clearly, the speed with which our tolerance is falling to fragile levels is scary. Forgetting that if an individual’s freedom is denied, then the freedom of a community will be trampled upon too. Our leaders must desist from using caste and creed as pedestals to stand on to be seen. The right of our intellectuals must be protected at all costs.
The message has to go out clearly that no community, caste or group can threaten violence, and if they do, they lose their democratic right to be heard. India could do without netas who distorts politics and in turn destroys democracy and laughter Will they heed? (INFA)
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