Govt law college crisis deepens

Guwahati

Bishnu Ram Medhi Government Law College March 25 : The uncertainty over the future of the 95-year-old Bishnu Ram Medhi Government Law College has deepened with the Bar Council representing the Northeast states opposing immediate lifting of the ban on admission into its three-year law course. The college has already lost a year as it could not conduct admission for the academic session 2008-09. Many poor students had to take admission in other colleges by paying hefty fees. Last year, the Bar Council of India (BCI) imposed a ban on the college against admitting students for the year 2008-09 as the institution failed to fulfil certain basic conditions like a permanent campus, permanent teachers and a standard library. The chairman of the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, G.N. Sahewalla, told this correspondent that the college was yet to fulfil some basic criteria and another fresh investigation must be conducted before lifting the ban. “Following instructions of the BCI, I made an inspection of the college recently and examined the present status of the institution. Though the college has made some progress in infrastructure and other facilities, the basic criterion like appointment of permanent teachers has not been fulfilled yet. The preliminary process of appointment of the teachers has not started. Appointment of permanent and qualified teachers is very important to become a standard law institution,” he added. He said under these circumstances, lifting of the ban on admission into the three-year law course would not be appropriate. According to him, the BCI must conduct a fresh inquiry and the college should be given a specific time frame to fulfil basic criteria like appointment of permanent teachers. “I have submitted my report to the BCI and it is up to the council to take the final decision,” Sahewalla said. Sources said with the model code conduct in force ahead of the parliamentary elections, the law college could not start the appointment process immediately. “There is no chance of starting the preliminary process of appointment before June. The admission for the 2009-10 academic session should start by August. Given the present circumstances, the college will fail to start the admission in time,” a source said. Principal H. Munir, while admitting that the process of appointment of permanent teachers was yet to start, said certain other conditions like the construction of a permanent campus had been met.

Nagaland & Assam enter final

North East T20

Amit Sinha

Guwahati/Shillong, Feb 28 : Assam will take on Nagaland in the final of the 1st North East Twenty20 cricket tournament at the Polo Ground in Shillong tomorrow.

In the semi-final matches at the same venue today, Assam drubbed Sikkim by six wickets and Nagaland scrapped past hosts Meghalaya by eight runs to book their final berths.

Gokul Sharma, who had taken four wickets against Mizoram yesterday, gave another sterling performance along with Swarupam Purkaystha, picking up three wickets each to help Assam to restrict Sikkim to 101 for eight after the latter elected to bat after winning the toss. 

Devender Kumar was the only notable contributor with the bat for Sikkim, playing a steady hand of 30 off 51 balls.

Assam had no problem in achieving the Sikkim score with Amit Sinha leading the way with 42 off 33 balls. Pritam Debnath made 19 off 10 balls. Kulbeer Rawat and Paijor Tamang took two wickets each for Sikkim.

The only change in the Assam playing eleven came in the form of Dhiraj Goswami, who replaced Ranjit Mali, said Assam coach Subhrajit Saikia.

“Dhiraj Goswami also captained the side,” Saikia said, hoping that the pitches would assist spinners more than the medium pacers who were finding it difficult to control the ball.

Purkayastha had captained the side in the first match. Assam will be fielding an unchanged side in the final. “We will retain the winning combination,” Saikia added.

If the Assam-Sikkim encounter in the morning was a one-sided affair, the second match between Nagaland and Meghalaya was anything but. 

Batting first after winning the toss, Nagaland posted a competitive 133 for eight in 20 overs with Deepak Sinha scoring 30 off 39 balls and Imliwati 24 off 17 balls.

Babloo Passah took two wickets for Meghalaya. 

In reply, hosts Meghalaya fell short of the winning total by eight runs with the seasoned Mark Ingty scoring 29 off 30 balls and Jason Lamare contributing 22 off 21 balls.

Pinku Deb took two wickets for Nagaland.

Border area under land grab

Dimapur : Ralan range, on the borders of Assam and Nagaland has become a difficult area for the resident people to survive in, owing to daily incursions and provocation from Assam. The area’s people are facing the brunt of provocation from the Assam side daily and unless the matter is addressed at the earliest, things might go out of hand, the Kyong Lower Range Students’ union today cautioned in an urgent letter addressed to the chief secretary of Nagaland. The problems of the people there have been precipitated more so by the absence of an able and effective administration, the KLRSU stated in its letter to the chief administrator.
The problems are myriad, as the students’ letter listed out, calling the consequences of the state government’s negligence. The check gate maintained by the CRPF at Yanpha village has become a menace for the people of Ralan; without the intervention and active monitoring by a border magistrate or SDO ( C ) it is impossible to move even a piece of building material through this CRPF gate, the students said. “This is a crude and ingenuous way of stopping any forms of economic development in the area both by the CRPF and also the officers concerned” the KLRSU lamented.
“The daily harassment of passenger vehicles has taken its toll on the weary villagers of the area. It is not long before they (villagers) take the matter in their own hands” students stated. “The tragedy is that all this seems to happen with the sanction of the government”   it stated, referring to orders reportedly issued by border magistrates of both states to the post commanders.
Further, daily provocation by land-grabbers from the Assam-side has made life insecure in the border areas of Wokha. Ralan area is the largest tract of plains under Wokha and has engendered many incursive agenda from illegal migrant workers from Assam, the KLRSU said.  “Tensions may flare up at any moment and there are lots of instances to prove that the Assam police are ready and always on the look out to arrest any Naga on the slightest pretext. We mention this to stress the fact that the complicity of the Assam Police in aiding and abetting the illegal immigrants’ incursive agenda makes the people of Ralan area feel like orphans” the students stated. 
The students’ organization also wondered why there isn’t a department or agency for Nagaland to look into the welfare of the people living in the Assam-Nagaland border. In fact, the KLRSU explained, the problems for the border people are so precipitated that “we have found out that some people in the border areas are even going up to the  extent of openly wondering whether it is a good idea for the Lothas to seek for a district status in Assam itself”.
The students have demanded an SDO (c) officer at Ralan and a separate border magistrate at Uriamghat. The students said to have “heard and read” in the newspapers about an SDO being assigned to Ralan. However, the students found out that the officer in question is “still on leave till date”. “Although we understand the difficulties of an officer, it cannot be an excuse for the government to hold the lives of the entire Ralan sub-division under ransom” the students said.
Further, the students’ organization said a border magistrate was assigned for Uriamghat recently but he holds a dual charge, of Merapani as well. “…it is difficult for one officer alone to man the whole DAB in Wokha district” the students said. The students have cautioned that the matter and plight of the area demands urgent attention before the people decide to take matters in their own hand and things go out of control.  

Yanpha, Ralan to defend land from Assam

Dimapur : Irked by reported intrusions by the Assam government into the Assam-Nagaland border areas, the Yanpha villagers in Wokha have decided on ‘protecting’ and ‘defending’ their land. A public meeting convened by the Yanpha Village Council was held on January 31 after construction works were undertaken by the government of Assam in the border areas covering Yanpha and Ralan range. The Yanpha Village Council informed that the government of Assam had recently commenced construction of roads in the Assam-Nagaland border covering Yanpha and Ralan areas under Wokha district. The council said the construction activities have been started to “annex the Naga areas into Assam territory”.
Observing this turn of events, the council convened a meeting in January where a number of decisions were taken by the public of the area. The public strongly affirmed to “protect and defend” the Naga areas “under any circumstances” from the “annexation policies of Assam”.
The meeting then decided to approach the state government of Nagaland for immediate posting of a Border Magistrate. Similarly, the state government would be approached for an SDO (Civil) to be posted at Ralan. This posting is in the interest of addressing problems from the border issue before it is too late, the meeting decided. The public of the area have appealed to the state government to “act in time” to “defend and safeguard Nagaland” from the “various annexation policies of Assam”.

Can’t stop militant forays, say police

Policemen pay homage to their colleagues killed in the encounter at Sonari. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Feb 1 : A day after Ulfa militants gunned down two policemen in the Sonari police station area, the Sivasagar superintendent of police, Shyam Saikia, today expressed helplessness in preventing militant forays into the district from the adjoining Mon district of Nagaland.

Saikia said the district administration had taken up the issue of Ulfa militants finding shelter in the neighbouring state with its Mon counterpart but to no avail.

“They (the Ulfa militants) are taking shelter in Naga villages, which are dominated by the Khaplang faction of the NSCN and there is little we can do from here unless the Nagaland government takes action,” he said over telephone. Several rounds of discussions have been held with his counterpart in Mon district, he added.

Bansbaripathar Chetiachuk, where the two policemen — assistant sub-inspector Bhimkanta Upadhyay and constable Debojit Borgohain — were killed yesterday, is nearly 2km from the inter-state border. They were gunned down by a group of Ulfa militants who were fleeing from an encounter and came across the two policemen on a motorcycle.

The SP said there was no permanent Ulfa camp in Mon district of Nagaland but the militants use Naga villages as their shelter. “NSCN (K) militants have been providing logistical support like helping the Ulfa cadres find refuge in the villages in the district,” he said.

The police in Mon district have also expressed helplessness since these villages have NSCN (K) cadres and conducting operation in those villages would only complicate matters. The NSCN (K) is currently in ceasefire with the government.

Army sources said Ulfa militants easily cross over to Nagaland after carrying out subversive activities in Assam, especially in Sivasagar district. The group involved in yesterday’s incident did the same.

The pro-peace group of Ulfa today said yesterday’s incident in Sivasagar district could have been averted had the government shown interest in starting the peace dialogue with them. “We still have contacts with various leaders of the anti-talks faction of Ulfa, but they are not willing to join us because we have gone nowhere since we declared a truce in June for lack of interest of the government,” Jiten Dutta, leader of the pro-peace group, said.

Dutta said Rupantor Kakoti, a self-styled sergeant major of the 28 battalion, led the group involved in yesterday’s incident. “Kakoti and others could easily be convinced to join the peace process since these cadres worked with us. But how can we convince them when we ourselves are at a dead end?” he asked.

The pro-peace group announced on January 1 that they had severed ties with the Ulfa leadership and would like to start the peace dialogue with the government on its own. The group, comprising cadres of the Alpha and the Charlie companies of the 28 battalion of Ulfa, declared a unilateral ceasefire in June last year.

Dutta said the group would place a charter of demands to the government on February 1 and decide its further course of action after that. “We will wait for a few days for the government to respond,” he said.

Nagaland MP’s house gutted

 KOHIMA, Jan 26 – The private residence of Lok Sabha MP from Nagaland, W Wangyuh and three other houses were completely gutted in a fire that broke out on Wednesday in Chenwetnyu village under Mon district, some 300 km from here.

A delayed report reaching here today said that properties could not be saved from the inferno because the villagers were busy sowing seeds in the field during the incident.

The incident of the fire is reported to be caused by kids playing around with fire. No casualty was reported. The inferno was finally extinguished by the neighbouring villagers who rushed to the spot.