Conflict seems to be brewing between the Assam government and animal rights groups. An international animal rights group has asked Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to implement the order of the Supreme Court prohibiting all animal races and fights during Bihu in Assam.
Bihu is the most important festival in Assam and is celebrated thrice a year. In the month of April, it is called Rongali or Bohag Bihu; during October-November it is called Kati Bihu; and in the month of January it is called Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in which an age-old tradition is of organising fight of buffalos.
The villagers bring their buffaloes for the thrilling traditional fight in which the specially reared buffaloes are brought to the ring and then provoked for the duel.
In the months preceding the festival, buffaloes are fed with rich fodder and reeds of long grass, typical to the state’s marshy land. The buffalo fights are held on the first day of Magh Bihu at various places in Assam, but one hosted at Anhotguri in Morigaon district of Assam is the biggest and most popular among all.
Referring the buffalo fight of Anhotguri, the managing director of HSI in India N.G. Jayasimha, who is also the member of the Animal Welfare Board of India, in his letter to Mr Gogoi said, “Hundreds of buffaloes are forced to participate in fights for a reward of `10,000 or more. It is taking place at large scale since 1972 as means of entertainment where the buffaloes bleed profusely and are severely injured.”
Assam chief minister has chosen to ignore the letter of the animal rights activists as preparation has completed for the Bihu.
The festival has its root in the days of Ahom King who ruled Assam for six centuries before the British rulers in 19th century.
New Delhi, Nov 18 : Four people, including two juveniles, have been arrested on charges of gang rape and sexual assault of a 30-year-old woman from Assam, police said Sunday.
The woman and her male friend were beaten up by the four accused, who later gang raped her and inserted a stick in her private parts.
The incident took place in west Delhi's Mundka area Nov 9.
Police said all the four accused were neighbours of the woman.
Two of them have been sent to judicial custody, and the two juveniles sent to a correctional home.
The woman, who received severe injuries in her private parts, was discharged from a hospital Saturday.
In a statement to police, the woman alleged that the four accused barged into her house after consuming alcohol and attacked her and her male friend.
"She claimed that the accused gang raped her and one of them, Shahjahan, inserted a stick in her private parts," a police official said.
Police said Shahjahan reportedly wanted to marry the woman but she turned down his proposal.
Shahjahan, who also hails from Assam, did not like her friendship with her male friend from Uttar Pradesh, and threatened her to break her relationship with him, she said.
The woman alleged that Shahjahan was angry with her and he came to her house Nov 8 with his friends to take revenge.
"The male friend belongs to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. They worked in a shoe factory in Mundka. He wanted to marry her. For some time, he was bearing all her expenses and stopped her from working in the factory," the police official said.
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
An investigation into the seizure of a huge cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition from the Assam-Bengal border has revealed the alleged involvement of a section of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) cadres in Darjeeling, who may have tried to smuggle in the consignment from Dimapur.
Sanjay Rai Thulung, a Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) sabhasad from Takdah-Glenburn was found absconding when police raided his house. A hunt is now on to nab him. Meanwhile, investigators said Umesh Karmi, who was arrested with the consignment, worked as the driver of GJM chief Bimal Gurung.
A couple of years ago, he started working as a transporter in the Assam-Bengal region. It is believed that Karmi, who is being questioned, stayed in touch with GJM leaders.
Besides Karmi (29), a resident of Lankapara in Jalpaiguri, the police also arrested Ganesh Chhetri (53), a resident of Assam’s Baksha district on Saturday. The two were allegedly carrying the consignment in a Tata Safari with a West Bengal registration number. A team of Bengal police questioned the duo, while Darjeeling district police is likely to plead for their custody next.
According to a police report submitted to the state Home department, the arrested persons revealed that they had been asked to carry the consignment to Darjeeling. It is learnt that some leaders in Darjeeling were trying to build an armed group, ‘Gorkha Liberation Army’. The report also said the GJM has split and one of the two groups is preparing for a fresh armed struggle.
Intelligence reports also hinted members of GJM youth wing, Gorkha Yuva Morcha, are disillusioned with the leadership and have allegedly talked about a fresh movement for Gorkhaland.
GJM forms panel to probe charge
Responding to the controversy over the alleged role of GJM cadres in smuggling of sophisticated arms into Darjeeling, GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said on Wednesday that the party has formed a five-member committee to probe into the involvement of GTA sabhasad Sanjay Rai Thulung and others in this episode.
“We believe in democracy and we will not support any form of violence. We have formed a five-member internal probe committee to look into the matter,” said Roshan Giri, the general secretary of the GJM. At an emergency central committee meeting of the GJM, the GJM leadership acknowledged a split in the party, particularly with a sizable section of the Yuva Morcha leaders moving away from the party.
Guwahati, Nov 13 : Nine people were arrested Wednesday in Assam's Sivasagar district for torturing a woman and branding her a 'witch', police said.
The incident took place Tuesday evening in Gorbhanga village.
Police said an elderly woman was singled out as a witch and the nine people incited others to torture her.
The woman was rescued by police after being informed by villagers and later admitted to a hospital.
Her relatives filed a police complaint, based on which the nine, including seven women, were arrested, police said.
Assam has recently seen a spike in cases related to 'witch-hunting'.
A veteran athlete in Karbi Anglong district was tortured last month, while three other women were tortured in Tinsukia district.
Over 140 people have been killed in the name of witch-hunting while several hundreds have been tortured in various places since 2002.
Although about 500 people have been arrested, investigation into many cases is pending due to shortage of police officials with detailed knowledge of the issue.
The practice of witch-hunting is common among some communities in Assam. Although various steps have been taken both by government agencies and NGOs to remove the social stigma, very little success has been achieved.
Assam Police had launched 'Project Prahari' for participatory development and people friendly policing to fight social maladies and deprivation. Under the project, police have launched an awareness drive against 'witch-hunting' in remote areas where tribal and Adivasi communities are in the majority.
Kalyan Barooah
NEW DELHI, Nov 12 – Claiming that a mischievous propaganda is being carried out to show that the interest of scheduled tribes (ST) would suffer, Assam’s legislators have suggested that 13 per cent un-allotted quota in Assam could be allotted to the new communities, which are demanding ST status.
By seeking to address one of the key areas of concern expressed by the tribal communities, an all-party delegation of the Assam Assembly has sought to break the logjam over the issue of inclusion of six communities in the ST list.
A mischievous propaganda is being carried out to show that the interest of existing STs would suffer in case the new communities are included in the ST list, the memorandum, submitted by the all-party delegation to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, said.
“In Assam, we have only utilised 37 per cent of the total 50 per cent reserved by the Supreme Court. Out of this, 10 per cent is reserved for the existing plains tribes according to their population. There is still 13 per cent not allotted to anybody. This can easily be allotted to the new communities and this can be increased by safely deducting a part of the quota reserved for the OBC,” the memorandum said.
The Assam Assembly delegation led by Speaker Pranab Gogoi has relied heavily on the report and recommendation of the Parliamentary Select Committee appointed in July 1996. The Select Committee had recommended that Chutia, Garo, Tai Ahom, Matak, Moran, Hajong and Singhpo communities might be included in the list of ST.
While the views of the Registrar General of India (RGI) and other agencies are based on record, the finding of the Committee is based on personal knowledge and is definitely a class higher, the Assam Assembly memorandum said.
The Government of India took no decision on the Select Committee recommendation for about 17 years. Then in the name of streamlining the entry of new communities a ‘Task Force ‘has been now set up by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs on February 3 to create new criteria to further delay the entry of these communities, even after their claim has been upheld by the Select Committee, it said.
The delegation would like to point out that views of the RGI are the views of the Census Commissioner of India and cannot keep changing with the change of incumbent. The best and the correct views must be placed before the Parliament Committee.
As the police is yet to question Mr Reddy they have not revealed why he committed this act. However, Assam police suspects that Reddy, who failed to meet the deadline on his current project, wanted to get some more time from the National Highway Authority of India.
The cops also suspect that he has debts and wanted to escape lenders. The Assam police will initiate action against Mr Reddy and Bhargav for lodging a false complaint.
Dima Hasao SP Dr G.V. Siva Prasad said the police tracked him at the Patna railway station on Monday and he has agreed to come back.
Assam police suspects two reasons for Mr Reddy faking the kidnap. “He suffered losses in his previous project in Kashmir and has huge debts. Now, he is afraid that he cannot meet the deadline of his current project. NHAI will extend deadline only if there is a law and order issue, otherwise they will impose penalties. He planned the kidnap to get extension from NHAI,” the Assam police said.
He planned the drama as there were previous incidents of Telugus getting kidnapped. “We had a suspicion as the complainant Bhargav’s version and the modus operandi of militant groups did not match. We searched the area soon after he reported to us. We could not find anything. Mr Reddy’s behaviour was suspicious as he rejected our security,” said a senior official.
Sources from Assam police said that Mr Reddy had made a call to his family in Hyderabad on Sunday and revealed that he was not kidnapped. The Assam police, who tracked his mobile phone in Bihar, then got in touch with him.
Meanwhile, the complainant Mr Bhargav, has gone absconding after the FIR was issued. Police are now trying to track him.
New Delhi: As the rapid recurring floods,
disaster and ethnic conflicts hit Assam, the people there are witnessing
a massive change in their livelihood pattern.
The deteriorating livelihood in Assam has made it a hot-spot for human traffickers.
Around
422 victims of human trafficking, mostly minors, were rescued by the
Assam Police and arrested 281 offenders since 2011, according to the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Official records show that of the total 93 victims of trafficking in 2011, 36 were minors and of these 36, 28 were girls.
The number of victims went up to 188 in 2013 and 94 were found to be below 18 years.
Infact,
recently 59 minor girls from Assam were rescued from a factory in
Mumbai, who were made to work for long hours without any food and rest
and were paid a meager amount for their services.
However, apart from these rescued children, there are thousands of children who have been trafficked from Assam to other cities.
According
to the media reports, over 4000 children have gone missing in the last
five years, out of which around 2,718 are females.
The traffickers
take advantage of violent incidents and riots when both police and the
administration are busy in controlling the situationand trap the
families by alluring them with money and take the children with them.
The
traffickers usually sell these children to the placement agencies where
girls are sold for prostitution, minor boys are taken out for cheap
labour.
Most of the girls from Assam who fall prey of these traffickers end up in brothels in the various cities.
According to another media report, around 10 women are abducted on a daily basis in Assam, and most of them are left untraced.
While the Opposition AIUDF demanded resignation of the government as
"it has no moral right", Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the 16-year-old
girl Priya Basumatary was "not a police informer".
As soon as the House met this morning, BPF MLA Pramila Rani Brahma
raised the issue of killing of the girl at the beginning of the Question
Hour, when Gogoi was present.
Joining her and adding the issue of violence at Uriamghat area in
Golaghat district along the Assam-Nagaland border and the subsequent
deterioration of law and order situation in the district, entire
Opposition rose on their feet and shouted demanding a discussion over
the two issues.
AIUDF's Abdur Rahim Khan said, "Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal
Pradesh -- everyone is killing Assamese people. This government has no
moral right to stay and it should resign immediately."
Brahma then walked into the well of the House and stood just in front
of the Speaker's table for around 10 minutes raising the law and order
situation of the state. Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi said "Priya was
killed a couple of days back but everyone kept silent. But after few
days only, all started reacting and now you are also raising the
issue... I will request the CM to make a statement after the Question
Hour."
On this, AGP MLA Padma Hazarika said only a statement from the Chief
Minister would not work and a discussion was needed as these two were
very serious law and order issues.
Another AGP MLA Phani Bhusan Choudhury said the House can discuss the
issue as per Section 144(2) of the rules of the Assembly proceedings
provided the Speaker agrees to it. Congress MLA Himanta Biswa Sarma also
urged the Speaker to give time to discuss the issues.
Guwahati, Aug 20: Assam suffers
an average loss of Rs 200 crore every year due to devastating floods
with nearly 40 per cent of the state’s total land declared as
flood-prone by the government. According to the Economic Survey,
Assam for 2013-14 tabled in the Assembly during the ongoing Budget
session, the average annual loss due to flood in Assam is to the tune of
Rs 200 crore and in 1998, the loss suffered was about Rs 500 crore.
During 2004 it was about Rs 771 crore, the document said. The survey
also pointed out that the national average of flood-prone area in the
state was about a quarter of the total land area of the state. ”The
flood-prone area of the state is 31,500 sq km as assessed by the
Rastriya Barh Ayog which is about 39.58 per cent of the total land area
of Assam. This is about 9.4 per cent of total flood-prone area of the
whole country,” it said.
The survey said the flood-prone area of India as a whole stands at
about 10.2 per cent of the total area of the country. ”Records show that
average annual area affected by flood (in Assam) is 9.31 lakh hectares.
The flood protected area of the state is 16,500 sq km (16.5 lakh
hectares) till date,” the survey pointed out.
Besides, the scale of the problem has grown with massive erosion,
which stands at an average rate of 8,000 hectares every year in the
state with a total of 4.27 lakh hectares of land having been washed away
since 1950. During post Independence period, Assam faced major floods
in 1954, 1962, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1988, 1998, 2002 and 2004, the survey
said.
GUWAHATI: People in the state perhaps still remember the ghastly incident in which 38 people of Shikarigaon, a remote village in Majuli Island, were branded as witches and ostracized by their fellow villagers last year. This was not the last case of witch-hunting in the state.
Last month, an elderly couple from Sapekhaiti village of Udalguri district, were chased out by villagers on a similar charge. Since then, the couple are spending their days in hiding. What is even more strange is that the husband is a former college principal.
Even as the state boasts of making progress on the economic and other fronts, there also many cases of witch-hunting and other superstitious practices that victimize scores of people and even take lives.
According to social activist and general secretary of Brothers, an NGO working against witch-hunting, Dibyajyoti Saikia, at least 20 cases of witch-hunting were reported and five persons killed so far this year.
Saikia said on Saturday that between 2008 to October 2013, 81 people were killed for being 'witches'.
"The superstition of witch-hunting has become a bane for the state. Cases are increasing. Yet we don't have a strong legislation to deal with the superstition," Saikia said.
With the budget session still going on, social organizations have upped the ante for placing a strong bill in the assembly to stop witch-hunting in the state.
"The chief minister had last year promised that a strong anti-superstition legislation would be put in place to fight witch-hunting in the state. But, we are yet to see such legislation. People are being harassed and killed in the name of witch-hunting. Our demand is that the government actively consider placing a bill in the assembly," Saikia said.
Saikia has threatened to agitate from August 25, demanding a strong legislation to fight witch-hunting and other superstitious practices in the state.
He observed that with the passage of time the practice of witch-hunting is becoming more complex with personal enmity and vested interest coming into play.
"There was a time when the majority of the victims were women. For the last seven to eight years, we have observed that 40 per cent of the victims were male. This calls for urgent attention from the government," Saikia added.
Guwahati:
From being one of the most prosperous states of the country
post-Independence, to one of its poorest, Assam has been on a
roller-coaster ride for 68 years.
However, as the country
celebrates its 68th Independence Day, the state, with a prudent
financial plan in place, has set itself a growth rate of 6.88%, above
the national projection.
In 1950-51, Assam had an enviable per
capita income of 4% above the national average. With floods,
infiltration and militancy wreaking havoc, its per capita income dropped
to 41% below the national average in 1998-99.
Said the
Planning Commission, "What is more alarming is that the gap (between the
state and national per capita income) is growing. Between 1980 and
1990, per capita income (at 1980-81 prices) grew by 20% in Assam,
compared to 40% for India. Between 1980 and 1998, per capita income in
Assam grew by 10%, compared to 39% for India."
For almost three
decades, between 1951 and 1979, all was well with the state's finances
as its economy grew at more or less the same rate as the rest of the
country.
A report of the Planning Commission states, "Assam's
per capita income fell due to a higher rate of population growth caused
by immigration. Over the period, Assam's population grew at an average
rate of around 4% per year. The widening disparity since 1980-81 is,
however, due to slower growth of its economy. While the Indian economy
grew at 6% between 1981 and 2000, Assam's GDP grew at 3.3%. While the
growth rate of the Indian economy accelerated in the 1990s, Assam's
economy decelerated."
There was a fall in the growth rate of
electricity, gas and water supply and in the construction sector.
Capital expenditure for development also fell and these resulted in
fewer job opportunities and rising unemployment.
"Assam is the
only major state in India that showed increasing rural poverty between
1957 and 1994," the commission report said.
It has identified
small agriculture operational landholding size and agriculture
development, floods and erosion, infiltration from Bangladesh and
militancy as the causes for the downturn.
"Unless extortion by
various insurgent groups is brought under control, industrial growth is
unlikely to accelerate. Assam is a complex state with huge ethnic
diversity, Bangladeshi immigrants and an educated middle-class
frustrated by poor economic development," the commission suggested.
Then there was the six-year-long anti-foreigners movement which stalled
all development activities in the state. The post-Assam Accord period
wasn't much better. The Planning Commission, quoting data over a 15-year
period, from 1984-85 to 1999, said the state recognizes the "failure of
revenue receipts to meet...the rapidly growing expenditure commitments,
particularly expenditure on salaries, wages, allowances and pensions".
There were heavy losses from negligible returns on capital expenditure
on projects and investments in public-sector undertakings, declining
buoyancy of state tax revenues and the consequent rising costs of public
debt and higher borrowings.
The Economic Survey of Assam,
2013-14, states, "The fiscal reform measures adopted by the state
started yielding favourable results since 2005-06 and moved with revenue
and fiscal surplus during the period from 2005-06 to 2008-09 and
subsequent years of 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Chief
minister Tarun Gogoi is ready to scale new heights. While his rivals
criticize him for the growing debt burden, which stands at Rs 27,248.16
crore, Gogoi sees this more as a device which will protect the
government of cost escalation a decade later.
"Gujarat's debt
burden is Rs 1.5 lakh crore and ours is just Rs 27,248 crore. I ask my
officers to go for more loans because a loan taken today will protect me
from rising costs 10 years later," Gogoi said.
GUWAHATI, Aug 14 – Over 9,000 cases of HIV have been detected so far in Assam, the State government said today.
In a written reply in the Assembly on behalf of the Health Minister, State Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka said that as on March 31, 2014, a total of 9,110 cases of HIV (+ve) people had been detected in the State.
The highest number of such cases was in Kamrup Metro district (3,570), followed by Cachar (1,866), Dibrugarh (630), Nagaon (418) and Golaghat (304).
Deka said steps have been taken for prevention of HIV/AIDS, with the Assam State AIDS Control Society implementing the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) as per the Department of AIDS Control’s strategic plan.
Targeted intervention among high risk groups like female sex workers, injecting drug users (IDU), truckers, migrants and others is being implemented through selected NGOs.
