Category: KanglaOnline

IMPHAL, June 27: At a glittering inauguration ceremony presided over by Maj Gen DS Hooda, a football ground dedicated to the memory of C Kipgen, IAS (retd) was inaugurated at village Pansang.  

According a release of PIB, the football ground has been constructed under the military civic action program by 9 engineers regiment, to provide sports and recreational facilities to the villagers of Pangsang, the village of C Kipgen who was the first IAS lady of Manipur and was called the “Pride of Manipur”.

The function began with the unveiling of a statue of C Kipgen, followed by the inauguration of the C Kipgen Football Ground by Gen Hooda.

Speaking on the occasion, the general said that Kipgen is an example for all to emulate and shows how incase one has a desire; it can be achieved by hardwork and dedication.

He further added that there are large number of opportunities for all to work and achieve the maximum. He concluded the address by stating that the Red Shield division would be happy to make more such football grounds so that sports enthusiasts can get a further fillip in the state added the release.

The function was attended by a large number of important dignitaries which included TS Kipgen husband of C Kipgen, Thangminlen Kipgen, MLA, brigadier AK Narula, commander 59 Mountain Brigade, col Ajay Chowdhry, PRO (Imphal), col AD Sharma, CO 43 Assam Rifles, col Abhijeet Sharma, CO 9 engineers and T Kipgen, chief of Pangsang cillage, added the release.

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IMPHAL, June 29: Nearly 150 houses and 3000 hectares of paddy fields and fish farms at Nambol Kongkham have been flooded due to overflowing of the Nambol River. 

The flood affected people have taken shelter in relief camps opened by local volunteers. The relief committee of Kongkham today distributed rice to the flood affected families at Kongkham Loyalakpa Laibung community hall.

Eight kilograms of rice were given to the worst affected families while four kilograms of rice were distributed free of cost amongst the flood affected families.

Speaking at the sideline of the distribution of relief materials, the secretary of the relief committee, Toijam Nando decried the apathy of the local MLA. He said that some local volunteers have formed a committee and with their own contributions some quantity of rice has been procured for distribution to the flood victims.

There could have been no flood if the concerned MLA has taken the needful action of strengthening the embankments and cleaning the canals before the arrival of the monsoon. Even after such adversities the local MLA has remained blindfolded to the woes and sufferings of the people of Nambol Kongkham, he added.

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Much has been already said of why the guardians of the law breaking the law is far graver than ordinary people doing so. By the same corollary breaking the law by those who are challenging it should come under a much more different yardstick. But this play with words aside, there is an important issue which needs to be clarified. This has to do with one argument which continues to persist in any talk on the need to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA, and the felt need by many rights activists to have the Army accountable for whatever acts of unwarranted violence they perpetrate. Without seeming to support the continuance of this draconian act, the argument goes that violence committed against civil population are much more by insurgents, and even by the state police which is not covered by the AFSPA, than by the Army which is empowered by the AFSPA. In other words, it is not the AFSPA which is responsible for the trouble in Manipur and the Northeast, but insurgency and its resultant violence. In a more subtle way, this is also saying that the AFSPA is in good hands and would not be misused beyond understandable limits, and on a comparative scale has not been used to perpetrate violence as much as the state police and insurgents have done, though no such laws empower them. Further it also amounts to saying that violence will continue with or without the law so long as the conditions for violence exist on the ground.

There is much truth in this argument and indeed violence and atrocities committed on the common citizen by the state police and insurgents may be a lot more than those perpetrated by the Army and other central paramilitary forces covered by the AFSPA. However there is one vital difference. Leave the insurgents for the time being, for they function on a different plane of logic altogether, and instead make a comparison between violence committed by the state police and the Army. Since the 2004 climactic moment in the protest against the AFSPA in the wake of the Thangjam Manorama custodial rape and murder case, and the subsequent removal of the act from the seven Assembly constituencies of the greater Imphal area, on the plea that the Imphal area can be handled by the state’s own counter insurgency force, who in local parlance have come to be known as police commandos, it is true that acts of violent confrontation has been confined largely between the police and insurgents, leaving the Army somewhat out of the picture. Plenty of atrocities on civil population also have resulted out of this. The point then is, if the police still can commit and harass civilians in unwarranted manners although not covered by the impunity guaranteed by the AFSPA, should not this much reviled act be given its due and redefined as less draconian, if at all, than it has been made out to be?

This seems like a compelling argument. However, there is a very important point missed here. The AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the Army acting in an area declared as “disturbed” under the Disturbed Area Act. This include the power of a non-commissioned officers to kill on suspicion somebody may commit acts of violence, destroy houses again on suspicion it may be used as shelter by people with violent intents inimical to the law, etc. So when the Army perpetrates violence of the nature, it is doing it by the provisions of the law, unlike the police which would be committing similar violence but in disregard of the limits set on them by the law. What the police does is in this sense illegal and if they are not hauled up for it, it reflects on the will and intent of the government in power. In the case of Army acting as per the AFSPA, the acts of violence and impunity does not reflect so much on the government but the law itself. There should be no dispute which of these two scenarios is more sinister. One is a question of breaking the law to perpetrate violence on civil population, the other is of the law not only sanctioning such acts but also giving legal immunity to those who may be challenged as having jumped their already grossly excessive briefs. This certainly would be one of those peculiar ironic twists of circumstance when those breaking the law may actually appear less sinister than those acting by the law. The moot point is, the flaw here is not of those who are executing the law and its provisions, but the law itself which is flawed and in a manner extremely disparaging to the democratic credentials of the country.

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By Bobo Khuraijam
Two fortnights of displacement from the keyboard and monitor earns up excuse easy enough to convince the editor. That Leipung had to take leave for two fortnights. The leave was applied via the mobile cellular service. Without any hitch the leave was granted. The call cost one rupee and twenty paisa of Indian currency. People close to him would know. Our editor does not speak much. Keeps always to the point, has a good bass vocal but seldom heard him sing. May be he had tried in his school days. Experience must have taught him not to sing in the public. Some says his speech is not as good as his writing. You don’t find him commenting on the headlines in the morning taret makhai pao. In the evening when he is immersed in work, almost buried among the keypads of his laptop mono syllables like ‘o’, ‘um’ would be his words. He would beam a smile when you crack a silly joke. We hope he would spare Leipung for digging up on his quirks. As dubious as we may sound we had to take leave anyway. We are not as fortunate as the government employees. Like those who are posted in the hills. They can swap with a dummy. The largest democracy in the world can have proxy voters. But we reaffirm ourselves that there cannot be proxy Leipung – as simple as that.

COUNT YOUR BLOOD: Have not we mentioned? The leave we asked our editor cost one rupee and twenty paisa. Here are some more price tags for a few things. A unit of blood cost rupees two thousand and three hundred only on Indian currency. An income tax statement for not being a tax payer cost rupees one thousand and five hundred only on Indian currency. Allow us to elaborate. Someone not from the leikai, not from the valley; a wife of a husband from a hill district had to be admitted to the hospital following her complains of extreme fatigue for quite some days. They have modest income but no sangga-pangga in the valley. The couple headed straight to a private hospital as they could not muster up enough patience to wait for a decent bed in the government hospital. They were told that she was suffering from anemia. She needed rest and two to three unit of blood without delay. Her hemoglobin count was below the normal. The blood bank in the private hospital could give them only one unit. As per the rule they have to replace it back by a donor. The husband volunteered to be the replacement donor. He had to arrange the remaining from some other blood bank. The husband went to the blood bank of a well known government hospital. He was told to buy a ticket from the emergency counter. It was the mandatory charge for cross matching the blood sample: Rupees eight hundred. The husband had a sign of relief when he was told that blood is available in the bank. He was told to wait for sometime. After a while he was gently told that he have to pay rupees one thousand and seven hundred only. Not at the counter but at a room near the blood bank. The husband thought for a few seconds. He decided not to argue. Instead he requested the man with the thick register to reduce the money. They settled with rupees one thousand and five hundred only on Indian currency note. So, dear all, who donates blood regularly. Please keep up your priceless humanitarian act of donating blood regularly. We have faith in each of the individuals who donates blood. From civil voluntary organization to defense personals, from patriots who donate blood on the eighteenth of June to officers of lions and tigers club; every single drop of your blood is going to save someone’s life; more than that every single drop of your blood is going to make someone’s purse swell. Keep donating and keep saving life. As for the leipung members, we are going to demand our share of money from the man with the register every time we donate blood.

PAY YOUR TAX: “I am a tax paying citizen and I know my rights as a citizen of a democratic country”, this is a statement oftentimes used by educated citizens whenever they mean to assert their rights. The government spent huge sum of Indian currency to persuade citizens to pay their tax well in time. They even honour celebrities who pay tax regularly. It is obligatory for everyone to pay tax. People who earn in enormous amount like industrialist and celebs of the tinsel town have to pay more tax for they earn more. What about those who do not earn or earn a little? Well, they do not need to pay income tax. At the most they have to pay electricity and water bill. Sometime back some one from the Leikai who runs an embroidery centre, with a little amount of saving decided to launch a NGO. We have no idea at whose advice she was doing that. We know that she is active in leikai meira paibi besides her embroidery centre. Not too old to get married. We heard she is standing in the next Panchayat election. Someone must have told her that an NGO would be a good option to give opportunities to people. And she can earn well if she has heijara singjaragadi quality. She opened a bank account and got a PAN card in her name. All that while, she had little idea when her PAN card would come to a use. It anyway looks beautiful with her photo and signature on it. Much better than the electoral ID card. She was advised to get her organisation registered. After that she can run for government funding. One fine day news came in that her project report got approved from the authority. She has to sign an agreement with the authorities. Along with the signed agreement she has to furnish income tax assessment order for a financial year. She got baffled. How on earth? She has never paid any kind of income tax. At last some one prepared her income tax statement after spending rupees one thousand and five hundred only on Indian currency. She tried to argue that nobody had asked her to pay income tax so far. And on the contrary how can she be asked to furnish a statement like that. Someone convinced her that once anyone got a PAN card in their name, he or she would be considered a tax payer. She was happy. All these while, sitting on the Leipung we got message after message in the mobile phone. That a ‘gyanpack’ worth subscribing is in the offer; rupees Seven only on Indian currency, we hardly press any of the keys on the phone; then we got a congratulatory message that we have just subscribe the ‘gyanpack’. Rupees seven gone without touching keys: miraculous, is not it? It reminds us of a graffiti written on the wall of a public toilet – save the earth, die now. So be it, Bharati Airtel!

FOOTNOTE: Not again, our political fat cats are up to building a five star hotel in the heart of the town. That too at the cost of causing displacement to many families, Leipung Ningthou calls it, “thi chaamba heitringaida tie punnaba hotnaba”.

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From John K Kaping
UKHRUL, July 2: The people of Ukhrul town showed signs of joy when the road development works of the town were transferred to General Road Engineering Force (GREF) from the state public works department.

The PWD has failed to develop the roads of Ukhrul town for quite a long time thereby causing much inconvenience to the people.

After taking over the responsibility of developing the roads of Ukhrul town, the GREF could show good progress in the work.

The present condition of the dilapidated road has caused immense hardship and inconvenience to the people of all walks of life. The remains of the dug-out earth piled up on either side of the made it difficult for people to walk on the road especially during monsoon season.

The vehicles of all types plying on this one-way-traffic road always get jammed because of the slippery mud and narrow passage.

However, the GREF has been working to improve the condition of this deplorable road by using all its manpower and machineries. The people of Ukhrul town are indeed happy with the work progress of the GREF and they hope that their woes for having bad roads will soon be over.

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Newmai News Network
IMPHAL, July 19: A love affairs conducted over phone went terribly awry with the young woman duped and abandoned in a hotel room a day after the couple eloped.

The 33-year old dupester Sapam Noren aka Manao s/o Gouramani of Heingang Awang Leikai under Imphal East police station was arrested by Waikhong police on July 18 and taken to Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) for medical examination. The young woman victim has been identified as Moirangthem Priya, 23, d/o M Boboy of Waikhong Kunjao Keikai in Thoubal district.  

The two lover began their affairs over the phone. After about two months of phone affairs, the couple finally met on June 20, at about 11 am at Waikhong Kunjao area.

Noren, who is married, reportedly used a fake name and concealed his marital status in order to woo young Priya. 
The two decided to elope within minutes of their first meeting and took their love affairs to a hotel room in North AOC area. But the fraud guy ventured out the next day in the pretext of finding financial assistance and never went back, abandoning her to her own devices.

A report had been registered with the police after the incident. The police who have been investigating into the case made a breakthrough by establishing the veracity of a phone number used by the accused. Noren was arrested by the police at about 1 pm from Heingang village yesterday, according to the police.

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GUWAHATI,July 22(NNN): Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) military chief Paresh Baruah was bent upon subversion in the state despite the outlawed outfit’s declaration of ceasefire.

Barua and some 150 hardliners have refused to talk to ‘colonial New Delhi’ and have broken off with the majority pro-talks ULFA headed by chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.

“We’ve received intelligence inputs that Paresh Baruah is planning terror attacks in the state with help from Manipur-based People’s Liberation Army, the Maoists and some other extremist groups of the Northeast,” Gogoi said on Friday. “But we are alive to the situation and taking all precautionary measures to foil his designs.”

Gogoi criticized Baruah for continuing with the armed movement when most of his colleagues gave up arms in the interest of peace. “I urge him to see the writings on the wall and abjure the path of violence. People want peace and not violence,” he said.

The Assam government believes that Baruah is operating from safe hideouts along China-Myanmar border. “He is currently holed up in northern Myanmar but keeps moving around. A number of extremist groups of the Northeast have their bases in that region,” Gogoi said.

Earlier, the ULFA used to operate from Bhutanese territories until being flushed out during ‘Operation All Clear’ (an Indo-Bhutanese joint military offensive of December 2003). Later, the outfit set up bases in adjoing Bangladesh. But the return of Sheikh Hasina to power and a subsequent crackdown on Northeast Indian militants saw ULFA shift to the China-Myanmar border.

Gogoi said peace parleys with the pro-talks faction of ULFA were imminent. “We’ve got green signal from the central government. Peace talks between ULFA and the Central government will begin very soon,” he added.

According to the chief minister, the talks will be held directly between ULFA and central government. Earlier, peace talks between ULFA-appointed People’s Consultative Group and central government hit roadblocks ostensibly after the government had refused to discuss all core issues. The issue of Assam’s sovereignty is one of ULFA’s most contentious demands.

“In the first round of talks, ULFA would submit its charter of demands. Government will then see how far it could go to accommodate the demands. All decisions will be taken by the central government but we’ll be consulted,” he said. The chief minister added that efforts were being made to bring all other militant groups to the negotiating table.

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