Nagaland – Page 8 – Manipur News

10-Nation biking expedition by four woman bikers touched Nagaland with message – “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” By Oken Jeet Sandham

KOHIMA, Jun 16 (NEPS): The four brave woman bikers from a biking club, Biking Queens, who have been on their 10-Nation biking Expedition, have left Kohima, the State capital of Nagaland, this morning for their onward biking expedition to other ASEAN countries via Imphal and Moreh, border town of Manipur. Maj General MS Jaswal, IGAR […]

Manipur ‘Dead UG cadre’ returns home after 6 yrs

IMPHAL, May 27: In an incident that will stun everyone, a man who was presumed dead after he failed to return ever since he went out of his house to search for work in 2010 suddenly turned up but was arrested by police on the charges of being a cadre of an underground outfit. The […]

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/05/manipur-dead-ug-cadre-returns-home-after-6-yrs/

Nagaland Post: Nagaland-Manipur peace working committee formed

A working committee to assist in addressing crucial issues confronting the people of Manipur and Nagaland has been formed at the conclusion of the two-day workshop of peace activists of Manipur and Nagaland at the Life Spring Corner here Saturday. The morning session began with the release of the book by Editor Nagaland Post Geoffrey […]

Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Vardhan inaugurated Paragonimiasis Research Laboratory at NHAK

KOHIMA, Apr 19 (NEPS): Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Science, Dr Harsh Vardhan has visited the DBT Healthcare Laboratory & Research Center at the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) on Tuesday. The Union Minister, while visiting the DBT Healthcare Laboratory & Research Center at the NHAK, has also inaugurated the Paragonimiasis Research

Much anticipated “Kohima Smart City” proposal has not been qualified

KOHIMA, Mar 31 (NEPS): Kohima City, which is Capital City of Nagaland, has lost out to other Smart City aspirants this time as it has failed to meet the benchmark to be qualified for the Smart City Development. This was disclosed by R Tohanba, Parliamentary Secretary for Municipal Affairs during a Press Conference at Kohima today.

An Open Letter to Nagaland CM

To Mr. T R Zeliang Hon’ble CM, Nagaland Sir, Kindly recall your speech at the venue of this year’s Lui Ngai Ni Festival at Ukhrul, where you spoke of the aspirations of the Nagas. You were talking of the oneness of the Nagas and yet you had called the three bills passed by the Manipur

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/03/an-open-letter-to-nagaland-cm/

“As elected representatives mandated by our people, we are doing what is our responsibility”: Nuklutoshi

KOHIMA, Feb 27 (NEPS): Minister for National Highways and Mechanical Engineering, Nuklutoshi reiterated that the “unity” among all the sections of the Naga people was prerequisite towards finding a final and lasting solution to the longstanding complex Naga political issue. Disclosing this at Kohima on Saturday, the Minister, who was part of the 19-Member Parliamentary

DGP Khoute talks to his Nagaland counterpart on NSF ban of Meitei Manipuri Vehicles

IMPHAL, February 23: In the wake of the Naga Students’ Federation’s ban on vehicles belonging to Meiteis/ Manipuris, Manipur Director General of Police LM Khoute had talked with his Nagaland counterpart Leng Doungel on the phone and relayed his apprehension over the threat. According to a reliable source, Khoute is said to have asked Doungel

Naga People Organisation Manipur questions govt’s silence over NSF memo

KANGPOKPI, February 23: The Naga People’s Organization (NPO) in a statement has come out strongly against the prolong silence of the Manipur government over the alleged assault of NSF by State commandos on February 14 in Imphal. With the seven-day deadline of the NSF already expired and proposed bandh on Manipur vehicles set to be

Naga Students’ Federation bans Meitei & Manipuri owned vehicles indefinitely

IMPHAL, Feb 22: Naga Students` Federation (NSF) in its emergency presidential council meeting held today at its conference hall discussed on the memorandum submitted to the Government of Manipur on February 16 and its failure to comply with the demands…

Posters in Jadavpur University: ‘Freedom’ for Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland

KOLKATA: A day after pro-Afzal Guru slogans were raised in Jadavpur University (JU), posters calling for ‘freedom’ for Kashmir, Manipur and Nagaland were found in the campus on Wednesday even as two rival groups of students brought out rallies in the varsity premises. “Hum kya chahe – Azadi. Kashmir ki Azadi. Manipur ki Azadi. Nagaland

Immediate measures to defuse crisis in Kiphire areas

By Oken Jeet Sandham About a year back, a high-profile team led by State Home Minister Y Patton visited Shamator areas and later Tuensang areas. Shamator is Sub-Division under Tuensang District. The purpose of the visits to these areas was mainly to me…

Manipur Earthquake Concert at Tamenglong

Manipur Earthquake Concert at Tamenglong – Alobo Naga & John Pamei

Youth volunteers, local MLA and artists from Tamenglong had joined hands together to raise relief funds for the vicitims of the 6.8 magnitude Manipur earthquake with epicenter at Kabui Khullen, Tamenglong.

Manipur Earthquake Concert at Tamenglong – Alobo Naga & John Pamei

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2016/02/manipur-earthquake-concert-at-tamenglong/

Different tribes of Nagaland and their traditional values – Hornbill Festival 2015

Photos by Aribam Munindrajit

Hornbill Festival 2015

Photos by Aribam Munindrajit

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/12/hornbill-festival-2015/

India’s promise of shared sovereignty to Nagaland may herald an Indian perestroika for a good reason

Raj Singh Toronto, Canada The reformative vision and philosophy of Prime Minister Modi ushered a new era of change in India which has been welcomed as “Modi-fication”. His fresh

Raj Singh

Toronto, Canada

The reformative vision and philosophy of Prime Minister Modi ushered a new era of change in India which has been welcomed as “Modi-fication”. His fresh attempt to understand India’s north-east and his actions to solve its chronic socio-political and economic problems have a whiff of sincerity. The shared sovereignty he reportedly promised to Nagaland in the “framework agreement” signed on August 03, 2015 may be a new modality to replace the repressive measures India has so long been deploying in the region to subdue nationalistic ambitions.

It is true that the British left an unfinished job of deciding the fate of many weak nations/principalities in the north-east India under their suzerainty when they left India in 1947. The tribal territories of the Nagas, Mizos, Kukis and Khasi etc. they won during various expeditions during the nineteenth century were left as autonomous districts of the province of Assam. The Kingdoms of Assam, Tripura and Manipur were merged with the new India while kingdom of Sikkim was allowed to opt out to remain independent. Many cases of the merger especially that of Manipur allegedly were expedited against the will of the people.

Around the same time in 1944, the small Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were forcibly put under the Soviet Union led by the big and powerful Russia. With these, seven other smaller states in Central Asia and East European region of Soviet Union remained unhappy in the union for four decades as they were subjugated by the powerful Russia. These states became free in 1991 when Gorbachev experimented a large scale socio-political reformation called, “Perestroika”.

When the small states asked for restoration of their pre-merger nationhood as a rightful demand, Russia, instead of repressive measures proposed an instrument of regional organization called, “Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)” to benefit the dissociated states and an agreement, “Alma-Ata Protocol” was signed. The results in the after years were – diffusion of ethnic tensions, collective economic progress in the segregated states and the ending of the dangerous cold war between the Soviet bloc and the Western Nations.

In the game of geo-politics, powerful nations always remain watchful of socio-political weak points in others’ territories for a chance to covertly intervene and destabilize the adversary. The insurgency infested north-east may be India’s Achilles’ heel in the eyes of other countries. What entails therefore is that the insurgency in India’s north-east needs to be ended to protect India from the evil eyes of geopolitical players.

India will gain a lot from peaceful solutions of the insurgency in the north-east by fulfilling their political aspirations. It can stop the huge resource and reputation drain in excessively militarizing the north-east to fight insurgents in the difficult hill terrains. It can save its international image by repealing the notorious Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) and avoiding the numerous charges of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings in army action. It can establish its image as a world leader in the advocacy of special provisions for weaker ethnic groups and indigenous populations that are suffering in the hands of stronger groups in many parts of the world.

The newly segregated small nations with shared sovereignty in India’s north-east will also get a new leash of life with progress in all fronts concomitant with identity-associated dignity, increased sense of responsibility, self-reliance, peace and unity. Six decades of India’s rule with negligence, indifference, marginalization and repression has been blamed for various social malaise like serious loss of work culture, rampant corruption, parochialism and ethnic disharmony, economic backwardness and ecological degradation in the region. They need to be freed from these malaise. As free nations with shared sovereignty with India, these nations will provide an excellent buffer zone of protection to India’s frontier.

Granting “shared sovereignty” to Nagaland by acknowledging the “Uniqueness” of the Naga ethnicity makes a lot of sense to all the people of oriental stock inhabiting the north-east. This uniqueness goes primarily along the anthropologic distinction of the north-east as the starting point of oriental habitat that has contiguity with the far-east. It is for the same reason that India respected Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim (in the beginning) as sovereign countries with special arrangements of sharing responsibilities similar to CIS of Russia and its breakaway small nations.

Granting sovereignty to Nagaland in isolation without a holistic consideration of the insurgency in the north-east will be India’s folly. This will be a stark evidence of India’s myopic vision of dealing with the north-east problems through appeasing the more violent groups. History has recorded how India traded statehood with violent Nagas and Mizos in 1962 and 1986 respectively to buy peace. For consideration of sovereignty as a matter of right, former kingdoms like Sikkim, Tripura, Assam and Manipur logically appear above Nagaland in the priority list. Alfred Lyall (1908), a British civil servant described Manipur as “an oasis of comparative civilization amidst the barbarians”. This was how Manipur stood out historically as a nation in the region with all paraphernalia like – its two millennia old chronicled history, its classical culture, its language with script, its elaborate governments etc.

Perestroika was a vigorous process which needed a visionary leader like Gorbachev and a horde of thinkers to agree with him. Mr. Modi has all the promises of a different genre in Indian politics. He exudes integrity and pragmatism. He will still need an enormous political will to overcome glitches to bring this overhaul. This hope is built on a ‘historic accord” which later on was reduced to a “framework agreement” the contents of which still remain a secret. Nevertheless, we see boldness and spirit in its face value.

The north-east people – the separatist demand groups, the civil society organizations, the think tanks, the social engineers, the political scientists and the politicians, regardless of their creeds will need to prepare a common ground for them to stand together and voice the same demand. This looks a big challenge when we look at the countless competing and conflicting organizations operating in the region. There is also a serious lack of political will and discipline in the region. To cause a Perestroika, the separatist demand if rightful should be voiced also by the regional politicians. There is nothing unconstitutional in a political demand. If they ask for the right thing they will get the thing right for them. The same applies when they ask for the wrong thing. Let prudence guide India and the north-east.

The idea of the Kohima City

Kohima, the Capital of Nagaland State, has lots of historical backgrounds. One of the most significant chapters in the history of this picturesque City is the British India Government occupying

Kohima, the Capital of Nagaland State, has lots of historical backgrounds. One of the most significant chapters in the history of this picturesque City is the British India Government occupying it and later becoming their battlefield fighting against the Japanese troops during the Second World War in 1944. After 69 years of this historic British-Japanese war fought in this region (Kohima-Imphal), it was finally adjudged as the “Greatest British Battle” ever fought on this planet.

The present “Old DC Bungalow” which has been already converted to “The Heritage Bungalow” in 2009 and used for the commercial purpose by maintaining Suits, Conference Halls, and other facilities since then. This is the bungalow where Sir Charles Pawsey, a British colonial administrator, served as the Deputy Commissioner of the then Naga Hills during the Burma campaigns of 1942 to 1944.

The part of this battle centered on Sir Pawsye’s bungalow was known as the Battle of the Tennis Court because this Tennis Court of him was there. Showing great bravery and loyalty to the local Naga people, Pawsey refused to leave Kohima during the siege by the Japanese that lasted from 5 April to 20 April 1944, and did what he could to bolster morale and support Colonel Richards the Garrison Commander. The Nagas remained completely loyal to him and by way of thanks their tribal leaders were introduced to Lord Mountbatten at Kohima in August 1944. The advancing Japanese troops could be halted by the British at this war by coordinating their troops from Imphal side. The present Raj Bhavan and Old DC Bungalow areas should be rather preserved and declared as War Memorial Sites and opened to visitors. The various war-related documents, artifacts and wreckages collected from in and around Kohima and adjoining villages should be displayed in such War Memorial Site. Such War Memorial Site with the interesting items, comments, write-ups, photographs, would be a pride of the Nagas and the future generations would know such important histories from such monuments.

We have many other locations, buildings, offices which have historical attachment over the years. The Kohima Local Ground, Old MLA Hostel, Old Secretariat, Old DC Office (already dismantled and already replaced by new one), Old Kohima Town Committee Office, Naga Hospital Kohima, etc.. There will be others too. All these are needed to be preserved. If they are no longer used, then they should be renovated without changing the original structures to be preserved. Such buildings, locations, structures, inscriptions on stones of the past if preserved as “Heritages” would only depict the past pride and history. These are important areas we have to seriously think over and never attempt to destroy them. It is very simple that by destroying them, you are only destroying history and without them, you are left unguarded to defend your people in future.

The Kohima Village (Bara Basti) has its own history as the second largest Village in Asia. We should think of building a Museum in the Village with various historical records like artifacts, items and names of those who made significant contributions for the growth of Kohima, defenders of Kohima from external aggression in earlier days. It will definitely attract tourists, researchers, besides reminding the younger generations of their past forefathers and histories of the Angamis in the Kohima Village.

It is regrettable to say that the Capital City of Nagaland continues to be experiencing underdevelopment particularly in road and water supply sectors, which are essential for the City development. The expansion of the Capital City hardly takes place since its inception as full-fledged State in 1963. But over the years, the State witnessed the population explosion and also sudden rise of vehicles. Roads are little and the overcrowded vehicles have today become nightmares for the denizens of Kohima. Traffic congestions have become a major problem in Kohima City.

It is simply impossible to develop, progress, and expand Kohima City unless the Angamis of Kohima Village take the lead. Because they are the landowners and by tradition and customs, the Government cannot do anything as far as land is concerned. The conditions of the present State Capital is very unpredictable if one carefully studies. The capital roads are urgently needed for expansion which is the single most important area to be thought of. The building bylaws in the Capital region should be enforced. Proper drainage system should be constructed with quality materials. Encroachment of Government lands by private parties or individuals should stop as such practices have been going on over the years without any sign of solution. At the same time, the Government also should immediately stop allotting Government land or old Government bungalows to private and individual parties. Such practice is only making position and status of the Government extremely vulnerable.

It is so painful to see that our youth are not given space they need. We need to have centers for entertainment and recreation in the Capital City areas. The Government used to come up with various projects like City Convention Center, Cultural Complex, etc. and why not think of providing some of youth oriented centers with modern facilities. The parks are needed for Cities. We do have one far off the City – beyond IG Stadium. It is good to have at least one such park in the City areas.

We are lucky that Kohima Capital City has been included in the first phase of 80 Cities declared to be built as Smart Cities across the country. These Smart City projects are to be completed in five-year time. The idea of the Smart City is to give comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure as these are primary areas for improving the quality of life, besides attracting people and investment, setting in motion a virtuous cycle of growth and development.

THE CORE INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENTS OF SMART CITY ARE:

· Adequate water supply,

· Assured electricity supply,

· Sanitation, including solid waste management,

· Efficient urban mobility and public transport,

· Affordable housing, especially for the poor,

· Robust IT connectivity and digitalization,

· Good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation,

· Sustainable environment,

· Safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and

· Health and education.

There are many things to be done if we really want to make Kohima Capital an ideal city. It is, of course, for every citizen, who lives in Kohima, should love and care the City, yet the Angamis in Kohima, as already stated, have the biggest role to play. Most of the issues mentioned above particularly the expansion of the roads will come to a possibility if they step in, and others will automatically follow.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/10/the-idea-of-the-kohima-city/

Re-Imagining Manipur: Post-Churachandpur Narrative – Sira Kharay

As the deadly flames in the hills of Manipur refuse to die down, Manipur this time is surely confronting a decisive battle of political metamorphosis. Manipur never before has witnessed

As the deadly flames in the hills of Manipur refuse to die down, Manipur this time is surely confronting a decisive battle of political metamorphosis. Manipur never before has witnessed such enormity of tribal awakening since the history of its accession into the Indian Union. While the consciousness of the hill tribals is rapidly shaping into an ominous narrative of concrete ethnic political assertion, Imphal valley is still patching up its bits of imagination as to where it must redirect its idea of Manipur. For better or for worst, the overall political content of the simmering agitation is likely to recast the idea of Manipur forever.

The eruption was inevitable. The hills have long been simmering with deep sense of historical injustice against institutional bias and oppressive majoritarian politics at the whims of the valley. The hurried passing of the three controversial ILP Bills bypassing the mandate of the Manipur Legislative Assembly (Hill Areas Committee) Order, 1972 ignited the spark. Thereafter, the shocking use of live bullets in the hills and rubber bullets in the valley leading to the outrageous killing of 9 tribal civilians at CCPur enraged the hill tribals to the point of no return. It has already attracted national as well as international attention and the intensity of the agitation has turned even more dramatic with the Young Paite Association public boycotting and banishing its tribal MLAs.

While the State Government is still reluctant to come up with any groundbreaking concession to resolve the issue, the assertion of the hills is no longer so much about the amendment of the three controversial ILP Bills now and no degree of amendment whatsoever is likely to quell the unleashing strive. Total separation from the valley has become the rallying cry of the hills with the renewed assertion of ethnic Northeast “will” for distinct identity as the ideological subtext, i.e. Northeast may be in India but only without actually being Indian. The driving perception is that Imphal valley will someday come up again with its demands for Hill State and ST status and thus the possibility for co-existence has altogether disappeared.

Amidst this political turmoil, as Imphal valley grapples with its lack of regional imagination and continues to articulate its ethnic interest in a hyperbole adversarial to other ethnic communities, Manipur is fast isolating itself from the rest of Northeast ethnic communities. Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, Former Lok Shaba Speaker PA Sangma and Nagaland Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang joining the chorus against the Government of Manipur is critical. In the backdrop of this emerging regional implication, the need of the hour is drastic policy rethink rather than indulging in a petty political spat. However, like Assam, Manipur seemed to have already sold its pulse of Northeast sense to political puppetry.

What is problematic is not in what the valley asserts in reclaiming its indigenous identity, but in the banality of defining the idea of Manipur on the basis of territory rather than from its historical memories and ethnic imageries. In other words, Manipur’s pathological inability to define its interest without upsetting and appropriating the rights of other communities is construed as anti-Northeast in the context of the larger Northeast-common-interest narrative. Be that as it may, Imphal valley’s obsession with the physical “post-accession Manipur” remains a challenge to common Northeast quest for re-righting the past historical injustices.

Manipur needs to be reminded that the widening ethnic rift between the hills and the valley is particularly a post-Indian-accession experience. Ethnic conflict characteristically for that matter is not Northeast but a post-independent Indian construct. At the root of this festering problem is the arbitrary appropriation and misappropriation of ethnic communities in the carving of the Northeastern States. It is nobody’s question that Northeast was forcibly annexed. The Sixth Schedule and autonomy provisions in the Constitution have proved insufficient to quench this feeling of subjugation as the existing boundaries essentially attempt to supplant the historical identities of the subjects therein with an artificial territorial being devoid of sociological meaning and reality.

Nagas consequently have been staunchly resisting this existing political map and to them, integration of Naga ancestral territory is a non-negotiable right. Kuki-Zomi communities likewise have been demanding their own autonomous district/state and the claim gets even louder. Manipur, thus, cannot actually exist but by suppressing the rights of the Naga-Kuki-Zomi communities. However, this much is clear that ethnic harmony in the troubled Manipur would remain an elusive dream until the Nagas are freely allowed to be integrated and the demands of the Kuki-Zomi communities are fully accommodated.

It is against this backdrop that the ILP Bills per se are not the actual concerns of the hills. The Bills are merely seen as a spark – as another testimony that the hills and the valley cannot co-exist. It is about time Manipur admits its unavoidable fate for its own existential interest and more so because Manipur may risk losing Manipur itself in the long run by further clinging to the delusive idea of perpetuating the status quo. The moot question is will the existing ethno-demographic and power structure of Manipur remain the same forever? Given the sheer size of the hills and the nature of demographic unpredictability, it is more likely that the hills would sooner than later reduce Imphal valley to a mere minority.

Manipur surely must be able to comprehend this foreseeable eventuality. Resurgence of Manipur then lies not in Manipur but in Kangleipak. Manipur’s imagination must thus go back to the midnight of 28^th August, 1947 when the Dragon God Pakhangba Flag of Manipur was hoisted at Kangla and reclaim its historical identity as in consonance with the cognate narratives of its other Northeast kinsfolk.

Nagaland: The Aos in Church movement in Amri Karbi areas

It is not out of nowhere, but it is God’s plan that I landed in a village called Rongphar. It is one of the Amri Karbi tribe’s villages in the

Earlier thatched Church of Rongphar Baptist Church (RBC), and now RCC Church at Rongphar Village

It is not out of nowhere, but it is God’s plan that I landed in a village called Rongphar. It is one of the Amri Karbi tribe’s villages in the Amri Karbi areas of Assam. The village is some 40 kilometers away from Guwahati and some 4 kilometers away from the National Highway 37.

I along with my colleague Takoba Teron reached in the village on October 21, 2012. I was invited to present a paper in a “Seminar” on the theme “Awareness of Political Consciousness of Amri Karbi Tribes and Their Chartered Demands” on October 22 and 23, 2012 at Rongphar Community Hall. It was organized by Amri Karbi National Council (AKNC) which has been spearheading for the “Autonomous District Council” under Sixth Schedule for a separate Amri Karbis in Assam. Over the last decades, the leaders of the AKNC have been meeting various Central leaders including former Prime Ministers late Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. They have also submitted various memoranda to previous Dr Manmohan Singh Government and also the present Narendra Modi Government at the Center.

The day we reached the Rongphar village was Sunday and did not know where we would be staying. But, so lucky that our accommodation was arranged in the Church Guest House. In fact, we were received by Pastor of the Rongphar Baptist Church, Pichong Ronghang when we reached the village. Our team was first received by President of the AKNC, Mr Pudum Ingti, when we arrived at Sonapur, and from there, he led us to Rongphar village where I would be addressing the “Seminar.”

After having exchanged some pleasantries, the Pastor invited me to speak in the Church the same evening as that day was Sunday. I was really happy on being invited to speak in this Church, though not showing immediate response to him feeling a bit of reservation thinking it wouldn’t be fair as I reached in the village for the first time in my life, and not knowing anything of its background rather.

My sharing in this Church was one of the most memorable ones in my life but the most important one, which I would like to tell here, is the way the Christianity started coming in this village and also other villages in the Armi Karbi areas. I didn’t have much to share except my happiness of coming to this beautiful village. Although the attendance was thin, every moment was historic for me as it was the first time for me attending Karbi Church Service in my life. The news of sharing my feeling in the Church spread like a wildfire in the village and many complained the next morning saying that they would have attended the last evening’s Church Service if they knew that I would be speaking in the Church. I really felt humbled by such responses from the villagers in this village.

It is heartening to note that the Christianity has been planted in this village and other Amri Karbi areas by the Ao Church leaders under the Merangkong Godhula Mission (MGM) of Mokokchung, Nagaland.

Rongphar village is inhabited by mostly Amri Karbi tribes. This village lies at the foothills and the people were mostly non-Christians but after the Christianity came in 32 years ago, majority of them are today Christians. The village has two denominations – Baptist and Catholic.

The Rongphar Baptist Church (RBC) was first set up under the sponsorship of MGM in 1983. Those first converts are still active in Church activities in the village and also in other neighboring villages. The initial thatched Church with few negligible members has today become a symbol and prestige for the Christian community in the village. Today they have a huge RCC Church boasting of having a good number of members from the village.

Many Ao missionaries from Nagaland’s Mokokchung district have been actively engaged in promoting and developing Christianity in this village and other Amri Karbi villages. Yet, they still need supports for running and maintaining the Church administration and other activities. Prominent Ao Church leaders and high profile officials have been extending financial and material supports to the Churches, which have been established under MGM, from time to time. One of the known families not only among the Aos but also Nagas in Nagaland, late NI Jamir’s family had their share for the growth of the Church activities in the Rongphar village. The name of late NI Jamir, father of former Nagaland Chief Secretary Alemtemshi Jamir and grandfather of present NPF MLA Marentoshi Jamir, has been written and displayed in the Church.

Late LL Yaden, IAS, father of Nagaland Post Editor Geoffrey Yaden was also one of the pioneers for Christian movement in Amri Karbi areas of Assam. He was also one of the architects of MGM, which has established at least 29 Churches in Amri Karbi areas of Assam. Amenba Yaden, Parliamentary Secretary and James Yaden, IGP and Director of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (Retd), were also among others who had contributed towards the Church funding in Amri Karbi areas of Assam.

It is said that the Christianity, which was first brought in the Amri Karbi areas, was Rongphar village. It was way back in 1983 when Reverend Puna Ao with his wife Theresa landed in this otherwise nondescript Village, Rongphar, coolly and silently perching at the foothills of Rongphar areas. It was Rev Puna who set the Christianity in motion in Rongphar Village under the sponsorship of MGM. The Rongphar Christian people said, “Rev Puna Ao is Edwin W Clark of the Rongphar Village.” Today there are 29 Baptist Churches in Amri Karbi areas. There are more than 240 Villages in the Amri Karbi areas.

Reverend Puna with his wife, who is a Garo, peacefully lives in Guwahati. The couple is blessed with two sons and daughter. Unfortunately, their eldest son has already expired. A beautifully framed photograph of the missionary couple is hung up at the Office of the Rongphar Baptist Church.

Pastor Ronghang could speak fluently Nagamese as he had his earlier education from Mokokchung areas and also his Theological education from there. He has also been closely working and associated with the leaders of RBC since its inception in 1983. He gets a meager Rs 2000 as his monthly salary, besides he lives in a very pathetic condition. I was pained at seeing the condition of the Pastor but he seemed more comfortable and enjoying to being a servant of God.

The Rongphar village is indeed a blessed one. In the middle and surrounding areas of the village, there are paddy fields. It is bestowed with many streams, river and huge pristine forests. Inside the village, a massive tea farm is there covering huge areas of the village foothills. But if you look around, there is hardly any sign of developments from the Government side—be it State or the Center. There are two village approach roads. One is hardly motorable while the other is motorable, but no blacktopping.

We hardly thought that such beautiful Amri Karbi villages would be there along the foothills in Amri Karbi areas in Assam as most of us had hardly had any ideas of visiting them. About 99 percent of these villagers are Amri Karbis and they live peacefully and silently without causing any slightest disturbances to either other non-tribal communities or administrations. They have been surviving and they can do so for centuries to come without the support of the state Government. But they have to live at par with the rest of the State, and they should be given their due share and recognition.

In the meantime, the Amri Karbis have a cherished love for the Aos for showing them the light from the darkness.

Nagaland Post: Centre to absorb some NSCN (I-M) cadres into SF – Acharya

Kohima: Nagaland & Assam Governor PB Acharya said some NSCN (I-M) cadres would be absorbed into the security forces (SF) under the recent ‘frame work agreement’ signed between Centre and

NSCN (IM) Cadres

Kohima: Nagaland & Assam Governor PB Acharya said some NSCN (I-M) cadres would be absorbed into the security forces (SF) under the recent ‘frame work agreement’ signed between Centre and the NSCN (I-M) in the presence of PM Narendra Modi, Times of India report stated.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday at Raj Bhavan, as per the report, Acharya had said: “Since the members of the group (NSCN I-M) have long been cut off from the civil society and living with arms, the government has decided to absorb some 4,000 of them into the security forces in a big way.”
He also said that after signing of the agreement, NSCN (I-M) has now merged with the civil society.
Achraya said, “All that the NSCN (I-M) leadership wants is that the Nagas, wherever they reside, should enjoy equal status with other communities of the state where they are living.”

Acharya said the Governor of Nagaland would play a special role in implementing the peace deal that was signed in Delhi on August 3. He also reiterated that no areas of other states would be lumped with Nagaland, a demand raised by NSCN (I-M) for decades.

Meanwhile, according to the northeastnews report, Acharya, while interacting with the media informed that when most of the breakaway groups of NSCN have accepted to join the civil society and shun the path of violence, it is not long before NSCN (Khaplang) also joins the peace process.
He appealed to all armed groups operating in Assam and other parts of North East to shun the path of violence and to be the part of process of development of the region.
He also appealed Paresh Baruah faction of anti-talk ULFA (I) to come out soon and join the peace process.
Achraya said while the NSCN has given up the demand for a sovereign Nagaland, their concern for the welfare of Nagas in other states will be looked into and the proposals made by the Union Government have been accepted by the Naga leaders.

Source: Nagaland Post