A week of progress: new CM for AP and an end to the blockade in Manipur

The Kuki Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC)-initiated blockade was finally lifted this week following written assurance from the Manipur state government that Sadar Hills district would be created.  The United Naga Council counter-blockade remains in place.  The LA Times has a pessimistic but interesting article on the blockades.  One claim I found particularly interesting, which is mentioned only in passing, is that those seeking local government positions in Manipur need to pay bribes in the region of $10,000.

Nabam Tuki was sworn in as the new Chief Minister for Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday.  Tuki, the leader of the agitation against previous CM Jarbom Gamlin, was nominated by Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi.  He is from the Nishi ethnic group.

The hardline Paresh Baruah-led ULFA faction warned civilians to stay away from security and political party “installations” which it vowed to strike this week.  It also reportedly launched an extortion drive to raise much needed funds.  External pressure on the group continues with fresh raids on ULFA camps in Bangladesh  reported yesterday. 

In Darjeeling-area politics, it was reported this week that the title Gorka Territorial Administration (GTA) will be changed to Gorkhaland and Adivasi Territorial Administration after an agreement between the Gorka Janmukti Morcha (GJM) and Adivasi Vikas Parishad (AVP).  It seems that the GJM's tactic is to offer reserved Adivasi seats in turn for the inclusion of the Terai and Dooars in the GTA (or GATA).  Confusingly, it was subsequently reported that such an agreement was not in fact reached, but rather that it was only proposed by the GJM.  Regardless, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to be taking credit for being behind the agreement's brokerage.

Banerjee also said this week that her party, Trinamool, aspires to national influence and will begin its expansion in northeastern states. 

Four police and one civilian were killed in a shootout between police and suspected Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militants in Western Meghalaya on Monday.  The state government has vowed to step up operations against the outfit, while the central government this week sought its views on classifying the GNLA as an outlawed rebel outfit.

CNN-IBN reports that the Indian army intends to station an additional 100,000 men in Arunachal Pradesh.  This follows recent reports (see this post) that India intends to increase its missile deployment along the Chinese border in that state.

This week's South Asia Intelligence Review has an article on the Maoist infiltration of the northeast, describing Arunachal as a "hotbed" of Maoist activity.  Times Now reported this week that the central government has intelligence that there is increased Maoist activity in the Arunachal-Assam border area.  

In other border-related news this week, tension persists on the Assam-Nagaland border, The Asian Age has an article on the many hardships of living on the India-Bangla border - despite the recent border agreement between the two countries - and it was reported that the Border Security Force (BSF) is likely to replace the Assam Rifles on the India-Burma border.  A similar report was made about twelve months ago.

Fasts, more bandhs and talks, and Indo-Bangladeshi relations

Now that Anna Hazare's fast is over in Delhi many are comparing his action with Manipur's Irom Sharmila, who is soon to complete the 11th year of her fast for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).  There have been some reports that Hazare will now visit the northeast, although other reports suggest this is not yet confirmed.  CNN-IBN carries a short interview with Sharmila, in which she calls her life "somewhat odd".  Video footage and a transcript are available.  The Indian Government has said it is again considering ammendment or replacement of the AFSPA, although it does not sound particularly optimistic, Home Minister P Chidambaram stating simply that, as in the past, they are "trying".  The Communist Party of India (CPI) has responded by demanding the Act be scrapped immediately.

Ahead of his trip with PM Singh to Bangladesh, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi acknowledged that country's role in disrupting ULFA's activities and said that he wants to increase trade between Assam and Bangladesh to return the favour.   Illegal Bangladeshi migrants remain a sensitive bilateral issue.   Moreover, some in Bangladesh have cold feet about the transit agreement set to be signed during the visit.  Critics of the agreement say it will increase northeast Indian militant activity in Bangladeshi territory and that Bangladesh should hold on to transit as a bargaining tool for other bilateral issues such as the trade deficit, illegal migrants, border killings, border demarcations and resource sharing.   There are also concerns that current and potential trade between Bangladesh and northeast India would be destroyed by the agreement, as trade between the northeast and 'mainland' India would be made so much easier.  For further background on the Indo-Bangladeshi relationship, see last week's edition of the South Asia Intelligence Review.  Also of interest is a US diplomatic cable recently released by Wikileaks.  It discusses a 2008 meeting between the two countries' Foreign Ministers in which both listed northeast Indian militancy as a priority area for cooperation.

The Sadar Hills saga continues in Manipur.  A school and a truck were torched by the United Naga Council (UNC) in Sadar Hills Subdivision, while a grenade was found in a hospital in Imphal West District.  The All Naga Students' Associtation of Manipur added their two cents to the fray, stating they are against the division of Naga areas (and hence the creation of new districts).  To add insult to injury, a further 24-hour bandh was called for 1 September to protest the disappearance of a Revolutionary People's Front assistant public secretary.  Tehelka has an article that considers the everyday impacts of these protracted bandhs for Manipur's long-suffering population.  The bandhs are in effect on National Highways 39 (which heads north from Imphal, through Nagaland capital Kohima, to Assam) and 53 (heads east from Imphal to Badarpur in Assam, near the border with Bangladesh).  Goods are getting into Manipur from other directions however: a large amount (300kg) of pseudoephedrine was seized by the Border Security Forces (BSF) at the border town of Moreh this week. 

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) bandh called for 26-27 August mentioned in last week's post turned into a non-event. Apparently not discouraged, the NDFB responded by calling yet another bandh for 1 September which proved more successful with hundreds taking part in sit-ins and other forms of protest on that day.

 The next round of talks between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Indian Government commenced in Delhi on 3 September.  Militants from the non-talk faction threw a grenade at a police station the night before.  Tehelka has published a very useful and comprehensive article on the background and current state of talks between ULFA and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the government.  Kanglaonline debates the value of talks in the face of continued violence.  Like the HD Centre report discussed in a previous post, which considered the same question and reached the opposite conclusion, this article uses the case of the NSCN-IM as evidence.

Manipur's Chief Minister said early last week that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system should be reintroduced because 'migrants' now outnumber 'tribals' in that state.  The ILP, which means Indians from other states must get a permit to travel to the states it applies to, was stopped in Manipur in 1950.  It is still used in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.   A Bill to reintroduce the ILP has been withdrawn and on 30 August students threatened to launch agitations if it is not reinstated.  

Finally, a group that doesn't often make the news did this week with the arrest in the Imphal Valley of five Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) militants for arms supply and extortion.  KYKL is a Meitei group seeking to "clean up" Manipuri society.

Sadar Hills District, bandhs, talks and Naga memories

The possible creation of a new Sadar Hills District in Manipur's Senapati District has dominated news from the northeast this week.  Manipur's Chief Minister, Okram Ibobi, announced on Tuesday that a committee would be formed to consider the creation of the new district in response to a bandh, or blockade, enforced by the 'Sadar Hills District Demand Committee'.  The bandh has been in place on a number of national highways since 31 July.  The United Naga Council (UNC) has instituted a counter-bandh since 21 August.  Both bodies yesterday said they would exempt life-saving drugs from the blockades.  The Chief Minister yesterday assured constituents a solution would be expedited and that any decision would be based on 'administrative convenience'.

Bandhs are also the subject of debate among the Bodo community.  The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) this week backed the United Democratic People's Front's (UDPF) call for a 48-hour bandh on 26-27 August.  Meanwhile students in the "Bodo belt" this week reportedly decried the bandh culture prevalent in the northeast and requested that educational institutions be exempted.

In United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)-related news this week, the non-talks faction reportedly received an arms consignment from China, free of charge, and is storing the new cache in Burma.  A group of ex-ULFA militants said that the current peace talks are an insult to those who gave their life for Assam's sovereignty and that the pro-talks faction should immediately clarify its stance on sovereignty.

Meanwhile in Mizoram, a procession in favour of the resumption of peace talks between the Mizoram Government and the Hmar People's Convention - Democrats (HPC-D) was held yesterday.  The HPC-D is based in Manipur and seeks Hmar self-government in parts of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam. 

The August issue of the Himal Southasian magazine has two excellent Naga-related features.  In the first, Naga elders remember the time of the 'groupings' in the late 1950s.  The second is a photo feature on the capital of Nagaland, Kohima.

Finally, the Indian Government Home Ministry this week released a list of militant outfits, counting 79 in the northeast.

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