iMizoram : Blog Title the same as above

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Bandh call by MNF criticised

AIZAWL, Feb 25 – Strongly criticising the Opposition MNF’s total bandh call on February 25 in the State, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Mizoram State unit asked the party to withdraw it immediately. It slammed the MNF Statewide bandh call as students are appearing for their annual examinations.

The NSUI also said that paying of taxes, which the MNF stated is one of the reasons for the bandh call, is an important duty for a true citizens of India. The tax is not for individual or party benefit, rather it is mean for the use of government for the development of its people, NSUI said.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Bru outfit man arrested

A member of Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM), who was allegedly involved in the abduction of two employees of Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) earlier this month, was arrested by Mizoram police and remanded to judicial custody, police said today.

Lianmawia (45), resident of Naisingpara relief camp in North Tripura district, was arrested at Tongsnampara in North Tripura district, around 12 kilometres from the Bangladesh border, yesterday in connection with the February 2 kidnapping.

BDFM members had allegedly abducted a large number of people, both Mizos and non-tribals from Mamit district on Mizoram-Tripura-Bangladesh border since 2011.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Extended programme of DD Aizawl inaugurated

AIZAWL, Feb 23 – Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on Friday inaugurated the extended programme of the Doordarshan Aizawl Kendra in presence of the Additional Director General (North East) of Doordarshan and All India Radio C Lalrosanga.

The four-hour-long daily DDK programme would now be extended to six hours.

Lal Thanhawla appealed to the authorities of Prasar Bharati to change the schedule of the news bulletin of either DD Aizawl or All India Radio to benefit the listeners as the bulletins were now televised and broadcast at the same time every evening.

He said he would give instructions to the DCs of all districts to follow the mandatory policy of telecasting the DDK programme in the local television channels.

MNF call for total bandh on Feb 25

AIZAWL, Feb 23 – Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) has called for a 12-hour Statewide total bandh on February 25 in protest against Congress Government for its failure to address grievances of the public.

The MNF Action Committee which met here recently decided to call the total bandh from 5 am to 5 pm on February 25.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

'Mizoram CM got HM’s meeting intimation late'

Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla on Saturday could not attend the meeting convened by Union home minister Rajnath Singh at Agartala, the Tripura capital, due to late receipt of invitation, state home department officials said. David Lalthangliana, OSD of the state home department told PTI that Lal Thanhawla was already in the Mizoram-Myanmar border Champhai town when the official invitation for the meeting with Singh and Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar was received. The meeting was convened to discuss the proposed continuation of repatriation of Brus lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura district for the last 17 years. The Bru evacuees left Mizoram after communal tension in October 1997.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Calling northeasterns immigrants reflects BJP’s view: Former Mizoram MLA

Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, Harsh Vardhan, Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay along with BJP CM candidate Kiran Bedi releasing the party's Vision Document for Delhi Assembly election 2015. (Source: PTI photo)

By Adam Halliday

On Monday Former Mizoram MLA and Vice-President of the Zoram Nationalist Party K Liantlinga referring to BJP’s vision document calling people from the North-East “immigrants” said there was nothing to feel bad as it is true and highlighted that people from the region and the rest of the country are “of different races and ancestry”.
“The BJP’s vision document which calls us immigrants is the party’s true view. They must have reviewed this document twice or thrice before releasing it, and this is the way they see us, and there is nothing to feel hurt about it because its the truth,” K Liantlinga said during an address to party workers in Aizawl.
“Mizoram was dragged into India by the British, and was reinforced only after an agreement between the Mizo National Front and India. We are Mongoloids, and the people of India are Aryans, who came from the west. So us and them, we belong to two different races, and we are descended from different peoples,” he added.
It is not the first time such a view has been publicly expressed.
Also read: Outrage over BJP vision distortion: North East people called immigrants
Naga writer Kaka D Iralu had written in an article for the Morung Express newspaper last week that the BJP “calling the North East citizens as ‘immigrants’ was a most heartening and welcome description for the North East peoples.”
“It is indeed a historical fact that no Hindu or Mughal king had ever conquered North East countries beyond the river Brahmaputra. In fact, even the word North East did not exist in any historical documents prior to the Indian invasion of these territories after the Indian independence of August 15th 1947,” Iralu had written.
“Prior to 1947, India was indeed a country of over five hundred Princely states that had never invaded any of its neighbour nations. For the first time since her independence, one political party of India has at least uttered the truth for once. (Though it was immediately withdrawn as a ‘printing error’),” he said in the article.
Iralu’s article has also been translated into Mizo and circulated on social media, garnering hundreds of likes on Facebook and drawing dozens of comments, most of them in agreement.

Mizoram: 1 abductee released, another still under captivity

Police claimed that no ransom was paid for the release

Aizawl, Feb 11 : Mohammad Buizul Islam, one of the two persons abducted by NLFT and Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) militants on February 2, reunited with his family today after being released from captivity.
Mamit Superintendent of Police C Lalnunmawia said Islam, who works as a driver with the Border Road Task Force (BRTF), was released by his abductors at a place near the border yesterday.
Hokum Singh, an overseer working with the BRTF, was still held hostage inside Bangladesh jungle, he said.
The abductors had first demanded Rs 15 lakh as ransom, but reduced it to Rs five lakh and ten ladies wrist watches, the police officer said.
They are demanding the same for the release of Hokum Singh, who belongs to Haryana.
The SP claimed that no ransom was paid for Islam's release.
Nine persons armed with sophisticated weapons and dressed in camouflage abducted the two persons from a place near Mizoram-Bangladesh border Chikha Anti Poaching Camp on February 2.
The abductors took their hostages and escaped to their camps inside Bangladesh even as the state police launched massive combing operation.
There had been ten incidents of abduction in Mizoram since 2011 till date, and that except for a single case of kidnapping at Mizoram-Assam border Kolasib district, all the abductions occurred in the Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border Mamit district. A total number of 38 people had been kidnapped.
Majority of the abductions were done by Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) combine.
The maximum incidents of abduction occurred during 2014-2015 when 15 people were abducted in three incidents.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Militants release hostage in Mizoram

One of two Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers abducted from Mizoram by Bangladesh-based militants has been released and is in safe custody of police, investigators have said.
Thangchhuaha, a driver with the BRO, was released on Sunday and has been brought to his home town of Aizawl where he is being debriefed at the police headquarters.
Investigators believe the second abducted person, overseer Hukum Singh of Haryana, will also be released shortly.
The release comes a day after the militants — believed to be cadres of the National Liberation Front of Tripura and Bru Development Front of Mizoram — issued a ransom demand for the two hostages, which included Rs 5 lakhs, 10 women’s wrist-watches and two mobile handsets.
The duo were abducted while they were travelling on a remote stretch of road between Tuipuibari and Chikha on February 2 in Mizoram’s western Mamit district that borders Bangladesh and Tripura.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Ransom demanded for release of BRTF hostages

Almost a week after two employees of the Border Road Task Force (BRTF) were abducted from Mizoram-Bangladesh border, a ransom has been demanded for their release, the police said on Saturday.

The abductors informed the BRTF officials posted in Mizoram-Bangladesh border’s West Phaileng village that they would have to pay ransom for the release of the two hostages. Hokum Singh of Haryana and Mohammed Buizul Islam of Aizawl were abducted by suspected Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) goons and NLFT militants combine on Monday from Mizoram-Bangladesh border’s Mamit district.

The armed abductors escaped and have kept the captives inside Bangladesh since then, the police said.

Mizoram House session from March 17

AIZAWL, Feb 9 – Mizoram Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi has summoned the Budget session of the Mizoram Assembly from March 17, State Assembly Secretariat sources said.

Qureshi would deliver his customary gubernatorial address as the session would be the first for the current year.

State Finance Minister Lalsawta would present the annual budget during the session though it was yet to be decided whether he would present a regular budget for 2015-16 or an interim budget and seek a vote-on-account for the first four months of the next fiscal.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Mizoram Assembly session to begin on March 17

Mizoram Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi has summoned the Budget session of the Mizoram Assembly from March 17, state assembly secretariat sources today said.

Detailed programme of the session would be chalked out in a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) chaired by Speaker Hiphei.

Though the BAC was yet to meet, Qureshi would deliver his customary gubernatorial address as the session would be the first for the current year.

State Finance Minister Lalsawta would present the annual budget during the session though it was yet to be decided whether he would present a regular budget for 2015-16 or an interim budget and seek a vote-on-account for the first four months of the next fiscal.

Mizoram: Ransom demanded for release of BRTF hostages

Aizawl: Almost a week after two employees of Border Road Task Force (BRTF) were abducted from Mizoram-Bangladesh border, a ransom has been demanded for their release, police said on Saturday.

The abductors informed the BRTF officials posted in Mizoram-Bangladesh border's West Phaileng village that they would have to pay ransom for the release of the two hostages, they said.

The culprits, however did not mention the amount to be paid, police said.

Hokum Singh of Haryana and Mohammed Buizul Islam of Aizawl were abducted by suspected Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) goons and NLFT militants combine on Monday from Mizoram-Bangladesh border's Mamit district.

The armed abductors escaped and have kept the captives inside Bangladesh since then, police said.
Meanwhile, Mizoram Home minister R Lalzirliana warned that the state government might take strong action against the abductors if they continue to keep the abductees in captivity for long.

"The government would take action to ensure that no abductions take place again in Mizoram soil," Lalzirliana said.

He said that the Bru goons were working under the protection of the NLFT and even used arms of the Tripura insurgent outfit while abducting people.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Myanmar talks open: ex-Mizo CM

Silchar, Feb 6 : Former Mizoram chief minister and MNF party chief Zoramthanga will be an interlocutor between the different insurgent groups in Myanmar and Yangon's military regime in a bid to restore normality in northwestern Myanmar.

Prodded present national security adviser A.K. Doval, Zoramthanga flew to Yangon on January 12 to explore the possibility of finding lasting peace after talks with the leaders of 17 different ethnic rebel groups of Myanmar, in Yangon and Bangkok.

The MNF party chief said in Aizawl yesterday that he had prepared the grounds for his proposed mission in Myanmar after discussions with the minister for peace talks, U. Aung Min, for five days in Yangon from January 13, and then flew to Bangkok to hold a dialogue with the expatriate Myanmarese rebel leaders, drawn from 17 rebel insurgent groups, for another four days.

He said the first rounds of talks with the Myanmarese rebel leaders were "quite open and beneficial". His next peace foray in Myanmar is yet to be fixed.

Man detained for allegedly helping BDFM and NLFT militants

Mizoram Police detained a man belonging to Bru community for allegedly helping the Bru Democratic Front of Mizoram (BDFM) and NLFT militants in abducting two non-tribals from Mizoram-Bangladesh-Tripura border Mamit district on Monday last.

Police said that Rajmani of Mizoram-Bangladesh border Tuipuibari - I hamlet was detained yesterday for questioning as he was a reported sympathiser of Bru goons and the one who was acting as a guide and informer for the abductors.

Rajmani was a former member of the disbanded Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF).

Around nine people armed with sophisticated weapons abducted two persons working under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Monday from a place near the abandoned Chikha Anti Poaching camp inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve.

The hostages - Hokum Singh and Mohammed Buizul Isam were reportedly taken inside Bangladesh jungle by the abductors as crossing the international border took only a few minutes from the place of the incident.

The abductors were yet to make any contact to the family members of the captives and no ransom demand have been reported till date.

MNF calls 12-hour Mizoram bandh on February 12

Aizawl, Feb 6 : The Opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) today decided to observe a 12-hour statewide bandh on February 12 in protest against the hike in the price of rice sold through PDS and increase in rates of different taxes and non-tax revenues.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Mizoram seeks Tripura’s help to trace abducted staff

The Mizoram police have requested their Tripura counterpart to trace two General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) members who were kidnapped on Monday.

Suspected National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) kidnapped GREF site in-charge Hukum Singh and driver Thang Chuka near Tuipui in Mizoram to avenge the arrest of two extremists, police said.

Police officials in Agartala said on Tuesday the incident occurred close to the international boundary with Bangladesh. The GREF officers and staff are engaged in the construction of the border road in the area.

There is a suspicion that the extremists fled with the kidnapped men to Bangladesh. Numerous abductions have occurred in Tripura-Mizoram-Bangladesh border over the last years, mainly to extract ransom.

Sources said the extremists kidnapped 14 people, but released the rest except two. NLFT leader Krishnamohan Jamatia believed to have led the raid.

The incident occurred within hours of Mizoram police arresting two NLFT extremists in Champai. An M-16 Rifle and ammunition was recovered from their possession.

Police, Assam Rifles and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) have been put on alert in Kanchanpur in north Tripura .

Bru refugees to be removed from voter list

AIZAWL, Feb 4 – Mizoram Home Minister R Lalzirliana today said that those Brus lodged in six relief camps in Tripura, who refuse to return to Mizoram after six months following the next repatriation efforts, would be disfranchised as Mizoram voters.

Lalzirliana told media persons that the decision was made at the meeting convened in Delhi on Friday by the Union Home Ministry and attended by representatives of the Mizoram and Tripura governments.

The meeting, chaired by Joint Secretary (NE) of Union Home Ministry Shambhu Singh, decided that the Brus lodged in the relief camps in North Tripura district should be given a 6-month deadline for returning to Mizoram, he said.

“The names of those who still refuse to be repatriated should be deleted from the Mizoram voters’ lists,” the Home Minister said, adding that the Centre would also stop doling out free ration and the relief camps would also be closed.

Lalzirliana said that the next round of repatriation efforts would begin from March or April as the State government has been making arrangements for implementation of the road map for repatriation of the Brus from Tripura. “We would soon submit the estimated expenses and requirement for free ration,” he said.

While the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF), led by A Sawibung, demanded Rs 1.5 lakh as rehabilitation and resettlement package for a repatriated family, the Centre decided that Rs 80,000 per family was sufficient. The Centre, however, agreed to the demand of extension of giving free ration from 1 to 2 years, he said.

The repatriated Brus would not be allowed to resettle at their own will, but would be resettled in their respective villages where they lived before leaving Mizoram during the later part of 1997, he said.

“If their village had been deserted and no longer inhabited, they would be resettled in another suitable village within the same Assembly constituency,” the Home Minister said.

According to the Mizoram voters’ lists those who were yet to be repatriated were 3,455 families.

The Brus left Mizoram en masse after Lalzawmliana, a forest guard, was gunned down by Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) militants in October 1997 and were lodged in North Tripura district since then

Monday, February 2, 2015

NLFT, Bru militants kidnap two in Mizoram

Aizawl: Suspected armed militants belonging to the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and Bru miscreants kidnapped 2 persons working under the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) from a place on the Mizoram-Bangladesh border in Mizoram's Mamit district on Monday, police said.

A massive combing operation has been launched by police to secure the release of the two persons and arrest the kidnappers. Police officials here said the two were identified as Hokum Singh of Haryana working as an overseer in the BRO and driver Mohammad Buizul Islam (56) of Aizawl.

Sources said around 10 militants, some of them armed with sophisticated weapons, first abducted 22 people. Later, they released the locals and manual workers, but took the two as hostage. The kidnapping occurred in a remote place between the abandoned anti-poaching camp of the state environment and forests department at Chikha and Tuipuibari village inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve. Senior state police officials said they suspected that the abductors have taken the captives inside the thick jungles of neighbouring Bangladesh.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Mizoram move for paper mill

Aizawl, Feb 2 : Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla said his government would initiate measures to find out if the state was ready to have its first paper mill.

The chief minister said this while speaking to a delegation of the Central Young Men's Association, which had called on him yesterday in Aizawl to reiterate their demand for a paper mill in the state.

The delegates said the state reaps a rich yield of bamboos and hence is in a position to demand a paper plant.

A senior official in Aizawl said the government should immediately order a techno-economic feasibility study and scout for a proper site, which should preferably be close to a proposed railhead in Sairang, 15km from Aizawl. Bairabhi rail station in northeast Mizoram is already linked with this town, the headquarters of Cachar district, by a metre-gauge rail. A project is under way to build a 51km broad-gauge rail track up to Sairang. The proposed scheme is slated to be wrapped up in 2019.

Arms seized in Mizoram

Aizawl: A joint team of Mizoram police and Assam Rifles in Champhai seized arms and ammunition near the Indo-Myanmar border in the wee hours of Sunday.
One M2 and its two magazines and a 9mm pistol and a magazine were seized from Khanthang, 40, a Myanmarese national, near Vanzau village in Champhai district. The alleged gun-smuggler was booked under Arms and Foreigners acts.
They said the seized arms and ammunitions could be sold at Rs 3 lakh in the black market.
A joint team of BSF intelligent wing and Mizoram police CID (special branch) had seized 1,986 rounds of ammunitions of M-16 rifle in Aizawl on January 16.
Mizoram is being used as a route for smuggling arms from Myanmar, mainly meant for militants in Bangladesh.
Last year, a total of 25 rifles and 14,984 rounds of ammunitions were seized in Mizoram last year. These included 13 AK-47 rifles, two AK-56 rifles, one LMG, three GS, one UGBL and one Colt M4.
On August 29 last year, the Assam Rifles seized US dollar 48,700 and Rs 1,00,000 meant for buying arms and ammunition at Zanlawn along Aizawl-Silchar national highway.