Burmese gloom one year after protests

Monks participated in the protests in large numbers

A year has passed since popular protests against Burma's ruling junta filled the streets of Rangoon. A military crackdown finally brought the demonstrations to an end weeks after they began. Here Burmese describe their gloom and pessimism about the future.

WIN, RANGOON

I took part in the events on the street last year.

Many monks want to make the next revolution but the government is putting more limitations on them

Nothing has obviously changed in this time except our people are getting poorer and poorer.

I feel pessimistic about the future. The UN can't take any effective action against our government. They talk a lot but there is no action.

And the cyclone has not affected the political atmosphere at all. In fact, after the cyclone, our people have had to face inflation and many more troubles than before.

But people are talking about what happened last year. They don't forget about it. Many monks want to make the next revolution but the government is putting more limitations on monks because the first anniversary of the September revolt is getting close.

AUNG, RANGOON

I didn't take part in the protests last year. But I was a leader in the 1988 protest in my home town and I was imprisoned and fired from my government post.

I believe nothing will change and no-one can make the regime change because they have guns.

I feel pessimistic about the future of our country if the junta is in power. As long as they stay in power no one can help us. The junta will look after their relatives and will neglect the people and the country.

The cyclone hasn't changed the political climate because the junta is firmly in power. The constitution drawn up by them was approved by the Burmese people at gunpoint.

Now, I think most of the people have forgotten about last year.

The junta has reduced the number of monks in each monastery. The monks dare not go out now. Whenever the junta gets news about uprisings, they call thugs, riot police and army men to beat, torture and kill whoever dares to go against the junta.

Here, there is tight security everywhere and the one who dares to come out and defy the junta will be taken to a place nobody knows about.

SING, RANGOON

I did not take part in the protests, but I went around the city to witness the events.

I don't think anything has changed - not since 1962. All we had were false hopes and hardship.

The junta has a very simple answer to people power: shoot them all.

Poverty and injustice are still daily problems for ordinary citizens.

In general, I've lost hope about political change. But natural forces or divine intervention - such as Cyclone Nargis - might create change. I think the cyclone mobilised some political forces. I'm hoping they can do something in the next few months.

But the junta has a very simple answer to people power: shoot them all.

I'm now in the delta and the cyclone survivors are still in a dire state. Most of them survive with World Food Programme-distributed food.

But the food pipeline has broken due to restrictions when it comes to procuring rice. The loudest voice I could hear in my days touring the delta was: 'Please give us rice'.

People totally support the monks. But they all fear the gun. There are not many monks left in the temples. Most active monks are in prison or in hiding.

J, RANGOON

The government killed my father and I strongly believe that nothing good can come of an action against the government here.

Monks refused to accept donations from the government and there is no future for us.

No one dares to even say the word 'democracy'.

















www.bbc.co.uk

Contemporary Manipur V

Beyond Correctness
11/12/2008

Sometimes the notion of political correctness is pushed to absurd limits. The ordinary man on the streets in Manipur knows this too well. Of those who are extremely prone to partisan view understandably are activists. All too often, they specialise in a particular field, identify its problems and prospects and then become committed workers to champion the cause of their choice. What also happens alongside is that their vision gets narrowed down to only their issues of concern and begins treating all other problems as peripheral. As for instance there are peace and human rights workers, as well as academics, who would object to insurgents being referred to as terrorists, even when the latter indulge in unremitting acts of terrorism, including intimidation, abduction for ransom, bomb threats and blasts at public places with absolutely no botheration about the indiscriminate nature these weapons would kill and maim. These same peace campaigners may on the other hand not have any scruples about referring to drug addicts as criminals, especially when the latter have indeed committed cognizable felonies, such as the murder of a child some years ago just in order to snatch the gold earrings he was wearing. But be sure about this, there would be other campaigners working in the area of drugs rehabilitation, HIV/AIDS etc, who would vehemently object to such nomenclatures, arguing passionately how they end up creating misconceptions and in the process harm the interest and rights of those who had been unfortunate to have fallen into these bad and addictive habits. Like the earlier set, this set too may have little sympathy for issues that do not concern their campaign, and many actually believe insurgents are terrorists.

The arbitrariness of this “political correctness” should be clear from just these two illustrative projections alone. Each has very strong points to be appreciated but their weakness is in their myopia to issues other than the one they are campaigning. They also tend to get over-protective about their subjects, distorting and diverting the larger picture from what is the reality in the process. Can there be any argument about this that an insurgent, however lofty the ideals that drive him, can be a terrorist if he or she indulges in terrorist activities? By the same logic, no matter what the circumstance was that forced him or her into narcotic substance dependency, if the habit persists without the individual making an effort, or exercising his will to overcome it, and if because of the demands of his dependency he begins indulging in felonies, why wouldn’t he be called an anti-social? While activism is good, for they highlight the blind spots of the government and society on many issues hitherto considered as peripheral and insignificant, they too must learn there are limits to the extent “political correctness” can be pushed. The wrong picture created by such brands of activism can actually result in wrong diagnoses of problems and consequently faulty remedial prescriptions as well.

But there are other areas where activists have, sometimes inadvertently out of ignorance, and sometimes we suspect wilfully, created misconceptions about issues of gravity through false campaigns. Take just one case of the popular notion of AIDS as a homosexual disease. Now that we know quite a bit about the nature of disease and virus that cause it, as well as the mode of spread of the virus, we are left wondering how HIV/AIDS is any more a homosexual disease than it is a heterosexual one. The pathology of HIV/AIDS says nothing about homosexuals being genetically weaker in resisting the virus. It is indeed quite indiscriminate about whose body it wants as a host, and as we are all witnessing, it would even take innocent children and infants, not just homosexuals. And yet this constant association of homosexuals with AIDS, its spread as well as genesis, lingers on. The point is, society already has a strong prejudice against homosexuals, and they have been at the butt ends of social ridicules and scorns thus they have also become a convenient social dustbin to heap the blame for the most dreaded and hated of human scourges. What can describe this scenario better than this misinformation (or disinformation) the AIDS campaign has achieved? Maybe one of the moral obligations of the AIDS campaign is to undo this wrong. But who in this world would care? After all homosexuals are sub-humans aren’t they?

Media Crisis Retrospect
12/3/2008

The Manipur media was again through one of its worst crisis. A young trainee (junior) sub-editor of the Imphal Free Press, Konsam Rishikanta, was gunned down by unknown gunmen. The circumstances in which he was murdered as well as the events that followed the crime were all quite unlike familiar patterns in such killings, raising the suspicion that there may have been more for the government to answer. For this reason, the journalist fraternity in the state rose in protest in one voice demanding an independent probe of the crime. For full 11 days under the banner of the All Manipur Working Journalists Union, AMWJU, the fraternity went on a cease work strike until finally the government relented and decided to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, in a cabinet decision yesterday afternoon. If the entire media organizations under the AMWJU went off the stands from November 20 in protest, for the IFP, publication suspension was two days earlier than the rest. On the afternoon of the murder, the shock was such that it simply was not feasible to work and bring out the edition. Our entire staff rushed off to their murdered colleague’s home not so much to offer condolence, but simply to be present there and reassure the family they were not alone in their profound crisis. The next day again passed in the preparation for the funeral and completing other ritualistic and legal formalities. On the third day the rest of the media decided that the atrocities against the media had gone too far and in a resolution by an emergency general body meeting of the AMWJU, decided to suspend publication indefinitely until the government agreed to have an independent body probe the incident.

No underground organization has so far claimed responsibility, nor have the police forwarded any encounter statement as usual when they kill militant suspects. Surprisingly, in the nearly two weeks that have elapsed since the murder of a journalist, the government too has not offered even a single official word of condolence, much less condemnation. Whatever the AMWJU got the government to say or do in the matter, was in the literal sense, wrung out by an uncompromising resistance against official high-handedness and obduracy. It is beyond understanding what took the government so long to respond appropriately. After all, the journalists were not asking for the moon. They only wanted the crime probed officially so that justice can be done. But all’s well that ends well, so they say, and the media tussle with the government ended with an amicable resolution.

Among others, the crisis has been an eye opener in many respects for those steeped in it. As for instance, the number of condolences the IFP received by email, phone and in person was overwhelming. Most of these were expressions of open-hearted and unconditional empathy for a young life lost so senselessly. Many of these mails were from ordinary people we have never met or known. However, there were also some queries that betrayed a woefully endemic suspicion deeply embedded within a good section of our society today that anybody who suffers death at the hands of unknown gunmen must have been guilty of an offence that deserved the penalty. The unjustness of this skewed presumptuous of guilt of any gun victim was stark to those of us who had known the extremely affable trainee sub-editor. One also realizes more than at any other time the magnanimity of the liberal jurisprudence that presumes innocence of even a crime accused until proven guilty, frustrating as this may get in many other circumstances. At least it is a far better guarantee that no innocents fall victim in the eye of the law. It should be a matter of extreme concern and worry that our society to an alarming degree has become desensitized to matters of justice and jurisprudence because of prolonged exposure to a deadly conflict and all the brutalities associated with it. If the routine execution of “reactionaries” by underground militants as well as the extra judicial murders through fake encounters by counter insurgency forces are unacceptable in a civilized society, the intuitive and casual verdicts of guilt by onlookers, on victims of violence perpetrated by the former, are a sign of a dehumanizing moral corruption. This mutant morality would also ensure that the mindless violence in the society is perennial.

Disturbed Manipur
12/9/2008

The Disturbed Area Act has once again been extended for another year in Manipur by an official notification of the Government of Manipur. With it the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, AFSPA 1958, which has just completed half a century of promulgation in the northeast region will become applicable and probably will be applied in the state. It may be recalled, except in seven Assembly segments in greater Imphal area, the AFSPA is currently in promulgation in the entire state. In these seven Assembly segments, it is the Manipur Police which has been given charge and whether this force functioning in the absence of the AFSPA has been any more respectful of human rights is anybody’s guess. This also brings us back to a question the IFP has been consistently and persistently asking. Would the situation in Manipur be any better if the AFSPA were to go? Of course a great deal of misinformation and disinformation has ensured the matter is fuzzy in the minds of the ordinary people in the state, and even acts of the police are interpreted fallaciously through the prism of the AFSPA.

The picture however is just the opposite. In fact the debate on AFSPA should be tempered by this knowledge that the trouble in Manipur is unlikely to be over with the removal of the AFSPA. That is to say the AFSPA is not fundamental in the issue of insurgency. What is fundamental in insurgency, to risk stating the obvious, is insurgency. AFSPA in this sense is a paranoid response of a clueless establishment in dealing with an emergent situation. If the AFSPA must go it cannot merely be because it is brutal, for as we are witnessing now, brutality will continue even without it. On the other hand, if it must go it should be because it has introduced a permanent state of exception in the region and because, as the United Nations is now interpreting it, it is racial in nature. It is applicable only in the northeast states and Kashmir, and nowhere else in India. But the question that would still remain is: what after the AFSPA? The Justice Jeevan Reddy commission did try to answer this question, as is clear from the leaked report the commission submitted to the Prime Minister, which was first published in the The Hindu, and subsequently reproduced in many other publications, including in the form of a booklet by a human rights organisation in the state. It is however unlikely the recommendations will ever see official acceptance.

The point we want to labour a little more is, it is no longer difficult to imagine a hypothetical situation where the AFSPA has been lifted from Manipur, as the current experiment in the seven Assembly segments is demonstrating loud and clear. Since the challenge of insurgency would remain even after AFSPA, the establishment would find other means to respond, and there would still be no escape from violence and official brutality. The only difference would be the brutality then would not be official, but “officially” clandestine. The daily dozen deaths in what are quite obviously fake encounters in and around Imphal are proofs. The AFSPA is a way of making this inherent brutality of the establishment official. Removing the AFSPA hence would only amount to driving this brutality into the realm of the covert – unexplained disappearances and fake encounters being just the two most prominent resorts in such a circumstance. Our own inference from these recent developments is since Manipur’s nightmare is unlikely to end with the lifting of the AFSPA, the hunt for a cure to this prolonged nightmare must begin looking beyond the AFSPA. This cure can only be when peace returns to the land, and this can happen when the issues that gave birth to the conflict in the first place are addressed adequately, justly and to the satisfaction all stakeholders. The alternative would be to remove the ambiguity of the conflict and consequently the AFSPA. We have a curious situation which few are willing to admit is a full scale war or a civil strife. Hence on one hand weapons of war are not acceptable, but on the other, civil measures are grossly inadequate. If it is war, it would also imply conflict between two nations which the establishment obviously would not admit. But this argument is a double-edged sword. Those who like to call it a war cannot also complain of military retaliation.

HR Movement Retrospect
12/10/2008

The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights would be completing 60 years today. The 30 article charter which took three years to draft, is without doubt the most important embodiment of the collective will of individual humans around the world. At the risk of repetition, we would like to assert once again that the declaration is primarily meant as a tool to check and balance the power of the state, for as much as the state is inevitable, it is also prone to become intoxicated and corrupt by unchallenged power concentrated in it. The atrocities the state is capable of inflicting on individuals in the name of, or under the guise of “national interest” was well known for a long time, but the World War-II was the turning point. Apart from the devastation the clash of states resulted, it also saw the wilful genocide of Jews in the hands of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. The war also culminated in two atom bombs on Japan, Stalin’s terror on his own citizens, etc. State terrorism did not end there, or with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some of the worst crimes against humankind were hence witnessed in the wake of the conclusion of the Cold War and the crumbling of the Eastern Bloc nations, most notably Yugoslavia towards the end of the last century.

The fact is, there is nothing as a perfectly benign state. The state is built on a foundation of violence, which is why the military is an inalienable feature of it. This feature is pushed to ridiculous limits in many post colonial states. As for instance, there is absolutely no meaning in a country like Bhutan or Nepal keeping a military, knowing well its neighbours are China and India, with whom they can never ever even dream of fighting a war. Yet to be a full-fledged nation state, they have to have a military, and as we have noticed, more often than not their militaries are used not to defend against external aggression but to brutalise their own citizens. The Lord Acton Dictum “...that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” made in 1887 in his criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and the notion of papal infallibility, holds true equally for the modern state, hence the relevance of the Human Rights movement even in a democratic, republican state. As a matter of fact, it is precisely in its acceptance and incorporation of independent checks and balances which not only distinguish a republican polity from all other forms of government, but makes it republican in the first place. This being the case, we are more than ever convinced that the allegation that the Human Rights movement is in its essence anti-establishment is false.

Having said this, it must also be equally acknowledged that the illusion of infallibility of power structures which Lord John Edward Dalberg Acton so famously criticised, holds good for the Human Rights movement itself. Hence the need for Human Rights activists to be humble and refrain from self righteous stances. In particular they need to acknowledge the need to divert some of their gaze away from the state to those the militant challengers of the state, after all the latter too are contesting to wrest powers of the state and vest in themselves. They are in this sense, putative states too. While it is true that grassroots workers are in no position to effect the change by themselves, it is still through inputs from them that the changes at the top can begin to happen. This would a positive development for the state’s challengers too. Like all else, they too can go wrong and they too can become drunk on power. The ordinary men and women on the streets would vouch this is actually the case with so many of them today. This is the reason why Human Rights organisations which are seen as turning a blind eye on this aspect of abuse of power are viewed with a measure of suspicion by so many. To take a slightly more distant and detached example as illustration, there must come a time when the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan government in the name of the Sri Lankan nation, and atrocities perpetrated by the LTTE in the name of Tamil Eelam, are measured against the same scale. One is a state, but the other is also a state in waiting, whether the latter succeed in realising this dream of theirs is another question. The difference between them is only a matter of degrees, as both resort to violence in the name of opposing nationalisms and patriotisms.

Peace on Hold
12/11/2008

Another round of peace talks between the Government of India and the NSCN(IM) is in progress in Amsterdam currently, but it evoked merely some compulsive flutters amongst expected circles and political parties and nothing more. No explosion of euphoria or for that matter passionate opposition. It is all settling into a mundane and routine ritual, hardly even a rite of passage that such a negotiation ought to have been. And so 11 years after the talks began, the two parties are locked in a stalemate, and increasingly drearily too. Today the only real prediction that everybody, even lay observers can think of at the resumption of each round of peace talks is that at the end of it, the parties will agree to hold another round of talks to discuss more substantive issues. Whatever be the opinion one may have on the demands that are so seemingly thorny, there can be no two opinion that this state of total hopelessness descending on an issue over which a deadly conflict had persisted for well over half a century is to say the least, tragic. We hope the negotiating parties are able to come out of their obduracy and shift stances in keeping with the emerging realities to make a breakthrough possible.

The key to the door which opens to hope of an amicable settlement, in our opinion is an acknowledgement that things invariably change. Incidentally, this holds good not just for the parties involved in the current negotiations, but also all others locked in conflict and still have not agreed to sit across the table and seek settlement. The danger of not paying heed to this thought is, to recall a familiar cliché, the fights may very well end up as a war fought on past and redundant slogans. This is why it is essential to renew the pledges of the revolutions by periodically refreshing the understanding of backdrops against which these struggles are waged, so that in the event of the backdrop having altered with time and good counsels of democracy and its institutions, the struggles are not left redundant and caricatured. To use a stage analogy, a war on stage is fought against a backdrop of a war environment. Amidst the passion of the performance, if the actors forget that the painted screen behind them have changed to a drawing environment, the stage war itself would reduce to a grossly comic and dissonant affair.

So whenever the familiar rhetoric of discrimination, exploitation, neo-colonialism, state repression etc, come up, those behind these rhetoric, if they are honest to their consciences, ought to be a lot more careful. For all they know, these conditions may have at best been reduced to mere memories from another chapter in history and not a reality to be reckoned with anymore. We are not disputing these conditions may have been a reality once, but this does not necessarily mean that they are still the social, political or economic order of the day. In the half century that has gone by, there would have been several generational changes of guards. The past generation’s experience also may not be that of the present. It would be a historical injustice for the past generations to feed the generations that succeed them with their bitterness if the conditions that let to that bitterness in the first place, have altered as they probably would have. For this would amount to ensuring peace remains elusive forever.

Ours is an assertion of unremitting optimism even in the darkest of times that we live in. This optimism stems from an intuitively held conviction that even the darkest blotches left by history’s mistakes can be washed clean by the regenerative power of life and society. The only thing essential is for the protagonists in this profound drama to be able to acknowledge past mistakes and for those wronged by history to possess the magnanimity to forgive – a formula for peace and justice that Nelson Mandela so powerfully and convincingly taught the world. Things change, and even perceived enemies of the past can transform into friends, not out of any political exigencies or individual selfish conveniences, but because of genuine changes of hearts on both sides, either during a lifetime, or else after generational cycles as the case may be. Those who long for a more lasting and universal justice, must have the keen eye to see these changes and respond to them appropriately. Under such a scanner then, let us examine all our most vexed issues, including the hill-valley divide in Manipur, the Naga integration question, and indeed the driving logic behind insurgency. Is there another way of seeking a more comprehensive reconciliation?

December 18, 2008

Thursday

I'm down with fever since last week and I feel so weak. This bullshit apart, I was planning to resume writing my Journey to the Unknown World and keep the record electronically. It would help me to take my time off from the usual work here in the office. It is much better than to find the time after going back home at midnight. More so as we have even got a TV at home now. I'm glad I could buy a TV from my salary. You might be wondering, but TV is a luxury for a moron like me. Anyways, I have also got a DVD player. :D

People say health is wealth. But I have never really paid heed to it. Life was all about entertainment and the excessive enjoyment has deprived me of reason. It's never too late to start something anew.

There are so many things going on in my mind now. It'd be better if I come back again some other time. Till then…..


--
Kind regards,

Kapil Arambam
Born to be Wild

Contact: +91 - 9818 - 605161
http://kapilarambam.blogspot.com/
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Kashmiri views on militant group

The Kashmiri militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is accused of links to attacks last month in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) which left at least 170 people dead.

ALTAF HUSSAIN, SRINAGAR, INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR

Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistan-based militant group.

It joined the armed resistance against Indian rule in Kashmir in the early 1990s.

However, it gained prominence when it introduced "fidayeen" attacks in the predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley about a decade ago.

A "fidayeen" attack is different from a suicide attack in as much as the attacker has a chance of coming back alive.

There is some sympathy for Lashkar in both parts of Kashmir

The LeT has carried out a number of audacious attacks on Indian military installations in the state.

It was responsible for the attack on Delhi's Red Fort in 2000 and blamed for an attack on the Indian parliament the following year.

Analyst Tahir Mohiuddin says the Mumbai attacks do not have the imprint of the LeT. While he does not rule out their involvement, he says there is a lot of confusion.

"There have been reports that the attackers in Mumbai looked for American and British nationals besides Jews.

"This has not been the agenda of the LeT. For that matter they have dissociated themselves from the conflict between the government forces and the Taleban in north-western Pakistan," he said.

Ordinary people in Kashmir have expressed deep shock over the Mumbai attacks but they have diverse views as to who did it.

"Whatever happened in Mumbai was wrong. Innocent people have been killed. They were human beings like us," Mushtaq Ahmed, a government employee, said.

Adnan, a student, said that "many lives were lost and it should not have happened". He is worried that now Kashmiris staying in other states in India will be harassed.

"They will be labelled as militants. Those living as tenants will be subject to frequent investigations."

Javed Ahmed, a labourer, said that the Mumbai attacks could be the "handiwork of a hardline Hindu organisation".

He says there should be a thorough probe before anyone is blamed.

Noor-ul-Sajad, a lawyer, said the attacks might have been masterminded by political parties ahead of forthcoming elections in India.

Most people want peace above all else

While views on who did it differ, there is general concern among Kashmiri people over the adverse impact the Mumbai attacks have had on relations between India and Pakistan.

Many fear an outbreak of war.

Others say that even if war is averted, the deterioration of relations between the two countries will badly impact on the process of dialogue to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

"The two neighbours were drawing closer but now they are again drifting apart," Noor-ul-Sajad said.

The editor of the leading newspaper, the Daily Etilaat, Khurshid Wani, says that "any souring of relations between the two countries will have a direct bearing on Kashmir - it will bring the ongoing dialogue process to a complete halt or at least slow it down".

Even the hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has, while lamenting "the carnage" in Mumbai, warned that war between the two neighbours would be a disaster for both.

People living in border areas in Kashmir are also worried that a renewed exchange of firing between the two armies across the Line of Control would make life hell for them again.

They have enjoyed a relatively peaceful life since India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire five years ago and now all that looks to be in jeopardy.

ZULFIQAR ALI, MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTANI-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR

People here have also condemned the Mumbai attacks - but many remain to be convinced that Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind it.

The attacks have led to fears for the future of the peace process

Sarfraz Mir - a doctor - described what happened as "an abominable act". But he cautioned that action against Lashkar by the Pakistani authorities without any evidence would also be an outrage.

"I just can pray that both governments can stop the blame game and continue talking to each other and find solutions to the issues between them once and for all," he said.

A teacher, Nazneen, described the attacks as "shocking".

"We condemn such attacks - innocent people died. But Indian accusations that Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved are not convincing," she said.

"We wonder as to how they reached hotels and how they brought weapons inside the hotel in the face of heavy security? Where were the Indian intelligence agencies?

"If anything happens anywhere in the world Muslims are always blamed."

Many like Nazneen feel that the Pakistani government should have not acted against Lashkar under pressure from the Indian or American governments.

They feel that it is giving the impression that it too acknowledges that Lashkar was involved in the attacks.

"If the government wanted to crack down against the militants groups it should have done so before," Nazneen said.

Businessman Shajah Ahmed argues that the Indian government has provided no evidence for its claims over Mumbai.

The Mumbai attacks have propelled Kashmir to the centre of attention

"Lashkar's role in Kashmir is commendable; their Pakistani fighters gave their lives for the people of Kashmir; they fought alongside Kashmiri brothers", he said.

"But war and guns are no solution to the issues we face here and India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue through peaceful means," he added.

Like other members of the public, journalist Malick Tahir unstintingly condemns what happened in Mumbai.

"We don't know who the attackers were and what were their motives but one thing is clear - they are friends to none - India ,Pakistan or Kashmiris," he said.

"We pray that sense prevails between India and Pakistan and they don't let the attackers hijack the entire peace process.

"It would be a victory for the 95% of people who want peace in the region."

Abdul Waseen, who runs a private school in the Neelum Valley border district, said that if there was any evidence involving Lashkar-e-Taiba they should be banned and their people arrested.

"But in the longer term this is not the way to deal with militancy in Pakistan. For these people their livelihood depends on militancy," he said.

"They should be provided with alternate employment or other means of rehabilitation. This is a difficult task but this is the only solution - otherwise they will keep returning to militancy."











www.bbc.co.uk

UNLF spells out agenda on 44th Raising Day

Imphal, December 06 2008: The Central Committee of the proscribed UNLF has, besides greeting the people on the 44th anniversary of the outfit, which fell on November 24, has come out with a review of last year's Annual Statement, while presenting this year's Annual Statement

Last Year's Review:

In our 'Annual Statement 2007' last year, we asserted that the most important issue that has confronted the erstwhile independent State of Manipur ever since the 'annexation by India' in 1949 is the Manipur-India Conflict arising therefrom.




MPA cadres at a base camp


We also asserted that the conflict should be satisfactorily resolved according to the expressed wishes of our people and that for the purpose a Plebiscite should be conducted under UN aegis.

This was announced on 31st January 2005 by our Chairman.

On the other hand, we delved upon the growing alienation of the people from the Revolutionary Organisations fighting for Manipur's independence.

We also renewed our appeal to all the fraternal revolutionary organisations for unity in the larger interest of the liberation struggle.

On the question of identification of the liberation struggle with the struggle for existence of the masses of the people, which is a precondition for our victory, the UNLF propounded the line that an Essential Self Reliant Economy should be developed even during the process of the liberation struggle.

The UNLF also announced a National Economic Policy (NEP) under which Agriculture, the basis for our economic development, is to be transformed into an industry while Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) will be developed as the leading factor of our economy.

The NEP also calls for empowering our womenfolk in the daily struggle for existence so as to build an economic movement at grassroots level.

Along with these fundamental issues the UNLF also reiterated its political line for fraternal coexistence and co development among all the ethnic communities of Manipur and the region at large respecting one another's distinct identities.

Essential Self Reliance:

Sensible and patriotic citizens have responded positively to the above message.

The UNLF Central Committee heartily congratulates them for their committed participation in various economic projects.

Today, our patriotic farmers committed to the cause of "Self Reliance on Food" have taken up various projects (agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fishery, etc.) to produce sufficient food so as to free Manipur from dependence on imports from India , a number of far-sighted entrepreneurs have taken up Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) suitable to Manipur's resources and environment.

Special mention may be made about the big effort of the UNLF to empower our womenfolk in their daily struggle for existence so as to improve the quality of their life.

All these are the initial steps to integrate and identify our liberation struggle with the struggle for existence of the masses of our people.

The UNLF Central Committee call upon all sections of the society to contribute their worth for the success of this economic movement.

With relentless effort, 70% of the goal for making Manipur Self Reliant on food can be attained in 5 years time.

If so, we can modestly claim that the foundation for an essential self reliant economy of Manipur had been laid.

This in turn will remove the injected wrong notion that "we cannot survive without dependence on India " from the psyche of our people.

However, the hurdles and tentacles of India 's colonial rule and their easy money will certainly make the task difficult.

This we must overcome.

It is imperative here to warn against the utilisation of our limited agricultural land for other purposes, such as institutions, 'development infrastructures', etc.

Any such projects should henceforth be stopped.

Such projects should be located at non agricultural land.

Agricultural land being the lifeline of our people, the UNLF would do everything and anything to protect this lifeline.

Depts connected with food production should make necessary arrangements to distribute seeds to the farmers well in time for the season.

Horticulture and animal husbandry should be taken up in the hill areas where large scale agricultural farming is not suitable.

Necessary facilities for marketing their products in Imphal and outside Manipur should also be provided so as to improve the economy of the hill areas.

India's Easy Money:

The huge amount of valueless easy money (being spent for consolidating colonial rule and 'counter insurgency operations', but not investments for Manipur's economic development) but being pumped into Manipur has disoriented not only those subservient to it but also a number of revolutionary organisations.

In the effort to mobilise fund for the liberation struggle, it has become sort of a culture among the revolutionary organisations to even use coercion for grabbing 'projects' (contract/supply works) and hobnobbing with MLAs/Ministers/Engineers and other officials. Today it is common practice among sycophant contractors/suppliers to try to buy out connection with any Party capable of securing contract works. Such contractors, in the greed for easy money, do not have any moral compunction to inject poison into their benefactor Party against other Parties. This is one of the factors standing against the unity among the parties.
Actually, it is an indication of changing equations in corruption once centered among the Engineers/Ministers of the puppet State Government to the revolutionary organisations. It is an indication of shifting of power centre. A change in power centre in favour of revolutionary struggle is welcome. However, shifting of corruption will be disastrous and should be resisted. The competition for grabbing contract works creates various frictions among our Parties and thus sidelines the basic issues of the liberation struggle. This is not a correct practice which has done more harm than good to our struggle.

Taking advantage of the rather chaotic situation, State Police Commandos and even some officers of the IOF Assam Rifles have also resorted to large scale extortion from prominent contractors threatening them with dire consequences "for having connections with insurgents". Police commandos have even extracted shares in the contract works. Thus, anybody engaged in contract/supply works today have to associate with the revolutionary organisations in order to get contract/supply orders on the one hand and also buy their life from the State Commandos and IOF Assam Rifles on the other. This is the reality of today. What is disturbing in this phenomenon is the degeneration of our inherent strength for self reliance because of the corruption in contract/supply works of the Indian system and the emergence of decadent culture for grabbing easy money. The negative effect of this phenomenon on the revolutionary parties is the erosion in the integrity, particularly of 'project officers' dealing with contract/supply matters, frictions arising from favouritism in awarding contract/supply works resulting in formation of cliques within the party, and culminating in desertions sometimes.

This is the costly lesson the UNLF learnt during 1998-2003 when the Party was directly involved in contract/supply works. From an overall perspective, despite the existence of individual patriotic contractors, creation of a dependent opportunist social class solely driven by the tendency of becoming rich overnight from contract/supply works in the Indian system will in the long run harm the struggle and erode the vitality of our society at large. Therefore, only when revolutionary organisations do not involve themselves directly in contract/supply works can the problems of factions within and frictions among revolutionary organisations be resolved and remove the present weakness of disunity among them.

Only then the negative activities of pseudo revolutionary organisations and armed gangs can be checked effectively.


The Means to Salvage Our Struggle:

In Manipur, there were only a few revolutionary organisations during 1964 and 1980 .

However, by 2000 AD the number increased phenomenally.

Meanwhile, a number of armed gangs engaged in extortions also emerged.

Today Manipur has earned the undesirable name of being the State having the highest number of revolutionary organisations and armed gangs in the Region.

The resultant competition for creating their respective space, particularly using of force in demanding money from the public, direct involvement in contract/supply works and the resultant degeneration in their revolutionary character, and the killing of ordinary people which is resented by the civil society as "murder without trial" has alienated the people so much that they have now openly revolted against such organisations.

Taking advantage of this fluid situation, the Indian government is pouring in huge amount of unaccounted money to buy out local support.

The only way to salvage our liberation struggle from this predicament is to unite all the organisations fighting for regaining Manipur's independence and accelerate the struggle against India on the one hand and to check the negative activities of armed gangs by mobilising public support on the other.

The UNLF firmly believes that this step, only this step, can regain the confidence and trust of our people.

With this belief, the UNLF Central Committee appeals to all fraternal organisations to work together for the national cause.

In order to create the congenial atmosphere for working together the UNLF has decided to take the following steps:

• to conduct joint investigations and deliver justice if any other organisation is not satisfied with a specific case being handled/investigated by UNLF;

• to try to understand together, through correspondence or discussions at appropriate levels, if any objection is raised regarding a specific policy/programme of the UNLF.

If that policy/programme is found to have any negative bearing on the society, and if it is found to have any negative effect on the organisation concerned, the UNLF would review the particular policy/programme;

• to avoid any misunderstanding and friction with other organisations, the UNLF would always keep an open channel for communication from the highest down to the lowest level, and also make specific arrangements for the same if mutually agreed upon;

• to sacrifice to the maximum when arrangements for working together, or even unification, are sorted out in all sincerity and earnestness; and

• to mete out appropriate punishment to any UNLF/MPA cadre working against the above-stated points and the underlying spirit for unity.


Joint Campaign of KYKL-UNLF

When the issue of unity among the revolutionary organisations arise, the joint stand being taken by KYKL-UNLF in this regard comes into focus.

After having signed the agreement to the effect of resolving any bilateral differences and disputes through discussion and non use of force under any pretext and circumstances, the two Parties have recently formed the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), Joint Committee, Finance (JCF) and Joint Task Forces (JTF) to work together in various social projects.

The UNLF shall sincerely and earnestly endeavour to consolidate this positive relationship at all levels including the Central Committee level.

Also, being conscious about the natural differences that may arise from working together, the UNLF Central Committee will endeavour to resolve those differences in accordance to the principles agreed to by the two Parties.

At the same time, efforts will also be made to understand together that the overall environment confronting the joint campaign of KYKL and UNLF is a big challenge.

This will be a challenge to KYKL-UNLF to show how far the two Parties can sacrifice 'party interests' in the larger interest of the people given the downslide in public sympathy and support.

That KYKL-UNLF can do it has to be displayed in subsequent programme of activities.

The UNLF Central Committee sincerely believe that the steps being taken by KYKL-UNLF towards unity would go a long way in regaining confidence and trust of the people which in turn would ensure success in overcoming the challenge.

The UNLF further believe that once the joint campaign of KYKL-UNLF has reached a certain level the two Parties would be in a better position to take bold initiatives even at regional level in giving a new collective direction to the liberation struggles.
Colonial Manipulations in Sports:

Though the installation of a SAI Regional Centre in Imphal apparently seems to be promoting sports in Manipur, the repression of outstanding sportspersons from Manipur still continues.

Manipur has been a fighting nation all along.

This has generated a culture of competition in valour and sacrifice which now finds expression in sports.

The conquest of Indian sports arena by sportspersons from Manipur is undoubtedly the expression of our valiant national character.

However, Aryan India/Indians feel humiliated when Mongoloid Manipuris represent India in international events.

And today, because of our national liberation struggle, India feel even more uncomfortable when Manipuris represent them in international sports.

The Monika episode is the latest testimony (Monika was not allowed to take part in the Beijing Olympics on false doping test).

But today, it is no longer possible for the Indian sports authorities to continue suppressing Manipur's sportspersons.

Because having realised the Indian colonial policy even in sports, we believe that our sportspersons in their heart of hearts will now play for Manipur.

Thus Indian sports field will also become a battlefield for Manipuri sportspersons.

Manipur can take pride in our sportspersons if they also play for the sake of Manipur with patriotic fervour and zeal.

India's Look East Policy and Manipur:

India's Look East Policy and its probable impact on Manipur has been discussed in our statement of 2007.This is basically a policy to drag the region, particularly Manipur in India 's globalisation as a means for consolidating their colonial rule.

As this is a policy the negative effect of which is bound to erode our national identity, we are urged to reiterate our stand again.

Globalisation, particularly economic globalisation is a world historical phenomenon, which cannot be stopped.

We have no other alternative but to get prepared to be able to absorb the benefits and reject the harmful.

But it should be distinctly understood that India 's Look East is a policy, which has a hidden agenda for undercutting our liberation struggle by making it irrelevant with the life of the common people.

The railroad and motor road being planned under Look East will bring in foreigners along with their easy money and culture.

All these will require timely preparation of infrastructure and inner strength so as to be able to absorb the merciless impact of globalisation.

Otherwise, we will simply be swept away.

That the present trend of economic globalisation means disaster for small backward economies is a subject being discussed by global experts.

Let us also get prepared to safeguard from India 's 'Look East'.

Revolutionary Greetings:

i) On the occasion of our Party's 44th Anniversary, the UNLF Central Committee extends warm revolutionary greetings to our Party Cadres and Local Members, officers and men of MPA, to the families of those who have laid down their lives and who are still in the struggle, those maimed by inhuman torture of IOF, those confined in enemy jails, and to all those participating in today's function at various locations;
ii) On this occasion, we extend our cordial revolutionary greetings to the fraternal revolutionary organisations now fighting against India 's colonial rule in order to regain Manipur's sovereign independence.
iii) We once again call upon all concerned for unity in the struggle; Our special revolutionary greetings to "Nura Temsingnabi" Irom Chanu Sharmila for her unique struggle of 'fast unto death' for over eight years against Indian colonial repression as symbolised by the draconian law AFSPA.
We hope that her lone but determined struggle would inspire and strengthen the women's movement of the region.
We are proud of the "Brave Daughter of Manipur"; i
iv) On this solemn occasion of our Party, UNLF Central Committee extends warm revolutionary greetings to the fraternal revolutionary organisations of the region – Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), Tripura People's Democratic Front (TPDF), and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). We take this opportunity to convey our appreciation of their stand not to enter into peace-talk with India;
v) Also, we take this opportunity to call upon those organisations now in 'ceasefire' and 'peace-talks' with India to return to the fold and fight together against the common enemy;
vi) As usual, UNLF Central Committee conveys its heartiest revolutionary greetings to the Kashmiri people and wish them all success in their struggle against Indian colonial occupation;
vii) UNLF Central Committee also extends revolutionary greetings to the masses of the Indian people struggling against social exploitation and repression of the Indian State;
viii) Our Special greetings to the countries, CSOs and Human rights NGOs supporting the cause of 'Right to National Self Determination' and also to the International media for giving objective coverage of the Manipur-India Conflict.
We are sincerely grateful to all.

Revolutionary Salute:

On this solemn occasion of our Party's 44th Anniversary, UNLF Central Committee offers revolutionary salute to the founder leaders, Party Cadres, all the brave fighters who have laid down their lives for the national struggle, and those public who have been killed by the IOF.

Today we reaffirm our commitment to the national struggle for which they have given theirs.

We will follow their footprints until final victory is ours.

Once again, UNLF Central Committee salutes its people and concludes here with the 'Annual Statement of the Central Committee 2008' .

UNLF welcomes any relevant information, suggestions and constructive criticisms which may be emailed with proper name and address to unlfmanipur@yahoo.com .

"Victory to Our People!"


Source:

Kangla, CENTRAL COMMITTEE, UNLF
http://www.thesangaiexpress.com
http://www.e-pao.net

December

Time surely flies... it's already December, and I feel like its only June – though the unfriendly weather has set in (while I'm yet to buy a jacket for the season!!!)

By the dawn of a new year, it will be almost twenty eight months I've been away from home. I don't regret the time I've lost while I'm here in Delhi like a vagabond for I strongly feel that these days are inevitable – there are so many thing in life to accomplish. With the attainment, I feel I don't have the right to live my life.

Everything is still going fine except for the hiccups which keep occurring on and off in our life. 

There are things to plan ahead this new year and hope I'll be one step ahead...