Politics / Assam

GUWAHATI, Jan 2 — The UNICEF refused to cooperate with the police enquiry into the cause of deaths of 23 children after a pulse vitamin A immunisation programme in Assam on November 11, 2001. This was stated by the Inspector General of Police (CID), Sri S P Kar in his report to the Gauhati High Court.

The Gauhati High Court, in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by two advocates Bijon Mahajan and Raju Pradhan, ordered the Director General of Police to enquire into the cause of deaths of 23 children after the immunisation programme and the DGP entrusted Sri Kar to conduct the...

GUWAHATI, Jan 1: Militant outfit National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) today suffered a major setback as the vice-chairman of the outfit Dhiren Boro alias Sungtha was arrested by Sikkim Police in Gangtok. Dhiren Boro is the second senior leader of the NDFB to be arrested within a month as only last month the general secretary of the outfit Govinda Basumatary was arrested in Rangiya when he was on his way to North Bengal from Dimabur. Highly placed police sources in North Bengal told The Assam Tribune this evening that Dhiren Boro was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of...

DIMAPUR, Dec 31 — The white flag of peace may yet again flutter in the insurgency-ridden North-East as the peace initiatives between the Dimasa extremist organisation Dima Halong Daogah (DHD) and the Government of India show encouraging signs. Earlier, in a statement issued in the later part of August this year, the DHD had stated that although it had positively responded to Prime Minister’s Independence Day call and expressed willingness to discuss the Dimasa issue with the Centre, no further reciprocal gesture had been extended by the Union Government.

Citing an incident of harassment of...

NEW DELHI, Dec 31 — In a big boost to Government of India’s peace plan in the North Eastern Region (NER), yet another underground outfit the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) operating in Assam has opted for talks with the Centre sealing a ceasefire pact for six months with effect from tomorrow. The DHD is the second outfit from the Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills Districts to be engaged in peace talks with the Government. Earlier last year it was a faction of the UPDS, which signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre. Incidentally both the outfits operating in the same area are known to have...

DIMAPUR, Dec 29 — In what can be considered as a crucial and significant move, the Dimaraji Khunang Hosom (Dimaraji Gaonbura Union) has resolved to support peace talks and welcomed the possibilities of a ceasefire agreement between the Dima Halom Daoga (DHD) and the Government of India so as to facilitate a peaceful solution to the issue of attainment of proposed Dimaraji statehood. The resolution along with other resolutions was unanimously adopted during the subject meeting of the Hosom’s general meeting at the Dhansiri government high school, on December 27. The meeting of the gaonburas of...

GUWAHATI, Dec 26— Assam government today took strong exception to the statement made by Union Minister for Department of Development of North eastern Region (DONER) Arun Shourie that the Centre would consider the request for a ‘special development package’ for North East provided peace was restored in the region. The statement made by Shourie here yesterday has evoked sharp reaction from the Assam government. Minister of State for Planning and Development Himanta Biswa Sharma who claimed to be speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, today informed that the State government would dash...

GUWAHATI, Dec 26— Illegal Bangladeshi migrants are eying Mukong Selek Jonai Tribal Belt along Assam-Arunachal boundary in Dhemaji district much to the chagrin of local tribal population there. Already over 5000 ‘non-bonafied’ persons with doubtful citizenship status are trying to settle down in the far-flung belt at the expense of the sons of the soil from that area while the local administration is turning a deaf ear to the repeated demands from Mukong Selek Jonai Tribal Belt Protection Action Committee for eviction of these illegal occupants from the area.

The Action Committee office...

Guwahati, Dec. 25: The diplomatic mission to convince Bhutan and Bangladesh to flush out militants of the Northeast from their territories has made substantial progress, according to the Union minister in charge of the department for development of the northeastern region, Arun Shourie.

He made the statement during an informal interaction with members of the media on the runway of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here. “Diplomatic initiatives are on at the appropriate level and the results will be known soon,” he said.

Shourie said he had spoken to leaders of Bangladesh —...

GUWAHATI, Dec 23 — The Dilip Nunisa-led faction of the Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) has demanded the exclusion of Dimapur from Nagaland, claiming that the commercial town was ceded to the hill state for only 25 years from the time of its creation. According to a leaflect circulated by the militants outfit, which is fighting for ‘Dimaraji’, or self-rule for the Dimasa people within the India state, Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, was only ‘temporarily’ included in the then Naga Hills district under the Sixth Schedule. DHD says that in 1949, during the framing of the Sixth Schedule, Kuladhar...

NALBARI, Dec 23— Assam Assam Students’ Union (AASU) president Prabin Bodo today reiterated its willingness to mediate the ULFA-Government talks in the interest of a lasting peace and normalcy in the State. Talking to The Assam Tribune here, the AASU chief said, ‘‘If any side of the Government and the banned outfit ULFA want, we are ready to consider the mediation of the talk only in the interest of the greater Assamese nation.’’ Bodo further stated that in the crucial moment of the Assamese nation when most of the small communities have been raising demand for separation, the leaders of ULFA...