[Assam] Naga attacks on Assam

[Jyotirmoy Sharma]

Has the CM left the US? The seriousness of this issue should be  
highlighted to him.
We should celebrate or dance to Zubeen Garg's music but at the same  
time think of the people who are falling victims to Naga crimes.
Hopefully we don't hear statements like "have to maintain age old  
brotherly relations" and forget about this issue. A brother who harms  
you and threatens your existence is no longer a brother.
A strong border protection force is needed to save Assam from these  
marauders. An indefinite road blockage of Nagaland through Assam is a  
good step in this direction.

JS

 From Assam Tribune Ediorial

Criminal, Cowardly
Armed Naga marauders are in a habit of attacking villages in upper  
Asom because they know it well how ill-equipped the Asom police is in  
pushing them back to Nagaland, and how well-equipped and powerful  
they indeed are in comparison to the Asom police — backed as they are  
by the NSCN(I-M). Thursday’s attack on the three villages — Sonapur,  
Dhekiajuri and Borholla — under Geleki police station in Sivasagar  
district is in fact a pointer to the increasing confidence of the  
Naga encroachers who are hell-bent on realizing the dream of a  
greater Nagaland. The inspiration for that comes from the NSCN(I-M)  
that still believes that the Government of India would finally  
concede to its demand for a greater Nagaland comprising large areas  
of Asom, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. So as the Naga marauders  
attack villages in Asom in a criminal and cowardly show of strength,  
they know the kind of homework they are doing at the behest of Naga  
militants who are otherwise said to be in a ceasefire mode with the  
Government of India — and hence who are expected to follow the  
ceasefire guidelines.
The commanding officer of the 1st Assam Police Battalion based at  
Ligeripukhuri in Sivasagar district, A Kuddus, has been quoted as  
saying that Thursday’s carnage by the Nagas in the three villages of  
the district was a ‘‘planned’’ one. Two questions are in order, then.  
If the Nagas are so given to carrying out ‘‘planned’’ attacks in  
upper Asom — instances galore — what stops the Asom police from  
planning a strategy, rightly contributed to by intelligence inputs,  
to counter the Naga design in full might? Its lack of training and  
expertise in dealing with such situations? Its stock of outdated  
arsenal? Or is it that the Asom police is afraid of confronting the  
Naga encroachers and their inspiration — the NSCN(I-M)? Secondly, and  
this follows from the first, what then stops the Asom Government from  
readying a police force capable of protecting the defenceless  
villagers in the areas in the State bordering Nagaland? A diversion  
to the security of the ordinary masses from the security at the  
disposal of our ministers — the so-called VVIPs with red lights atop  
their cars followed by a cavalcade well beyond anyone’s imagination  
in a functioning democracy — may contribute a bit towards ensuring  
safety to ordinary lives in the areas in question.
Equally important is the fact that the Asomiyas, who have full faith  
in the Constitution of India, are being left at the mercy of the  
ULFA’s terror tactics, the illegal Bangladeshis who have even  
encroached on the sattra land, and the Nagas now who are out to grab  
the land of innocent villagers in the State by terrorizing them. Is  
the Consitution then protecting us? More important, does Asom’s most  
powerful ‘representative’, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, realize  
the gravity of the situation in his ‘adopted’ State? Let him now  
prove his commitment to the people of Asom!