May 13, 2017

Page 1

Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com

Vol XXVII No. 156

DIMAPUR, saturday, may 13, 2017 Pages 16 ` 4.00

Civilians fleeing Mosul in ‘grave danger’, says UN

Murray suffers shock defeat in Madrid

State officials attend trg on climate change

international, page 13

sports, Page 15

northeast Page 5

Split looms in BJP-NPF coalition

NEW DELHI, MAY 12 (AGENCIES): With political rumblings going about that Nagaland may witness early assembly elections by year end, coalition partners Naga People’s Front (NPF) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seem to have fallen out with both ready to fight elections on their own. According to the Outlook report, former chief minister and present Lok Sabha MP, Neiphiu Rio is also likely to form his own party and forge a new partnership with the BJP following rumours of a secret meeting with BJP national chief Amit Shah. The NPF too declared earlier this week that it would not share seats at a public meet. Rio, it seems has not given up and is likely to form his own party. He pulled the NPF through three elections while Zeliang doesn’t have that experience, the report stated. Sources revealed that Rio bypassed Ram Madhav (who has charge over Nagaland) and met Amit Shah directly. Over two meetings there were discussion to forge a new partnership between Rio’s new outfit and the BJP. With a national surge

towards the BJP, it could work in the party’s favour in Nagaland as well. But, it may not be as smooth for the BJP, which may not see any support from the Church and has lost the war on perception on the beef ban. The controversy over consuming beef in the country has played badly for the BJP, which, till now, has relied on the popularity of individual leaders to win the seats in Nagaland.

Govt re-designates posts in police deptt

ECI launches ‘national Nagas are a sovereign independent people Naga scholars concerned over contact centre’ toll free from time immemorial, says NSCN (I-M) Ozukum’s excommunication

D I M A P U R , M AY 1 2 (NPN): State government has notified the re-designation of various posts in the police department in line with the nature of works vested to the respective posts. In a notification, home commissioner, Abhjit Sinha, stated that present designation/ post of IGP (crime) has been re-designated as IGP (CID), IGP (NAP) as IGP (Armed Battalions), DIGP (MOD) as DIGP (Planning & Development), AIGP (Supply) as AIGP (Provisioning) and DIGP (NPTO) as GIGP (Communication).

Plea against making Aadhaar mandatory

NEW DELHI, MAY 12 (AGENCIES): A fivejudge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, which is currently hearing a batch of petitions challenging the practice of triple talaq, on Friday has agreed to hear a plea on May 17 challenging various notifications of the Centre to make Aadhaar card mandatory for availing benefits of government schemes. The apex court has agreed to the contention of senior advocate Shyam Divan that the Aadhaar matter is very important and needed to be heard on an urgent basis.

This is it!

“Didi,these days reverence to holy cow is a duty. You should not hit her.” K Y M C

BJP state unit in turmoil

In the meantime, BJP leaders in Nagaland have also written to party chief Amit Shah asking for a change in the party’s state unit leadership. Promising to win the next elections with a large majority, they’ve asked the central leadership to replace the current state chief Visasolie Lhoungu, whom they claim has been working for coalition partner NPF. The letter to the national president of the BJP has been co-signed by 12 senior state leaders, including past and present state-level functionaries of the party. Outlook has a copy of this letter. The confidential letter has been written after the

Spl. Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 12 (NPN): With its commitment to serve every elector flawlessly, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched the National Contact Centre (NCC) with a toll free no. 1800111950, where citizens can call on the toll-free in English/ Hindi with any query or complaint at any time of the day. Callers can enquire on subjects such as elections, voting dates, EPIC, electoral roll, online registration etc. and lodge a complaint by simply dialling in to the toll free no. Not only this, executives also make outbound calls for educating the electors and spreading voter awareness. The National Contact Centre is operated on a National Grievance Redres-

leaders had been snubbed by the party’s top brass who did not meet their delegation six months ago in New Delhi. While the BJP, with four MLAs supports the NPF, the state leaders of the party have said that they are ready to fight elections by themselves. The 12 disgruntled leaders have written that despite not being an active functionary of the party, the central leadership of the party had made him the state chief in January 2016. I t i s b e l i e ve d t h a t Lhoungou’s selection was done by BJP general secretary, Ram Madhav. “However, problems started surfacing in August 2016,” the letter says. Following their problems, a delegation tried to meet with top BJP leaders such as Ram Lal, Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju, Prakash Javdekar, Jual Oram, Nirmala Sitharaman and others. The PM and party chief were also not available. They returned to Nagaland and sent a memorandum through the state chief, which he withheld. “In fact, it was leaked to the NPF the next day,” the letter notes. Last year, then Nagaland CM, TR Zeliang, dropped

sal System Software. This software is a single window platform to manage complaints and feedback received through calls, emails, sms and website access in an integrated and time-bound manner. Callers may connect with the executives to register a complaint and know about its status of receipt and disposal as well as to give suggestions and feedback at every step of the way. Each state and UT would also soon setup and operationalize dedicated State Contact Centre (SCC) and District Contact Centre (DCC) to ensure seamless flow of information across the contact centres for handling issues/query from citizens. National Contact Centre will build IT protocols to ensure that any call landing at NCC are properly redirected to the respective State Contact Centre.

BJP MLA Mhonlumo Kikon as a parliamentary secretary worsening relations between the parties. Later, the BJP unit also met and drafted a memorandum that they would send Narendra Modi and Shah over various issues. However, Lhongou never reconvened a meeting to finalise and send the memorandum. The state chief had also fired three functionaries without ascribing any reasons and that affected the morale of party workers. “The overwhelming majority of functionaries in the districts/mandal are almost on the verge of rebellion,” says the letter, which has said that the party can consult district- and block-level functionaries. Before the urban local bodies elections were held in Nagaland, the NPF announced a cabinet decision, reserving 33 percent seats for women. The letter by the BJP Nagaland leaders says that Zeliang had called Lhongou to the cabinet meeting. Lhongou is reported to have attended the meet without consulting the MLAs or other leaders in the party. There, he pledged support to the NPF’s cabinet decision which threw the state

D I M A P U R , M AY 1 2 (NPN): Senior NSCN (I-M) leaders-- steering executive members and kilonsers, in their “statement on the Framework Agreement” have stated that “Nagas are a sovereign independent people from time immemorial.” In the joint statement signed by 82 senior functionaries said the principle of “free Nagas” was the foundation of Naga politics and the unique history. The leaders said the framework agreement had turned the politics of confrontation and opposition into the politics of dialogue and cooperation. “It has turned our enemies into our friends; it has turned repressing of our right into respect of our right; it has turned suppression of our right into recognition of our right; it has turned the threat of our future into protection of our

into chaos and ultimately led to Zeilang’s resignation as CM of Nagaland in February 2017.

All future elections to be held with VVPAT: CEC

Lhoungu reacts

NPN Adds: When Nagaland Post contacted State BJP president Visasolie Lhoungu, and asked him about the memorandum, he admitted that the memorandum was not submitted since he was directed by some Central leaders. Lhoungu said he plainly followed the directive of the party leadership. On the issue of choosing him as the party president, Lhoungu said though he was not the choice of the State BJP unit, it was the Central leadership who had appointed him as the party president, which was also endorsed by the state unit. Lhoungu also refuted the rumours that he was planning to contest the 2018 polls on NPF ticket. “The allegation is ridiculous. I am the BJP unit president and such thought has never even come to my wildest imagination,” he added. On the allegations that he was rather working for the NPF than the BJP, Lhoungu while denying such allegations said since NPF and BJP were in alliance, both the parties ought to maintain good relations.

future,” they said. NSCN (I-M) was optimistic that the agreement would certainly heal the chronic scars of war and the wounds of oppression and persecution imprinted in the body and mind of the Nagas. The leaders cautioned that “rejection of this historic agreement will amount to murder of the precious second chance the good Lord has given to the Nagas.” However, the leaders also took note saying “there are some people from some quarters who are out there talking of other option”. “On the other side of the coin, our people are witnessing the communal and factional cards being played by the agencies of GoI, which cannot be justified at all when both the parties are looking for the genuine solution at the highest level,”

All-party meeting convened by Election Commission in Delhi on Friday. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, MAY 12 (IANS): The Election Commission on Friday ruled out any possibility of the EVMs being tampered with in elections even as it announced that all future elections will be held with VVPAT slips to prevent any doubts while the AAP demanded ‘hackathon’, a view others were not apparently enthusiastic about at an all-party meeting convened to discuss worries over the machines. At the end of the day-long meeting, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said: “The Commission will hold a challenge and offer an opportunity to political parties to demonstrate that the EVMs used in the recently-concluded assembly elections were tampered or the EVMs can be tampered with even under the laid down technical and administrative safeguards,” he added. The meeting, which lasted over seven hours, was attended by representatives of seven political parties and 35 state parties.

they said. Entertaining the ill-opinions of the anti-peace process elements is another sign of insincerity or doublestandard, the leaders stated. Pointing out that there were other people who were trying to interpret the issue in terms of number and not truth, the leaders said it was a dangerous political hypothesis if the claimed number does not represent the issue. However, convinced that the Framework Agreement would open the era of peace and progress in the land, the NSCN leaders said “Naga people hope and trust that Government of India and NSCN would overcome all these hurdles and come to a smooth landing.” “The Nagas are for a harmonious interdependent relationship with them but on equal footing...,” the leaders maintained. (Full text on p-6)

Zaidi said the commission has taken note of all the views of the parties and assured that their concerns and apprehensions regarding EVMs would be duly considered and addressed through the challenge and further necessary action. At the meeting, Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi made a demand that the commission should provide them the EVMs used in the recent assembly elections in five states so that they could prove their point. Congress demanded “more steps” to ensure trustworthiness of EVMs, the CPI-M said that all EVMs should have paper trail and BJP said that the machines were reliable. At the meeting, the poll panel also made a presentation on EVMs explaining its secured design feature and highlighted “technical, administrative protocol and procedural safeguards that fortify the EVMs and VVPATs against any sort of manipulation or tampering”.

DIMAPUR, MAY 12 (NPN): Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) said it was deeply concerned by the Ao Senden’s decision to ex-communicate P. Chuba Ozukum from the Ao community on April 10 for failing to comply with the November 4, 2016 stricture to step down as Naga Hoho president. In a joint statement NSA president Dr. Zuchamo Yanthan and general secretary Pouringthanliu while acknowledging that the Ao Senden may have taken the decision to safeguard the interest of the Ao community, however, said such ordeal does not fare well with the ideals of building progressive Naga society. It said the decision would leave only damaging precedent in justice system of Naga society.

The culture of excommunication, although, practiced in erstwhile Naga traditions by many Naga tribes, is no longer a plausible act within the present civic democratic system, NSA added. “Politically, no authority can strip the inherent rights and identity of an individual. T h e r e f o r e, N a g a s should desist from adopting such deplorable action as such course of action will only lead to stagnation and ruination of Naga society,” NSA stated. In this regard, the Naga Scholars’ Association has appealed to the Senden leadership to reconsider the decision and settle the issue amicably through dialogue, saying Naga society ought to move forward with the culture of matured decision making based on tolerance and understanding.

Triple talaq is ‘worst form’ of marriage dissolution: SC NE favourite tourist destination soon: DoNER New Delhi, May 12 (PTI): Triple talaq is the “worst” and “not a desirable” form of dissolution of marriage among the Muslims, even though there were schools of thought which called it “legal”, the Supreme Court observed Friday. The second day of the day-long hearing on the matter also saw two veterans, jurist Ram Jethmalani and former Union Minister and Islamic scholar Arif Mohammad Khan, coming out all guns blazing against the practice of triple talaq. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said there are “school of thoughts (which) say that triple talaq is legal, but it is the worst and not a desirable form for dissolution of marriages among Muslims.” The remark was made by the bench when senior lawyer Salman Khurshid re-

ferred to the various schools of thought and the stand of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) that triple talaq was “abhorrent”, yet valid. While Jethmalani attacked the practice on various constitutional grounds including the right to equality and termed it “abhorrent”, Khan said it was akin to the pre- Islamic era practice of burying a female child alive in the Arabian region. Khan, who had quit Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet over differences in handling the Shah Bano case, was at his best while representing All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board. He said the whole Shariat law has been distorted as “Shariat is the Holy Quran and not the opinion of these people (clerics). The Holy Quran considers the importance of family and it provides four steps before

pronouncement of divorce.” “Triple talaq is far from being fundamental and very far from being sacramental to Islam. It violates every good thing which Islam prescribes. What we are seeing in the form of triple talaq is similar to the preIslamic era practice where female infants were buried alive,” Khan told the bench which also comprised Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, U U Lalit and Abdul Nazeer. Marriage is the only aspect which is extensively dealt in holy Quran that lays down the procedure for divorce, and various schools of thought have distorted the tenets of the holy book “to their liking”, he said. “Everything you need is in the Quran. If you need more, then look at the life of the Prophet and if you still need more, then use your own good sense,” he said. “We can change the

law, but not the habits of the society. Untouchability was banished by the Constitution, but it stays with us,” Khan said. Jethmalani said “the right of triple talaq is available only to the husband and not to the wife and it breaches the Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution.” “There is no saving grace for this method of granting divorce. One-sided termination of marriage is abhorrent and avoidable,” he said, adding that Article 15 of the Constitution prohibited discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. It is a settled proposition that a law can be made to improve the situation of women and not to deprive them of their rights, he said. The bench intervened and said it was not dealing with the state laws, but rather discussing personal law.

Spl. Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 12 (NPN): Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh, has said that North-East region would soon be a favourite tourist destination for people from not only across the country, but all over the world. Speaking at the Annual Tourism Awards, 2017 function of “Holiday IQ”, an organization promoting tourism in the country, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given special attention to the North-East due to which the region has begun to attract the attention of tourist operators, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the country. He said that North-

East was a natural destination for tourists but could not receive its due attention because of the logistic issues like constraints of connectivity and accessibility. DoNER minister, however, said that in the next two years, almost all the states in the region would have a broad gauge rail track. In addition, he said, the first ever train to Bangladesh would also be flagged off from Tripura and the rail track from Agartala was already under construction with the Indian side of it being funded by the Ministry of DoNER. Similarly, he said, the Central Government has earmarked over Rs. 40,000 crore to spread a network of roads across all the eight States. As far as air connectivity is concerned, important places like Itanagar, Sikkim, Shillong did not have full-fledged airports and the Centre Government has

moved on a fast track to accomplish this, he added. Dr Jitendra Singh also referred to the initiative taken to promote “Home Tourism” in parts of the region where the hotel facilities were either insufficient or exorbitantly costly. He said that this experiment has proved so successful that it can be emulated even in other parts of India which are frequently visited by tourists. In the process of promoting tourism, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the benefits go beyond the realms of tourism. Elaborating further, he said, the frequent exchange of population and visits by different sections of society from across the country have enabled the rest of India to know Northeast better and has also helped in bridging the gap that hitherto existed between Northeast and the rest of the country. K Y M C


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