Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXVIII No. 348
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2018 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Crown prince a ‘red line’ in Khashoggi probe: Saudi FM
Mary Kom on course for sixth gold
Formation of a stable govt was impossible: J&K Guv
international, Page 9
sports, Page 12
national, Page 5
PAC 7-day ultimatum on govt Arrest those involved in Nov 20 firing Threatens 12-hour total bandh on Nov 30
D I M A P U R , N OV 2 2 (NPN): After deliberating on the prevailing situation in Dimapur on November 21, Public Action Committee (PAC) of the Naga Council Dimapur, has served a 7-day deadline on the state government to effect immediate arrest of culprits involved in the shooting incident at Riven Honda showroom at River Belt Colony on November 20 failing which it has threatened to impose a 12-hour complete bandh in Dimapur district from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November 30. Informing this through a joint statement, PAC convenor Vekhosayi Nyekha and co-convenor and vice president NCD G. Ghokheto Chophy said since the culprits were suspected to be from NPGs, the NPGs are asked to identify them and then terminate their services with immediate effect. PAC has also asked the government to provide additional security for Dimapur in order to contain the present situation arising out of illegal collections by NPGs
and various organisations. PAC has also banned organisations and unions from asking donations or sale of any items from shops and also asked shopkeepers not to entertain such demands. PAC has requested DUCCF and Dimapur District Village Council Chairman Union to organise youths in their respective areas to check and control unwanted elements which were on the rise. Further, PAC has demand that the government enact criminal laws that would deny bail to criminals for at least one year similar to that of Maharashtra laws, which would contain criminal activities in the state. Meanwhile, PAC has informed business community to install CCTV in their respective shops and premises with immediate effect.
BAN, DCCI back PAC
Business Association of Nagas (BAN) and Dimapur Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) have strongly condemned the
incident of firing at Honda two-wheeler showroom owned by a Naga lady near Nutan Bosti junction here on Tuesday evening. In a joint statement, BAN president Vitho Zao and DCCI president Akashe Zhimomi said it was unfortunate that even women were not spared by anti-socials to meet their selfish demands. They urged Dimapur Police to apprehend the culprits at the earliest and give them befitting punishment. Asserting that they would not remain mute spectators to the “dastardly acts” and frequent demands as they were both entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding interests of the business community, BAN and DCCI asserted that they stood by the resolutions adopted at the October 31 public rally held under the aegis PAC and declared full support to its initiatives. To check such untoward incidents, both the organisations asked business establishments to install CCTV cameras with at least one camera outside their shops, besides informing law-enforcing agencies immediately upon receiving extortion demands.
J&K polls to be held before May: Poll panel NEW DELHI, NOV 22 (PTI): The Election Commission Thursday said fresh elections in Jammu and Kashmir would be held within the next six months even as it did not rule out the possibility of holding polls there before the Lok Sabha polls due next year. “ T h e Ja m m u a n d Kashmir assembly polls must be held on the first occasion before May ... it could be held before parliament elections also,” Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said. He said as per the Supreme Court, the outer limit for holding fresh polls after dissolution of a house is six months, that is May, 2019. At the same time, he made it clear that the Commission will decide on poll dates after “considering all aspects.” He said, SC verdict, an outcome of Presidential reference, also said polls will have to be held on the first occasion which means even before six months. He said the same principle was applied in Telangana where the assembly was dissolved prematurely.
Acharya calls for promotion of Hindi Correspondent
KOHIMA, NOV 22 (NPN): Governor PB Acharya has appealed to Hindi teachers to promote and propagate the language in Nagaland as it was one common medium that could bring the nation together. Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of All Nagaland Hindi Teachers’ Union (ANHTU) at Indira Gandhi Stadium here on Thursday, Acharya lauded the Hindi teachers for motivating students to excel in Hindi learning, adding that education was the way forward to progress. He said the aim of education should be to empower people with knowledge and strengthen the society and nation, even as he stressed that teachers played an important role in nation building. Dwelling on frequent protests by teachers, Acharya remarked that the voice of teachers’ associations was a vital part of the current debate on education and that their grievances should be understood, so that a better learning environment for students could be created. He said the unions represent a collective body primarily composed of govern-
KCCI mass social Nagaland bags best small Homosexuality unethical, work in Kohima states award in ‘Law & Order’ unacceptable, says PBCA D I M A P U R , N OV 2 2 (NPN): In view of the upcoming annual Hornbill Festival, the Kohima Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) will undertake a mass social work on November 24, 2018 from 6am till 12 noon starting from Lerie to High School Area. In a press release, KCCI secretary information & publicity, Henry Chisiite, has requested all traders and business community under Kohima municipality to halt their business activities and down their shutters till 12 noon on that day. KCCI also requested the general public to cooperate and bear the inconveniences. Further, KCCI has directed all business establishments along the stretch of the National Highway to paint their shutters, if worn-out, or wash and scrub it clean and sweep the surrounding roadsides and make them dust-free. Traders have also been requested to fit/put proper light bulbs in the front of their shop/showroom and place a dustbin/waste tin each so as to facelift the Capital City during the Hornbill as well as ushering in the Festive Season.
CM Chang receives award from vice president Venkaiah Naidu.
Spl. Correspondent
NEW DELHI, NOV 22 (NPN): Nagaland was awarded the ‘Best Performing Small State’ in the category of ‘Law & Order’ by the India Today State of State’s Survey 2018. Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu gave away the award to minister for Forest, Environment, Climate Change and Parliamentary Affairs, C.M. Chang at ‘State of the States Conclave 2018’ organized by the India Today Group at Taj Hotel, New Delhi. The programme was attended by chief ministers of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puduchery, Gujarat, and host of dignitaries.
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by such laws, which it described was “misleading, misguiding and misinterpreting the Biblical morality and ethics.” Asserting that in a tribal socio-cultural context even a man and a woman marrying from the same clan was “ostracised from the villagecommunity”, the church said in such a context, the act of homosexuality was unconceivable. “It is totally unacceptable, unethical and shocking to the Phom tribal community,” PBCA said. Condemning such kind of laws empowered by Supreme Court, the PBCA said Christians were guided and governed by biblical principles and values. Further, affirming that marriage was only between a man and a woman, PBCA said besides that, there were no other marriages recommended by the Bible.
and others as the “criminals” in this link. The CBI’s claim is that Shaikh and Prajapati ran an extortion racket in connivance with the police and politicians. When Shaikh decided to go against his alleged masters, a conspiracy to eliminate him was hatched on November 23, 2005. Tamgadge’s statement comes at a very crucial time in the trial, since one witness after another has been turning hostile. Although his predecessor, also a senior IPS officer, Amitabh Thakur, did not turn hostile, he failed to reiterate the evidence from his investigation when he took the witness stand. On November 19, Thakur told the court that the CBI did not have evidence to prove that Shah and senior IPS officers received “monetary and political benefits” from these alleged fake encounters. In addition, Thakur even claimed that the CBI did not have any motive to show for the 22 people presently facing trial. Shah, Kataria and several top IPS officers including Vanzara, Pandiyan and Dinesh have already been discharged from the case. Only 22 men – 21 low-rung policemen and
the owner of the guest house where Kausar Bi was allegedly kept before she was killed – are currently facing trial, though 35 people had been accused of the crime at the start. While Shah was first named as an accused in Thakur’s investigation, it was Tamgadge who questioned and eventually arrested him. Shah, however, was discharged from the case by a special CBI judge, M.B. Gosavi, on December 30, 2014, a decision made all the more controversial by the CBI’s refusal to appeal it. Tamgadge was the 210th witness in the case. At present, he is posted in Kohima as deputy inspector of police. From 2011 to 2015, he held multiple posts in the CBI, the most important of which was as superintendent of police of the special crime branch of CBI, Mumbai. Following a few questions by chief public prosecutor B.P. Raju, Tamgadge was exposed to a series of questions by defence lawyers. His deposition went on for over nine hours. Answering a question posed by defence lawyer Abdul Wahab
ing on the occasion, school education director Wonthungo Tsopoe stressed on the need to learn and promote the Hindi language, pointing out how it becomes uncomfortable for many State government officials while attending meetings and seminars outside as they do not understand Hindi. He also advocated for upgrading Hindi language for higher learning and asked the Hindi teachers to think out of the box in this regard, while appealing to them to make Hindi language more vibrant. Admitting to shortcomings within the department that led to protest by the Hindi teachers, Tsopoe reminded them that boycotting classes demoralised students and asked them to remember their responsibilities while fighting for their rights. Earlier, the governor unveiled the jubilee stone and released a souvenir, while Hindi students and teachers from various districts of the State presented special songs. NPSC chairman Asanuo Sekhose, several State government officials, union representatives, teachers, students and others from across the State attended the celebration.
D I M A P U R , N OV 2 2 (NPN): Outgoing presidential council of Naga Hoho (NH) has invited all tribe hoho presidents and well wishers to its emergency presidential council meeting on November 26 at 11 am at Hotel Japfu, Kohima. According to vice president NH Samson Ramei, the meeting is being held to mark the end of the tenure of the incumbent and non appointment of new team owing to various factors. Ramei disclosed that the conscience of the present incumbent team did not allow them to leave office in its present condition without handing over charge to the new incumbent considering the magnitude of responsibilities on hand at the crucial moment Ramie also admitted shortcomings on the part of the NH team in carrying the Hoho forward as per expectations. In this regard, Ramie said the executive members of NH offered their apology to all members, past leaders and other tribal hohos for inadvertent errors that they might have committed in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities.
Bailey bridge over Tsutha likely by this month Correspondent
KIPHIRE, NOV 22 (NPN): Kiphire deputy commissioner (DC) Mohammed Ali Shihab visited the site of collapsed bridge over Tsutha river on Wednesday. The bridge had earlier connected Kiphire and Zunehboto districts, and had collapsed owing to heavy water flow in 2015. Later speaking to this correspondent, the DC sounded optimistic when he said that a bailey bridge was being constructed by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and that it was likely to be completed by Novemberend this year. He, however, admitted that Kiphire required a permanent RCC bridge that could weather all conditions. During his visit, Shihab interacted with the BRO junior engineer Sunny Singh at the site, who assured the DC that the bridge would be completed by November-
Amit Shah a key conspirator in Prajapati killing, IO tells court
MUMBAI, NOV 22 (AGENCIES): In explosive testimony before the special Central Bureau of Investigation court here on Wednesday, Sandeep Tamgadge, chief investigating officer in the 2006 Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case, has said (Cont’d on p-7) that BJP president Amit Shah and IPS officers D.G. Vanzara, Dinesh M.N. and Rajkumar Pandiyan were the “principal conspirators” in the controversial killing, The Wire report stated. In his deposition recorded on November 21, the 2001 batch Nagaland cadres IPS officer told the court that Shah was a part of the “criminal-politician-police nexus” and Prajapati, his associate Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Sohrabuddin’s wife Kausar Bi were killed as the behest of this nexus. Elaborating on his claim, which was also made in the chargesheet Tamgadge filed in 2012, the officer said, “Shah and Gulab Chand “If our state wants to Kataria (now the Rajasthan home promote farming then it minister) were the politicians who should waive farmers’ gained from the nexus.” He further loan. Like the loan I took named Sohrabuddin, Prajapati, for this car.” their close associate Azam Khan
This is it!
D I M A P U R , N OV 2 2 (NPN): Phom Baptist Christian Association (PBCA), which deliberated on the recent Supreme Court judgment scrapping Section 377 of the IPC and decriminalizing homosexuality at its annual executive committee and central council meet, has affirmed that legalising and empowering such acts was “totally unacceptable, alien and shocking to the Christian community.” In a statement, PBCA executive secretar y, N Tialemba Phom, said the meet, which was held from November 13-18, 2018, at its Headquarters, Mission Centre, Nyengching, Longleng, deliberated series of concerns and issues at length ensuring the church safety and her identity. P B C A wa r n e d a l l Phom youngsters and believers not to be persuaded
ment teachers that attempt to express their grievances or raise demands in front of the government. He, however, called on the unions not to express their grievances at the cost of the student’s education. He also acknowledged the keen interest taken by Naga students in learning the official language. In his brief speech, School Education principal secretary Menukhol John congratulated ANHTU for choosing a profession and a language that was rich and expressive. He said the Hindi teachers could also read and write English, which other teachers could not, and that they were good in mathematics. John asked the teachers to not to exclude themselves from other subject teachers and appealed to them to make use of their proficiency in other languages. Admitting that teachers had the right to fight against any injustice, he, however, reminded them of their responsibilities too. He appealed to ANHTU members to rededicate themselves to their teaching profession and take a pledge to take Hindi to greater heights of glory in the days to come. Speak-
NH invites all tribe hoho presidents for choosing new team
Khan on whether call data records (CDRs) of the accused established the conspiracy, Tamgadge named Shah, Vanzara and several other officers from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Hyderabad. “The CDRs of Amit Shah, Dinesh M.N., Vanzara, Pandiyan, Vipul Agarwal, Ashish Pandya, N.H. Dhabi and G. Srinivasa Rao were available with us along with other substantial evidence to prove that there was a conspiracy hatched before the murders.” Of those named, Pandya, Dabhi and Rao continue to face trial; the others have been discharged for lack of evidence. Another crucial revelation made in Tamgadge’s deposition was the role played by Dinesh M.N., then the superintendent of police, Udaipur, in forming a police escort team which eventually killed Prajapati on December 28, 2006. Tamgadge explained how the police escort team was handpicked by Dinesh, and assigned the job to ferry Prajapati from Udaipur prison to the court and back.
A file photo of the collapsed Tsutha bridge. (NP)
end as 40% of the construction work was over. Shihab said as the Tsutha bridge connected Kiphire and Zunehboto and as Kiphire seemed more vulnerable, priority had to be given to the bridge. Kiphire is connected to Zunehboto, Meluri, and Tuensang directly by three different roads, but in the period from July to September this year, it was completely cut off by landslides near Meluri and Yahi bridge area, besides due to the collapsed bridge over Tsutha river. According to DC, a re-
port on the collapsed Tsutha river bridge was submitted to the department concerned in August this year and that, in response to this, the commanding officer of BRO had promised to quickly make a bailey bridge. The major landslide between Tuensang and Kiphire is still to be cleared and commuters now have to cross the river at present. Earth is being cut near Yahi bridge, which has been initiated by advisor L Khumo, so that the road could be reopened quickly.
SKH backs NGBF peace efforts DIMAPUR, NOV 22 (NPN): Sumi Kukami Hoho (SKH) Thursday affirmed that it fully endorsed and supported Nagaland GB Federation (NGBF)’s peace efforts and tireless initiative to help bring “early solution” to the Naga political issue. In a press release, SKH president, Ghovito Zhimomi, said the Hoho also acknowledged the assurance given to NGBF by of government of India to withdraw terrorist tag imposed on “national workers”. Further, SKH said it welcomed the “national workers” whoever joined the peace process with the government of India. Hoho has appealed to the government of India for solution before the next parliamentary elections.
Night curfew along border
DIMAPUR, NOV 22 (NPN): Additional district magistrate Sivasagar, Assam has reinforced night curfew in the 5km belt in Assam side of Sivasagar district bordering Nagaland from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. w.e.f. October 24, 2018 for a period of 60 days. According to DIPR, the ADM Sivasagar, in an order, stated that night curfew has been imposed as a precautionary measure to prevent occurrence of anti-social elements, extremist and unlawful activities coming across the Assam /Nagaland border in the belt of Sivasagar district. The order cautioned that movement of any person, group of persons or any vehicular traffic were prohibited during the period of night curfew. However, magistrate, security personnel of army, CRPF, police and civil officials deployed on duty have been (Cont’d on p-7) exempted from the purview of the prohibitory order. K Y M C