At least 14 Naga rebels were killed in a fierce gun battle between two factions of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim at the outskirts of Dimapur town in Nagaland at 10 am on Friday.
Now, every state election -- first up, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year, then Delhi in January and Bihar in September next year -- will be seen by his followers for evidence of his recovery, and by rivals of sharpening decline, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The first firing which killed six civilians, occurred when army personnel mistook coal mine workers returning home in a pick-up van singing songs on Saturday evening, to be insurgents belonging to the Yung Aung faction of the banned outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), about whose movements they had been tipped-off.
A village volunteer was killed in a gunfight between two warring communities in Manipur's Kangpokpi district, officials said on Thursday.
Nagas have now a much better understanding with the people of India, NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chisi Swu said after meeting George Fernandes.
There were indications that the ceasefire could be extended only for six months, unlike last July's one year.
Zeliang, however, was unfazed saying he would continue to remain the NPF leader in the House.
Refuting the Army's contention that the incident was a result of mistaken identity, he said, "The ambush site was barely few metres away from the coal mining site and the villages are nearby. How could they lay an ambush so close to civilian residences?"
This is the fourth incident since the commencement of the conflict in Manipur wherein soldiers while on leave, on duty or their relatives have been targeted for nefarious interests by inimical elements.
'I appeal to the Government of India to hasten the peace process,' he said.
Apart from Aboh's son, the deceased included some other family members of the MLA.
The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), a militant outfit currently in a state of truce with the government, is providing help and shelter to cadres of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom in Naga villages.According to police sources, the ULFA cadres have found safe haven in Mon district of Nagaland with the help of NSCN-K militants.The ULFA militants often cross the border and flee to Nagaland after carrying out operations within Assam.
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the operation on Tuesday after hearing the differing viewpoints presented by the home and defence ministries on the necessity of such an operation against the Issac-Muivah and Khaplang factions of the NSCN. The CCS has backed the home ministry view that the Army needs to intervene and clear the two districts of armed militants from both the rival factions
'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.'
The present happenings in Manipur are the wages of continued neglect, and not so benign at that, of a vital region and its people. Had we lavished on the North East even a fraction of the care and resources we do on Kashmir, things would not have come to this pass, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
The Centre's interlocutor for the Naga peace process, K Padmanabhaiah, is holding talks with National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) in Bangkok for the second time since the Manmohan Singh government took over.
Stars get in a festive mood on social media, as they celebrate Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
The agency filed the charge sheets in the interconnected cases before a designated special court in Kamrup, giving a sequence of events before they went missing.
'I have been asking whether the chief minister (N Biren Singh) is in charge of the situation in Manipur.' 'Law and order is a state subject and chief minister is a Constitutional authority. Why did he follow the diktat, if at all there is a diktat from the Union government?'
'The fact that NSCN leaders are here in India for talks is a very positive development,' says Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga.
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Issac-Munivah wanted to join the operations against NSCN-K militants.
All marketplaces in the town were deserted and attendance in government and private offices was nil. Schools and colleges also remained shut, officials said.
'I declared myself a Sikh. We want freedom from caste discrimination.'
The shootout occurred at a place between Haraothel and Kobsha villages though the police are not yet sure about how it began.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The ongoing peace talks between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM leadership and the Government of India have reached a 'sensitive stage' and efforts are on to iron out a longstanding solution to the over six decades old Naga political problem, observed P Chidambaram in his last press conference as the home minister.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
Governor P B Acharya on Tuesday directed Speaker Imtiwapang to summon an emergent special session of the state assembly.
The Manipur Police personnel allegedly drove the two women from the Kuki-Zomi community, who had sought refuge in their official Gypsy, to a mob of around 1,000 Meiti rioters in Kangpokpi district, the Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet has said.
Dentist for a gynaecological problem! This bizarre incident took place at a private hospital in Gurugram, resulting in the death of an airhostess from Nagaland on June 24 last year, prompting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to launch an inquiry.
Speaking to PTI-Video, Singh said the talks were at an advanced stage, even though he stayed away from naming the underground organisation.
The state government order came amid reports that properties belonging to members of one of the warring communities are being burnt or razed to the ground by the other in various places.
In a letter to Governor Anusuiya Uikey, KPA president Tongmang Haokip informed about the party's decision to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Manipur, where ethnic rioting since the last three months has claimed more than 160 lives.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
