Ten Manipur tribal MLAs Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to withdraw Assam Rifles from security duties in the violence-hit state, saying its personnel have been putting their lives at risks to create buffer zones between the two warring communities.
After Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, discontent is brewing among Congress MLAs in Manipur.
Naga splinter groups impatient with stalled talks as well as rebel Manipuri groups who have a stake in disrupting upcoming elections to the state assembly, are believed to be regrouping in the borderlands of China's Yunnan province and Myanmar, taking advantage of the turmoil in the latter by using it as a transit corridor.
ational Investigation Agency has arrested a key member of Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang for allegedly being a part of conspiracy to carry out the June 4 ambush that killed 18 army men in Manipur, in the first breakthrough in the probe into the incident.
Sharmila said a section of people even wanted her 'martyrdom' during the 16-year old fast against the AFSPA that she decided to end last year.
China has long coveted Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls Southern Tibet. But, as Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan explains, in 1947, the present state of Arunachal Pradesh constituted the North East Frontier Tract of Assam. When India adopted its Constitution on 26 January 1950, NEFT became 'a separate politico-administrative entity' although it was constitutionally still a part of Assam. Its administration was brought directly under the President of India with the Governor of Assam acting as his agent. A revealing excerpt from his book The Origin Story of India's States.
The operation in Nagaland and Manipur was carried out after the army received "credible and specific" intelligence.
Exploiting the killings to ratchet up the tension in the region and harden negotiating positions with the central government serves nobody, least of all the people of Nagaland. The peace process must not be stalled because of this incident or distracted by calls to repeal the AFSPA, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Naga rebel groups remain divided over the pact. Moreover, secrecy on accord creates apprehension in the society. K Anurag reports
Rediff.com gives you a lowdown on the NSCN-K.
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-K leader S S Khaplang, whose outfit carried out the June 4 attack on the Army in Manipur, is believed to be ill and convalescing in a Yangon hospital.
'The Naga Hills region, Nagaland and Manipur, have had the most uncaring and corrupt state governments with little to show on the ground despite the nation's highest per capita development expenditure,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
The decision has been taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
After the Naga leader's death, Chinese intelligence may ensure ULFA terrorist Paresh Barua takes over as leader of the anti-India rebel groups operating out of Myanmar, says Nitin A Gokhale.
Rijiju said the central government will rehabilitate all Indian citizens in the Naga group if they abjure violence.
The newly-formed common forum of Northeast insurgent groups based in Myanmar has posed a renewed threat to security and peace in the troubled region.
By writing a scathing letter to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on the breakdown in law and order in the state, is Governor R N Ravi creating the ground for consolidating his power and directly influence proceedings in the state, asks Sandeep Pandey.
In the wake of the killing of 18 Armymen in Manipur, government plans to deploy either Indo-Tibetan Border Police or Assam Rifles for manning the 389-km-long Indo-Myanmar border in the state.
Although India has sought inputs from the Myanmar army since most of those involved in Thursday's ambush would have sneaked across into Myanmar, the fresh operations would smoke out insurgents based in hideouts on the Indian side along the border.
Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha said the violence in Akuluto constituency in Zunheboto district left one dead and two injured.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
The bravado of NDA ministers may have undone the gains made in cross-border security cooperation over the past several years.
In an exclusive interview with rediff at his New Delhi residence this week, former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai categorically stated, "Smaller states have the advantage of effective administration as well as speedy development."
For the government to meet its GST roll-out deadline of April 1, 2017, the states will have to ratify the Bill before Parliament's winter session, starting November.
In his last column for Rediff.com, Praful Bidwai joins issues with those lauding India's covert operation against Naga rebels based in Myanmarese territory.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'If you put colour-coded internal security maps of India in May 2014 and now, the picture won't be flattering to Modi.' 'Failures on internal security are now piling up and can break Modi's momentum,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Indian intelligence agencies have often claimed that left-wing extremists are trying to make inroads in the militancy-hit regions of north-east to foment further unrest. But Jaideep Saikia, noted terrorism and conflict analyst, claims, "People who speak of Maoism taking roots in the north-east have not read history".
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.