The Centre's new interlocutor for Naga peace talks, A K Mishra, has held an 'informal' meeting with the Working Committee of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), the bloc said on Thursday.
The NSCN-K had signed a ceasefire with the Centre in 2001 but unilaterally abrogated it in 2015 when the then 'chairman' of the group, S S Khaplang, was alive. Sumi is the prime accused in the killing of 18 Indian Army soldiers in Manipur in 2015 and the National Investigation Agency had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for his head.
Security presence which has been bolstered by flying in more army troops and rapid action force and central police forces was clearly visible at all major areas and roads.
Muivah flew from New Delhi and landed at Dimapur airport, where he was given a brief civic reception by local officials.
'The government needs to think if a draconian, outdated and colonial law is needed in a democratic, multi religious, diverse country governed by a democratic government.'
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
As Karnataka gears up for D-Day, with most exit poll projections predicting a hung assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi written on February 25, but kept secret so far, Thuingaleng Muivah, the general secretary of the group and chief Naga negotiator in the talks with the government, also spoke about the framework agreement (FA) signed in 2015 and its proposal that the state should be allowed to have a Constitution and national flag.
Four BJP leaders and former Supreme Court judge S Abdul Nazeer, who was part of the Constitution bench that upheld the archaeological report on Ayodhya, were among six new faces appointed as Governors on Sunday.
Three weeks after Nagaland governor and Centre's interlocutor for Naga peace talks R N Ravi said in the assembly that political negotiations have concluded, the NSCN-IM has claimed that his assertion was "reckless" and talk are back on the table.
The talks were convened in Delhi in a bid to hammer out differences, particularly on the NSCN-IM's demand for a separate flag and Constitution for the Nagas, officials said.
The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on January 8 next year, and the state is expected to go to polls this December. Besides, elections are also due in Himachal Pradesh alongside Gujarat.
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.
Post-Karnataka, it would be a mistake to underestimate the BJP. It should be amply clear by now that the Right-Wing is more an elaborate theatre than a single scene, actor or play, warns Shyam G Menon.
Ravi, shifted from Nagaland, said he saw his new role more as an opportunity than a challenge.
The ongoing vicious game between Delhi and the so-called 'separatist' militias has severely blighted the Nagas' life and gutted their dignity, says Ravindra Narayan Ravi
The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it has held consultative meetings with all state governments, Union territories and other stakeholders on the issue of identification of minorities at the state level and 14 states have furnished their views so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said efforts are on to remove AFSPA completely from the northeast region.
Ashwani Kumar's family has negated the possibility of foul play.
India lodged 5,164 cases of offences against the State, including those under sedition, the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in 2021 with an average of 14 cases every day, according to latest government data.
North-eastern states have led the charge in recording a decline.
Amid opposition unity talks, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Trinamool Congress, alleging that it was fighting elections in Meghalaya to ensure the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.95 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.73 per cent.
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.
The Army made no attempt to ascertain the identity of the civilians returning from work on a pick-up truck before shooting them in Nagaland's Mon district on Saturday, a joint report by the state's Director General of Police T John Longkumer and Commissioner Rovilatuo Mor has said.
The coming year will be one that will test sabka vishwas to the utmost, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
The Modi government has been put on notice.'Will it buckle under such pressure? These are times when the moral fibre of the leadership makes all the difference, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court by two Kashmir residents challenging the Centre's decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Nirmala Sitharaman's messaging was clear when she presented a well-balanced Budget with an eye on state elections in nine states followed by a general election next year, observes Ramesh Menon.
Now, the chief minister is under pressure to make good his promise after the December 4 incident in Nagaland's Mon, where 14 people were killedAFSPA has eclipsed all other achievements of the Biren Singh government.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking an independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into a recent hooch tragedy in Bihar, in which at least 30 people have lost their lives.
A day after it was reported that a teenager was killed at the hands of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction) cadres, other organisations have slammed the state for failing to resolve the militancy along the border. Anurag Kashyap reports
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is among six personalities chosen for this year's Padma Vibhushan.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah on Wednesday said no peace talks were possible 'under the shadow' of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and termed Union home minister Amit Shah's statement in Parliament on the botched counter-insurgency operation as 'irresponsible.'
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
According to NHFS-5, over 75 per cent women justified men beating their wives in three states -- Telangana (84 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (84 per cent) and Karnataka (77 per cent).
The Union health ministry has directed states to identify all left-out people and ensure everyone gets their Covid jab through initiatives such as workplace vaccination, as part of the government's "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting on vaccination progress with Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry on Monday. In a tweet, the minister said, "Spoke about augmenting Govt's #HarGharDastak vaccine campaign. Requested help from religious leaders, NGOs & political groups to speed-up vaccination coverage." Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asked state officials that workplace vaccination should be organised for targeting people due for their doses.
Harsh Vardhan said that 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses will be made available by July and 216 crore more between August and December.
Congress leader Pawan Khera was on Thursday arrested by Assam Police in connection with a first information report (FIR) over alleged remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the action coming soon after he was deplaned from a flight to Raipur where he was going to attend the party's plenary session.
