Agartala: The displaced Reang voters of Mizoram, based in six evacuee camps in Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura district on Wednesday decided to abstain from voting through postal ballots in the coming Assembly polls but said they would vote through normal ballots only.
President of Mizoram Bru (Reang) Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), Elvis Chorkhi said, "most of our voters of the total 8205 are illiterate and they cannot vote by ticking in the postal ballots. As in postal ballots no symbol is used, so it became difficult for the voters to cast their votes," Mr Chorkhy told PTI.
Mr Chorkhy said, "We are not boycotting the elections and if the Election Commission arranges voting through normal ballots and ensures safety and security of the voters, we would vote in the December 2 elections."
He said the decision of the voters were conveyed to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Mizoram, representative of Mizoram Election Department present in the camps and to the CEO of West Bengal, Debasish Sen, who is camping in the evacuee camps as special envoy to observe the voting.
Mr Chorkhy said there was no summary revision for inclusion of Bru voters in the electoral rolls as a result of which names of many eligible voters were not included in the voter list. He also demanded a summary revision so that the names of genuine voters were not deleted from the voter list.
When pointed out that summary revision may not be possible before the December 2 Mizoram assembly poll, he said they wanted a written assurance from the Election Commission that a revision would be conducted before the next assembly elections.
About 33,000 Bru/Reang people had migrated to adjacent Kanchanpur subdivision of Tripura from western Mizoram following ethnic clashes between Mizos and Reangs in 1997.
Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Lalmalsawma told PTI at Aizawl that the Bru voters demanded that symbols of the respective candidates should be printed in the postal ballots as majority of them are 'illiterate' and might make mistakes while casting votes. "We have consulted the Election Commission on the issue, and though no official directions have been issued, we have been given verbal approval to reprint the postal ballots."
He said that the two-day polling at the Bru camps, scheduled to begin at the six relief camps, have to be postponed for one or two days.
The Brus also demanded inclusion of around 5,000 names in the voters lists which the Election Commission had already turned down, he said.
High security along border
Additional forces were deployed along the State's border areas with Manipur in the run-up to December two elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly to prevent any insurgent activity in the wake of threats by ultras to border villages.
While one platoon of state armed police was deployed at the border hamlet of North Chaltlang, patrolling by the armed personnel was also stepped up along the sensitive pockets of the border to prevent any insurgent group sneak in and interfere in the hustings, police said. (PTI)
Thousands protest killing of journalist
Imphal: Thousands of people on Wednesday took a rally amid tight security deployment at Manipur capital complex here in protest against the killing of a 22-year old journalist by unidentified gunmen on November 17 last.
Organised by the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union, the rallyists first gathered at Tiddim road, marched through Imphal airport road, then to Keisamthong, Pishum and later to Hapta Kangjeibung here but were prevented from entering main road near Raj Bhavan and Chief Minister's office.
The rallyists whose placards read: 'Stop Extra Judicial Killing,' 'Uphold Freedom of Press,' 'Gun will not bring Solution,' 'Stop Silent Killing' and 'Do Not Target The Press', later held a public meeting at Hapta Kangjeibung.
Several speakers during the meeting condemned the attempts of the state government to prevent taking out of the rally and said hundreds of people who were coming to attend the rally from interior districts were prevented at various points from reaching the rally spot.
A spokesman of the AMWJU said authorities also prevented the live coverage of the rally by local cable networks. (PTI)
BJP alleges Congress hand in Assam blasts
Guwahati: The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of having a hand in the serial blasts in Assam on October 30, which left more than 80 people dead.
Releasing a series of photographs of the main accused Bimal Mushary with several top-most leaders of the Assam state Congress, BJP national vice-president Bijoya Chakravarty and MP Rajen Gohain alleged that the Congress had a definite hand in the blast. The main accused, Bimal Musahary, is a Congress activist and very close to Assam Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Burman, who is also the senior most in the Cabinet after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. ''These photos clearly show that the mastermind of the blast was patronised by state leaders like Dr Bhumidhar Burman and state general secretary Haren Das. These are not private photos but all of them are from public functions,'' Mr Rajen Gohain said. (UNI)
Bombs recovered on eve of ULFA’s protest day
From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Alert has been sounded in Assam on the eve of the annual ‘protest day’ of the banned ULFA on November 27 even as police and the Army recovered two bombs at two different places in the State on Wednesday.
The ULFA observes November 27 as ‘protest day’ every year denouncing continued counter-insurgency operation by the Army in the State.
Counter-insurgency operation by the Army was launched in the State on the night of November 27, 1990 at Lakhipathar in Tinsukia district of eastern Assam.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Eastern Range), LR Bishnoi informed that a powerful bomb weighing over one kilogram was recovered from a bus at Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) bus stop at Jorhat on Wednesday.
The bomb planted in the luggage box of the bus was first spotted by the handyman of the bus, who raised the alarm. Police immediately threw a blast preventive blanket on the bomb before it was defused by an explosive expert.
The police official informed that vigil was mounted in all the four districts – Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia – of eastern Assam where the banned ULFA has a strong presence to prevent any terror strike by the outfit on its ‘protests day’.
Meanwhile, Army recovered another bomb from Bhalukjaroni at Solmara under Salonibari police station in North Assam’s Tezpur and apprehended one Abitullah Khan in this connection. It happened to be third recovery of bombs in the same area during this month.
Missing link between Ainus and Assamese?
Guwahati: A missing link connects Assamese with the Ainus, a group of people with a cultural and racial background different from that of ethnic Japanese living in extreme Northeast Asia, according Dr Satyakam Phukan.
''In fact, I have been working on this subject for the past eight years after accidental discovery of a word - 'Meko' and a passing reference by a book written by renowned historian Debananada Bharali, way back in the twenties of the last century,'' said Dr Satyakam Phukan, the man behind this new exposure puzzling purists.
If this new revelation has to be accepted, then the whole story of migration of the Assamese will be rejected.
So far, it has always been the case of migration of Aryans from Konouj (North India) to Assam, who were supposed to have formed the core of the Assamese.
''The number of similarities between Ainus and Assamese languages is not a mere coincidence. I have found at least 133 groups of words which have more similarities,'' said Dr Phukan, who, despite being an active surgeon, has been researching the subject for nearly a decade.
According to him, Assam people have their own identity. ''It is not a myth but there are historical records which say that there was a Kolita or Kolta Kingdom somewhere in Tibet and there were references of both in the books of Dr Banikanata Kakoti as well as Tribes & Races by RG Lathan,'' claimed the surgeon.
According to him, the Kolita Kingdom either got assimilated or got overrun by Tibetans and one section migrated towards Northeast Asia, which eventually became Ainus of Hokaido and Sakhalin and the other section went southwards to the Northeast India to take the shape of Assam.
However, scholars of the Assamese language are a little skeptical about the new theory. ''This is an interesting revelation and must be encouraged, but I would love to see some more deliberations on the grammar and morphology before arriving at a conclusion,'' opined Dr Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya, considered a living legend of indigenous language evolution in the State.
An unfazed Dr Phukan, however, said, ''It will be quite difficult for the old school of thought to digest the new revelations. I am confident that more and more revelation will come to support the theory in future.''
But who actually are Ainus? The Ainus are people with a cultural and racial background different from that of the ethnic Japanese. They have been populating Hokkaido, northern Tohoku, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin. But today, only a small population remains mainly in Hokkaido.
According to one of several theories, the Ainus are descendants of Mongoloid migrants who entered the Japanese Islands before the Jomon period. They were later displaced and assimilated when the ethnic Japanese expanded their territory further north.
These are certainly fascinating facts but only more research will reveal whether the Ainus are isolated people or have their long lost cousins in Assam.
In fact, Dr Phukan has come up with a book called 'Tonokori', graphically showing the similarities between Ainus and Assamese languages. (UNI)
President of Mizoram Bru (Reang) Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), Elvis Chorkhi said, "most of our voters of the total 8205 are illiterate and they cannot vote by ticking in the postal ballots. As in postal ballots no symbol is used, so it became difficult for the voters to cast their votes," Mr Chorkhy told PTI.
Mr Chorkhy said, "We are not boycotting the elections and if the Election Commission arranges voting through normal ballots and ensures safety and security of the voters, we would vote in the December 2 elections."
He said the decision of the voters were conveyed to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Mizoram, representative of Mizoram Election Department present in the camps and to the CEO of West Bengal, Debasish Sen, who is camping in the evacuee camps as special envoy to observe the voting.
Mr Chorkhy said there was no summary revision for inclusion of Bru voters in the electoral rolls as a result of which names of many eligible voters were not included in the voter list. He also demanded a summary revision so that the names of genuine voters were not deleted from the voter list.
When pointed out that summary revision may not be possible before the December 2 Mizoram assembly poll, he said they wanted a written assurance from the Election Commission that a revision would be conducted before the next assembly elections.
About 33,000 Bru/Reang people had migrated to adjacent Kanchanpur subdivision of Tripura from western Mizoram following ethnic clashes between Mizos and Reangs in 1997.
Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Lalmalsawma told PTI at Aizawl that the Bru voters demanded that symbols of the respective candidates should be printed in the postal ballots as majority of them are 'illiterate' and might make mistakes while casting votes. "We have consulted the Election Commission on the issue, and though no official directions have been issued, we have been given verbal approval to reprint the postal ballots."
He said that the two-day polling at the Bru camps, scheduled to begin at the six relief camps, have to be postponed for one or two days.
The Brus also demanded inclusion of around 5,000 names in the voters lists which the Election Commission had already turned down, he said.
High security along border
Additional forces were deployed along the State's border areas with Manipur in the run-up to December two elections to the 40-member Mizoram Assembly to prevent any insurgent activity in the wake of threats by ultras to border villages.
While one platoon of state armed police was deployed at the border hamlet of North Chaltlang, patrolling by the armed personnel was also stepped up along the sensitive pockets of the border to prevent any insurgent group sneak in and interfere in the hustings, police said. (PTI)
Thousands protest killing of journalist
Imphal: Thousands of people on Wednesday took a rally amid tight security deployment at Manipur capital complex here in protest against the killing of a 22-year old journalist by unidentified gunmen on November 17 last.
Organised by the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union, the rallyists first gathered at Tiddim road, marched through Imphal airport road, then to Keisamthong, Pishum and later to Hapta Kangjeibung here but were prevented from entering main road near Raj Bhavan and Chief Minister's office.
The rallyists whose placards read: 'Stop Extra Judicial Killing,' 'Uphold Freedom of Press,' 'Gun will not bring Solution,' 'Stop Silent Killing' and 'Do Not Target The Press', later held a public meeting at Hapta Kangjeibung.
Several speakers during the meeting condemned the attempts of the state government to prevent taking out of the rally and said hundreds of people who were coming to attend the rally from interior districts were prevented at various points from reaching the rally spot.
A spokesman of the AMWJU said authorities also prevented the live coverage of the rally by local cable networks. (PTI)
BJP alleges Congress hand in Assam blasts
Guwahati: The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of having a hand in the serial blasts in Assam on October 30, which left more than 80 people dead.
Releasing a series of photographs of the main accused Bimal Mushary with several top-most leaders of the Assam state Congress, BJP national vice-president Bijoya Chakravarty and MP Rajen Gohain alleged that the Congress had a definite hand in the blast. The main accused, Bimal Musahary, is a Congress activist and very close to Assam Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Burman, who is also the senior most in the Cabinet after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. ''These photos clearly show that the mastermind of the blast was patronised by state leaders like Dr Bhumidhar Burman and state general secretary Haren Das. These are not private photos but all of them are from public functions,'' Mr Rajen Gohain said. (UNI)
Bombs recovered on eve of ULFA’s protest day
From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Alert has been sounded in Assam on the eve of the annual ‘protest day’ of the banned ULFA on November 27 even as police and the Army recovered two bombs at two different places in the State on Wednesday.
The ULFA observes November 27 as ‘protest day’ every year denouncing continued counter-insurgency operation by the Army in the State.
Counter-insurgency operation by the Army was launched in the State on the night of November 27, 1990 at Lakhipathar in Tinsukia district of eastern Assam.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police (Eastern Range), LR Bishnoi informed that a powerful bomb weighing over one kilogram was recovered from a bus at Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) bus stop at Jorhat on Wednesday.
The bomb planted in the luggage box of the bus was first spotted by the handyman of the bus, who raised the alarm. Police immediately threw a blast preventive blanket on the bomb before it was defused by an explosive expert.
The police official informed that vigil was mounted in all the four districts – Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia – of eastern Assam where the banned ULFA has a strong presence to prevent any terror strike by the outfit on its ‘protests day’.
Meanwhile, Army recovered another bomb from Bhalukjaroni at Solmara under Salonibari police station in North Assam’s Tezpur and apprehended one Abitullah Khan in this connection. It happened to be third recovery of bombs in the same area during this month.
Missing link between Ainus and Assamese?
Guwahati: A missing link connects Assamese with the Ainus, a group of people with a cultural and racial background different from that of ethnic Japanese living in extreme Northeast Asia, according Dr Satyakam Phukan.
''In fact, I have been working on this subject for the past eight years after accidental discovery of a word - 'Meko' and a passing reference by a book written by renowned historian Debananada Bharali, way back in the twenties of the last century,'' said Dr Satyakam Phukan, the man behind this new exposure puzzling purists.
If this new revelation has to be accepted, then the whole story of migration of the Assamese will be rejected.
So far, it has always been the case of migration of Aryans from Konouj (North India) to Assam, who were supposed to have formed the core of the Assamese.
''The number of similarities between Ainus and Assamese languages is not a mere coincidence. I have found at least 133 groups of words which have more similarities,'' said Dr Phukan, who, despite being an active surgeon, has been researching the subject for nearly a decade.
According to him, Assam people have their own identity. ''It is not a myth but there are historical records which say that there was a Kolita or Kolta Kingdom somewhere in Tibet and there were references of both in the books of Dr Banikanata Kakoti as well as Tribes & Races by RG Lathan,'' claimed the surgeon.
According to him, the Kolita Kingdom either got assimilated or got overrun by Tibetans and one section migrated towards Northeast Asia, which eventually became Ainus of Hokaido and Sakhalin and the other section went southwards to the Northeast India to take the shape of Assam.
However, scholars of the Assamese language are a little skeptical about the new theory. ''This is an interesting revelation and must be encouraged, but I would love to see some more deliberations on the grammar and morphology before arriving at a conclusion,'' opined Dr Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya, considered a living legend of indigenous language evolution in the State.
An unfazed Dr Phukan, however, said, ''It will be quite difficult for the old school of thought to digest the new revelations. I am confident that more and more revelation will come to support the theory in future.''
But who actually are Ainus? The Ainus are people with a cultural and racial background different from that of the ethnic Japanese. They have been populating Hokkaido, northern Tohoku, the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin. But today, only a small population remains mainly in Hokkaido.
According to one of several theories, the Ainus are descendants of Mongoloid migrants who entered the Japanese Islands before the Jomon period. They were later displaced and assimilated when the ethnic Japanese expanded their territory further north.
These are certainly fascinating facts but only more research will reveal whether the Ainus are isolated people or have their long lost cousins in Assam.
In fact, Dr Phukan has come up with a book called 'Tonokori', graphically showing the similarities between Ainus and Assamese languages. (UNI)
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