Seen here is a burnt down house in Khoaani village in the Phencherop belt of Karbi Anglong, Assam, as on December 28, 2013. The whole village was burnt down. In the ensuing violence, 15 people lost their lives, leaving hundreds homeless and displaced from their land.
Kohima, January 13 (MExN): Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, today intimated Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, of the “immediate need to make plans for re-settlement of all the displaced persons” of Karbi Anglong. In a letter to the latter, Rio, while thanking Gogoi for the “prompt action taken to instill confidence in the minds of the public, as well as to provide relief measures,” said that immediate re-settlement is necessary for the displaced persons of both the Karbi and Rengma communities “who are now languishing in relief camp in Assam and Nagaland.”
Rio acknowledged the receipt of Gogoi’s letter apprising the former of the various steps taken by the Government of Assam to “bring about normalcy and a congenial security environment in the affected areas of Karbi Anglong to enable the displaced persons to return to their villages.”
“On our part,” stated Rio, “we are tightening the measures to check illegal and smuggled arms in and around Dimapur.” He also informed Gogoi of the appointment of a high level committee of senior officers “to go into the causes and genesis of the ethnic conflict that had resulted in the loss of several lives,” in addition to a Special Investigation Team of police “to specifically investigate the killing of nine people belonging to the Karbi community at Pachaspura area near Dimapur, whose bodies were discovered on January 4.”
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‘Bury me in the soil my ancestors called home’
Rengma centenarian laid to rest
“Bury me in the soil my ancestors called home,” reads a roughly interpreted version of the last words jotted down by centenarian Nthϋga N. Rengma. A son of the soil, 110 year-old Nthϋga, was among the hundreds of Rengmas of Karbi Anglong who were forced to flee homes in the aftermath of the unrest that followed the December 27, 2013 incidents.
“Bury me in the soil my ancestors called home,” reads a roughly interpreted version of the last words jotted down by centenarian Nthϋga N. Rengma. A son of the soil, 110 year-old Nthϋga, was among the hundreds of Rengmas of Karbi Anglong who were forced to flee homes in the aftermath of the unrest that followed the December 27, 2013 incidents.
Too frail to speak, Nthϋga wrote the words before he breathed his last on January 12 at the Borpathar High School relief camp in Santipur, Bokajan sub-division. He was serving as the government-appointed headman of Pherashan village (Nkhenlari). Appointed in 1940, he had completed more than seven decades as headman.
Old age taking a toll on the once robust man’s body, Nthϋga arrived at the relief camp towards the end of December. The 35km journey from his village to Santipur was not bereft of discomfort. With no direct motorable road connecting the village, villagers had to carry the centenarian on their backs and trek 12km to the nearest road (a neighbouring Karbi village), where transport awaited, leading to NH 29 and Santipur. Between the nearest road and the village stand two rivers with no overpass. It normally takes a one-and-half hour trek and another hour by road to reach Santipur, villagers say. Pherashan has no electricity, no phone connectivity, and no medical facility; only a primary school.
Nthϋga’s body was not up for the general rice and lentil available in the camp, said one of the villagers. Like the rest of the people at the camp, he had to be accommodated on the cold concrete floor at night with hay underneath sheets of clothes acting as mattress.
People at the camp, who were with Nthϋga as he breathed his last, said he was struggling to speak and gestured for a pen and piece of paper. Even as his condition deteriorated, he wished not be taken to a hospital. His last words were in Rengma dialect, written in Assamese script. One of the men, who saw the note, said that Nthϋga was yearning for his village before he breathed his last. But his last wish could not be fulfilled. He passed away at around 4:00 pm, Sunday, but not on the soil he called home for over a century. He is survived by four children.
Nthüga’s mortal remains were taken to his native village on Monday, where he was finally laid to rest at around 4:00 pm. According to people at the relief camp, the Assam Police insisted on a post-mortem, to which the family eventually had to relent. The body was taken to Diphu early on Monday for the autopsy and taken back to Santipur where a memorial was held in the afternoon.
For the other residents of the camp, life is not any easier. Two women of Nkhenlari (Khanari) had given birth, while hiding in the forests after the violence erupted. They are now at the Borpathar relief camp.
Two meals a day, no snacks in between, is the daily quota of food for the residents, whose ages range from two-week old infants to 90 year-olds. Concerns beyond food hover on their thoughts however. With a new academic year about to start, anxious parents are concerned for their wards’ school admission. Moreover, the three government schools in Santipur, which are housing the displaced, are set to resume classes this month.
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KPLT urged to
call off bandh
DIPHU, JANUARY 13 (MExN): The Hill Youth Democratic Front (HYDF) has urged the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) to call off its proposed bandh scheduled from January 15 to 19, on “humanitarian grounds.” The KPLT had called for the bandh to express sorrow over the killing of nine Karbi persons in Nagaland recently. A press note from the HYDF stated that “free passage is required for supply of essential commodities to refugees.” It also informed that ‘Hacha Kekan,’ a Karbi Traditional Dance, is round the corner and that considering “the volatile situation, KPLT calling a bandh is totally uncalled for.” It added that the bandh would hamper relief works and the peace and confidence building processes initiated by various civil societies from Nagaland and Karbi Anglong. The HYDF further asserted that it “holds the government responsible for the violent situation.” It stated that “as media report suggests, the government had prior intelligence input on the possible clash since June 2013, but never acted responsibly.” It appealed for the KPLT and the NRHPF to “restrain themselves from indulging in anti people activity” and to resolve their issues at the negotiating table.
call off bandh
DIPHU, JANUARY 13 (MExN): The Hill Youth Democratic Front (HYDF) has urged the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) to call off its proposed bandh scheduled from January 15 to 19, on “humanitarian grounds.” The KPLT had called for the bandh to express sorrow over the killing of nine Karbi persons in Nagaland recently. A press note from the HYDF stated that “free passage is required for supply of essential commodities to refugees.” It also informed that ‘Hacha Kekan,’ a Karbi Traditional Dance, is round the corner and that considering “the volatile situation, KPLT calling a bandh is totally uncalled for.” It added that the bandh would hamper relief works and the peace and confidence building processes initiated by various civil societies from Nagaland and Karbi Anglong. The HYDF further asserted that it “holds the government responsible for the violent situation.” It stated that “as media report suggests, the government had prior intelligence input on the possible clash since June 2013, but never acted responsibly.” It appealed for the KPLT and the NRHPF to “restrain themselves from indulging in anti people activity” and to resolve their issues at the negotiating table.
