Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda in his first foreign trip since resuming office on August 3, 2016 (he was Prime Minister between August 18, 2008, and May 23, 2009), visited India from September 15-18, 2016, leading a 125-member delegation. He held wide-ranging talks and sealed three significant deals with India. Significantly, Dahal stated, on September 17, 2016, "We will not allow any activity that is against our neighbouring countries from our soil." Dahal now seems to be a changed man and has recognized the need for cordial relations with India as a priority. During his previous innings as Prime Minister, Dahal chose to put relations with China on fast track. Within a week of oath as Prime Minister then, Dahal had gone to China in August 2008, to become the first elected premier to visit China in the history of Nepal.
Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, ICM & SATP War, in our epoch, is not an isolated, capricious phenomenon which flouts the "normal" peaceful process of history... the countenance of peace has been as blurred as that of war."
Brus: Still Delayed Homecoming
On September 20, 2016, Lalbiakzama, Additional Secretary, Mizoram Home Department, disclosed that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA), had approved 'Road Map-V' for Bru repatriation, proposed to commence from the first week of November 2016, and would soon release funds for expenses for the process. Though the expenditure for this phase was not projected, Lalbiakzama stated that the total proposed expenses for the repatriation was earlier estimated at INR 680 million in the 'Roadmap-IV' of which over INR 97 million was released by the Centre in 2015. "We have spent around Rs. One lakh [100,000] during the proposed repatriation in 2015," he said, adding, the State Government would ask more fund in case of further requirement. The effort to repatriate Bru families during June to September in 2015 had failed as not a single Bru came forward in their respective relief camps before the Mizoram officials, to be identified as bona fide residents of Mizoram.
On September 3, 2016, Bangladesh executed the 'chief financer' of Jammat-e-Islami (JeI), Mir Quasem Ali, found guilty of War Crimes during the 1971 Liberation War by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2). His execution took place at Gazipur District's Kashimpur jail. Ali had been accused of involvement in a "reign of terror" in the city of Chittagong and was found guilty in eight of the 14 charges, including the abduction and killing of teenage freedom fighter Jashim Uddin Ahmed at the Dalim Hotel, one of Al-Badr's torture cells in Chittagong city. Apart from the hotel, Quasem and his aides ran torture camps in Dowsta Mohammad Panjabee Building and Salma Manzil in Chittagong city.
Keeping the spark alive: Mohammed Alauddin – A teacher, and so much more
When you think you can’t, a teacher will pull you up and make you believe that you can, however difficult it is and whatever it takes. And the moment you start believing that you can, the cycle of change sets rolling. So, in the truest sense of the term, a teacher is a change-maker, investing time, energy and faith in building a rock solid future. And when a teacher takes a stand, the world listens, and listens very carefully. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Mohammad Alauddin.
Reconciliation and Waywardness
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On August 28, 2016, Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera, while addressing a gathering in Point Pedro in the Northern Province, observed,
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management At least 13 persons were killed and another 41 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance of District and sessions court of Mardan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on September 2, 2016. Four lawyers and three Policemen were among the dead. District Police Officer (DPO), Mardan, Faisal Shahzad said the attacker detonated a hand grenade before exploding his suicide vest. The bomb contained eight kilograms of explosive material, the DPO said, adding that security arrangements at the site of the attack helped mitigate the damage. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) splinter, Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Naga Peace Accord: Persistent Ambiguity
Though over a year has passed since the signing of the 'historic Naga peace accord' or the 'framework agreement' (as it was later termed) between the Government of India (GoI) and the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), the 'framework' has not been finalised yet, by either party. The 'framework agreement' was signed on August 3, 2015, by the GoI interlocutor for Naga talks R.N. Ravi and 'general secretary' of the NSCN-IM Thuingaleng Muivah in the presence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in New Delhi, after nearly 18 years and over 80 rounds of negotiations under ceasefire. Though most of the actual contents of the 'agreement' was not made public, GoI had affirmed that the 'framework agreement' was not a final settlement, and details would be disclosed in the succeeding six months. Regrettably, this remains a distant dream.
Andhra Pradesh: Maoist: Creeping Revival
On July 30, 2016, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres abducted and killed Vooraka Maraiah (45), a pastor, branding him as a 'Police informer', at Lakshmipuram village under the Nellipaka mandal (administrative unit) of the East Godavari District. Maraiah's body was found with hands tied at the back, bearing stab and bullet wounds, along with a letter in which the Maoists charged him with not heeding to their warning to mend his ways. He "accumulated wealth disproportionately. As Maraiah started exploiting the poor tribal people and the needy, we punished him in the people's court," the letter alleged. The Maoists also warned a host of other village leaders allegedly involved in "unlawful" activities and asked them to cut off their ties with the Police.
Maoists: Fighting amidst Losses
At least three cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), including a woman, were killed in an encounter with the Security Forces (SFs) in the forests of Kacheghat under Faraspal Police Station limits, Dantewada District, Chhattisgarh, on August 5, 2016. The slain Maoists were identified as Faggoo aka Nishant, Soma akaAjeet and Manki aka Geeta. Two .315-bore country-made revolvers, eight live rounds, one muzzle loading gun, two grenades, one Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) magazine with two live rounds, three detonators, four bundles of wire, 35 gelatine sticks, one kilogram of explosive, Naxal [Left Wing Extremism (LWE)] literature and magazines, and other materials were recovered from the encounter site.
On July 26, 2016, nine militants were killed in 'Operation Storm 26' carried out by the Joint Forces including Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) personnel, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the Detective Branch (DB) of the Police and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), in capital Dhaka's Kalyanpur area. One militant identified as Rakibul Hassan aka Reagan, purportedly a member of Daesh [Islamic State], was arrested from the area with bullet injuries. However, Inspector General of Police A.K.M. Shahidul Haque, who visited the encounter site, stated, "The detained person claims to be an IS member, but we think they are of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)." On July 27, 2016, Police identified seven of the nine militants killed as Abdul Hakim Naym (33), Taj-ul-Haque Rashiq (25), Akifuzzaman Khan (24), Shazad Rouf (24), Motier Rahman (24), Abdullah (23) and Jobayer Hossain (20) after matching their fingerprints with those on their National Identification Cards. Most of them were from well to do families and were missing since January 2016. On July 28, 2016, the identity of the eight slain militant was established as Raihan Kabir aka Tarek, the Dhaka 'region coordinator' of JMB. He had reportedly trained the men who attacked the Holey Artisan café in Gulshan on July 2.
Pakistan's famed and much celebrated devotional Sufi singer Amjad Sabri (45) was killed in a targeted attack in broad daylight while he was traveling in his car in the Liaquatabad Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on June 22, 2016. Sabri's relative and co-traveler, Saleem Sabri, was also killed in the attack. Qari Saifullah Mehsud, spokesperson for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Hakimullah Mehsud faction claimed responsibility for the killing, which he justified on account of "his (Sabri's) blasphemous Qawwalis" (Sufi devotional music).
On June 29, 2016, the Army claimed that, in a series of joint operations with the Assam Police over the preceding days, 11 militants of the recently-floated militant outfit, Helem Tiger Force (HTF), were arrested from Umrongso in Dima Hasao District and Larkercha village in West Karbi Anglong District along the Assam-Meghalaya border. HTF reportedly has close links with the Karbi People's Liberation Tiger (KPLT). During the operation, the Security Forces (SFs) recovered two 9mm pistols, three 7.65 pistols, three rifles, one hand grenade and 40 rounds of live ammunition. After the arrest, the Army sources said that the unearthing and apprehension of a majority of cadres of this outfit which has links with KPLT and United People's Liberation Army (UPLA), has been a major setback to the nexus between the outfits, which have been involved in kidnapping, extortion and 'tax-collection'. The kingpin of this new outfit is still at large and efforts are on to reach out to him.
Manipur: ILP: Impending Crisis
On June 23, 2016, normal life in Imphal and other areas was crippled on the first day of the 48 hours State-wide bandh (general shut down strike) imposed by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Manipur.
On June 9, 2016, an armed squad of suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed a man for allegedly resisting when two 'commanders' of the outfit tried to rape his wife in Aurangabad District. Awadhesh Singh Bhokta was shot seven times by an AK-47 assault rifle at Gewal Bigha village in the Madanpur Police Station area of the District. Giving details Bhokta's wife stated, "Maoist 'commanders' Prasadji and Nawalji had been raping her for the last one month. This was opposed by her husband. A dozen armed Maoists raided their house on Thursday [June 9], picked up Bhokta, took him to a secluded place and shot him dead." The Maoists, meanwhile, in some leaflets left behind, claimed that Bhokta was killed for being a 'police informer'. The leaflets also threatened to teach a lesson to Aurangabad Member of Parliament Sushil Kumar Singh and Member of Legislative Council Rajan Kumar Singh. Aurangabad Superintendent of Police (SP) Babu Ram, denying the Maoists charge, stated, "Maoists have killed an innocent person. Their claim that Bhokta was a police informer is baseless."