Tnt Apr Cover Story Proofing

! ! ! g n i k Events which have c o S h oc k e d Sh and

Humoured the Re g i o n

T

he Northeast India is unique in every sphere, be cultural, social, political or otherwise. Numerous events that took place in Northeast apart from rise and fall of militant groups of various states. If population is a concern for the entire nation here is a state in the region, which believes higher birth rate ensures existence. Again, anti dam movement is not a monopoly of the West. The frustr5ation is growing in Northeast, which is at present the worst sufferer of displacement due to such major dams. If the region is known for its hospitality and generosity, some unfortunate events of conflicts and clashes left some blots in its history. But collectively, it stands above other regions of the country and that preciously what TNT Bureau has done to earth those events and developments that make Northeast so special, so different as it is today. 20

April 08

Cover Story

Meghalaya

Pyrdiwah incident

The Northeast was shell-shocked when a strong troop of Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) made a massive intrusion to Meghalaya and occupied one of the most advantageous positions of the Border Security Force (BSF) of India at Pyrdiwah in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. It was April 16, 2001, when the country was taken a back for the BDR’s daring act. Tension thereafter spread to other sectors, including in Assam’s Mancachar area where heavy exchange of fire between BSF and BDR in Boraibari on the night of April 17-18. On 18th April morning, one of the BSF patrol parties comprising 16 personnel went missing. All of them were killed in Bangladesh and their mutilated bodies were sent back to India. The evidence of eight of them having been shot at point blank range were found. The matter was immediately taken up through the regular channels of the BSF as also through diplomatic channels both in Delhi and in Dhaka. The Bangladesh Government on April 18 confirmed that necessary instructions were being issued for withdrawal of the BDR and restoration of status quo ante. This withdrawal was completed by the night of April 19. But by then, the vulnerability of the region to intrusion and invasion has been exposed. Guns have fallen silent but not the rumblings within the force that bore the brunt.

No family planning here!

India is the second most populated country in the world and is expected to overtake China by the 2019 according to many experts. But in the picturesque state of Shillong there seems to be quite the opposite sentiment to that of the rest of the globe, if what Mr His Preaching Son Shylla, the erstwhile Chief Executive Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) believes has any credence. The KHADC, a constitutional body to protect and preserve traditional customary laws

and culture, is worried that the state’s Khasi and the Jaintia tribes could become extinct with the unabated influx of non-tribal people to the state. “There is a great fear that Khasi and Jaintia tribes could get wiped out if we do not encourage bigger families from now onwards and hence a systematic campaign has been launched by us,” is the belief and conviction of Mr H.S. Shilla. What is astonishing is that in the early part 2006, a campaign was launched for bigger families and every indigenous tribal under the KHADC with more than 15 children was on Shylla’s “felicitation list”. He bestowed cash rewards (Rs 1,000 per

child) from the funds meant for other schemes such as health, education and infrastructure. Shylla insisted that his baby-boomer strategy would serve a social cause. He bravely tried to convince himself that the threat of being outnumbered is forcing tribal youth to take to insurgency. However, he has often failed to explain how these overwhelmingly large families, whose sole earner is usually a vegetable vendor, daily wage earner or a poor farmer, can make ends meet. DID WE SAY WE ARE IN THE 21ST CENTURY OR IS THIS THE AGE OF CASH INDUCED PROCREATIONS…..TSK TSK April 08

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