Mizoram: Brutal torture kills a 13-year-old Mizo boy in a Children's Home

By Paritosh Chakma

I learned with horror and pain that a Mizo boy identified as Lalnunpuia, son of Rinsanga of Chaltlang Lily in Aizawl, was on last July 13 tortured to death by the caretakers at Herald for Christ’s Children Home at Lungleng, about 15 kms north of Aizawl. The only fault of the ill-fated child, who was barely 13 years, was that he had allegedly ragged another boy junior to him. The deceased was accused of being indiscipline and hence, "punished" by the workers of the Home. But he was beaten up so brutally and inhumanly that he died hours later in the same day.

As it happened every time someone was beaten to death, the authorities of the Herald for Christ’s Children Home tried to cover up the incident and defend the accused. The Home’s authorities initially stated that the child had died of asthma and heart problem. But the photographs published in a local newspaper “The Aizawl Post” dated 16th July 2009 indicate brutal torture on the boy. This concurs with the claim of the boy’s parents that he had been tortured to death.

The Herald for Christ’s Children Home is a recognized intitution under the Social Welfare Department of the government of Mizoram. The act of torture to the point of death constitutes the most serious violation of human rights. The government of Mizoram must take adequate measures to arrest the perpetrators and they must be brought to justice, whoever they are and whatever connections they have, if any, with higher authorities including, of course, politicians.

The death of Lalnunpuia should also serve as a wake up call for the government of Mizoram which should immediately activate all its mechanisms to monitor the conditions of all such Homes/detention centres wherever children are being given shelter/detained - be they private or government-run. It is the duty of the State to protect the rights of every child.

Article 191(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that "States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child."

During investigation/monitoring by officials, no leniency must be shown to the concerned officials of the Homes/detention centres if any failings on the part of the insitutition is noticed. Any inadequacies must be immediately addressed; every worker or official of such Homes/ detention centres must be held accountable for his or her actions of ill treatment against any child. Any complaint or allegation must be promptly investigated and its findings made public along with the action taken report. Only this will help prevent further abuse of children or deaths of children in Children's Home.

Every child has his/her rights. Let every child bloom to the fullest and for that matter, he or she be allowed to grow in an environment free from torture or torturous conditions.

The Changed World

(A poem byParitosh Chakma)

When I was a child
And visited my grandparents’ house
Twenty miles away
Down the river - winding and mild:
I found the pebbles
On the river beds
so beautiful,
The songs of the birds
so soothing,
And, the foams that danced on the tiny waves
so mystic.

My mind travelled in wonderlands
On the wings of the wind,
So thrilling was the splash of the oar
That my heart did soar -

For, every splash it made
Took me nearer to grandparents’ house.

Now, twenty years later,
I still love to visit my grandparents’ house
I still love the birds, the pebbles and the river;
Only no longer I hear birds sing carefree,
Nor do the foams dance on the waves
For me
The pebbles no longer attract me
During my journey to grandparents’ house
Twenty miles away
Down the river.

I know why birds can’t sing carefree songs, or
Waves can’t dance or pebbles won’t silently lie.
They see and feel the changed world too!
The river silently flows -
But there’s sadness and anger in her heart
At the sufferings of the people who live on her lap.

"Lalthanhawla's Singapore Bomb On Racism" By Subir Bhaumik

To go to source, click the link: http://subirbhowmikscolumn.blogspot.com/2009/06/subir-bhowmik-returned-from-europe.html

(Subir Bhaumik is the BBC's East India Correspondent and a known Northeast India specialist)
Friday, June 26, 2009

Did Mizoram chief minister Pu Lalthanhawla cross his Laxmanrekha at Singapore this month when he spoke at the the local Waterweek festival ? I would imagine, the answer is yes and no. We have no transcript of his speech - or a written copy, so Lalthanhawla can always say he was misquoted by the media - the usual escape route for publicity-seeking politician who shoot their mouth a bit too far. But Indian diplomats in Singapore do confirm that much that has been attributed to Lalthanhawla was actualkly said by him. The Mizoram chief minister, whose Congress party staged a grand comeback by sweeping the state assembly polls this year, said three things, according to the diplomats who were present. He said people from Mizoram and Northeast were victim of discrimination elsewhere in India, that people elsewhere in India did not even think they were Indians and that he was as much an Indian as anybody else in this country. He somewhat overstepped his limits when he used the word "racial discrimination" to describe the troubles people from Northeast faced elsewhere in India.

I see nothing really wrong with his remarks. It is true most of our Mongoloid-looking brothers and sisters are not seen as "proper Indians" elsewhere in India. Many in Delhi or Bombay or down south would mistake them for being Nepalis or Chinese. They also face a lot of trouble in places like Delhi, where a large number of Northeastern girls have been raped, molested or taken advantage of. Their distinct and somewhat westernised lifestyle and clothes often give our "mainland" brothers the wrong impression - that they are easy to have. And they face this because they are seen as different. It is a lot of ignorance and quite a lot of bias that goes to create such a situation. Even Shahrukh Khan understood this problem when he potrayed the trouble faced by the two tribal girls from Manipur in his world-beating Indian woman hockey team - initially these two girls were told by the heavy and huge Punjabi defender that they should have learnt Punjabi before they came to Delhi.

The neglect of Northeast by successive Indian government is further compound by the way the people of mainland India look at the region. So Lalthanhawla clearly spoke the truth when he said that he was seen as a Nepali down south and that he was as much Indian as anybody else. What he perhaops did not say but could well have is that he had to pay the price of being an Indian - specially as a Congressman in the days of the MNF separatist insurgency when Mizos loyal to India were killed or harassed.

But Lalthanhawla made the mistake of context. He said all he did before an international audience and in the context of the racist attacks on Indian students in Australia.The Australians deserve the strongest condemnation for what is happening in that country and it is not expected that a senior Indian politician, wherever he comes from, will help them get off the hook by an off-the-cuff remark. Lalthanhawla and many, many of his Mizo brothers, one must remember , are beneficiarcies of the Indian system. He has been the chief minister and scores of Mizos now man important positions in Indian bureaucracy, police and other public services and the armed forces.

But I have a much bigger criticism to make. Lalthanhawla should look within his own society in Mizoram to see how racism pervades his own state. The Mizos fought India for twenty years to get freedom. They finally settled for a separate state. But look at the way they treat their own minorities - the Chakmas, the Brus and the rest.

That is what late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi reminded MNF chief Laldenga in 1987 when Laldenga pushed for abolition of the Chakma district council. "If you Mizos want justice from India, give justice to your own minorities, the Chakmas," Rajiv Gandhi reminded Laldenga. Look at what is happening to the nearly 30000 Brus (Reangs) who have been driven out of Mizoram by the likes of the Youngnmen Christian Association ["Young Mizo Association" - editor]- for nearly twelve years, successive Mizoram governments have refused to take them back saying they were not Mizoram residents.

That is a big lie. I was in Tripura and witnessed personally the first exodus of the Brus when they first started fleeing West Mizoram into Tripura's Kanchanpur area in October 1997. I know for a fact that most of these Brus are long term residents of Mizoram. But Lalthanhawla's predecessor Zoramthanga clearly told me in a BBC interview in 2002 - "These Brus are Reangs, they are from Tripura, they have their Rajas, they are not Mizos.

Ofcourse they are not Mizos. But who said all residents of Mizoram have to be Mizos. They are Lais, the Maras, the Chakmas, the Brus and the Chins in Mizoram - they are not Mizos but they are residents of Mizoram. No Mizo political party has any sympathy for them. All Mizo political leaders behave as if these minorities dont deserve even the right to stay in Mizoram. Government employees there can strike off the name of even a former Chakma minister of Mizoram government S.P.Dewan from the voter's list.

The minority grievances against Mizo racist domination gave way to greater unity among themselves and their organisation even demanded the creation of a Union territory in South Mizoram by uniting the Pawi, Lakher and Chakma district council. So Pu Lalthanhawla, before he started blaming India for not doing justice to Northeast, should get his act together on the minority issue and give justice to the Chakmas, brus and the rest of the non-Mizo minorities. Charity, Pu Lalthanhawla, begins at home. Take back the Brus from Tripura and give them back their lost homes before you blame Indians for "racial discrimination" against Mizos or Northeasterns. Atleast mainland Indian people can be blamed for ignorance when they think you are Nepali . But Mizos know their minority - and the chief minister should take the lead in giving them justice if he feels so strongly about racial equality.

In pictures: The life and times of the Chakmas in Mizoram

Chakma dwelling houses

Chakma children, waiting....

Chakma men at work

Chakma women at work

A young Chakma girl with her sibling

A young Chakma boy with his sibling on the back

A young Chakma boy: A burden too heavy?

A Chakma woman selling home-made "rice cake" at market

At a local market in a Chakma village

Fetching water from river

A bamboo raft as mode of travel

A Jhum: traditional and chief occupation of Chakma tribals

Going home

Going to catch fish in the river

A note from the author: Through the above pictures, I have tried to capture the lives and struggles of the Chakma tribals who are very simple people with simple minds and ambitions. All they want are basic facilities which still elude them. These pictures have been captured by me from different Chakma villages/places in Mizoram. Copywrite of these pictures belong to me (Paritosh Chakma). Hence, they can only be used by others after obtaining prior permission.

The Chakmas have their distinct culture, tradition and script. In Mizoram, they live mostly in the Southern part (Chakma Autonomous District Council) and in the western belt, along the India-Bangladesh borders.

Mostly, they live on the river banks. Hence, rivers are crucial for their livelihood, culture and survival. Various modes of transportation are used by Chakma villagers to sail in the rivers – to visit relatives in other villages, to go to market and to go to Jhums (as seen in the pictures above). The only other mode of travel is on foot.

The Chakma tribals are peace-loving souls and they toil really hard in the hills. Their villages are secluded and serene, where time still moves slowly. They are cut off from the hustle and bustle of life. But they are economically very poor and their habitations lacked development. This makes them vulnerable to diseases, illiteracy etc and makes them less relevant to the fast changing times. As their traditional means of livelihood, Jhum, is rapidly dwindling, they fear for their future.

Rs 3 crores border fencing compensation siphoned off in Mizoram?

According to a news item appearing in The Shillong Times dated 22 June 2009, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mizoram unit filed a complaint with the police alleging that over Rs 3 crore meant for compensating the victims of the India-Bangladesh border fencing has been siphoned off.

The news report stated –

"The Mizoram BJP on Sunday alleged that the compensation meant for affected people of the India-Bangladesh border fencing amounting to Rs 3,02,42,500 has been siphoned off.
State BJP information secretary K Lalchhanhima said the compensation to the tune of Rs 95,87,300 for landowners of Jarulsury-Kukurduley sector had been drawn under 30 fictitious names or land passes, while another Rs 2,06,55,200 for Kukurduley-Borakobakali sector had even been drawn the same way under 60 fictitious names or land passes.

The BJP further alleged that three officials siphoned off the money for their relatives. ''Of the Rs 7,87,70,250 sanctioned, Rs 3,02,42,500 has been diverted, '' he stated

The party had filed an FIR with the Lawngtlai police station, he said and demanded the Congress government to book the culprits and ensure that the money reaches the true landowners."

Mizoram: Misuse of BADP funds

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Read a shorter version of this report - "Misuse of BADP funds in Mizoram" in Merinews.com, 19 June 2009 at http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15773212

______________________________________________________________

By-Paritosh Chakma

I am encouraged by the recent candid admission by Mizoram Chief Secretary Vanhela Pachuau that the funds under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) have been siphoned off and warned that ''Anybody found misusing the BADP fund will not be spared".

The Chief Secretary has confirmed a few cases where the contractors have drawn 60 percent of the fund in advance but failed to carry out the works in Lawngtlai and Saiha districts. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

Certainly, acts of misappropriation of funds or use of funds to develop areas beyond the ambit of the BADP come under the meaning of “misuse of funds”. Non-use of funds is another problem that needs to be addressed.

The main objective of the BADP is “to meet the special developmental needs of the people living in remote and inaccessible areas situated near the international border and to saturate the border areas with the entire essential infrastructure through convergence of Central/State/ BADP/Local schemes and participatory approach”. The BADP is a 100% centrally funded programme.

Sometimes, I do not believe my own eyes and ears when I read and hear that a huge range of development activities can be undertaken under the BADP which has the potential to transform the lives of those “people living in remote and inaccessible areas”. But the aam aadmi is being denied their rights and privileges.

The following are various schemes/projects that can be taken up under BADP sectors:

1) Education:
(i) Primary/Middle/Secondary/Higher secondary school buildings (including additional
rooms)
(ii) Development of play fields
(iii) Construction of hostels/dormitories
(iv) Public libraries and reading rooms

2) Health

(i) Building infrastructure (PHC/CHC/SHC) .
(ii) Provision of medical equipments of basic/elementary Type X-Ray, ECG machines, equipment for dental clinic, pathological labs. etc. can also be purchased.
(iii) Setting up of mobile dispensaries/ ambulances in rural areas by Govt/ Panchayati Raj
Institutions including Tele medicine.

3) Agriculture and allied sectors
(i) Animal Husbandry & Dairying
(ii) Pisciculture
(iii) Sericulture
(iv) Poultry farming/ Fishery/ Pig/Goat/Sheep farming.
(v) Farm forestry, horticulture/floriculture.
(vi) Public drainage facilities.
(vii) Construction of irrigation embankments, or lift irrigation or water table recharging
Facilities (including minor irrigation works).
(viii) water conservation programmes
(ix) Soil conservation-protection of erosion-flood protection.
(x) Social Forestry, JFM, parks, gardens in government and community lands or other
Surrendered lands including pasturing yards.
(xi) Use of improved seeds, fertilizers and improved technology
(xii) Veterinary aid Centres, artificial insemination Centres and breeding Centres.
(xiii) Area specific approach keeping in view the economy of Scale- Backward-Forward integration.

4) Infrastructure
(i) Construction and strengthening of approach roads, link roads (including culverts& bridges)
(ii) Industries- Small Scale with local inputs viz. handloom, handicraft, furniture making, tiny units, black smith works etc. and food processing industry
(iii) Provisions of civic amenities like electricity, water, pathways, ropeways, foot bridges, hanging bridges, public toilets in slum areas and in SC/ST habitations and at tourist centers, bus stands etc.
(iv) Development of infrastructure for weekly haats/ bazaars and also for cultural activities etc. in border areas.
(v) Construction of buildings for recognized District or State Sports Associations and for
Cultural and Sport Activities or for hospitals (provision of multi-gym facilities in
Gymnastic centers, sports association, physical education training institutions, etc.)
(vi) Construction of houses for officials engaged in education sector and health sector in remote border areas.
(vii) Tourism/Sports/Adventure Sports Scheme- creation of world class infrastructure for
tourism and sports in border block wherever feasible- like rock climbing, mountaineering, river rafting, forest trekking, skiing and safaris (car/bike race, camel safaris, yak riding, boating in Rann of Kutchh.
(viii) Creation of new tourist centers.
(ix) Construction of mini open stadium/indoor stadium/auditoriums.
(x) New & Renewable electricity - Bio gas/ Biomass gasification, Solar& Wind energy and Mini Hydel Projects -systems/devices for community use and related activities.

5. Social Sector
(i) Construction of community centers
(ii) Construction of Anganwadis
(iii) Rural Sanitation blocks.
(iv) Cultural Centres/ Community Halls
(v) Construction of common shelters for the old or Handicapped
(vi) Capacity building programme by way of vocational studies & training for youth for self employment and skill up gradation of artisans and weavers.

6. Miscellaneous:
i) Development of Model villages in border areas.
ii) E-chaupals/ agrishops/ mobile media vans/market yards.
iii) Cluster approach wherever feasible.

Only if half of all these – which are meant for the border people – were implemented in the Mizoram-Bangladesh border areas inhabited by the Chakma minority tribals, the Chakma community would have been developed in terms of education, access to health, self employment and infrastructure.

The BADP has been in implementation in Mizoram from 1993-1994. In the initial years up to 1997-1998, only four Rural Development Blocks along Indo-Bangladesh border were covered. During this period of five years, a total of 11.55 crores were allocated to Mizoram only to develop the India-Bangladesh border which is predominantly inhabited by the Chakma tribals. The year-wise allocations were as follows:

1993-94 – Rs 2.84 crore
1994-95- Rs 3.25 crore
1995-96 – Rs 2.73 crore
1996-97 – Rs 2.73 crore

But no development took taken place along the 318-km Mizoram-Bangladesh border. People continued to live in broken houses without any sanitation. Most of the villages up to 1998 were without schools, Health Sub Centres, roads, water facilities, play grounds, community halls or livelihood etc (except traditional “jhum” cultivation).

In 1997-1998 the programme was extended on the eastern side of Mizoram bordering Myanmar.

Presently, BADP scheme is implemented in 16 R.D Blocks whose geographical area totals 12665.09 sq.kms. Of these, 11 R.D Blocks are situated along the Indo-Myanmar border and the rest five R.D Blocks are along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

A total of Rs 146.82 crore have been released to the state of Mizoram under BADP to develop the border areas from 1997 to 2008 as given under:

1997-98 - Rs 6.73 crore
1998-99 - Rs 6.82 crore
1999-2000 - Rs 8.00 crore
2000-01 - Rs 12.32 crore
2001-02- Rs 16.08 crore
2002-03 – Rs 16.32 crore
2003-04 – Rs 12.48 crore
2004-05 – Rs 15.56 crore
2005-06- Rs 9.03 crore
2006-07 – Rs 22.62 crore
2007-08 – Rs 20.86 crore[1]

Hence, a grand total of Rs 158.37 crore have been released to the state of Mizoram from 1993 to 2008.

I do not know how Mizoram is continued to be dubbed as “better performing state” in terms of implementation of BADP. No citizen knows where the money is being pumped in since there is no semblance of development in the areas nearest to the border. Mizoram government has claimed to have utilized the full amounts every year except an amount of Rs 991.83 lakhs which it did not utilize during 2006-07 (Position as on 13.02.2008).[2] Even this non-utilization of funds to the tune of Rs 991.83 lakhs when the targeted population are in dire need of facilities, is a criminal act.

Certainly, the BADP funds are not reaching the targeted population. In order to fine tune the programme, the Ministry of Home Affairs – Department of Border Management has revised its guidelines. The 2009 guidelines has asked the state governments to utilize the BADP funds only in those villages of the blocks, which are located “within 0-10 km” from the international border. The 2009 guidelines further stated:

“Those villages, which are located nearer to the international border will get first priority. After saturating these villages with basic infrastructure, the next set of villages located within 0-15 km and 0-20 km need to be taken up. If the first village in a block is located at a far away location from the international border, the first village/hamlet in the block may be taken as "0" km distance village for drawing the priority list.”

Effectively, in Mizoram, most of the Chakma villages along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border are located within 0-15 km radius from the international border. Hence, they should be given the first priority of development.

For so long, the Chakma minorities have been denied the right to development. About half of the Chakma population in the state are said to be residing outside the Chakma Autonomous District Council and they have been deprived of human development in terms of education, health care, roads, electricity, water supply and other infrastructure and livelihood.

Now, with the stringent provision in place requiring BADP funds be utilized first within “0-10 km” from the international border, can the state government hoodwink the Central government and deny the inhabitants of India-Bangladesh border villages development?

It is to be seen how far the state government is willing to stick to the 2009 guidelines.

Footnotes:

[1]. Statement showing the amount released during the last 10 years (1997-98 to 2007-08) under Border Area Development Programme to various BADP States, Lokh Sabha Unstarred question NO 1669 for 11.03.2008, available at http://164.100.47.133/annex/lsq14/13/AU1669.htm
[2]. Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India available at http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/BADP.pdf

Mizoram: Builum village's IDPs deprived of basic facilities to force them to vacate homes

(Submerged future? :A house in the middle of water from the hydel project at Builum village. Courtesy: http://www.lawrkhawm.com)

By - Paritosh Chakma

In yet another case of neglect of the rights of the displaced persons, the Mizoram government has allegedly stopped all facilities to the Mizo tribal residents of Builum village under Kolasib district to force them to move out of the village. The Builum village is facing submergence due to a dam constructed over Serlui river to produce electricity.

24 families of Builum village refused to vacate their homes alleging that they have not been provided adequate compensation after their agricultural lands, houses and farms/ gardens have been submerged by the dam water of the 12-MW Serlui B hydel project. About 80 families from Builum village have accepted resettlement package offered by the state government of Mizoram and they have been resettled at Bawktlang village under Kolasib.

The state government has rejected the accusation that adequate compensation has eluded the victims. Instead, the state government has taken punitive measures to force the villagers to vacate their homes. According to social activist Ruatfela Nu who has visited the village, the villagers have not been getting basic facilities such as ration supply, school, water facilities, healthcare and electricity for the last one year. (Newslink, Aizawl, 12 June 2009) Clearly, the state government is totally insensitive to the problems of the affected villagers.

The state government has reportedly closed down the school at Builum village which constitutes deprivation of fundamental right to basic education to over 35 children of the families who continued to stay in the village.

Since most of the agricultural lands of the villagers have been submerged, the villages do not have any income sources to survive. But the state government has made their lives more miserable by stopping supply of ration under the Public Distribution System, drinking water supply and electricity to the remaining villagers of Builum village. The residents of Builum village have not been getting these facilities since for the last one year.

The residents of Builum village are in urgent need of basic amenities like food, water, medicines, school education, electricity supply and jobs.