Letter from the Editor-In-Chief

India & Bangladesh has a cordial relationship since almost a decade. The relationship has been further improved after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister of India. It is because of the improved relationship between India and Pakistan that India could pursue to Bangladesh to stop to add to the terrorists group of Northeast who are not already the settler’s there but also imparting training to their cadres. Because of the improved situation, many of the hardcore ULFA activitists of India, including Chairman of ULFA, Mr. Paresh Baruah besides others were pushed back to India, to be arrested by Indian side police. Recently, Bangladesh has started crackdown on militants in their own country. But, what is worrying is the fact that many of them are crossing the borders of India through Northeast borders and other Eastern states of the country. This has been confirmed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). If this is correct, than the Home Ministry needs to take extra precaution to see that people crossing the borders are checked and no terrorists enter into our country. The Cover story this month has detailed about the various consequences of Bangladesh operations.

Human Right defenders are constantly under threat and Manipur has always been struggling with the extrajudicial executions, where hundreds of innocents are fighting to seek justice. We have brought to you the series from the ground level where people are revealing the threats, intimidation and harassment, they have gone through the draconian act. If it was not for insurgency, the history of AFSPA has been a bitter one not only in Manipur but also in other parts of the Northeastern region.

Also, we have brought out the various dimension of state of affairs in Shillong, where dispute arised at Punjabi Lane locally known as THEM IEW MAWLONG. Not only has the situation become worst to the extent that Government was forced to claim curfew which has affected the economy very badly. Even the flow of tourists was reduced. Thanks, to the administration who controlled the situation and the Government has constituted the high level committee to look into the problem for the permanent solution. However, the bone of contention is, whether this schedule caste colony will be shifted or relocated.

We look forward for better things to happen in future.

K.K Jhunjhunwala