The Origin of Pagro sub-group among present day Mising tribe

           There are basically two postulates on the origin of Pagro sub-group of Mising tribe.The debates revolves round the stalwarts of Mising historians and writers.There is also a moderate animosity among Mising tribe within the Mising Agom Kébang(MAK) so as to which dialects should be the "standard form" notwithstanding the fact that a language has many features with various dialects to usher a growth and development of literature.

The Subtle Sub-groups

          There are many sub-groups among present day Mising tribe where they are more or less differ in their dialects as well as variation in tones.The well-known sub-groups (sometime it is also referred as clans )Sa:yang(colon is used for high central vowel, a bit long sounding, according to  the Agom Kébang,hereafter),Mo:ying,Délu(diacritical mark on e is used according to Interntional Phonetics Association Model  as adopted by MAK to suit in Mising words,hereafter),Oyan,Pagro,Somuwa,Samuguria,Dambuk,Tamar and Bihiyas.Of these sub-groups,however,the Samuguria,Tamar and Bihiyas uses Assamese as their medium of expression with more or less mixture of Mising words in between,sometime not at all. The Somuwa sub-group ,of late,members have changed their  surnames to Adi sounding surnames from surnames which actually exists in Mising tribe and to-day identified themselves as Adi Somuwas, 6-7 years ago,a latest study says.I also heard this from two Mising people,whose village is next to the Somuwa of Lekang constituency of Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh at Pasighat while I was attending a Do:nyi Po:lo Yelam Kébang(DPYK) silver jubilee year celebration from Dec 1 to Dec 3,2011.

Two Theories on Pagro
          The two theories on the meaning of Pagro sub-group which is highly debated in two intellectual camps are as follows.

One,Dr Nomal Chandra  Pegu,the author of ''The Mishings of the Brahmaputra Valley",the first post-independence writer of the tribe,said Pagro comes from two words Aro+Pag(to understand this second meaning we may refer to paggod,pagnam etc ) meaning Real+Root( loosely Blood). The amalgamation of two words formed Pagro or Real Root/Blood.

Two,Professor Nahendra Padun,the noted Mising linguist and writer and founder secretary of MAK,constructed "Pagro" in this manner ''Mipag+Aro" meaning "People other than Mising(Non-Mising,say)+ Real" that led to formed the  Real Non-Mising people.(Attributed this fact from Mg Juwel Pe:gu,executive member of MAK at Pasighat while interacting with this blogger). 

The Hite-Pagro and Miro Clans War
           As  my inquisitive mind command more from me since I'm not satisfied with either of the above postulated reconstructions of "Pagro" to which  sub-group I too belong, once I'd the luck of exchanging ideas on Pagro through Facebook chat with my Achi(Elder Brother) Dr Bomchak Riba of Rajiv Gandhi University of the department of Geography on this once hotly debated issue of the intellectual circles  of the Mising Tani tribe.Dr Riba belongs to present-day Galo Tani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and  he clubbed his clan to Lare Galo.He hailed from Darw village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh.It is interesting to note his account when the debate on Pagro took place among Mising circles  without much historical ingredients,oral or written.Excerpts from our conversation:

"Heard that Hite-Pagro fought with Miro clan. Still there is a cave called Miro-Pomar Aru ( means cave of Pomar Miro) in the hills of Perlek. But the cave is inaccessible or untraceable now. My father used to tell me the story. He even saw the cave. In the entry of the cave, 4-5 pieces of flat rocks could be seen. In the war Pomar Miro was chased by Hite-Pagro people. He hide himself inside the cave with stucked poisoned arrow in his calf muscle. Hite-Pagro people tried to hook him out with maamo (thorny flagella of canes) but failed as he went more inside the cave. Pomar Miro was too injured to move even an inch. He stayed in the cave for several days. While inside the cave, he killed one porcupine (hosi) with his only last weapon, Rokchik (knife). He ate all the meat and drank the blood. He would dry the meat in the sun near mouth of the cave (probably those flat rocks were his drying place for meat). On the other hand, his village performed Bume-runam(act of burying someone's belongings when the person is lost or deadbody is not found). On a fine morning, his ( Pomar's) son told his mother his father has returned. His wife was not at all astonished as she taught that-it could be orom/yaji-yalo (spirit of human) but it was real Pomar."

           Dr Riba also added an interesting note, '' Earlier there were neither Mising nor Galo;neither Adi nor Nyipak.Just they were known by clan name only".

             This new story could be the latest substance in understanding the Pagro  meaning and origin.The earlier two theories were void of much historical reasoning and evidence to believed except attempting to establish vocabulary rendition.It is also significant to mentioned that Dr N Lego,a noted Tani historian,had mentioned in his book "The History of the Mishings of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh" that Pegu and Doley clans didn't faced any war of clans  while moving to their present day habitat possibly for taking a different route.They peacefully come down from  a place called Karko.It is again notable to mentioned here that Pegu and Doley bearing surnames are  well-known composition of Pagro clan.This is another twist to the inquiry of origin and meaning Pagro sub-group.

N.B.Please do not take this writing otherwise especially those who are from different clans of Mising or Galo,whatever may be.This blogger take interest in writings about the oral history,myths and legends,origin,clan wars,folk songs,culture ,faith and religion,land and territory,mores,language,literature,development,politics ,life style and society relating to the Abo Tani descent tribes.This writing is not  for focusing Pagro clan or establishing supremacy among the others.This is just for the sake of  dissemination of information.

Agom Kebang conference from Jan 9,TU varsity campus likely to declare in Jonai

Come 2012,the first Mising organization formed in the post-independent era will organize its 30th Biennial Conference at the border town of Jonai from January 9.The venue for the grand literary meet will be the Jonai Higher Secondary School premises,which is located in the heart of the town.The meet will be continued till January 11,2012.The Mising Agom Kebang or the Mising Literary Association that spearheaded the Roman script movement with flying colours in 1985 after it was founded in 1968 at Disangmukh.Since then the day government of Assam declared the introduction Mising language in schools,annually 30th of October is observed as Mising Language Day.This year another milestone was bagged due to the restless efforts made by the MAK leadership,the country's premier literary body the Sahitya Akademi agreed to award the prestigious 'Bhasa Samman' even as the language dreams for Eight Schedule recognition.However,the rich oral history,folklores and mores were acknowledged by the Akademi ,considering which ground it was decided.The language of Tani people is getting momentum with leaps and bounds even as many urban middle classes Tani parents has left their wards bereft of their mother tongue.The Mising Agom Kebang(MAK) has brought about the culture of writing for those enthusiasts of the community who loves to put their thought into printed letters notwithstanding the literature of this Tani language is still in nascent stage which needs a renaissance among the people.However,this Tani language can still boasts of having more than 5 lakhs speakers across villages and towns in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Tezpur University to set up extended campus in Jonai
Sources in the central committee of the MAK told this blogger that a campus of Tezpur University is likely to be declared by the government of Assam in Jonai during the meet itself.The chief minister as well as the education minister are the top political invitees to the literary meet,the sources said.The Tezpur University is a central university established under the Assam Accord.This will be a historic new year gift for the people of entire upper north bank districts of Assam and Siang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.The temple of learning is expected to boost the educational atmosphere and related economic activities of the backward north bank regions plagued by perennial floods from where hundreds of youths particularly from Dhemaji and Lakhimpur districts migrate to various metropolis of India often leaving their education mid-way to join petty odd jobs.

Any more Human Rights violation?64th year of Independence and the Mising tribe

India is stepping to a glorious years of its hard-earned independence which would celebrate the 64th year of liberation.Together with other developing nations,India wants to move forward and take up responsibility cautiously as an aspiring global power.But as the nation marches towards its prestigious red letter day,the abuse of human rights and illegal detentions by the powerful Indian Army reminds us that India needs to understand its own citizens,especially the indigenous peoples.A week ahead of India's Independence day an incident shook a community of nearly 1 million people belonging to the Mising tribe.Ethnic leaders belonging to a community who's following the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi for its emancipation have been subjected to human rights violations that deeply pained the tribe and questions the functioning of the world's biggest democracy.

Illegal Detention and Human Rights Violation
It was a mixture of shocked,nightmare and anger for the Mising tribe youths when they heard that Raju Medok was brutally tortured in a closed dark room in an Indian Army camp in Jonai .Medok was picked up in Rangkop Tiniali on August 7,2011 during the night along with Minesh Pegu where Indian Army stands regularly for routine check to ensure peace and security of the people.Without rhyme or reason,they were given the most barbaric treatment by the mighty Indian Army personnel and later in the same night they were handed over to Jonai police station.Jonai is an small town which has largest concentration of  the Mising tribe's population located in the Assam-Arunachal border in northern part of Assam. He was returning on his two-wheelers from a funeral of a former fellow leader who died in Chennai hospital recently.Both Raju Medok and Minesh Pegu works for Mising Mimag Kebang(MMK),a political organization fighting for autonomy and political rights of the indigenous Mising tribe that  has nearly 10 lakhs souls inhabiting the two northeastern Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.Medok is a very active leader who made a name for himself as a leader of the tribe's student body named Takam Mising Porin Kebang(TMPK) who held the post of general secretary.While Minesh is serving as president- in-charge of the MMK of Jonai District Committee.The TMPK is one of the most respected student body among the Mising indigenous tribe which has  penetration across almost all Mising villages in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.Few days back one of my classmate whose internship project was based in flood affected Matmara in Lakhimpur district of Assam expressed before me that he was immensely assisted by TMPK workers while executing his project.The TMPK as a student body has major psychic influence among the Mising educated youths especially those hailing from rural and town areas across far and wide of the country.Ironically only 2 per cent of the Mising tribe inhabits in urban areas as per a 2001 census of India,so we can well-gauged the organizational influence.Whether one may be directly involved or not,many among the tribes olds and youngs keep an eye on the activities of the TMPK.The MMK is just a sister organization where often former student leaders keep involving themselves in the interest of the community.Both Medok and Pegu  has been admitted to hospitals for better treatment in Dibrugarh,a south bank city across the mighty Brahmaputra river.

There were hue and cry,anger and condemnation over the inhuman treatment  of the tribe's leaders across the Mising lands,voices were echoed not just in Silapathar and Majuli island but in the virtual space too where hundreds of Mising youths uses social media for discussing public issues relating to the tribe.On August 9,2011,the Misings held a protest demonstration in the premises of Murkongselek Kristi Bhavan,another glorious cultural site of the tribe with a record of more than 50 years of the national festival known as Ali-aye-ligang,significantly the premises bear a testimony of cultural assault of a mid-night bomb blast in 2008.The relentless struggle for real autonomy,voices against mega hydro power projects,protection from flood and erosion struggle all are being carried through non-violence and satyagraha.The recent Jonai incident have become another insult to the adorable movement that has ignited a second thought for the future of the tribe  among many .

The illegal manner of detention of the two ethnic leaders questions the conduct and responsibility  of the Indian Army.The fundamental rights that are inherent in every human-being have been crushed.It was nontheless a gross violations of human rights from the people who were meant to engender peace and security to its citizens.


Apologized and it's okay!Manufacturing militancy?

It was fortunate on the part of the mighty Indian Army in a rare kind of it's conduct,the Army officer who was in charge of the regiment of the Jonai Army camp acknowledged the wrong done to the ethnic leaders.The officer came to the protest demonstration site and apologized the Mising ethnic organizations publicly.However,it is always a tradition for the Mising tribe either commute or forgive the people who rightly  acknowledge for misconduct.For thousands years, the Kebang or meeting has been the platform for resolving contentious issues not only among it's tribesmen but to settle misunderstanding with others.In many cases,Kebang always comes out with amicable and honorable resolutions.So it was natural that the tribe gave 'chalte hai' attribute to the Indian Army when it came up with such gesture.It is Mising people's nature to be friendly even with someone construed as enemy,when it comes to Army officer who directly reached out to the people,the usual gesture of 'aiye'(it's okay!) was shown.

Does the story ends here?The ripples were seen in the social media such as Facebook especially among the youths.Many Mising Facebook users asked whether it was the reward for the Mising tribe for being law-abiding and staying peaceful.Others questioned  the leadership of their own organizations and curiously wanted to know the reasons behind the 'compromise' with the Army.Some were suggesting 'kaje,apne-pane ko la:lenlaboi,ngolum me:tid dung amme".(Let's open a shooting-cutting group,others are looking down us.) which made us clear that youths think that due to non-lifting of guns such and such are happening. Someone on the same news post of the tortured incident even called out on Facebook to ''broke all administrative building''.Many youths felt the honour and self-esteem as a Mising community has been relegated to the margins and suggested to ''take all possible steps'' to protect the self-respect.Others opined for punishment under due process of law of the land.These might be just a well of echoes seen on the networking site but one must agree to the fact that it also spoke of the state of notions and psychological effects  among the Mising youths after they heard of the detention and torture of it's innocent leaders.If similar kind of case happened against AASU,ABSU leaders other than Mising tribe many wondered how could it have been the consequences and scenario in the aftermath in Assam.The incident is just adding fuel to anger and deprivation of the tribe.The incident may explains the gradual manufacturing of militancy in Northeast India.

Non-violence and the Mising tribe

If Gandhiji,whom we dearly called the Father of Nation , gave India and the world the new tactic of political struggle i.e.ahimsa or non-violence against the mighty and powerful,the Mising tribe is the one who are vigorously resorting to the principle for social justice and overall uplift.Despite Northeast India being the land of hundreds mutinies and armed revolutions, the Mising tribe have been taking utmost cautiousness to follow the law of the land.The Army's detention of ethnic leaders who represents the "Father of Nation" principles in their struggle for community emancipation without rhythm and reason speaks volumes of Army's operation and conduct.It is alleged that the Indian Army was 'used' to avenge matters relating to collections of donations in connivance with administrative officers,North Indian businessmen and petty politicians in the helm of affairs.If the Army has done so,we must say that our soldiers are not on the  right track.If it was the matter,the state police could have acted strongly if there was such complaints against the organizations and persons concerned.However,for any major events the Mising organizations collect 'donations' not just from the people outside the community but within the community members too.The respected Indian Army in where hundreds of Mising tribe  youths dream to join has sent a wrong signal to the entire community.The Army has planted wrong impression to the public that will alienate them from its own people.

The  Mising have been deeply hurt to the insult done to its ethnic leaders.The Mising tribe never expected such misconduct in a country which is going to celebrate six decades and four years of independence.The fundamental rights and duties enshrined by the founding fathers of the country have been grossly violated against an ethnic minority by the powerful Indian Army.Indigenous peoples in Maoist affected area in other parts of India must have better explanation relating to such matters.

Celebrating Independence with Qualms in Mind

India's 64th years of Independence is a matter of pomp and gaiety for billions of Indians across nook and corner of the country.The indigenous Mising tribe's social,political and economic emancipation is still a distant dream.Thousands of the people belonging to the indigenous tribe has been running for two square meals a day.Children begins their tender  life in the sands of Matmara,on the embankment of Bonkowal.Unabated erosions and recurrence of floods led many  people helpless without food and shelter ,they look for new settlements in the  forests of Arunachal Pradesh,Guwahati ,Doyang Tengani,Karbi-Anglong.....where people have to live their life in constant fear of being evicted by government in where people are branded as encroachers in  the country.The ''sons of soil'' have been frantically searching for the soil to refuge and livelihood within the boundary of the country.Youths in Boginadi villages have to work for migrant settlers by plucking chillies from orchard to eke out a living  in the land which was once  owned by their forefathers.There's no one to explain how migrant settlers got land allotment while tribes remained deprived.Youths serving as security guards in as far as Pune and Mumbai  have to live a life amidst fear during their night duty hours of being 'taxed' by high-class Indians moving in luxurious cars.In Assam where the government has made a policy of recruiting new teachers to boost quality education,there's no provision for reservation for the deprived and the backwards.The children of the indigenous tribes have no right to learn their first lesson in life in their mother tongue which contradicts the real meaning of much-trumpeted ''right to education.'' Men and women in Dikhowmukh and Sisiborgaon have been tortured for practicing withcraft which speaks of the tribe's underdevelopment.The indigenous peoples in India have not been able get out the of the yoke of social evils.Leaders leading political ,social and economic rights movements have to live a fearful life of being detained by the Army.People in the down streams and upstreams where large mega dams have been under consideration are not sure whether their land and livelihood are safe down their generations.The 64th year of India's Independence day reminds us of these challenges ,fear and exploitation of the indigenous peoples.The Mising tribe joins the  celebrations of 'prestigious' 64th years of the country's Independence day with open heart but with loads of qualms in mind.Jai Hind!

Notes and References:
1.Conversations with Kishore Doley,Iran Narah;Ruad Dolung,Khanapara,Guwahati
2.censusindia.gov.in,Miri related files on its website of 2001 census
3.Gupid,Bhaskar;Blogs on www.misingonline.com
4.Mising Students Union,www.facebook.com
5.Pangging ,Arindam; "Premik Bondhu",Sadin,July 22,2011
6.Pratidin,Asomiya; August 9,10;2011
.
 

TMPK is a political organization:Ranoj Pegu

Ranoj Pegu's comment on Facebook

Noted Mising leader Ranoj Pegu have recently claimed that TMPK is a political organization and it has the right  to participate in political activities.This statement of Ranoj Pegu slipped into as comment on the social networking site Facebook in one of his replies to the members of networking group called Mising Students Union(MSU) on July 30,2011.The Takam Mising Porin Kebang,literally All Mising Students' Union, is one of the oldest community organization in the Mising tribe that inhabits  in two northeastern Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.The tribe belongs to Tani group of people who are known as descendants of Abotani.


Ranoj Pegu,a Marxist-Leninist,has been playing a significant role  in matters relating to the community as a leader since the last three decades.He is considered as the man behind the current Mising autonomy movement among the community circle.The Misings are demanding autonomy under Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.The debate into the virtual world sparked off after a thread post by one Achyut Kumar Doley when he asked '' dear guys plainly speaking how much people frm our 28 lacs population loves Dr Ronuj pegu as our torch bearer......it is purely non-political''(sic).Ranoj Pegu ,who later joined the thread on the Facebook group,said that TMPK,MMK and TMMK are political organizations and they have the right to participate in political activities.
After all our main demand for autonomy is a political demand. It is not simply social or cultural demand. Difference is that these are not 'political party'. These organisations are fighting for a cause and using parliamentary struggle as a tactical means. Once the cause is achieved the organasations will withdraw from active politics and leave it only to political parties."

The thread that sparked the debate by Achyut Kumar Doley

Ranoj Pegu's post after he claimed TMPK as political organization

Pegu also adds, "After all our main demand for autonomy is a political demand.It is not simply social or cultural demand.Difference is that these are not 'political party'.Putting  points of justification in his Facebook comment he says '''these organizations are fighting for a cause and using parliamentary struggle as a tactical means.Once the cause is achieved the organizations will withdraw from active politics and leave it only to the political parties."

Ranoj Pegu's comment  sparked off a lengthy thread discussion on Facebook with as many as 221 comments which could be longest ever discussions on internet relating to the Mising community till date.Meanwhile the statement have invited mixed reactions among the student community especially who are members of the MSU group on Facebook across the virtual world.With volleys of reactions pouring in from the student community Ranoj Pegu have posted a document entitled ''why TMPK is a political organization ''on the same site the previous night.By claiming  the TMPK , which is basically a student organization as political organization,the debate is likely to be heated one in the coming days among the Mising student community at large.

Bhubon Pegu's latest public appearance

Bhubon Pegu delivering speech in an anti-big dam rally  in Guwahati

Former Jonai legislator Bhubon Pegu's first public appearance after his defeat in the last assembly election on Saturday's satyagraha organised by TMPK and AASU against mega dams and the turbines movement towards Subansiri hydro power project proved he is a real time leader indeed irrespective of his political position.His voice was loud and clear against the mega dams that have been decided to be built in the northeast as like before,stubborn and determined . He criticized the central government of maintaining dual standards approach on power projects. He asked why there was objection on Tsangpo hydro power project from India against China but why not the government was concerned about the 168 hydro projects in Arunachal alone.

Women and Science:Needs for new policy formulation

There is a need for crucial insight on the participation of women in the area of sciences.Scientific knowledge plays a central role in today's modernized society.To see things from gender viewpoint,we happen to see that there is a wide gap between men and women in educational institution,engineering,technology,research relating to sciences.This fact is surprisingly ignore by the nation's policymakers.If India's vision of developed country by 2020 is to be fulfilled,there must be end to the kind practices that are against women.In this globalized contemporary world,the country must be prepared for ''global competitive readiness'' in the field of sciences too.Conventional barriers like negative stereotyping of girls' such as their interests and abilities towards sciences,math and research are in dire needs that requires rethinking and reformulation at the policy levels of government and society at large as well.In a study done by one Bix in 1996,it shows that women activism reveals success not only in making public awareness but also in making use of statistics to gain research money and challenge research in breast cancer research,so women are a key component in the field that concerns them most.The liberal feminist approach says that there should be equal access to science by women and in the labor force.Here it speak of schooling and employment as an over riding agenda while the transformative perspective point out that it is not a question of adding women in sciences but demasculinize the arenas that are under male domains.In 1993,the science and technology office of the UK said that women are the country's most underutilzed resources.If science is conceived as an institutionalized means that is crucial for national economic development or ''science for progress'' is the mantra of national development,women's role in this field can hardly be ignored.Therefore,the question of gender equity in science is not just a question for feminist alone,the challenge is for all.Our country must look beyond conventional thinking and policies in regard to science and women.


References:

Drori,Gili.S;Science in the modern world polity: institutionalization and globalization,Stanford University Press,2003

Internationalisation and Globalisation in Mathematics and Science Education
 Angela Calabrese Barton, Bill Atweh, Marcelo C. Borba, Noel Gough, Christine Keitel, Catherine Vistro-Yu, Renuka Vithal,2008

Copyright:Bhaskar Pegu

Lower Subansiri Hydroelectric Project:This Project will push indigenous Mising tribe on the verge of survival

Looking back!!Am I really a fundamentalist Mising???????????????

I feel that my friends were not wrong  to called me a "fundamentalist Mising" in my college days.All the earlier blog posts seemed to reflect who i was during my college life.I am opening this college diary (blog)after many days (months!)and looking back my past .But it was naive to judged i was doing only "fundamentalist"kind of things.So I put my thoughts into writing to judge my stance...before all my friends who dubbed me "fundamentalist" whom i think they were less informed on my writings.To begin with,I wrote in the national magazine like "Frontline" on different issues which were published in the letters columns from Fidel Castro to Indo-China relations ...Naxalites issues....tribal issues....Also in the The Assam Tribune on different issues from engineering college in Dhemaji to reopening of Library  in Guwahati....power cuts,rail coach...women trafficking...etc. on Letters columns..i made my writing appeared in "The Hindu" comparing on Irom Shamila's hunger strike and KCR's fasting for Telengana in India.I once highlighted the Matmara issue on Geotube Tech embankment in an Assamese daily Asomiya Pratidin which i saw later on that my idea was included as part of  a political party's manifestoes.Besides,I also signed up many online petitions through Survival International and Greenpeace on human rights and environmental issues.(Thank God,most writings are available on web till now!)
     One shouln't think that i wrote all things only on Mising issues...sorry I clarified one thing on our place in "The Hindu"quite different from many familiar issues.......i  highlighted in my college days.I feel now sorry if I'd ever hurt other's(Non-Mising) sentiments......but many things improved by doing all these sort of "sentimental things"....which has been helping me in broadening my mental calibre....What actually is that i was born and brought up in Mising society ....never intermingled with other cultures before coming to Guwahati....whatever i know was from Mising society and my rural educational background....so it was obvious that i "bark" more on Mising.My perceptions and interpretations of this world are based on my experiences with the society andthe knowledge i have acquired hitherto.If writings on small tribe like Mising society is construed as conservative one...or a fundamentalist kind of thing...i'm happy with friend's accorded "label"!Whether i'm a  "fundamentalist" or not everyone can  decide.....it's  up to you dear reader.....if someone  is called "fundamentalist" because of writing such things i think there should be a more definitional inclusiveness of the term.In SRK styled tone I want to shout :"My name is Bhaskar PEGU but i'm not a fundamentalist MISING".
(Dedicated to my college friends of Cotton College and my known and unknown critics)

TMPK mulls ‘armed struggle’ over MAC issue

By our Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, March 19: The TMPK has hinted at an armed struggle against the State Government if the authorities continue to dilly-dally on the organization’s demands for election to the Mising Autonomous Council (MAC) and inclusion of the Council in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. “We have been agitating for election to the MAC and inclusion of the Council in the Sixth Schedule for long. The government has given us false promises ever since. It seems the government will pay heed to our demands only if we explode bombs or take up arms”, said TMPK president Johan Dole at a news conference here today. Dole insisted that the CBI should probe the financial anomalies that had taken place in the MAC since 1995. The State Government had recently announced a CBI investigation into the corruption in the MAC following public outcry over the issue. All Rabha Students’ Union (ARSU) president Tankeswar Rabha demanded submission of the report of the Dr Bhumidhar Barman-led ministerial level committee which was constituted by the State Government on December 18 2003 to examine the demand of various organizations for inclusion of the MAC, Tiwa Autonomous Council (TAC) and Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. “The report of the ministerial-level committee has not been submitted till date. It shows that there is a conspiracy to stop the process of elections to the MAC, TAC and RBAC. The report should be submitted immediately”, said Rabha. Referring to the cases pending in the Gauhati High Court against the MAC, TAC and RHAC, the ARSU leader said the government was legally bound to conduct elections to the autonomous councils, adding, “Cases have been filed in the HC by people of the government and so the government should settle the cases to facilitate early elections to the councils”. Rabha claimed that the ARSU had seized at least 150 illegal seals from the office of the RHAC which, he said, revealed corruption in the Council. “The government needs to carry out a proper inquiry into the corruption in the RHAC”, he added. Source:The Sentinel,March 20,2010

TOP .

Experts’ bid to unravel causes behind erosion

Ajit Patowary

GUWAHATI, Jan 21 – Experts are trying to determine the factors mainly responsible for river bank erosion in Assam, particularly in its Brahmaputra Valley for several decades, as, erosion has been causing more havoc for the State’s people compared to flood. Five experts have, in a joint paper, pointed out to some vital factors, which have been triggering erosion in the State.



It is estimated that around 7.4 per cent of land areas of the Brahmaputra Valley has been lost due to bank erosion ‘in the recent history of observation.’



The five experts in a joint paper have maintained that in general, the losses due to erosion show an increasing trend. They have said that the reports available with the Assam Water Resources Department indicate loss of 3,860 square kilo meters (sq kms) of State’s land since 1954 due to this factor. The rate of loss is estimated to be about 80 sq kms per year.



The erosion of the Brahmaputra wiped out more than 2,500 villages and 18 towns, including sites of cultural heritage and tea gardens, affecting the lives of nearly half a million people.



About 130 river reaches are presently classified as being under moderate to severe erosion and 25 reaches as very severe. A comparison between the value of land lost to riverbank erosion and flood damage, between 1954 and 1969, indicates that the costs of riverbank erosion were 35 per cent to 85 per cent of the losses caused by the ravages of flood, said these experts.



In their paper – River Bank Erosion and Restoration in the Brahmaputra River in India – Dr Arvind Phukan, a former Professor in the University of Alaska, Rajib Goswami of the State Water Resources Department, Dr Deva Borah of the Woolpert Inc, Portsmouth, Ananta Nath of the Big Cypress Basin, South Florida Water Management District, and Dr Chandan Mahanta of the Guwahati IIT, made the above observation.



These experts, in their above paper, have tried to throw light on the factors responsible for riverbank erosion. To them, the rate of rise and fall in river water level, number and position of the major channels which remain active during flood and the angle at which the thalweg approaches the bank line, are the factors responsible for bank erosion.



Besides, they found the amount of scour and deposition that occurs during the flood, variability of the cohesive soil in bank material composition, formation and movement of large bed forms, intensity of bank slumping and progression of abandoned river courses to present-day channel also to be responsible for river bank erosion in the State.



They further maintained that due to the braided characteristics, the main stem river consists of variable number of different sized channels and sand bars which change their locations and sizes each year.



The most significant bank line modifications take place during the falling stages when excess sediment is deposited as bars within channel, causing a change in local flow direction and migration of thalweg.



During floods, because of change of river hydraulics (mainly depth, velocity and shear stress), inducing variable sediment transport characteristics and erosive forces, the channel starts shifting at some vulnerable reaches, they observed.



The key factors that cause extreme instability in the Brahmaputra river at many vulnerable reaches, such as – Nagaghuli, Maijan, Majuli, Bhairabpur, Balikuchi, Kaziranga, Howlighat and Palasbari – are aggradation of the riverbed, intense braiding, large water discharge and heavy sediment load since the 1950 flood, said these experts.



Moreover, there is a tendency of the river to shift southward within the valley reach. The tendency has become more prominent after the Great Earthquake of 1950, which raised the whole landmass of the northeastern part of the valley, particularly the north of the river including the Himalayan foothill region by 3 to 4 metres.



This southward thrust has initiated widespread erosion in the south bank near the Dibrugarh town and is still continuing at different reaches in spite of the implementation of aggressive bank protection measures. The Assam Water Resources Department has identified 25 such vulnerable and severe river bank erosion sites.



Moreover, they said, the records of the last century show a general trend of widening of the Brahmaputra in Assam. The widening trend of the river is clearly visible when compared with the erosion and accretion rates over different periods. Long-term observations on width changes of the river are available, although data from different authors are not directly comparable, they said.

Eviction notice to Mising at Gohpur

The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) today warned of dire consequences if the State Government insists on evicting the indigenous Mising people living on the bank of the Brahmaputra in Sonitpur district in the name of sixth expansion of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP). The students’ body said in a statement signed by its president Johan Doley, general secretary Indra Kumar Chungkrang and publicity secretary Rahul Loying, alleged that the State Government has been hatching a plot to settle the suspected Bangladesh nationals in parts of the national park between Jakhalabandha and Bagori, along the National Highway.

And to facilitate this illegal settlement, the Government has now served eviction notices on the indigenous people of 18 villages under Bakoridoloni Gaon Panchayat, Bartamuly Gaon Panchayat and Rawnamukh Gaon Panchayat in Sonitpur district, it said.The Government is turning a blind eye to the rapid encroachment in the Orang National Park and the Pabitara Wildlife Sanctuary. Under the very nose of the Forest Department of the State Government, encroachers belonging to doubtful nationality have eliminated the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary.But, while all these are going on unabated, the State Forest Department has asked about 10,000 indigenous Mising people living in the above villages since time immemorial and who have been paying land revenue since 1947, to vacate their land measuring about 15,000 hectares for facilitating sixth expansion of the KNP.
If the Government has any plan to save the KNP, it should go for operations to evict the encroachers of doubtful origin from the National Park and also to protect the park’s land area from the erosion of the Brahmaputra, said the students’ body. It has demanded immediate revocation of the proposal for forth and sixth expansion of the KNP. As, it said, these would affect the indigenous people of the State. Or else, it warned that it would resist any attempt at implementing the above expansion programmes.
Courtesy:The Assam Tribune,Sept.11,2009