The Arunachal Times - Archives

Re-poll amidst tight security

PPA allege obstruction at Palin constituency

ITANAGAR, Oct 18: Polling would be held at 34 stations spread across 16 constituencies amidst tight security on Monday. Additional security has been deployed at all the polling stations to thwart any untoward incident. Most of the stations where re-poll is being held witnessed violent clashes and damage of EVMs.

The stations are: 1. Bameng: Sangbia, Jokhio, 2. Chayangtajo: Kapu Dada, Doka, 3. Ziro-Hapoli: Hija-1, Hari-C, 4. Palin: Pry School Building Pania, Songo, Riaga, Belo Happa, Kamrung, Resteriang, 5. Nyapin:Hiba, 6. Nacho: Taying Muri, Jenering, 7. Taliha: Nogi, 8. Daporijo: Dignium, Dulom, 9.Raga: Yadu, Pelmilli, Raga-1, Dakpe, 10. Dumporijo: Taba Rijo, Maro, Ara Nalo, Yudik, 11. Likabali: Siberite, 12.Basar: Badak, 13. Mebo: Mottum, Borguli, 14. Kanubari: Russa, Chopnu, 15: Longding-Pumoa: Pumao, 16. Pongchou-Wakka: Nginu.

The election in Nogi could not be conducted because of non availability of commissioned EVM, said a release from Election Office. The timing of the poll process is 7 AM-3 PM.

Meanwhile People’s Party of Arunachal said that Congress party is creating fear psychosis among the people in Palin constituency while adding that movement of Poll Personnel have been restricted at several places. Party demanded that all the Poll Officials be airlifted to their respective booths.

Its general secretary Ashan Riddi, further said that party candidate Takam Tagar was prevented from moving to Chambang at Dahil yesterday by his rival INC’s Balo Raja, though ASP T Toko and CO Likha Teji were present.

Apprehending obstruction to democratic process including violence, Riddi demanded that the election officials and Tagar be airlifted to Chambang area. Kurung Kumey deputy commissioner-cum-DEO Opak Gao, when contacted said that security have been beefed up and all polling teams had adequate security with them.

The team had already reached Resteriang and Riaga and Kamrung while the polling team to Songo, however, was yet to reach.

Gao called upon all political parties and their leaders to refrain from violence and illegal activates.

Seppa: Polling teams with full security along with Magistrates have reached their respective polling station today. Additional force has also been deployed at circle H/Q Pipu to control the prevailing political situation. EVMs were broken by miscreants in three polling stations during the poll day.

EVM of Jokhio polling station was snatched and destroyed by miscreants on the way while the polling team was on retrieval after conduct of successful poll.

In the history of East Kameng Political scenario, this is the first time where political clashes are still on after the poll. In this connection the DM/DEO has beefed up tight security in & around Seppa township & enforced 144 CrPC from Oct 15 onwards to maintain peace & tranquility in the township.

DAPORIJO: In preparation for the re-poll to be conducted on Oct 19 in 13 polling stations in the district, all the polling teams have left for their polling stations in readiness with extra police and security forces.

The problems in some of the 13 polling stations is said to have occurred due to disturbances caused by the polling agents of the political parties. And so, added precautions have been taken, this time around, in order to conduct the polling in a free and fair manner.

Ziro: Lower Subansiri, the District Election Officer, Sadhana Deori, through an Executive order has prohibited the movement of any kind of vehicle including two wheeler within the 200 metre radius of the two polling stations on the poll day. Fresh poll are to be held at 10-Hija-I and 15-Hari-C of 17-Ziro-Hapoli Assembly Constituency.

The two polling stations had to go for re-poll following detection of fake ballot papers on the EVMs and subsequent damage of one of the EVMs.

However, government vehicle on Election Duty, ambulance and those of contesting candidates are exempted. Vehicle of Press has also been debarred stating that no press persons has been issued vehicle permit from the Election office for the re-poll. (with inputs from DIPROS)

Karuna Trust presents PPP model at Japan

ITANAGAR, Oct 18: The success story of Private Public Partnership in Arunachal Pradesh in health sector was presented by Coordinator Karuna Trust Arunachal Pradesh Anup Sarmah at international leadership development course on people’s participation in local governance in health which was organized by Asian Health Institute of Nisshin Aichin, Japan at Japan from September 9-October 12 last.

The main objective of the training program was to develop the leadership skill of the health professionals working with different health issues. Role of local governance in health,

participatory development, recent trends in health and impact of globalization, community participation to improve health were others issues that were covered.

Altogether, 14 participants from 8 different Asian Countries participated the training.

A West Kameng Presiding Officer’s Diary

BOMDILA, 18 Oct ‘09: Contrary to the anxiety and apprehension over peaceful conduct of polling at some of the so-called sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling booths particularly of Dirang, Nafra and Bhalukpong under West Kameng District Assembly segments, the process went off relatively peaceful in this district compared to some other districts on 13th October last with an average of 72 percent voting.

Leaving aside political side of the story, the District Administration had taken credible and mammoth efforts to conduct a fair, transparent and peaceful polling process this time. The process of random shuffling of poll officials to various polling stations was much better this occasion compared to the last Parliamentary Elections, where poll officials had to endure great physical and mental hardships because of the suspense and announcement of the team and place of assignment at the penultimate time. The West Kameng District has almost a radius of 500 kms with many remote, difficult and foot marching areas. Some of the poll officials had to travel more than 100 kms from one’s posting place. Officials apparently had a tough time locating their respective places, team members and marketing their ration requirements within a day. Another practical problem of this shuffling process was staggering TA/DA amounts to poll officials some of which are still heard to be pending.

The District Administration’s logic to this random shuffling process as heard from some poll officials was that if the process could work in Haryana, why the same could not be replicated in Arunachal Pradesh?

However, during this Vidhan Sabha Elections, the process was slightly refined keeping local problems in view. This time, officials from nearby places were only exchanged and not in a haphazard way as earlier. Also, announcement of place of duty and team members was also declared a few days earlier much to the relief of poll officials.

Another persisting problem which must have confronted other presiding officers was the meager TA/DA allowance paid to poll teams. In my case where the polling station was declared as ‘Hyper-Sensitive’, an amount of Rs 1300/-was paid towards the ration charges for a presiding and three polling officers for two days. However, four ITBP personals, one APP jawan and two attendants also comprised rest of the team. Being the presiding officer and captain of the team, I had to shell out twice the paid amount which was hardly enough for a day for 11 people.

Another harsh lesson learnt from this election was my over dependence and confidence on my fellow polling officers. In the beginning, my three polling officers had sounded confident and declared that they had carried out many similar election duties flawlessly and as such I need not worry at all. However, all my hopes were dashed to the ground when at the end of the poll I noticed several discrepancies in their paper works. The correction process took almost four hours as a result of which we had to deposit our EVM after midnight

NCP demand action against Lombo Tayeng

ITANAGAR, Oct 18: NCP in a letter to the Election Observer has demanded proper action against Congress nominee Lombo Tayeng.

Election Agent of NCP candidate said that Tayeng is spreading terror at the Mebo constituency with an intention to intimidate voters.

The agent further said that supporters of Tayeng have been intimidating the voters at Mer and Gadum village with the help of youths from outside the state.

At Borguli the EVM was damaged with a boulder by Pramananda Tayeng, at the instruction of Tayeng, the agent alleged while at Motum, the Congress nominee along with two supporters obstructed the poll process.

The two stations are going to the poll on Monday.

He further said that despite lodging of reports with the authorities, no action has been initiated.

Candidate withdraws complaint

ITANAGAR, Oct 18: Reacting to the report on the suspension of six officers appointed as presiding officers under Likabali assembly constituency, the election agent of Likabali NCP candidate clarified that the NCP and TMC had lodged complaint to Likabali RO about missing presiding officers with EVMs due to misinformation.

Actually no EVM was missing and NCP Likabali candidate Gumke Riba withdrew his complaint, he said. In fact the officers with their full devotion and sincerity left Likabali along with security personnel and polling staff to deposit the EVM at Aalo and in presence of NCP candidate and election agent the EVMs were verified.

China has arrived: Is India awake ?

Kiren Rijiju

In 1803, Napoleon said “China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world”. He said it at the peak of his glory and China at her low which the Chinese term as two hundred bad years in their 5000 glorious years of civilization.

It is now 21st Century, Napoleon is no more and the Dragon is not sleeping. China is almost a Superpower. India shares around 4000 km long border with China and yet India does not know how to deal with China. A glaring example was evident when all the Members of the SAARC except Bhutan pitched for observer status to China at Dhaka SAARC Meet and India had little choice. China had done their homework well with the neighbors. We expect Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to look towards India at the time of peace and crisis but they prefer to rush further north and get embraced eagerly. Pakistan treats India as equal and determined to settle some political scores. Bhutan and Maldives are too happy playing no role.

The frantic reaction by Indian media to a recent anti-Indian article in an obscure Chinese website creating consternation in India is undesirable. Now a days, thousands of such amateur ultra nationalistic comments and articles are available in internets. Presently, China has 340 million internet users, the largest in the world ! Exigent situation demands appropriate steps. Chinese Leaderships follow the ancient war Master Sun Tzu, who in his “Art of War” said “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”. Although in China’s geo-political screen, USA is the sole target but it considers India a potential stumbling block on its course to take final head on with USA. Sun Tsu adds, “To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting”.

One such Chinese tactics is the establishment of String-of-Pearls which is already accomplished. Each Pearl serves the Chinese Military and Economic interests. Hainan Island Military facility has been upgraded recently along with the Woody Island airstrip in Paracel archipelago. China has built a container shipping facility at Chittagong in Bangladesh besides assisting the Military build up of Bangladesh Army. A deep water port in Sittwe in Myanmar is completed and China has also built deep water port in Gwadar in Pakistan which will serve its interest in entire straits of Hormuz. China moved further deep by developing Hambantota Port thereby consolidating its presence in the Indian Ocean and provided military help to Sri Lanka to defeat LTTE. China is the only Country to have an Exclusive Economic Zone in Sri Lanka. It has created maritime reconnaissance and electronic intelligence station in Coco Island, which is just 18 km north of Andaman and additionally controls the Myanmar ports of Akyab, Cheduba and Bassein. The honest admission of our Naval Chief about the Chinese blue Navy power and Air force Chief’s statement that our strength is one third of Chinese, is troubling.

In the Himalayan Frontier, the scene is more worrisome. Across the frontier China has built remarkable world class infrastructural facilities while our soldiers and citizens in most of the portion and in McMahon line stretch trek on foot. China already has railway line inside Tibet using permafrost technology displaying great engineering marvel running at an astonishing height of 16200 feet above sea level. In contrast, we could not extend a single km of rail route beyond Morkung Selek at Assam-Arunachal boundary which the British built before Independence. This massive rail and road infrastructure built by China along the Tibetan plateau has a drastic strategic implication for India in the context of unresolved border row.

Arunachal Pradesh is ostensibly in deep trouble as sporadic Chinese incursions occur while Govt. continues to say that the intrusions are due to differences in the perception of the McMahon Line.

If Chinese PLA were to come right into the heartland of Arunachal can we justify it since Chinese perception is that whole of Arunachal is Chinese territory ? We can’t accept the excuse given for India’s humiliating defeat in 1962 only on “Betrayal” and “Surprise” elements. Earlier, Mao Tsetong had termed Tibet as the palm of a hand and Arunachal Pradesh (then NEFA), Ladakh, Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan as five fingers which were Chinese Territories and needed to be liberated. We are witnessing another Himalayan Blunder as China assertively claims Arunachal Pradesh while India simply rejects verbally and continues to ignore the existing ground reality and fails to act according to the changing scenario.

The Prime Minister’s financial grants for road development in Arunachal is a mark departure from the past policy and is a welcome step. Govt. has moved from the obsolete policy of keeping Arunachal undeveloped (without roads near Mc Mahon line) as a means to stop a quick Chinese advance in the event of War!

Still it can’t completely eradicate the acute bottlenecks created due to neglect for too long. An extensive military transformation and massive road and rail network with substantial economic development in the forward areas of Arunachal and other sector along Indo-China border only can balance the existing lopsided scale. We don’t want war but nobody is stopping us from taking a firm decision for developing our own frontiers.

Thanks to the lackluster attitude of the successive Govt. and lack of general awareness, Arunachal Pradesh does not generate the excitement to the whole country like Kashmir. Apparently, it is emotionally too far from Delhi. Arunachal Pradesh, the largest state in North-East, is five times bigger than Kashmir Valley and very rich State with abundant natural resources.

Patriotism is ingrained in the blood of every Arunachalee. A State where Jai Hind is regular greetings for the local people. But majority of the country-men are oblivious about its existence. The just concluded Assembly Election in Arunachal went without much notice. An Arunachalee can feel the pain if somebody ask about his passport in Delhi or fellow Indians want to know if he has come from China, Nepal or Thailand ! Arunachal deeply loves Mother India but India is yet to know the importance of Arunachal. May be Arunachal Pradesh does not send enough Members of Parliament and does not contribute much revenue in the Government’s kitty like Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu. Remember, we lost Aksai Chin because we believed that not a blade of grass grows there. (Kiren Rijiju is former Member of Parliament)

Son of former minister found dead

ITANAGAR: Neelam Maj, son of former Home Minister Neelam Taram was found dead yesterday at Naharlagun. The body was found at the stairs leading to Gurudwara, near General Hospital at around 11.30 PM.

The post mortem reports points towards excessive bleeding as cause of death while Police has registered a case of suspected murder. The body has been handed over to the family.

Six working days for VHAI

ITANAGAR: Saturday would be a working day for all project offices of Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) in Arunachal Pradesh including its Itanagar office. OPD-time of VHAI managed PHC/CHC would remain unchanged, as Saturday is a working day for VHAI-managed PHCs & CHC.

Cong rejects BJP demands

ITANAGAR: District Congress Committee, West Siang has rejected the demand of re-poll at four stations in Liromoba constituency and termed it uncalled for. Yesterday BJP had demanded re-poll at four stations as they alleged apart from intimidation, party workers were abducted and whole poll process hijacked as there was large-scale rigging and proxy voting.

Congress stated that there were no misdeeds during the course of the poll and that officials conducted their duties without any hindrances.