Education - A catalyst for social change

The Daily Star September 20, 2013/Borapansury: By TRIMITA CHAKMA I come from the ‘Rangeihoza’ (Range iclan) and ‘bhutergusthi’ (ghost group) of Chakmas, which means my paternal side of the family is a descendant of a ghost. This must sound quite exotic to people who do not belong to the Chakma community. Chakmas comprise of less than 0.3% of Bangladeshi population and mostly live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). My identity struggle...

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Chakma demanding UT from ADC in Mizoram

NENA, March 7-21, 2001/BORAPANSURY : The Mizoram Chakma Welfare Committee has met Home Minister L K Advani and Law Minister Arun Jaitley to press their demand for creation of a Union Territory for the Chakmas of Mizoram by upgrading the Chakma Autonomous District Council. Stating this, Committee secretary general Surja Sen Chakma accused the Mizoram Government of continuing its policy of systematic discrimination by directing the Food and Civil Supplies Department and NGOs not to issue ration cards or birth certificates to persons not...

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The story of a Tribe named 'Chakma'

By Swapnil Patil 15 August 2013 ORIGIN: The Chakma tribal community forms part of the great Tibeto-Burman language family.  In history, Chakma (Sakama in Myanmar) peoples are believed to be  working in Bagan Palace for Bagan King. Bagan King rule Sittagong Hill Tracts, Manipur and Assam. Chakma peoples are living in Rakhine, Sittagong Hill Tracts, Manipur and Assam. They are Tibet-Burma race. Chakma has it own written...

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Chakma - An Unfortunate Tribe

By SUPAM B. CHAKMA 21 September 2013 : I belong to the Chakma community, which is one of the most unfortunate communities ever to exist in this world. Although many individuals are being established themselves to their economic position to fulfil their life’s' needs and necessities, on the other sides there are infinite numbers of Chakma population who are struggling to survive and feed even one single meal. They are fighting to earn a little piece of edible item to fulfill the need of their stomachs. In India, the Chakma community is considered...

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Misplaced blame: The state governments from the region are to be blamed

By ROMESH BHATTACHARJI THE HINDU I FRONTLINE Aug. 11-24, 2012/BORAPANSURY, April 28 : The region suffers not from neglect by the Centre, but from corruption and mishandling by the State governments concerned. BIJU BORO/AFP In the flood-affected Mayong village in Morigaon district, some 80 km from Guwahati, on June 28. While urban Assam looks prosperous, the rural areas remain neglected. EVERY time there is a flood or a scam or...

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Film on Naga music on international fests

GUWAHATI, 27 April/BORAPANSURY : “Songs of the Blue Hills”, a feature-length documentary film on contemporary Naga folk music directed by National Award-winning film critic and filmmaker Utpal Borpujari, has created a splash by getting selected to five international film festivals at one go.  The 96-minute film, that features a number of veteran Naga folk music exponents as well as younger practitioners, has been invited to the Doc Outlook...

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Mizoram Armed Police condemned

GUWAHATI, 27 April/BORAPANSURY :  The Village Authority Union of Tipaimukh sub-division, Churachandpur, Manipur, in its press release dated April 26 condemns the dastardly acts of personnel of Mizoram Armed Police (MAP) against the innocent villagers of Parvachawm and Lungthulien on two occasions this year. The Union alleged that Mizoram police personnel, along with arms and ammunition raided Parvachawm village earlier this year on February 19, heinously checked into houses of innocent civilians including the house of the village Chief...

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Huge flow of funds to fight against narcotics trade in NE

NEW DELHI, April 26/ GUWAHATI/ BORAPANSURY:  In what seems like a cohesive approach being adopted by the Union Home Ministry, more and more funds are being pumped into the north–eastern States to fight the growing narcotics market. Funds were released to the north–eastern States for different kind of anti–narcotics operations over the last few years.. As per statistics available with the Union Home Ministry, Mizoram was provided with the second largest amount of funds after Kerala for anti–narcotics operations. An amount of Rs. 30,51,689...

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New government to take call on language and ST status for NE communities

NEW DELHI, April 26/GUWAHATI/BORAPANSURY:  A final call on the inclusion of as many as seven languages of the Northeast into the Eighth Schedule of the Indian constitution and ST status to six communities of Assam is likely to be taken after the formation of the new government at the Centre. A senior government official engaged with issues related to the north–eastern States told this correspondent that both matters are under the consideration of the government. “But a final decision will be taken only by the new government,” the official...

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Union Govt to nurture talented youths in sports though DLSS

SHILLONG, April 25/BORAPANSURY, April 26 :  To nurture talented youths, the union government has proposed to set up District Level Sports Schools (DLSS) in every district in the country including the north eastern states. Joint Secretary (Development) Departments of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr GSG Ayyangar, said, “Under the scheme for identifying and nurturing sports talents, district level sports schools have been proposed in every district in the country in the next ten years...

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N Korea ‘probably’ preparing nuclear test

SEOUL/SHILLONG/BORAPANSURY : North Korea appears to be making preparations to conduct its fourth nuclear test, a US think-tank said on Friday just hours before President Barack Obama arrives in South Korea for a visit. New satellite images, taken just two days ago, showed additional activity at the Punggye-ri test site that is “probably related to preparations for a detonation,” the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said. The report echoed recent warnings from South Korea that the North might be planning a test to coincide with...

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Mizoram to get its first Medical College soon

SHILLONG/AIZAWL/BORAPANSURY, 26 April :  A 100-seat medical college will come up soon in the northeastern state of Mizoram, an official said here Saturday. “Mizoram government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the union health ministry recently to set up the first ever medical college in the state,” a Mizoram health department official told reporters. He said the proposed medical college would be on the lines of the...

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