NE Dispatch: Assam MP Seeks National Anthem Amendment

Assam: Congress MP moves resolution in Rajya Sabha seeking amendment to the national anthem to replace ‘Sindh’ with ‘northeast’

Reviving a longstanding demand from a large section of people of the northeast, Congress Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora has moved a private member’s resolution in the Upper House seeking an amendment to the national anthem to replace the word ‘Sindh’ with ‘northeast’.

In the letter submitted on March 16, Bora said, “Northeast is an important part of India; it is unfortunate that it is not part of the national anthem. On other hand, Sindh is mentioned, which is no longer part of India but part of Pakistan, which is a hostile country.”

Highlighting that the region finds no mention in the anthem, Bora further wrote, “Then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, had said in a statement on January 24, 1950, that the composition consisting of the words and music known as ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is the national anthem of India subject to such alterations in the words as the Government of India may authorise as occasion arises.”

This demand was recently seen resurfacing in Assam, at least among the state’s intellectuals and thinkers, many of whom are supportive of the state’s BJP regime, after the government announced naming of colleges after RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya.

In a television debate on the issue, the widely acclaimed Assamese writer-journalist Kanaksen Deka said, “The BJP doesn’t need to integrate Assam with mainstream India. It [was] done 2000 years ago. Even Sankardeva talked about our association with Bharatvarsha. But if the young leader [referring to Education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had announced the government’s decision] still wants to do something for Assam, he can certainly do something more worthwhile that the people of the state and the region have been wanting for decades. We have been seeking [the] inclusion of Northeast in the national anthem for generations now. If he can ask his central government to help replace ‘Sindh’, which is not in India anymore, with the word ‘Assam’ or even ‘Tripura’ or any other northeastern state, then I will say his party has done something substantial to integrate the region with mainstream India.”

In 2016, a similar demand was made by Shiv Sena Lok Sabha member Arvind Sawant, stating that the word ‘Sindh’ be replaced with an appropriate word as there was no state by that name.

Bora told reporters in New Delhi that the letter is expected to be taken up in the house next week.

Arunachal Pradesh: Government passes law to grant land ownership rights to indigenous population

The Arunachal Pradesh assembly has passed a Bill as per which the indigenous tribal population of the state will – for the first time – be able to have land ownership rights. Till now, land has been held by individuals and clans under their customary laws and therefore, no document conferring the title of the land was given to people.

Those occupying community land have been issued only a land possession certificate, which prohibits them from either mortgaging their land in lieu of a bank loan or leasing it out to others for farming and other purposes.

With the passage of the Arunachal Pradesh Land Settlement and Records Amendment Bill on March 14, nearly two-third of the state’s 13.84 lakh population is expected to benefit. The Act is also expected to encourage business investment in the remote state.

As per the new Act, indigenous people can give their land on lease for up to 33 years, which is extendable to another 33 years for big and small ventures.    

The Act became a reality after a high-level committee consisting of four cabinet ministers and two senior bureaucrats of the state, under the chairmanship of the state land management minister, recommended it. Various experts on land and land laws and other stakeholders were also consulted as part of a state-level conclave prior to the submission of the recommendations.

Tripura: Government orders CBI inquiry into journalists’ death

The newly sworn-in Biplab Kumar Deb government has decided to hand over the probe into the killing of two journalists – Shantanu Bhowmik and Sudip Datta Bhowmik – to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The journalists were murdered in two separate incidents under mysterious circumstances in the run-up to the recent assembly elections in the northeastern state.

Deb, in the first cabinet meeting on March 11, made the decision to transfer the probe as per a promise made to the state’s journalists’ fraternity prior to the elections.

Speaking to the media in Agartala after the meeting, Deb expressed full confidence on the central investigating agency, adding, “The law department has been asked to start the process of sending the state government’s recommendation. We hope that the cases will be solved in the quickest possible time.”

The last government had set up a four-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the death of Sudip Datta Bhowmik, who was allegedly shot by a commander of the Tripura State Rifles inside the battalion headquarters in November last year. The commander, Tapan Debbarma, along with his personal guard, Nandagopal Reang, were arrested following the death of 50-year-old Sudip, and a case was registered against them. Sudip, employed with a local Bengali newspaper, had reportedly visited the battalion headquarters, situated about 20 kms from state capital Agartala, in regard to a corruption story he was investigating against commander Debbarma.

In September last year, another journalist, Shantanu Bhowmik, was brutally killed while covering a road blockade agitation of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT). As per reports, a clash ensued between IPFT and CPI(M) cadres in the Mandwai block where Shantanu, present to cover the incident, was fatally attacked with sharp weapons. Police later arrested a few IPFT supporters in the case.

Both cases created a sensation among journalists across the state and in New Delhi, leading to a demand for action against those responsible for the murders.