Chhattisgarh: Crumbling Bastions
Dec 01, 2015, at 02:17 am
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management A Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre was killed by a joint squad of Security Forces (SFs), comprising of the 204th Battalion of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), District Reserve Group (DRG) and District Force, at Kurcholi village forest under the Basaguda Police Station limits in Bijapur District on November 25, 2015.
Nov 23, 2015, at 10:34 pm
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management In a dramatic development, on November 11, 2015, Bangladesh Guard Border personnel handed over Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia, the 'general secretary' of the undivided United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and his two prison mates - Babul Sharma and Laxmiprasad Goswami aka Shakti Prasad who were arrested along with him in Bangladesh in 1997 - to personnel of India's Border Security Force (BSF) near the Dawki border point in the Sylhet District of Bangladesh. Chetia was brought to the Indian capital, New Delhi, on the same day. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) placed him under arrest in New Delhi a day later, in connection with a murder incident in 1998 in Golaghat (Assam). On the same day, a court in Delhi issued a six day transit remand to the CBI to hold Chetia. Chetia was brought to Guwahati, Assam, on November 18, 2015, where a special CBI court forwarded him to a further five days in CBI custody. Chetia has long been wanted in India to stand trial in various cases of extortion, abduction, murder and attempt to murder.
Nov 09, 2015, at 11:06 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management Malik Mohammad Younis, a prominent elder of the Salarzai tribe, was killed, while another three, including two of his sons, were injured when their vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Gulu Shah area of Salarzai tehsil (revenue unit) in Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on November 3, 2015. Malik Mohammad Younus was an active pro-government leader and was heading the Peace Committee in the Salarzai tehsil of the Agency.
Nov 02, 2015, at 09:49 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management At least 27 persons including 13 children were killed and 36 were injured in a suicide blast targetting a 9th Muharram (Shia mourning period) procession near a park in the Lashari area of Jacobabad District in Sindh in the evening of October 23, 2015. The blast took place at about 7:30 pm when a Muharram procession, which started from the Dargah Hajan Shah, was passing through the Lashari Muhalla (neighbourhood).
Oct 26, 2015, at 11:39 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On October 14, 2015, at least seven people, including three contestants of the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs), were killed and 13 were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the camp office of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of National Assembly (MNA) Sardar Amjad Khosa in the Taunsa Sharif city of Taunsa tehsil (revenue unit) in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab Province. Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA, Group of the Free), a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. JuA 'spokesman' Ehsanullah Ehsan, in an email statement, vowed that TTP-JuA attacks would continue until Sharia'h (Islamic) law was fully implemented in Pakistan: "We want to make it clear to the Pakistani rulers that your policies and military operations can't weaken our determinations, rather our firm determination helps us in achieving and attacking our targets."
Oct 20, 2015, at 07:19 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On October 5, 2015, three unidentified assailants tried to slit the throat of Luke Sarkar (52), Pastor of the Faith Bible Church, at his house in the Ishwardi upazila(sub-District) of Pabna District. He survived the attack with minor injuries. Later, on October 12, 2015, five Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists, including its Pabna 'regional chief' Rakibul Islam Rabbi aka Rakib were arrested over this murder attempt.
Maharashtra: Maoists pushed against the Wall
Oct 05, 2015, at 09:46 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management A 'central committee' (CC) member of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), Sridhar Srinivasan alias Krishnan Srinivasan alias Vijay alias Vishnu, who was active in Mumbai, Pune and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra, died of a heart attack on August 18, 2015, a CPI-Maoist press statement released on September 21, 2015 disclosed. Paying tribute to the deceased CC member, the CPI-Maoist said, "Comrade Sridhar's martyrdom is a major blow to the movement". Srinivasan was arrested by Maharashtra ATS in 2007 and after being convicted and serving a six year jail term, was released in August 2013. According to the press release, he continued to work for the outfit and he died on his way to meet his comrades.
Sep 22, 2015, at 06:52 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management In a historical step forward, Nepal's second Constituent Assembly (CA) endorsed "Nepal's Constitution" with overwhelming two-thirds majority on September 16, 2015. The Constitution came into effect after President Ram Baran Yadav announced its commencement at 17:00 hrs on September 20, 2015, during the last meeting of the CA.
How free are our children in independent India
Sep 08, 2015, at 08:29 pm
Every day, as the dawn breaks at the small village of Shivnagar, a small hamlet in Bihar, Nutan has to get up from bed with reddened, puffy eyes still half-closed with sleep. Within half an hour she has to get ready and trot along with her parents to the brick kiln near their village. Nutan can’t think of going to school even in her remotest dreams, as no one from her family had ever made it to. Hailing from the extremely poor Mahato community at the furthest corner of the district of Munger, this 12 year old girl has to work at the brick kiln 12 hours a day, while most of her friends go to school every day. As the evening comes, back home she finds herself doing the dishes and helping her mother in every day family chores, till her wobbly legs ache in pain and eyes are swollen with deep slumber.
Aug 31, 2015, at 09:47 pm
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management August 24, 2015, turned out to be the bloodiest day in Nepal since theComprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of November 21, 2006, when the then Nepal Prime Minister (PM) Girija Prasad Koirala and Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist [CPN-M, now known as Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M)] Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda, agreed on the terms to bring the Maoist insurgency to an end. On August 24, 2015, at least 20 people - 17 policemen, including the Superintendent of Police of the Seti Zone, Laxman Neupane, and three protesters - were killed and over 100 others were injured in clashes between Tharuhat activists and the Police at Shankarpur area of Tikapur Municipality in Kailali District. The protestors were demanding a Tharuhat Autonomous Province.
Aug 11, 2015, at 06:48 pm
Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management & South Asia Terrorism Portal A 'historic accord' was signed between the Government of India and the largest rebel Naga group, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim - Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) on August 3, 2015, at once raising hopes and apprehensions against the context of what has been India's most enduring insurgency. While few details of the actual contents of the agreement are yet available, the Centre's principal interlocutor R.N. Ravi has clarified that the 'accord' is, in fact, a "framework agreement" that spells out the terms of a "final settlement". Reports suggest that such a final settlement would be worked out in three months, and would exclude any claims to sovereignty or alterations in state boundaries.
Jul 29, 2015, at 03:18 am
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On July 20, 2015, at least 62 persons, including three Security Force (SF) personnel, were injured when agitating cadres of Terai-based parties clashed with the Police in several areas of Janakpur, Mahottari, Parsa and Saptari Districts in the Terai region of Nepal.
Chhattisgarh: Uncertain Rumblings
Jul 21, 2015, at 04:21 am
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) abducted four auxiliary constables [former Salwa Judum cadres] of the Chhattisgarh Police near Sukanpali village under Kutru Police Station area in Bijapur District on July 13. Their dead bodies were found strewn on a road near Gudma village, close to the place of abduction, two days later. Maoists claimed responsibility for the killings, accusing them of participating in anti-Maoist operations. According to reports, Maoists stopped a passenger bus on the Kutru-Sukanpali road, in the evening of July 13 and abducted Mangal Sodi and Majji Rama who were travelling in it. A few minutes later, Raju Tela and Jayram Yadav, who were travelling on a motorcycle, were abducted from the same location. Three of them were posted in Kutru Police Station and one was posted in Bedre. They were returning to their base camps after collecting their salaries.
Jul 06, 2015, at 09:42 pm
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management The Islamic State (IS) has started making significant territorial gains within war-torn Afghanistan. IS, according to the US Department of State's Country Reports on Terrorism 2014, has emerged as the most dreaded global terror outfit, and has captured large parts of Syria and Iraq. According to June 2015 reports, fighters loyal to IS have seized sizeable territories in Afghanistan as well. Reports citing witnesses, who have fled from Nangarhar Province due to fierce clashes between forces loyal to IS and those loyal to the Afghan Taliban, claim that IS has pushed the Taliban out from areas previously under Taliban control. Haji Abdul Jan, a tribal elder from Achin District (Nangarhar Province) stated,
Jun 23, 2015, at 09:16 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On June 16, 2015, cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) killed a 42-year old Christian pastor, Ramesh Majhi, of Puijhari village under the M. Rampur Police Station limits in Kalahandi District of Odisha, suspecting him of being a 'Police informer'. A Maoist poster recovered near the body stated that Majhi was punished at the Praja Court ('people's court') for working as a 'Police informer'.
Jun 08, 2015, at 09:42 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On June 4, 2015, 18 Army personnel were killed and another 11 were injured when militants ambushed a convoy of 46 troopers of the 6 Dogra Regiment of the Army, at Moltuk, near the India-Myanmar border, in the Paralong area of the Chandel District of Manipur. The militants first targeted the convoy, which was on a road opening patrol (ROP). Initiating the attack with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), the militants subsequently opened fire using Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) and small arms. The Army also claimed to have killed a militant in the retaliatory firing.
Bihar and Jharkhand: Subdued Disturbances
May 28, 2015, at 05:04 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management A top ranking woman Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre, identified as Sarita aka Urmila Ganjoo, was killed and another cadre was injured in an encounter with Security Forces (SFs) in the Gaya District of Bihar on May 17, 2015. Sarita was a member of the erstwhile Bihar-Jharkhand 'special area committee', which was replaced by the East Bihar Eastern Jharkhand Special Area Committee (EBEJSAC), and carried a reward of INR 1.5 million on her head. Acting on a tip-off that some Maoists had gathered near the Tiletand locality to collect INR 20 million as 'levy' from a construction company on the night of May 16, four companies of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) reached the place. In the ensuing encounter, which continued throughout the night, Sarita was killed and another Maoist was injured, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Inspector General (IG), Bihar, Arun Kumar disclosed. A walkie talkie, an INSAS rifle and a haul of ammunition were recovered from the spot. The SFs also arrested 10 Maoists, including CPI-Maoist's Magadh Zone Secretary, Upendra Baitha alias Sanjeevan, and 'Treasurer' of the 'Magadh Zone', Gorelal Ramani. Ramani carried a reward of INR 300,000 on his head; while Baitha had a bounty of INR 25,000.
May 18, 2015, at 10:27 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On May 12, 2015, Ananta Bijoy Das (32), a progressive writer, blogger, editor of science fiction magazine Jukti, and an organizer of Gonojagoron Mancha (People's Resurgence Platform), was hacked to death, using machetes, by four assailants at Subidbazar Bankolapara residential area of Sylhet city, for writing against religious fundamentalism. Within hours of the murder, a Twitter username "Ansar Bangla 8", an apparent reference to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT, Volunteer of Allah Bangla Team), a militant outfit, expressed their delight and claimed responsibility for killing the blogger. The same page, Ansar Bangla 8, later Tweeted: "Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS) is taking responsibility of killing Ananta Bijoy." AQIS, in another message posted on justpaste.it declared: "We want to say to atheist bloggers! We don't forget and we will not forget others who insult our beloved Prophet Muhammad and Allah. Another file closed! Stay tuned for next target."
Maoists: False Starts, Critical Losses
May 11, 2015, at 10:13 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management As Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a public gathering in Dantewada in the heart of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) insurgency-affected Bastar Division in Chhattisgarh on May 9, 2015, the Maoists registered their symbolic opposition. A call for a Bastar bandh (general shutdown strike) was issued and, in the Munga Forest of Sukma District (earlier a part of Dantewada), just 80 kilometres from the Prime Minister's meet, the Maoists 'abducted' over 200 villagers to hold a praja court ('people's court', an euphemism for Kangaroo court) at Gaadem and killed a villager, identified as Sadaram Nag of Marenga village.
Balochistan: Shooting the Messenger
May 04, 2015, at 10:01 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management One more messenger of peace fell prey to Pakistan's Mullah-military nexus in the night of April 24, 2015, when unidentified assailants shot dead Sabeen Mahmud, a prominent Pakistani women's rights activist, in the Phase-II area of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. According to reports, Sabeen, accompanied by her mother, was just returning home after organizing a discussion on 'Unsilencing Balochistan' at 'The Second Floor' (T2F), a café that had been developed as a forum for open debates, of which she was Director. The event, "Un-Silencing Balochistan (Take 2)" was organized after the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) cancelled the talk due to security threats allegedly from Pakistan's intelligence agencies. The panelists in the discussion included 'Mama' Abdul Qadeer Baloch, the President of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), who had led a 'long march' to protest forcible disappearances in Balochistan; Baloch activists Farzana Baloch and Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur; and journalists Malik Siraj Akbar and Wusut Ullah Khan.
Apr 27, 2015, at 10:53 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On April 11, 2015, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Senior Assistant Secretary General Mohammed Kamaruzzaman (63), the third most senior figure in the JeI, was hanged at10:30pm at Dhaka Central Jail, for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of 1971. Kamaruzzaman had been arrested on July 13, 2010, and indicted on June 4, 2012, on seven charges.
Apr 20, 2015, at 09:29 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On April 10, 2015, Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) militants shot dead at least 20 Punjabi and Sindhi construction labourers at point blank range at their camp in the Gagdan area of Turbat District. Out of the 20 deceased labourers, 16 were Punjabis, and four were Sindhis from the Hyderabad District in Sindh. A senior administration official Akbar Hussain Durrani disclosed that the militants had lined the labourers up and shot them at point blank range after confirming their identity.
Apr 06, 2015, at 10:08 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management On March 21, 2015, two terrorists dressed in Indian Army fatigue were killed during an attack at an Army camp on the Jammu-Pathankote National Highway in the Samba District of Jammu Division. Three persons, including a civilian, an Army Major and an Army jawan (trooper), were injured during the attack.
Mar 30, 2015, at 10:10 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has owned responsibility for a series of violent actions in Kerala towards the end of 2014 and beginning 2015, for which authorities had earlier 'suspected' Maoist involvement. In the latest issue ofPeople's March (Vol.13, No 3, Jan-March 2015), the Maoists claim,
Mar 17, 2015, at 05:00 pm
Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management At least 48 'terrorists' were killed [with media access severely restricted, no independent confirmation is available, and the categorization of those killed cannot be verified] on March 13, 2015, as Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets pounded alleged terrorist hideouts in the Kukikhel area of the Tirah Valley in the Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Military sources claimed that another 15 terrorists were also injured in the jet bombing. The attack comes after exactly a month of silence in the ongoing Operation Khyber-I in the Khyber Agency. On February 12, 2015, seven suspected terrorists were killed and another 15 were injured in PAF air strikes on terrorist hideouts in the Dwa Thoe, Sarrai, Sheikh Kot, Tor Darra, Nangrosa and Speen Drand areas of Tirah Valley in the Khyber Agency. The air strikes were part of Operation Khyber-I in the Khyber Agency launched on October 16, 2014, alongside the full-fledged Operation Zarb-e-Azb (Sword of the Prophet) going on in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
Mar 10, 2015, at 05:45 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management Unidentified militants hurled a grenade at the house of a businessman, identified as Biren Agarwal, located in the market area of Sepon village in Sivasagar District, killing his younger brother, Situ Agarwal, and their driver, Dimbeswar Bhuyan, on February 13, 2015. The locals claimed that the Independent faction of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA-I), which remains active in the area, had recently demanded extortion money from the businessman's family. The family had refused to make the payment.
Mar 03, 2015, at 05:05 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management Two troopers of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) - Constable Gulab Yadav and Constable Narottam Das - were killed and another 12 were injured when Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres blew up a mini-bus carrying personnel near Nandai on the Imamganj - Dumaria route in Gaya District on February 24, 2015. The unit also came under fire from the Maoists after the improvised explosive device (IED) blast. According to Police sources, there was 'heavy force mobilization' in the area in the wake of an encounter in the vicinity a day earlier. The site of the explosion was part of an area believed to be safe, with regular traffic flows, and was not, prima facie in the 'vulnerable' category, which is why the COBRA unit took the liberty of travelling in a mini bus. A measure of complacency may also have crept in because of the decline in Maoist violence in the State in 2014.
Feb 09, 2015, at 10:20 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management The 20-year long insurgency in Mizoram (1966-86), led by the Mizo National Front (MNF) was resolved as far back as in 1986, and the State has, since, been at peace in terms of that stream of insurgency. Nevertheless, the ethnic polarization and tensions provoked by the MNF insurgency continue to trigger occasional violence linked to a range of other armed groups, some of them located in and operating from neighbouring States.
Maharashtra: Maoists: Weakening Base
Feb 03, 2015, at 06:11 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On January 22, 2015, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres burnt around 14 vehicles of an Andhra Pradesh-based private company engaged in road construction on the Gharanji-Pustola stretch in Dhanora tehsil (revenue unit) of Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra. The Maoists also roughed up a few labourers during the attack. Eight tractors, two trucks, one road roller, two JCB machines, a pickup van and two motorcycles belonging to the workers were among the vehicles which were set on fire.
Jan 27, 2015, at 09:43 pm
Research Assistant, Institute for Conflict Management On January 16, 2015, at least three Shia Muslims were shot dead in Rawalpindi District while they were returning home from a religious gathering. The victims were identified as lawyer Fayyaz Hussain Shah (40), and his two nephews Mir Ghazi Shah (20) and Mir Hamza Shah (22). The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) 'spokesperson' Muhammad Khorasani claimed responsibility for the attack saying that lawyer Fayyaz Hussain Shah was active in his Shia community and was also a local leader of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).