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                         Vol.4, No.48 [*] July 30, 1999
                         ------------------------------

                Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires 
                 a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
                              - Samuel Butler
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

1  TURNING THE TABLES ON HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATION           [S:30-JUL-99]
   -------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  At a time when the security forces engaged in combatting
   various militant organizations in Assam have often been alleged for
   committing violation of human rights, in a significant development,
   the  Central  Reserve  Police Force, stationed in Karbi Anglong and
   North Cachar Hills districts, has written to the Assam Human Rights
   Commission against  the  National  Socialist  Council  of  Nagaland
   backed Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), for violation of human rights.

   The  commandant of the 86 Battalion of the CRPF in the North Cachar
   Hills district headquarter Haflong, Mr M.S.Gill  referring  to  the
   recent  grenade  attack on the CRPF jawans by the DHD militants, in
   which four jawans were killed and two  others  injured,  urged  the
   AHRC to register a case against the outfit.  The AHRC acting on the
   complaint registered the case on July 29.
   
2  JAMAT EZTEMA SUPPORTS MUSLIM AGENDA                   [S:27-JUL-99]
   -----------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The `Muslim Agenda' worked out by the all-India  Islamic
   and  Milli  organizations and endorsed by the `eztema' (conference)
   of the northeastern council of  the  Jamat-e-Islami  Hind  held  in
   Guwahati  on  July  23,  24  and  25, has demanded retention of the
   IM(DT) Act in its present form and asked the Election Commission to
   allow all the D-category voters of Assam to vote in the coming  Lok
   Sabha  elections,  apart  from  calling  upon  the  Muslims  of the
   Northeast to set up local units of the Jamat to  defend  and  fight
   for the cause of the Muslims.
   
   The  conference  held  at the Haji Mushafir Khana in Guwahati under
   the presidentship of Rahmatullah Sharif, while endorsing the Muslim
   Agenda prepared by the All India  Muslim  Majlis-e-Mushawarat,  All
   India  Milli  Council,  All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamiat
   Ulema-e-Hind and Jamat-e-Islami Hind, expressed grave concern  that
   the  State  Government  and  the  media had raised the bogey of ISI
   agents in Assam and harassing innocent Muslims.
   
   The  Muslim  Agenda  calls  upon  the  political  parties  and  the
   candidates  to  work  for real devolution of power from the Central
   Government to the panchayat level and setting up minorities welfare
   departments in the Union and State ministries.    The  agenda  also
   demands  delimitation of the constituencies and provide reservation
   for Muslims.  It has also demanded recognition of  Urdu  and  other
   languages  spoken  by the minorities as associate official language
   in all the States.
   
3  FORMER AASU PRESIDENT TO CONTEST FROM LAKHIMPUR       [S:30-JUL-99]
   -----------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Putting an end to all speculations, former president  of
   the All Assam Students Union (AASU) Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed of
   his  contesting  the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from the North
   Lakhimpur constituency.  Mr Sonowal,  who  had  resigned  from  the
   students'  body  on July 3, said, `Now that I am out from students'
   politics, I have decided to enter the socio-political field.'
   
   Even though he did not divulge any details for which party he would
   contest   the   elections,   he  gave  enough  indications  of  his
   possibility of joining the ruling Asom Gana Parishad or  any  other
   regional party.    `As  an  ex-president  of the student's body and
   being deeply involved in the day-to-day  affairs  of  the  State  I
   believe in regional politics', he said.
   
4  SHIV SENA TO CONTEST ALL SEATS IN ASSAM               [S:27-JUL-99]
   ---------------------------------------
   DULIAJAN:  The Shiv Sena will contest all the 14 Lok Sabha seats of
   Assam in the coming polls.   This  was  disclosed  by  Ram  Narayan
   Singh, general  secretary,  Assam  state unit of the Shiv Sena.  Mr
   Singh himself will contest from Dibrugarh seat, while Surjit Ranjan
   Chandra, the state unit `pramukh' of the party  will  contest  from
   Silchar.   The  names  of  other 12 candidates will be announced in
   August.  The Sena will not make electoral tie-up with BJP in Assam.
   
5  ABOUT 100 ULFA ACTIVISTS TO SURRENDER AT RANGHAR      [S:30-JUL-99]
   ------------------------------------------------
   SIBSAGAR:  About  100  ULFA  militants,  including  some  hard-core
   ultras  will  lay down arms at 11 am on July 30 at Ranghar field in
   Sibsagar.  Choosing the historic Ranghar ground for  the  surrender
   ceremony  is  significant,  since this was the field where the ULFA
   was formally launched.  The surrender is organized by the Army.
   
   JORHAT:  The family members of the ULFA activists of  the  Dhansiri
   local   unit  contributed  Rs.35,000  to  the  Army  Welfare  Fund.
   According to a note issued by them, the relatives of the  activists
   of the banned outfit are dead against the stand taken by the outfit
   on the Kargil issue.
   
6  ASOM GANA PARISHAD DENIES ILLEGAL FUND COLLECTION     [S:28-JUL-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The  Asom  Gana Parishad (AGP) has vehemently denied the
   allegation published in a section of the press  recently  that  the
   party  has  started  massive  fund collection drive by opening some
   check-gates and parking areas in Guwahati city with the help  of  a
   section of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation councillors.
   
   The  AGP  publicity  secretary  Mr  Moyidul Islam Bora has strongly
   contradicted the allegation  and  said  that  it  is  a  false  and
   baseless  allegation as AGP is opposed to any kind of extortion and
   it would never resort to illegal  activities  like  extortion  from
   vehicle  operators  at  check-gates  and parking places for raising
   funds for the party.  He said that it is unfortunate  that  through
   the news item the image of the party is sought to be tarnished.
   
7  FOREST DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO HUSH UP REPORT             [S:29-JUL-99]
   -----------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The State Forest  Department,  which  has  already  come
   under  severe  criticism  from all concerned for failing to protect
   the rich forest cover from denudation, is now trying to hush up the
   recent findings of land cover mapping of two elephant  reserves  of
   Assam,  carried  out by the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre
   as part of  the  ambitious  `Project  Elephant',  launched  by  the
   Ministry  of  Environment  and Forests in 1991 in order to initiate
   proper management of the dwindling elephant habitat.
   
   The remote satellite mapping, carried out in  Manas-Buxa-Jaldapara,
   Dibru-Deomali,  Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong-Intanki and Kameng-Sonitpur
   elephant reserves, have revealed that the large-scale dwindling  of
   the  elephant  habitat  as  a  result  of massive deforestation has
   forced the pachyderms to migrate hundreds of kilometres  in  search
   of food and shelter, and stray into human habitat. They are sighted
   even  in  areas  where  they had not been seen for the past several
   hundred years, the report said.
   
   Although the task of mapping was handed over to the  ARSAC  by  the
   Forest  Department  in  the  last  part  of  1998,  the  department
   officials, in a bid to cover up their faults, are trying to mislead
   the higher-ups.  The Chief Conservator of Forests,  Wild  Life,  Mr
   Sonadhar Doley has even informed the Commissioner of the department
   that no  such  survey  has  been carried out since 1997. 
   
   The  Chief Conservator, when contacted by The Sentinel, said he was
   not aware of any such report, and that even if  such  a  study  had
   been  carried  out,  it  should not be a matter of public interest.
   However, department officials, pleading  anonymity,  admitted  that
   the  ARSAC  has  recently submitted the findings to the department,
   adding that the findings are being scrutinized by a committee.
   
8  HARMONY - NEW TV MUSICAL FOR PPC-NE DOORDARSHAN       [S:29-JUL-99]
   -----------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  A new musical entertainment serial entitled Harmony will
   be on air from the Programme Production Centre - Northeast (PPC-NE)
   of the  Doordarshan.    The picturization for the first 14 episodes
   have already been completed.  The producer of the serial, TV  Focus
   said  that  some popular singers from the region have been included
   in every episode.
   
   The singers who  participated  are:  Zubeen  Garg,  Jitul  Sonowal,
   Sadananda  Gogoi,  Kula Baruah, Dhurba Sarmah, Anirban Das, Samson,
   Charu Gohain, Sandhya Menon, Santa Uzir,  Sangita  Kakati,  Mousumi
   Saharia, Trishna Devi and Archana Kawsik.
   
9  ELVIS ALI ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL                        [S:28-JUL-99]
   ------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  A shin injury to swimmer Elvis Ali Hazarika  from  Assam
   has   caused   concern  among  coaches  even  as  the  Asia-pacific
   Championships, to be held at New Delhi from August  22  to  24,  is
   only a  month  away.    The  junior  swimmer injured his right shin
   during the trials to select the probables for  the  coaching  camp.
   The  lanky  lad,  after  clocking  the  best  time  in the 50 metre
   freestyle, tripped and fell in a drainage gutter.  He was  admitted
   at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi on July 27 for treatment.
   
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