Guwahati: December 6: Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS) condemns the brutal and senseless murder of innocent Naga wage earners and their protesting allies by the Indian armed forces. Even as our region prepares for the season of peace and festivities, special forces of the Indian army ambushed and killed young Naga men returning home to their village from working on the coal mines in the Mon district. News reports say that they were in a pick-up truck and singing songs, as they were happy to return home for the weekend on 4 December 2021. The army ambushed them between Lower Tiru, where they had gone to work in the mines, and Oking, where they lived. As per reports in the local media, six innocent Naga men died instantly, and two more succumbed to their injuries. Subsequently, the Indian armed forces opened fire on villagers from Oking and its neighbouring areas, who were searching for their murdered kin. The death toll now stands at 16 (sixteen), as per media reports.
This event is a reminder of the generational trauma that people of the Northeast, including the Nagas, continue to be subjected to. The Naga people were supposed to be safer following a ceasefire agreed upon by Naga armed opposition groups and the government of India in 1997. Instead, they have continued to suffer under threats made against them by the Indian security forces, who hide behind the grotesque law called Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958. The tragic loss of lives on 4 December 2021in Mon district, Nagaland, was a prime example of impunity that comes with AFSPA. Special forces units were emboldened by decades of immunity offered to them by this draconian law, so they saw no need to inform civilian authorities or even their paramilitary counterparts of the ambush of the innocent villagers.
In the meantime, this heinous action has elicited condemnation from every quarter, including India’s Home Minister, the Chief Minister, and Deputy Chief Minister of Nagaland. The government of Nagaland has constituted a 5-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the massacre of innocent miners and their protesting kin. We welcome the elected representatives' effort and wish to sound a cautionary note about the fate of other investigations and commissions of inquiry following excesses committed by the armed forces against civilians in Northeast India. The Justice KN Saikia Committee report on extrajudicial executions in Assam and the Justice Upendra Singh Committee report on the killing of Thangjam Manorama has not been acted upon and have yet been acted upon to see the light of day. We cannot allow that to happen now.
MASS, therefore, makes the following demands as we stand in solidarity with our grieving Naga comrades:
The Government of India must repeal AFSPA immediately and without any prevarication.
There should be an impartial inquiry conducted by a sitting judge.
The guilty army personnel must be tried for premeditated murder in a court of law. Their names and designations should be made public, and the Indian armed forces should dismiss them from service to face the law as common citizens.
Families of the dead and injured must receive maximum compensation.
October 14, 2025 - Students from Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti School emerged victorious in the Assam State finale of the Wild Wisdom Global Challenge, defeating competitors from 109 other schools in what organizers called one of the most competitive rounds in the program's 18-year history.
The competition, held at Miles Bronson Residential School in Guwahati, saw participation from 220 students representing schools from across the state. Ashwin Anand of Class 9 and Anubhadipta Boruah of Class 8 from the winning school will advance to represent Assam in the zonal round of India's largest wildlife quiz competition.
STATEWIDE PARTICIPATION REACHES RECORD LEVELS
This year's competition...
As part of the observance of Anna Sewa Din, Smt. Pratibha Meshram, Co-district Commissioner, Nazira, and Sri Kalyan Jyoti Hazarika, Assistant Director (i/c), Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, conducted an extensive inspection of various Fair Price Shops (FPS) under Nazira Co-district on Day 4 of the programme. The inspection was carried out in the presence of departmental officials with the objective of ensuring the proper and transparent distribution of food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
During the visit, the officials thoroughly verified the stock registers, distribution records, and other related documents maintained by the FPS...
The Rongmei community of Guwahati came together to celebrate its 7th Charuangc Khatni Zawthanh Kariumei 2025 (Cultural and Freshers’ Meet) under the theme “Reaffirming Identity, Shaping Futures” at the Maniram Dewan Trade Centre Auditorium on Thursday.
The event witnessed enthusiastic participation from Rongmei residents and freshers from across the city. The celebration was graced by Chief Guest Chaitali Panmei, IRS (Retd.), former Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, North Eastern Region, and Guest of Honour Rev. T.P. Mordecai, Associate Secretary, EFI North East. Both dignitaries inspired the gathering with their reflections on the importance of cultural identity and...
A devastating accident at the Ennore Thermal Power construction site in Tamil Nadu claimed the lives of nine workers from Assam and nearby regions on Tuesday, after a steel arch collapsed.
TANGEDCO Chairman Dr. J. Radhakrishnan confirmed that one worker was critically injured, while over 10 others sustained serious injuries and were admitted to Stanley Government Hospital in North Chennai. BHEL officials have reached the site as rescue operations continue. Police said the exact cause of the collapse is under investigation.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, six workers died and six others were injured when the roof of a private steel plant collapsed in the...
A standoff between taxi unions from Assam and Meghalaya has disrupted travel for hundreds of tourists at the Jorabat border near Guwahati. The confrontation began when the All Khasi Meghalaya Tourist Taxi Association (AKMTTA) initiated a blockade, preventing Assam-registered taxis from entering Meghalaya. The AKMTTA cited concerns over the livelihoods of local drivers, alleging that the influx of Assam-based taxis was adversely affecting their business.
In retaliation, Assam's Motor Parivan Sewakarmi Sanmilita Mancha organized a strike, halting vehicles from Meghalaya at key transit points, including Guwahati Railway Station, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, and the...
The Assam Royal Global University (RGU) successfully hosted a two-day national conference on September 15–16 titled “Resilient Futures: Indian Knowledge Systems for Energy, Sustainability, and Climate Action.” In a significant step towards promoting regional languages in higher education, the entire event was conducted in Assamese.
The conference was inaugurated with a ceremonial lamp-lighting, where Chief Guest Dr. Hirak Ranjan Das, Innovation Manager, AICTE (NER), emphasized the relevance of indigenous knowledge in shaping sustainable futures. Coordinator Dr. Saswati Bordoloi noted that AICTE-VAANI seeks to revive Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) while giving voice to diverse...
DIMAPUR, September 13: Zigzak Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a rising technology start-up founded by filmmaker and tech enthusiast Mr. Lorence Kachari, is preparing to launch its flagship lifestyle application, Zigzak, next week. The company has described the initiative as a step towards transforming digital convenience in Nagaland, the North East and beyond.
The application is designed to function as an all-in-one service platform, bringing together facilities such as food delivery, grocery shopping, rides, medicines, parcel services and home services on a single interface.
The development of the app has been undertaken by a team of fifteen engineers and developers based in Hyderabad, under...
Indigenous leaders of Assam have strongly condemned what they described as "barbaric atrocities" by Assam Police on members of the Koch-Rajbanshi community at Golokganj in Dhubri district on September 10. They demanded an impartial judicial inquiry and strict action against the culprits, urging the state to ensure that such incidents are not repeated when communities raise their democratic rights.
At the same press conference, the leaders also expressed outrage over the detention of Bhanu Tatak — a young activist and legal advisor of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum — at Delhi’s international airport on September 7. Tatak, who had been invited to Dublin City University in Ireland for...
Mumbai: The never-say-die soul of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika enjoyed yet another acme of glory when millions of people across the globe remembered him on his birth centenary on 8th September. From Assam and Kolkata to the capital Delhi, from India’s downtown Mumbai to Bengaluru, the Bard of Brahmaputra came alive with his songs and rhymes.
On 8th September, renowned music therapist and performer Anubhuti Goswami, along with her husband and multi-instrumentalist Emon Goswami, presented a soulful tribute to the legend Dr. Bhupen Hazarika as part of the birth centenary celebrations in Kolkata.
The duo performed at the Assam Bhawan, organized by the Kolkata Assamese Cultural Association,...
Clashes broke out in Churachandpur district on Thursday evening, barely two days before the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Manipur, throwing the administration into a state of heightened alert. The incident occurred near Peasonmun village, situated about five kilometres from the Churachandpur police station, when a group of unidentified persons allegedly attempted to damage decorations and arrangements being put up for the Prime Minister’s public engagement.
Police personnel who rushed to the spot were confronted by the miscreants, following which a scuffle ensued. Reports indicate that several properties suffered damage during the course of the incident. While...
Add new comment