AIZAWL, June 30: Mizo National Front (Nationalist) (MNF-N), breakaway group of the ruling MNF party, was on Thursday rechristened as Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) while the party retained the 'rising sun' as its symbol, reports PTI. Party sources told PTI that the change of name was decided by its national council. MNF(N) was formed by former Lok Sabha member Lalduhawma in 1997 in the wake of his defeat at the hands of present Chief Minister and MNF chief Zoramthanga in the party presidential polls. Lalduhawma, a former IPS officer and security officer of late Prime Minister Indira Gadhi, split Mizoram PCC in 1986 when he was president of the state PCC and member of the Lok Sabha. He formed 'Mizo National Union', which later merged with former Chief Minister Brig. T Sailo's People's Conference rechristening it as 'Democratic Party' (DP). He again split the DP to join Janata Dal before joining the MNF. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; July 4, 2000)

AGARTALA, July 8: To counter increasing trend of conversions into Christianity among the tribals in Tripura, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has decided to launch massive missionary works of their own, particularly educational activities, in the rural areas. The VHP secretary general, Prabinbhai Togadia, in a press conference here on Saturday, termed the religious conversions into Christianity throughout the country as a ploy by the western countries to meet their own religious goals. What is most important in Tripura is that separatist militants are taking direct part in conversions and attacking the Hindus. They are forcibly preventing the Hindus to perform their rituals and pujas in rural areas. He said, even at this hour of crisis VHP is trying hard to maintain the dignity of Hinduism in Tripura. "There is a hostel at Dhumacherra with a capacity of 150 students and a school with a capacity of 200 students. VHP has also set up an old-age home at Salema and four girls hostel in the state. It should not be taken for granted that only missionaries do good work," he said. At present many schools are closed, and if these are not opened, the effects will be visible within 20 years, the VHP leader said. He also alleged that in cases militants backed by some missionaries are taking part in the conversions at gun-point. The VHP is preparing to counter the conversions at gun-point, he added. In his speech at the Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhawan on Friday he said VHP won't allow such misadventure by the Christian missionaries as Indians have learned from the slavery of 1300 years under foreign rules. Referring to the cases of complaint against the Christians, he said most of the cases had been found to be false. "Wadhwa Commission has proved that VHP is not responsible for Graham Steins's murder though most of the politicians had blamed the VHP at first." Now Dara, who is in custody, had revealed that he is no way related to VHP, he added. "About the cases of rape of nurse in UP, initially Bajrang Dal, VHP's youth wing, was held responsible but subsequently enquiry found 11 Christians' involvement in it. The basic aim is to malign the image of VHP," he said. He also said, after the murder of Graham Steins, an attempt was made to deface VHP by a nun, who alleged her rape by VHP workers but again police found the case to be baseless. Earlier, Swapan Kumar Mukherjee, organising secretary, Dakshin Purva Prant said to bring back those who have been converted, VHP will work continuously and till date ten thousand people have been brought back to Hinduism. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; July 9, 2000)

JORHAT, July 9: Seven families, who had earlier converted to Christianity, were reconverted to Hinduism in Majuli, the world's largest river island and the seat of Vaishnavism, the satradhikar (head) of the powerful Auniati Satra monastery, Pitambar Dev Goswami said here on Sunday. The seven families who reconverted on Saturday hail from Borpomua village under Jengrai police station and belong to the Mising community, the satradhikar said. The head of the world famous Vaishnav seat of learning, which is a veritable treasure trove of art and literature, said that they had started a mission since last month and some of the families were willing to return to their original fold. The satradhikar also said that originally 300 families had been converted to Christianity and it was likely that many of them would reconvert to their original religion. However, no pressure was applied on any of the families and they agreed to return to Hinduism's fold only because they could "identify with it and felt more comfortable with it." The head of the seven families who reconverted are Bhim Kanta Mili, Baba Mili, Likhikanta Mili, Podai Mili, Jogeswar Doley, Anil Pegu and Uma Devi Doley. A senior Jorhat district official said that they had received information about the reconversions and the sub-divisional authorities had been directed to submit a detailed report. (PTI; The Asian Age; New Delhi; July 10, 2000)

GUWAHATI, July 11: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has called for a debate on the role of the Church in the strife-torn Northeast and said the Hindu existence in the region will be in jeopardy unless immediate steps are taken to check Christian missionary activity and unabated infiltration of Bangladeshis into the country. VHP international general secretary, Praveenbhai Tagodia who arrived in the city today, said in a public meeting this evening that Rs 2,000 crore in foreign funds are being spent in the region every year in support of missionary activities, the money being channelled through 18,000 NGOs. Stating that no community in the country is free from missionary influence, Tagodia said even the Assamese people are being gradually enticed by the Church. The VHP leader said there is unabated infiltration of Bangladeshis into the country through Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, etc to which the so-called intellectuals are turning a blind eye. He said that when the infiltration problem in the state was first voiced, politicians had termed the Muslims as a 'microscopic minority.' Today, they threaten to overwhelm the local population. He reminded the audience of the fact that wherever the Muslims had overtaken the Hindu population, the latter had been hounded. He said while 12 crore Muslims are able to lead normal lives among the 90 crore Hindus in the country, the three lakh Hindus have been reduced to homeless refugees by the 40 lakh Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir. He warned that a similar fate may be awaiting the people of Assam. 'We must stand together to counter the threat,' he stated. Criticising the Church for launching a 'hate campaign' against the Hindus by levelling false allegations against organisations like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, Tagodia said all the allegations of at rocities against the Christians perpetrated by such organisations have been proved false. Citing examples, he said the alleged rape of a nun at Jabua in Madhya Pradesh by Hindu extremists turned out to be otherwise as 11 of the actual culprits were Christians. He said another allegation of rape of a nun at Baripada in Orissa turned out to be baseless as the medical report showed there was no rape at all. Lambasting the 'Church and Euro-centric intellectuals' of turning a blind eye to the activities of the Church, Tagodia said the Indians are being made to look at their country through Western eyes. He said while the Hindus believe that every community has the right to practice their religion unhindered, the Church believes that it is only through Christianity that one can reach heaven. He challenged the Church to define what a Hindu is. 'Is he a heathen, a idolater ?' he asked. 'They say only believers in Christ will go to heaven. This cannot be tolerated. It is religious terrorism,' the VHP leader said. Tagodia alleged that the VHP has documentary evidence to prove that the Church is converting people despite the 1977 verdict of a Supreme Court Constitutional Bench that the right to propagate does not mean the right to convert. He said 4 lakh Hindus are being converted every year by the Church. 'Conversion is religious violence,' he stated. Tagodia further said the Church has always mocked the Hindu traditions. 'We invite criticism,' he said, 'but we also want a debate on what the Church's role was during Independence struggle, in Goa and now in the Northeast.' He pointed out that the Church itself is not united and quoted the Pope once telling Catholic to 'wage a war against rapacious Protestant wolves.' Calling for an immediate stop in conversions, Tagodia said that it is banned in China where the government believes 'one more Christian is one less Chinese.' He said the Hindus had always preferred peaceful coexistance. 'There can be no peace in the world if there are no Hindus,' he said. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; July 12, 2000)

TURA, July 12: The new Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), Edmund K Sangma, took charge of the administration of the council from the deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills even as problems began to crop up for him. The deputy commissioner had been handling the administration of the council since April 12 following uncertainty over the functioning due to hassles between the ruling and the Opposition both of whom claimed to be in a majority. The new CEM, who was earlier the chairman of the council, will shortly appoint his executive committee following the approval of the Governor. Sangma heads the United Parliamentary Forum of which his party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), is a major constituent. The Gauhati High Court, Shillong Bench, had passed its order in favour of the UPF on Thursday following written assurances by two members of the ruling party switching sides to the opposition led by E K Sangma of the UPF. The then CEM of the Congress-led alliance, Winsang Sangma, had been reduced to a minority in the trial of strength called on May 11 following the changing of sides by two independent MDCs who had earlier supported him. EK Sangma takes charge after a gap of ninety days during which the council was under the administrative control of the deputy commissioner. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; July 13, 2000)

SHILLONG, July 13: The death toll in the BSF firing near Muktapur on the Indo-Bangladesh border on July 10 has gone up to five with two more Bangladeshi intruders succumbing to their injuries even as exchange of fire between the BSF and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) continued till 2 am today, BSF sources said. Narrating the incident, IGP, BSF, Shillong Frontier, VS Sirohi told The Assam Tribune that a group of 35-40 Bangladeshis intruded into Indian territory on the bank of Amkinala, a stream at Muktapur on Monday in six country boats. Their intension was to steal limestones, sand, pabbles, etc, from India, which was a frequent phenomenon. They defied warnings of the BSF patrol party not to cross over and some intruders hiding in the bushes attacked the BSF men with daos. The BSF fired 20 rounds, after the Patrol Commander was injured injuring 7 Bangladeshis. The intruders then fled but 3 died on reaching the Bangladesh side. According to reports received from the BDR 2 more intruders succumbed to their injuries the following night. Justifying the BSF action, Sirohi said, "The intruders were more than 200 yards inside Indian territory despite the warning. Further, a BSF inspector was lynched by intruders last year." A flag-meeting between Sector Commanders of the BSF and BDR was held at Dawki on Meghalaya-Bangladesh border today but the outcome of the parleys is not known. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; July 14, 2000)

SHILLONG, July 13: The Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) today resolved to "stop transborder firing to maintain peace" along the Indo-Bangladesh border. This was decided at a flag meeting between the two countries at Dawki today. Tension had engulfed the Indo-Bangla border since July 10 following a protracted "gunbattle" between the BSF and BDR. The "gunbattle" started after Indian border guards gunned down three Bangladeshis trying to smuggle out boulder and limestone near Muktapur in Jaintia Hills district. Sources said the "firing" continued even yesterday at Pyrdiwah in East Khasi Hills district and the BSF had "directed" the villagers "not to come out of their houses." However, there was no report of any casualties on the Indian side. Residents of Dawki and adjacent areas were also asked not to venture out, sources said. Inspector-general of Border Security Force (BSF) VS Sirohi had "requested" his Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) counterpart yesterday to send his commanders to today's flag meeting to resolve the crisis "amicably." "It was an unnecessary firing by BDR and we had to retaliate," Sirohi told The Telegraph, adding that they have categorically asked Dhaka to immediately stop the firing to maintain "peace" along the 442-km-long Meghalaya-Bangladesh border. The BSF was represented by commandant of 37 battalion S.K. Vohra and senior officials of the unit while the BDR was represented by Sylhet division commander, sources said. Though the BSF claimed that three "intruders" were killed in the firing, BSF officials argued that the "killing" of three Bangladeshi intruders was "legal" as they were nearly 200 yards inside the Indian territory. The Indian officials also asked their Bangladesh counterpart to "ensure" that "smugglers" do not try to sneak into the border to "steal" boulder and limestone in future. The BSF jawans also seized a countryboat yesterday and claimed that Bangladeshi "smugglers" were using it for ferrying boulders. However, BDR officials "refused" to agree that Bangladeshis had sneaked into Jaintia hills district to "steal" boulders and limestone. They also alleged that BSF personnel "had fired the first shot," forcing them to retaliate, sources said. Earlier, Meghalaya chief minister EK Mawlong, while making a statement on the floor of the House in April, had urged the BSF to intensify its vigil along the sensitive international border to check transborder crimes and infiltration. He had also requested the BSF to reduce the distance between border outposts (BOPs). Director-general of BSF EN Rammohan has directed Sirohi and few other senior officials to rush to Bangladesh on July 16 to hold discussions with BDR officials and find "permanent solutions" to the transborder problems. A joint meeting has been organised at Chittagong, sources said. (Anirban Roy; The Telegraph; Calcutta; July 14, 2000)