These two highways are the only lifeline of the 2,855,794 people of Manipur. These two highways are also the only ways to reach Manipur in the hilly regions of north eastern India from the remaining part of the country. More than 2 millions of lives suffer to access the basic needs whenever these highways are blocked. Help us to revive these two lifelines of the Manipuris. Give us a new lease of life and connect us to you.

Before the High Court orders there were regular updates and photos of Sunder’s condition however since April 7th there have been no updates. Through email contact with PETA the only update of Sunder’s condition is that there is no guarantee that he is not in danger. Email contact asking PETA for photos of his present condition have been met with avoiding the issue. Unfortunately the High Court did not put in place orders to protect Sunder and he may still be with the same handler. We know that nobody has gone to check up on him and we are very concerned as to whether he is even still alive.

Seeing videos on the internet of Sunder being cruelly and sadistically beaten for years has been heartbreaking for hundreds of people if not thousands. Seeing, now, Sunder’s release posted on the internet is what people are expecting.

If PETA INDIA can video tape the cruelty that Sunder has suffered then PETA INDIA can surely video tape his transportation and release, followed by videos of how Sunder is living in his new environment. That is the least PETA INDIA can do for Sunder’s advocates who donated money and worked hard sending emails and tweeting in the hope that their work would make a difference.

Despite this fact, the condition in which her body was found suggests that there might have been attempts to gang rape her. The brutes, having failed to succeed in their evil desire, brutally tortured the girl and inflicted severe injuries on her head and neck. She was finally thrown out of the running vehicle merely 100 metres away from the nearest police station. Everything happened in broad daylight.

There seems to be inefficiencies in the police investigation. The vehicle where the crime was reportedly committed has still not been located. The incident happened in a small district town of Lakhimpur in Assam and a few such vehicles operate in the area. There is crucial forensic evidence in the vehicle and delays in locating it risks the evidence being destroyed. It has been more than 10 days now and no credible arrests have been made.

The Assam Police is coming out with various possibilities of murder and accident to cover up for its gross failure to make any credible arrests and locate the vehicle. They have also resorted to Character Assassination based on the statement of a person that was arrested and then later released. It can only be hoped that the Assam Police has not forced the person to confess having illicit relationship with the deceased. Assam has witnessed quite a number of such incidents in the past. The repeated failure of the government to deliver justice in the wake of the elections ahead seem to put the police under tremendous pressure to make the case look like an accident or a murder. The possibility of a political puppet investigation cannot be ruled out. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the government seems to be running a puppet show.

Even if it was a planned murder, it is imperative that the culprits are apprehended. The fact that her injuries were very horrendous cannot be ignored and such a horrific crime cannot be tolerated. Failure to nab the culprits will simply mean encouragement to other anti social elements.

The incident was widely covered by press and media.
Below are a few links:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131126/jsp/northeast/story_17613101.jsp#.Upm2YMRdV2E

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/28/india-assam-lakhimpur-gangrape-idINDEE9AR0CU20131128

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-27/guwahati/44519031_1_assam-state-commission-meera-barooah-autorickshaw

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/assam-protest-continues-over-lakhimpur-gangrape-incident/436786-3-251.html

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-lakhimpur-case-sit-formed-postmortem-report-says-no-rape-1926251

Until a nationwide public debate happens within and outside the higher educational institutions, tabling such bills in a vibrant democracy like India is unacceptable.

Le Corbusier worked on the design, planning and construction of Chandigarh with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and a team of international architects from 1950 until his death in 1965. The result is the first planned city in India with beautiful green spaces and some of the 20th century’s finest buildings.

Their work at Chandigarh is now imperilled by the removal of artifacts designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and their team, including public property. Many of these artifacts, such as furniture, lighting, carvings, architectural drawings and models, have subsequently been sold by international art dealers and auction houses. A manhole cover from Chandigarh sold for over $24,000 at an auction in Paris in November 2010.

If the plundering of Chandigarh continues, Le Corbusier’s vision of the city will be destroyed. This article in The Guardian newspaper explains the gravity of the situation:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/mar/07/chandigarh-le-corbusier-heritage-site?INTCMP=SRCH

A group of local architects and art historians led by Manmohan Nath Sharma, who was Le Corbusier’s first assistant and later chief architect of Chandigarh, is campaigning to preserve the city’s architectural integrity.

You can help their campaign by signing this petition to urge the Indian government to:

- lobby UNESCO to make Chandigarh a World Heritage Site
- impose tighter controls on the removal of public property from Chandigarh

Your support could help to Save Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh.

Apropos, the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas slated for January 7-9, 2011 in New Delhi - the Manipuris all over the world join the 24 million strong Indian diaspora to welcome the initiative to lay an elaborate platform for growth of Indians domestic and abroad. We are happy to note that India’s North East Region will be focused during this event and that the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) is an organiser.

While we acknowledge the special efforts of the government of India to boost the economic development of India’s backward NE Region, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that some of India’s archaic policies remain conflicting many of the new development initiatives in the Region defeating their purposes and objectives. One such policy potentially stopping the Manipuris from benefitting from the new programs of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is the Protected Area Permit (PAP).

PAP restricts the visit of foreigners to Manipur. It restricts even the overseas Manipuris born in India who wish to visit their home state, Manipur. The purpose of PAP as stated by the Indian Home Ministry is “protection of culture” of the people in certain places in the country. We do not understand in what way foreigners visiting Manipur for business or tourism can harm the Manipuris while they cannot do this to other Indians. In this age of globalization, the physical segregation of the people in Manipur from the overseas Manipuris and other foreigners does not relate anything to the protection of their culture. Rather, keeping them barricaded from foreigners will diminish their competitive abilities resulting in a crippled population. Manipuris have endured two millennia long history of their own, professed rich culture and performed illustriously in many fields at any level. They need exposure to a wider arena of competition and not protection in an enclosure to sustain their heritage.

PAP obliterates the rights and privileges of Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) as these apply to the Manipuris. With OCI an overseas Manipuri will not have the right to freely visit and stay in his or her homeland in India while other overseas Indians enjoy these privileges. Even obtaining PAP by an overseas Manipuri for visiting Manipur sometimes poses an insurmountable problem as its application process is incongruous with that of visa timing.

The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Ministry of DoNER, and MOIA are trying to create grounds for attracting investments from overseas Indians and foreigners in tune with India’s robust growth in all spheres. We assert that Manipuris in Manipur and elsewhere deserve a fair role in this cherished program. We fear that in the present circumstances, the progress India wants to make in the NE Region will go lopsided favouring the states without PAP in the same region while Manipur remains hamstrung by it. PAP makes India’s genuine efforts to help its diaspora an unfair play leaving Manipur deprived of the opportunity. India’s “Look East” policy envisages a large scope of interactions between India and various peoples and governments of the South East Asian countries through the North East corridor. PAP will significally fetter all steps in this initiative.

In spite of its beauty, natural resources and vivacious people Manipur had to witness a general decline in value system among its populace during the past four decades of its socio-political strife. Perhaps a paradigm shift may be required in India’s development approach in the NE Region from the subsidy dispensing mode to a capacity building one. Removal of PAP is one essential step in this line.

We are concerned that PAP opposes India’s commitment of equality of rights, privileges and opportunities to its citizens as enshrined in its democracy.

Based on the reasons described above we strongly believe that removal of PAP from Manipur is a socio-politically and economically sensible act for the Government of India.

Reports and interviews with the producer and the lead pair of the serial confirm that all the original characters, except the male lead have been replaced with a completely new cast and a new track, where the female lead Simran is killed, the male lead Ruhaan loses his memory and is brought up by another family and eventually gets paired with a new female lead Sargam is how the story is going to move forward.

Up until this new track started this week, the story was taking an interesting turn and everyone was waiting for Ruhaan and Simran to reunite after all problems between them looked like getting solved.

However last week, the story underwent a major twist with Simran being shot dead and the entire Oberoi family also being unceremoniously dumped.