Speaking to The Shillong Times, NCP legislator Edmund Sangma said that the government had put up more than 40 toll gates which incensed the coal traders.

According to Mr Sangma, if the adjournment motion regarding the matter is not accepted, he may bring half an hour discussion or call attention motion regarding the matter.

Earlier, the Joint Action Committee of commercial organisations consisting of at least 10 NGOs had resorted to agitations including road blockade against the mushrooming check gates all along the highways, which were charging exhorbitant fees from the commercial vehicles resulting in the hike in essential commodities.

In the past too, there were several instances of torching of vehicles both in Khasi Hills and Ribhoi district. A few years back, a high-level meeting convened by the Chief Minister DD Lapang had decided to file a petition in the court seeking permission to dismantle the toll gates.

The State Truckers and Coal Dealers Co-ordination Committee had earlier asked the government to follow the decision arrived at the previous meeting with Mr. Lapang and Truckers Association regarding the dismantling of illegal toll gates set up in the highways. The Committee had also warned that if the truckers were further harassed, they would approach the court for justice.

There were special church services, sermons and mass at the churches in the State on Saturday night and on Sunday morning. Exchange of greetings followed the church services during the Easter which is the culmination of the holy week.

In Garo Hills too, the faithfuls thronged the churches for special prayers and mass. However, unlike in the past, the Governor and the Chief Minister failed to wish the people on the occasion of Easter.

Later, the SI was suspended and a case was registered against the woman.

SHILLONG: Meghalaya showed the way to Arunchal Pradesh as far as the issue of change of leadership issue in that State is concerned. After Arunachal, the same trend is likely to be followed by other Congress-ruled States in the North-east.

Twenty-five Congress legislators out of 33 in Arunachal have urged the AICC to change the present leader Mr Gegong Apang and a crucial CLP meeting is scheduled for Monday.

Downsizing is the main reason why the Meghalaya Congress has been demanding change of leadership.

"Earlier prior to the downsizing, every MLA wanted to become minister. In fact Meghalaya had more than forty ministers once," MPCC president OL Nongtdu recalled. He said the same may be the case with Arunachal Pradesh.

According to the MPCC president, the demand for change of leadership will continue for sometime, but will subside slowly after the next general elections.

Former MPCC president SC Marak, however, hoped that the developments in Arunachal would be solved by the high command, who would surely arrive at a solution in the best interest of the Congress legislators. Mr Marak admitted the similarity in the demand for change of leadership in Meghalaya and Arunachal, but added that in Arunachal this was nothing new.

Critical about the Congress, both in Meghalaya and Arunachal, NCP legislator Edmund Sangma said that the issue of change of leadership was becoming out of control. "Arunachal learned from Meghalaya and this trend is becoming out of control," Mr Sangma added.

In Garo Hills, thousands of Christian faithful attended midnight and sunrise services to seek God's blessings and mark the end of the Lent season, Christianity's most important event of the year.

Roman Catholic faithful in their thousands began the Easter Celebrations on Holy Saturday by attending the midnight church service where the blessing of the Holy Pascal candle, signifying the ressurection of Christ, was lit.

Delivering his Easter sermon, Rev Fr Charles Sangma said one need not fear anything as long as he believes in Christ and called upon Christians to practise their faith by praying and seeking the blessings of Christ.

He said there is no greater time then during Easter for one to ask for the help of Jesus Christ. He also reminded the gathering that the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday has shown the world that death is not the end of everything.

The ritual of blessing the water was also undertaken during the Easter Service.

Meanwhile, Christian devotees in large numbers also participated in the Sunrise Service at the Tura Baptist Church on Easter Sunday. The service was marked by offering of prayers and songs celebrating Christ's ressurection from the dead on Easter.

Church services were also held during the day for many more Christian devotees who thronged the Church to fulfill their Easter duties.

At the second conference of the Union held here recently and attended by about 1000 members from all over the State, the workers and helpers noted that in spite of the increasing assignments, there had been no consideration to enhance their honoraria.

"The State Government unlike other states in India, has not made any additional monetary incentive to the Anganwadi workers and helpers for the additional work assigned as notified by the Department of Women and Children Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development," a statement said.

Further the conference noted that promotion of the Anganwadi workers under the guidelines and instructions of Integrated Child Development Service Scheme issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development is not implemented in Meghalaya.

It also noted with grief the instances of arbitrary termination of the services of the Anganwadi workers and helpers.

"Such terminations occurred frequently out of the whims and personal interest of the village officials and village politics," the statement pointed out, adding there were also cases where the workers were coerced to resign.

The conference also decided to bring to the notice of the Director of Social Welfare Department of the various problems faced by the Anganwadi workers and intitate measures to solve the issues.

Earlier on Saturday, the leaders of NCP, East Khasi Hills including Mr RM Shabong and Losterfield Kharbuki, the vice president and Ivan Lumlang Marbaniang, general secretary visited Lawmei village under Sohiong Constituency. The NCP meeting was held in the village where village elders, youths and senior citizens attended. After a thorough discussion the people of the area coming from different villages under Sohiong Constituency have decided to join the Party.

The block Committee of Sohiong Constituency was constituted where Just Wanniang from Lawmei was elected as the president, John Robert Mawlong from Mawmaram as the secretary and D Kynsai Nongbsap as adviser of the Sohiong Block. One member from one police station was included in the Executive Committee.

At a time when Pakistan shows no signs of relinquishing its role as the "springboard" of terror, to quote Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bangladesh has demonstrated its determination to fight it by executing six terrorists, including two who had acquired fearsome reputation for their depredations.

The two were Siddiqul Islam, aka Bangla bhai, head of the Jagrata Muslim Janata (Awakened Muslim Masses), and Abdur Rahman, head of the Jamaat-e-Mujahideen, one of the signatories of Al Qaeda's fatwa establishing an International Islamic Front.

Unlike Pakistan, where sections of the army and the intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), are believed to be in league with the terrorists, the crackdown against the Islamists in Bangladesh has been the handiwork of the army-backed regime, which has replaced the elected government.

It is a measure that will undoubtedly be welcomed by India, which had begun to fear the conversion of Bangladesh into a second Afghanistan. It was suspected that after the American offensive against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many of the terrorists had fled to Bangladesh, where they felt that they had a friendly administration.

Now, suddenly, all that has changed, with Dhaka recognising the threat the Islamists pose to the country's social, political and economic stability. It is not impossible that the new rulers have drawn the appropriate lessons from Pakistan's travails, where not only are the groups modelled on the Taliban becoming stronger, but the fundamentalists have been able to spread their tentacles even to Islamabad where they are threatening music shops.

If Bangladesh's own homegrown terrorists had earlier gained prominence, the reason was the alliance between the government of Khaleda Zia and the Jamaat-e-Islami. To be fair, it wasn't Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) alone that found it politically convenient to have the fundamentalists on its side.

Noticing the clout the BNP had acquired because of its opportunistic tie-ups with bigots and extremists, the previously secular Awami League, too, entered into an alliance with the fundamentalist Khelafat-e-Majhlis, much to the distress of the Indian government, which tended to regard the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina as someone who was more concerned about secular values than Khaleda Zia.

It was the endless squabbles between the two begums that led to the postponement of the elections, which were scheduled for January, and the instalment of the present regime. While the first task of the new administration was to begin cleansing the Aegean stable of corruption by arresting a number of prominent individuals, including Khaleda Zia's son, Tareq Rahman, its real achievement would be to root out Islamic terrorism.

There is little doubt that the present regime's non-political base has helped it to act against the perpetrators of terror. Since it doesn't have to face elections, it can afford to eliminate those elements who were earlier used by self-serving politicians to whip up religious fervour. The minorities, both Hindus and Christians, were targeted in the process evidently because the politicians felt that such actions will fetch them political dividends.

However, the fact that the execution of the Islamic terrorists has had no discernible effect on routine life in Bangladesh is an indication that ordinary people are not really interested in such cynical politics. All that they are interested in is to be allowed to live their lives in peace. If they earlier came out occasionally in support of extremist policies, it was because they were terrorised into doing so by the bigoted mullahs.

After the action against the terrorists, New Delhi will obviously expect the new rulers in Dhaka to act against the fugitives from India belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), who are believed to have found shelter in Bangladesh. Among the prominent ULFA rebels, who are said to be living a life of comfort in Dhaka, are Arabinda Rajkhowa, Paresh Barua and Anup Chetia.

When Bangladesh was East Pakistan before 1971, it provided similar bases to the insurgents from India's northeast. The Mizo leader Laldenga (who later abandoned his rebellion to become the chief minister of Mizoram) was one of them. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, India had expected that the new country would not pursue the earlier Pakistani policy of fomenting trouble in India by sheltering Indian militants.

But these hopes were frustrated by the help given by the previous Bangladeshi government to the ULFA and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, whose leader Jeevan Singh is believed to be in Bangladesh. Nothing will be more gratifying for India than a change of stance in Dhaka. It remains to be seen, though, whether the promise of a "new beginning" in mutual ties made by Bangladesh's chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, during his recent visit to New Delhi on the occasion of the SAARC summit is fulfilled.

The other Indian expectation will be that Bangladesh will try to stop the influx of illegal immigrants from that country into India or at least help in evolving an arrangement under which the immigrants will be given work permits.

But more than the problems posed by the ULFA or the immigrants, it is the crackdown on the terrorists that will be appreciated by New Delhi as it will deny them a base - which they have been using (apparently with the covert assistance of the ISI) to attack civilian targets in India.

Notwithstanding the help that India gave to the Mukti Bahini (liberation fighters) during the Bangladesh war, relations between the two countries never really became as warm as it was expected. The main reason was the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the coming to power of military rulers, who turned Bangladesh away from secularism and helped in the growth of fundamentalist elements.

Now, at last, the tide seems to have turned. The only unfortunate aspect is that it has taken an authoritarian regime to take these corrective measures. So, along with Pakistan and Myanmar, India has another country run by the army as its neighbour. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)

No use lamenting over SAARC's dismal track record. Instead, one should grasp the positive, albeit a small step forward in regional economic cooperation that the South Asian body has taken at the Delhi summit. The SAARC could not by a magic wand produce a European Union, or even an ASEAN-type economic interaction among the seven South Asian nations. But the big thing about the 14th SAARC Summit is that it has turned a new leaf in its working pattern and taken a meaningful step forward.

The small positive step forward has to be consolidated and firmed up by building regional cooperation in tiers in pragmatic fashion. For the first time, a SAARC session has had observers from big nations - EU, United States, Japan and China, and South Korea. And most interesting of all has been the presence of Iran as an observer side by side with the United States and EU. The SAARC has therefore given a message of global harmony. A structural achievement of SAARC has been admission of Afghanistan as its eighth member. Thereby SAARC's geographical structure has attained full maturity.

In the core area of building regional economic cooperation, the Delhi meet has taken a meaningful initiative for closer regional cooperation at India's behest - removal of duties on goods from least developed countries of SAARC barring some sensitive items. This is to be seen as a first, but by no means insignificant, step forward, which is sure to build its own momentum. India should continue with such initiatives and, being by far the biggest SAARC nation, it has to set an example.

That in fact is a distinct point about SAARC, which differentiates it from other major regional bodies such as EU and ASEAN. None of these bodies has such a single towering country as its member nation. Such a structural peculiarity gives rise to constraints that SAARC has more than other successful regional groupings. Expansion of trade that the Indian initiative generates may well have a domino effect. Pakistan's offer of cement exports to India is an example, even though big results may not materialize from this offer since cement is a bulk commodity attracting heavy transportation cost. There needs to be a step-by-step build up of economic ties addressing specific needs of economies of different countries. Not only have Indian initiatives to take care of their profitability from India's point of view but should also give some thought to the other countries' needs. Even in relation to Pakistan, such an approach will produce results.

True, the SAARC has been submerged in political bickerings rather than focusing on economic cooperation to benefit its vast population, enmeshed in poverty. The fact is that politics has been a halter round the neck of economics in SAARC. Set up to make economic cooperation a lever for political betterment and fighting poverty, it has been the other way round. Political turmoil within the SAARC and within member nations - from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan to Afghanistan - has blocked all worthwhile economic cooperation in this regional body. What assurance is there that the same story will not be repeated in the years to come?

There can be no absolute assurance, except the fact that member states - even Pakistan - are beginning to recognize that economic progress should not be made the sacrificial goat at the altar of political deadlock. The example of India-China relations is now being widely cited where the intractable border dispute has not held up rapid progress in economic and trade relations. The same view is now gaining ground in Bangladesh.

Another developing political input is that the turmoil within these countries is overtaking their schism with India. Take Pakistan, where the rapid erosion of modern nationhood is being threatened by Islamic fundamentalism and Taliban style backward pull. The totality of developments since the 9/11 rise of the Al Qaida and accompanying Jihadi fanaticism has spelt dire consequences for Pakistan, threatening its very nationhood. Jihadi fanaticism built as a tool to annex Kashmir has recoiled on the Pakistan army regime and ISI. General Musharraf has become its personal victim, surviving by a hair's breadth from incendiary attacks of the jihadis.

The fall-out of these developments inside Pakistan has certainly bolstered Indo-Pak amity talks and the resolution of several chronic disputes is in sight. Even the Kashmir issue is now being placed in an altered context where its beneficial and healthy solution is within the realm of possibility, if not probability. The Manmohan Singh-Shaukat Aziz bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC was not only congenial but appears to have paved the way for resolving the Siachen stalemate.

This developing political backdrop in Indo-Pakistan relations, and the turmoil within Pakistan is already exercising a beneficial effect on SAARC. And this was reflected at the 14th Summit. Reflection of the changing political scene in Bangladesh too had a welcome impact on the Delhi SAARC summit. One needs to build on these developments to stimulate regional economic cooperation. The build-up has to be realized where economics becomes a lever to aid political resolution. The SAARC summit appears to have begun this process. (IPA Service)

Sir,

This refers to NEHU-related articles by Ms Patricia Mukhim 'Celebrating the death of democracy' (ST, March 16), 'Heights of intellectual dishonesty' (ST, March 30) and 'The truth does hurt' (ST April 6). The University views the criticism against it by Ms Mukhim as a matter of opinion to which everyone is entitled, for after all the University is definitely not "beyond the purview of public criticism". But while it might even welcome such a critique as a timely prompting to self-assessment, it also insists that comments of this sort should be based entirely on facts. It is the purpose of this statement, therefore, to straighten out a few things crookedly set forth in the articles.

In "celebrating the death of democracy', for instance, Ms Mukhim accused the University of "stifling democracy" by 'screening' questions that would be asked during the interactive session with President Dr AJP Abdul Kalam. She further insinuated that by indulging in such a 'screening', the 'University has no faith in the ability of its own people to put the right questions' or that 'the University bosses fear that some of the questions might actually go against the interests of the University'.

But all this is sadly very wide off the mark since it was the President's Office in New Delhi which had directed the University to submit the questions and the names of the students who would be asking the questions, to that office barely two days before the President's visit. There was no 'screening' of questions by the University. The students from the various Schools conferred among themselves, framed their own questions, and selected their own representatives. All that the University did was to forward the questions and the names of the questioners to the President's Office. The accusation that the University was 'stifling democracy', and the rest of the insinuations, are then neither true nor just, and since they are based on misinformation and rumour, they maybe construed as downright unprofessional and unbecomingly irresponsible.

In "Heights of intellectual dishonesty", Ms Mukhim referred to the impending visit of the External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to Shillong and bemoaned the fact that the visit would be hosted by NEHU which, according to her, is least fit for the job. Ms Mukhim is, of course, entitled to her lament and her grouse, but the University would like to put the records straight: it was at the initiative of the Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) that the Minister is visiting Shillong and addressing a seminar in NEHU. The MEA's choice of NEHU as the venue for the seminar should speak for itself.

In the same article, the author accused NEHU of displaying a 'strong bias against civil society', and its 'learned intelligentsia' of being quite 'unwilling to be engaged or involved with others outside' their own circle. This is also not entirely true. The University has in fact, recently initiated steps to reach out to the larger society. That was why an Open House Programme- which is a guided tour of the various departments, centres, laboratories and facilities of the University, for teachers, students and attending members of the public- was organized during the University's 33rd Foundation Day last year. And this is not the end of it, for it is the intention of the University to keep up with such outreach and education efforts.

In the last article, she alleged that NEHU had been accorded the status of a University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) simply because NEHU 'is comparatively better than other universities in this region', or because the whole thing is 'a part of the policy of appeasement of the Central Government through UGC'. She also alleged that the grant of the UPE status to NEHU had come about through 'having the right connections in the right quarters in Delhi'.

The University has never before had to contend with any allegations so fantastic and obtuse. It may be worthwhile to reveal that it was in the Ninth Five-year Plan that UGC had first accorded UPE status to five universities of the country. In the Tenth Five-year Plan 35 universities were invited by it to make out their cases for inclusion in the UPE scheme. Out of these only ten had been shorlisted, with NEHU being one of them. After the shortlist, the ten universities were further asked to make a presentation of their performance in every sphere of university life including academic activities, curriculum content, research, publications, citation of publications, administration and students' performance and placement (By the way, NEHU students, far from being "unemployable" as alleged by Ms Mukhim, are actually well placed in important positions in the country and abroad as the University records show.). This was done before a panel of 15 experts, which eventually selected four universities, including NEHU, out of the ten competing universities to be placed in the elite UPE category.

It may thus clearly be seen that the selection of NEHU as a University with Potential for Excellence was made from among the best universities in the country after having gone through a rigorous selection process, and after winning a hard-fought contest based on hardcore performance data. It is also worth noting that the so-called "one-eyed" NEHU had even pipped a top-notch university like Delhi University in the UPE competition.

UGC follows the same process in selecting colleges for the status of College with Potential for Excellence (CPE). And it is a matter of pride for the state that a college affiliated to NEHU has also been declared as a CPE. Or shall we disparage this college's selection as well, and put it down to non-academic, extraneous and wildly speculative factors as put forth by Ms Mukhim?

Criticism is all right. Unwarranted criticism is all wrong.

Yours etc.,
Dr Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih
PRO, NEHU

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) would construct the bridge over at a cost of Rs 238.44 crore and the project is slated to be completed in April 2010. The city Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), SN Singh misbehaved with over a large group of media persons hurling verbal abuse at the latter at the entrance to the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex where the function was held.

Repeated requests by Asom Chief Minister’s Press Adviser, D K Bora failed to persuade the insulted and peeved group of media persons to change their decision to boycott the function. Media persons who were already inside the venue also came in protest expressing solidarity with their colleagues who were insulted by the senior police official outside.

Meanwhile, one person was killed and 15 others injured when a blast rocked Kumarpara area in the heart of the city just after the arrival of the Prime Minister at around 5-45 p.m. on Sunday exposing the loopholes in the security arrangement in view of the VVIP visit.

Police informed that the bomb was planted on a motorcycle parked on the road by suspected militants of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). The blast occurred near a busy railway level crossing in the area. The casualty would have been much more if it was not a Sunday.

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation of the much-awaited Gas Craker Project at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district on Monday amid expectations that the project would open the floodgates of industrialisation and economic development in the region.

Dibrugarh: The long wait is finally over. After a number of deferments, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation of the much-awaited Asom Gas Craker Project at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh on Monday amid expectations that the project would open the floodgates of industrialisation and economic development in the region.

Christened as the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), the Rs 5,460.61-crore project will convert the petro-chemical fraction of gas into valuable polymers, substitutes for costlier items such as wood, metal and glass.

According to sources in the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), the main promoter of the multi-crore venture, the project has the potential to promote a number of downstream and ancillary industries such as chemicals, paints, packaging, foam and rubber.

Besides, the Gas Cracker project would provide direct employment opportunities to about 1,000 odd technicians, while another one lakh are expected to get work in the wide-ranging down stream industries.

The Government had already handed over 1,741 bighas of the land to GAIL out of the 3,297 bighas to be required for setting up the project.

Although Tengakhat, 16 km from Dibrugarh, was chosen as the site for the project earlier, it was shifted to Lepetkata after the Indian Air Force raised an objection stating that the construction of the project at Tengakhat would hamper flight operation.

The project again ran into trouble after the Centre threatened to cancel the 'letter of indent' with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) if the latter failed to finalise the gas deal within December 31, 1999. Following RIL's exit from the scene, the big task of completing the project went to GAIL.

The GAIL has 70 per cent stake in the project, while the Oil India, Numaligarh Refinery Limited and Asom Government would have 10 per cent shares each.

Official sources said eight more industrial training institutes are coming up in the State to train up entrepreneurs and skilled workers to reap the benefits of the gas cracker. Five hundred downstream projects had been already identified, the sources added.

On the other hand, amid a row over the acquisition of land for the project, the government had already released Rs 18 crore for disbursement to the land owners. The total compensation money for the land owners is Rs 59 crore, which includes land cost, surface compensation and compensation for houses, plants and trees.

The State Government is working to pay land compensation to all the affected families, and for this, a special cabinet decision likely to be taken soon. (UNI)

"A Congress Legislature Party meeting will be held in Itanagar on Monday to elect a new leader," Khandu, who is heading the dissidents, claimed on Sunday.

Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes will attend the meeting as an observer of the central leadership of the Congress, he told PTI.

The dissidents, who have been camping in the national capital for the past week to press for a change of leadership in the mountainous northeastern state, have claimed that Apang, the country's second-longest serving chief minister, has lost the confidence of a majority of Congress MLAs.

"As of now, 25 of 33 Congress MLAs want a change of leadership. Besides, nine independents and a NCP legislator are supporting us," Khandu said.

Arunachal Pradesh has a 60-member assembly.

The dissidents, who several Congress leaders including party chief Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Fernandes, have been unhappy for quite sometime over Apang's alleged "dictatorial policies" and distribution of portfolios in the council of ministers. (PTI)

Kohima: A massive rally, organised by the people of Wokha town here, has rejected the draft working papers on delimitation and demanded to safeguard five Assembly constituencies in the district.

According to Lotha Hoho sources here on Sunday, people from various parts of the district converged at Wokha, about 80 kms from here, and demonstrated with placards and banners written 'No status quo', 2002 in letter and spirit.'

Participants of the rally have unanimously resolved to demand protectioin of their five Assembly constituencies in the district as provided by the Delimitation Commissioin Act, 2002 based on 2001 Census.

The rally has rejected the delimitation barriers for the existing four Assembly constituencies which was submitted recently to the Delimitation commission of India. The rally was chaired by Lotha Hoho General Secretary Tansathung Jami.

Meanwhile, the Rengma Hoho at Tseminyu under Kohima district organised a public rally demanding full implementation Delimitation Act 2002 in Tseminyu Sub-division. (UNI)

Mr Lupheng said a senior cadre of the outfit, who was nabbed on April 6, revealed that he was involved in the ambush.

The SP further said after getting some information from the cadre, a massive operation was launched at Keibul Lamjao in Bishenpur district on Saturday.

The police had destroyed a major camp of the outfit and recovered a radio set and some incriminating documents but no one had been apprehended so far.

Meanwhile, a cadre of PLA was nabbed by Imphal East commandos on Saturday night. (UNI)

Aizawl: While a larger sections of Mizos are celebrating Good Friday and the subsequent Easter Sunday, in remembrance of the salvation from sin through Jesus Christ, a small section of Mizos celebrated Passover, in remembrance of the night God saved their "ancestors" from Egypt.

The largest group of Mizo Jews, who call themselves "Bnei Manashe", or the children of "Manashe", one of the lost tribes of Israel, are numbering around 5000-7000, excluding those in the neighbouring Manipur and Myanmar, according to Elisavha Khiangte, secretary, Hadas, Bnei Manashe.

The "Bnei Manashe" have observed a "national day" in Aizawl on March 30 and they were officially recognised as the "true descendants" of the biblical Manashe.

Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Slomo Amar told UNI that the Bnei Manashe in the North East India were recognised as the "descendants of Manashe" on March 30, 2005.

Following the historic recognition, mass conversion of members of the community have been conducted in Aizawl in two occasions by Israel's rabbis (religious clerics) following which a large number of them have "returned" to Israel or the "Promised Land."

Majority of them were eagerly looking forward to their turn to be "brought back."

''The Passover festival is celebrated for seven days, during Nissan 14-22 in the Hebrew calendar. Nissan 14 marks the night God sent the plague to Egypt to liberate the Israelites from the yoke of Egypt through Moses. The celebrations, include feasting and reading the Holy Scripts,'' Elishava said. What to be consumed during the Passover, also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, such as matza (unleaven bread), keroseth, etc are brought from Israel.

While in Israel, the Passover was celebrated for seven days, the same was celebrated for eight days outside Israel due to different time zones.

''If we are to go by Hebrews calendar, and the fact that the Last Supper Jesus had taken with his disciples before his death is believed to be the Passover feast. Good Friday was celebrated on Nissan 14, which in the case of this year, was April 2, Monday last week, according to Elishava.

Other than the Bnei Manashe, there are other groups of Mizos, who have claimed to be descendants of the biblical Israel, and professing Judaism.

These groups include Beith Hashem Mitraz, Assembly of Yehweh, Beth Isreal, Chhinlung Israel People's Convention (CIPC), and a few others also celebrate the Passover and all other festivals of Judaism, but not as the Bnei Manashe. In fact, only the Bnei Manashe community have been recognised by Israel as one of the lost tribes.

Coincidentally, CIPC founder president Lalchhanhima Sailo breathed his last at the Aizawl civil hospital here on Thursday, during the Passover festival.

CIPC claims that Mizos are descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel, which "has been proved scientifically through mitochondrial DNA test". The organisation, under its energetic leader Sailo, had gone as far as the United Nations, claiming independence for the people of Mizos by virtue of being descendants of Israel. Unlike the Bnei Manashe, the CIPC has not sought for migration to Israel, but living an independent nation where they are.

The Mizo-Isrealism, which the churches have condemned as "false teachings", dates back to as early as 1960s when some "enlightened people" began to teach that the Mizos were descendants of Israel.

There has been a never-ending debate over the issue.

While the converted Jews believe that they have "returned" to the land God had promised to their ancestor Abraham, Christian writers call them "economic migrants." (UNI)