Militants’ bullets claim sole breadwinner

Aizawl, March 10: For 51-year-old R Lungmuana, a daily labourer at New Serchhip, about 90 kms from Mizoram capital Aizawl, an encounter between security forces and militants in far-off Salungpham was just another encounter in the insurgency-ravaged Manipur, until he learned that it claimed the life of his own son.
Now with all his dreams of building a house and living with his son having been shattered by militants' bullets on the morning of March 8, Lungmuana is awaiting, with irrepressible flow of tears, his warrior son being brought home dead. The mortal remains of Joseph Rothangpuia (23), the lone Assam Rifles jawan killed in the encounter with cadres of the People's Liberation Army at Salungpham in Chandel district of Manipur in the morning of March 8, will be flown home on Thursday.
"My son talked to me from his mobile phone on Sunday (March 6) and talked about taking leave from March-end to sit for Class XII examinations. He also said that he would start constructing a house for the family during the leave. I had never imagined that would be his last words to me," a tearful Lungmuana told UNI over phone.
"The next day (Monday) I started collecting building materials according to my son's instructions. Now, all my dreams for a bright future together with my son have been shattered by the bullets of militants," Lungmuana added. Joseph was the second eldest among the seven children of Lungmuana and his wife. With all his siblings still in school, he was the backbone of the family's economy and in fact his siblings looked up to him to finance their education.
"Why did it have to be my brother? He was my only hope to look after my education. I will never understand what those militants have gained from killing my brother," said a sobbing Joseph's elder sister, who is doing her second year BSc. The martyr's body, wrapped in the National Flag, is expected to arrive at Lengpui Airport here at 1300 hrs. Residents of New Serchhip plan to accord a grand martyr's funeral in a community hall, apart from military honour to be given by the Assam Rifles in Mizoram.
Though all his dreams have been shattered, Lungmuana is proud of his son. "I am proud to be a father of a brave warrior who has laid down his precious life for this great country. I will not hesitate to send my other sons to the Army," he said. Joseph joined the Assam Rifles in September 2007. After passing out a training from Dimapur, he was initially posted in Tripura until he was shifted to Manipur in December 2009. (UNI)




NE States get Rs 400 crore under NLCPR
Agartala, March 10: The Northeastern States, including Sikkim, have received about Rs 400 crore under the Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) in current fiscal so far, officials said here today. According to a report, highest allocation was given to Arunachal Pradesh to the tune of Rs 79.40 crore followed by Rs 79 crore to Assam, Rs 70.94 crore to Tripura, 50.98 crore to Meghalaya, Rs 47.17 crore to Nagaland, Rs 40.02 crore to Manipur, Rs 16.53 crore to Sikkim and Rs 12.17 crore to Mizoram. The report pointed out that Rs 700 crore was earmarked for NE states, under NLCPR scheme in 2009-10 and the fund had been released in instalments for the sanctioned projects on first-come first-served basis. (UNI)