Armed Ethnic Conflicts in Northeast India and the Indian State’s Response: Use of force and the ‘notion’ of proportionality

This paper locates armed ethnic conflicts in Northeast India across four interactive qualitative variables: ethnic exclusivity and colonial isolation; strategy of the armed groups; the use of violence; and external connections. The Indian state’s response to these armed ethnic conflicts is located within three conceptual parametres: proportionate use of force; dialogue and negotiations; and structural changes in the affected areas. Cases of armed ethnic conflicts utilized for empirical illustration includes the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Assam, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim led by Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chisi Swu-NSCN (IM) based in Manipur and Nagaland, and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) based in Manipur. A few policy recommendations are also offered to better address armed ethnic conflicts in India’s Northeastern landscape. The two main research questions the paper addresses are the following: 1. Why does Northeast India suffer from multiple armed ethnic conflicts since 1947? 2. What has been the Indian state‘s response to the multiple armed conflicts in the Northeast

Europe and Its Refugees Paralyzed by the Emotion of Fear

In an essay titled “The Clash of Emotions” (Foreign Affairs, January/ February 2007), nine years ago, Dominique Mossi argued that there existed an emotional clash of views across the globe. For instance, Europe and the U.S. were afflicted by an ‘emotion of fear\u27, propelled by fears of the ‘other\u27 and anxieties about loss of identity. Europeans, Mossi argued, were fearful that radical Islamists would take over their lands, and use them for terror basing and targeting purposes. The Madrid bombings of 2004, the London bombings of 2005, the terror attacks in Paris that targeted the Charlie Hebdo office in January 2015 and multiple terror attacks across Paris in November 2015, the Brussels bombings in March 2016, and the Nice terror attack in July 2016, have further intensified such European fears. On one side, Europeans are afraid of a loss of control over their land, their identity and in this process, their everyday security by the growing presence of Muslims in their midst. On the other, Europe is not perceived as a stellar example of successful integration with the newly arrived immigrants or refugees; thereby principally, it can be viewed as flawed in multicultural existence. Into such a context is injected the current steady and massive inflow of refugees from conflict affected areas (predominantly Muslim) in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria. The resulting explosive crisis was hence imminent and to be expected. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.337213

Women Insurgents in India’s Northeast

The paper examines the role of women within an insurgent group called the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) in Northeast India. The author highlights the different motivations, allegiances, and expertise women bring to the insurgent group both as combatants and in their noncombatant roles. Data for this paper is drawn from primary sources (field work, interviews with women insurgent leaders and cadres) and secondary sources. The author dwells on the stature of women in the larger conflict affected society, highlights the juxtaposition between the influence of modernity and tradition, and how women both in the society at large and within the insurgent group navigate their roles and negotiate for better means of livelihoods. Dr. Goswami specifies that the antecedent conditions for women joining the insurgent group include a need for physical security, kinship bonding, and ethnic connections, but the reasons evolve and change over time specifically determined by the framing of the conflict that the armed group provides to its members. The NSCN leadership structure is hierarchical and dominated by men, with women rarely making it to its top decision-making structure, not dissimilar to women’s role in Naga society.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/wps/1027/thumbnail.jp

Pattern of 25-hydroxy vitamin D response at short (2 month) and long (1 year) interval after 8 weeks of oral supplementation with cholecalciferol in Asian Indians with chronic hypovitaminosis D

Hypovitaminosis D is common in Asian Indians. Physicians often prescribe 1500 μ g (60 000 IU) cholecalciferol per week for 8 weeks for vitamin D deficiency in India. Its efficacy to increase serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) over short (2 months) and long (1 year) term is not known. We supplemented a group of twenty-eight apparently healthy Asian Indians detected to have low serum 25(OH)D (mean 13.5 (sd 3.0) nmol/l) on screening during January-March 2005. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was supranormal in 30 % of them. Oral supplementation included 1500 μ g cholecalciferol per week and 1g elemental Ca daily for 8 weeks. Serum 25(OH)D, total Ca, inorganic P and intact (i) PTH were reassessed in twenty-three subjects (twelve females and eleven males) who had follow up at both 8 weeks and 1 year. At 8 weeks the mean 25(OH)D levels increased to 82.4 (SD 20.7) nmol/l and serum PTH normalized in all. Twenty-two of the twenty-three subjects had 25(OH)D levels>49.9 nmol/l. At 1 year, though the mean 25(OH)D level of 24.7 (SD 10.9) nmol/l was significantly higher than the baseline, all subjects were 25(OH)D deficient. Five subjects with supranormal iPTH at baseline showed recurrence of biochemical hyperparathyroidism. Thus, with 8 weeks of cholecalciferol supplementation in Asian Indians with chronic hypovitaminosis D, mean serum 25(OH)D levels would be normalized and serum PTH value would be reduced to half. However, such quick supplementation would not maintain their 25(OH)D levels in the sufficient range for 1 year. For sustained improvement in 25(OH)D levels vitamin D supplementation has to be ongoing after the initial cholecalciferol loading

Pattern of 25-hydroxy vitamin D response at short (2 month) and long (1 year) interval after 8 weeks of oral supplementation with cholecalciferol in Asian Indians with chronic hypovitaminosis

Hypovitaminosis D is common in Asian Indians. Physicians often prescribe 1500 mg (60 000 IU) cholecalciferol per week for 8 weeks for vitamin D deficiency in India. Its efficacy to increase serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) over short (2 months) and long (1 year) term is not known. We supplemented a group of twenty-eight apparently healthy Asian Indians detected to have low serum 25(OH)D (mean 13·5 (SD 3·0) nmol/l) on screening during January -March 2005. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was supranormal in 30 % of them. Oral supplementation included 1500 mg cholecalciferol per week and 1g elemental Ca daily for 8 weeks. Serum 25(OH)D, total Ca, inorganic P and intact (i) PTH were reassessed in twenty-three subjects (twelve females and eleven males) who had follow up at both 8 weeks and 1 year. At 8 weeks the mean 25(OH)D levels increased to 82·4 (SD 20·7) nmol/l and serum PTH normalized in all. Twenty-two of the twenty-three subjects had 25(OH)D levels . 49·9 nmol/l. At 1 year, though the mean 25(OH)D level of 24·7 (SD 10·9) nmol/l was significantly higher than the baseline, all subjects were 25(OH)D deficient. Hypovitaminosis D is common in India despite its sunny environment (1 -3) . More than 90 % of apparently healthy Indians residing in India have subnormal serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels with values almost undetectable during winter (1 -3

Pattern of bone mineral density in patients with sporadic idiopathic hypoparathyroidism

Objective: Measurement of bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with hypoparathyroidism directly addresses the effect of chronic under-exposure of bone to PTH. Because post-thyroidectomy hypoparathyroidism is potentially complicated by the pre-existence of thyrotoxicosis and the need for postoperative thyroxine replacement, we have studied a large group of patients with sporadic hypoparathyroidism who have been followed up in our endocrine clinic. Studies conducted in limited number of patients with sporadic idiopathic hypoparathyroidism (SIH) have suggested an increase in BMD in such patients. In this current study, we have measured BMD in a large cohort of patients with SIH and have assessed the relationship of BMD with duration of disease and with the adequacy of treatment, as indicated by follow-up serum calcium, phosphate and alkaline phosphatase levels. Design: Case control study and intra-group comparison. Subjects: Forty-seven patients (M : F ratio 23 : 24) with SIH who had been reviewed during 2003-2004 in our endocrine clinic were recruited for this study. Their mean age (± SD) was 34.6 ± 13.6 years and the duration from the time of initial diagnosis was 9.6 ± 8.5 years. Forty-eight match healthy volunteers were recruited from hospital staff and from normocalcaemic relatives. Methods: Bone mineral density was measured at total lumbar spine (L1-L4), hip and forearm by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The relationship of BMD was analysed with duration of disease symptoms (group I, ≤ 1 year, group II, > 1 and < 5 years and group III, ≥ 5 years) and mean serum total calcium observed during follow-up (group A, calcium ≤ 1.79 mmol/l and group B, ≥ 1.80 mmol/l). Results: Patients with SIH showed significantly higher BMD at total lumbar spine and hip when compared to controls (1.098 ± 0.187 vs. 0.936 ± 0.131 g/cm2 and 0.967 ± 0.141 vs. 0.882 ± 0.149 g/cm2, P < 0.001 for both). BMD in the forearm was not significantly different in patients and controls. The age- and BMI-adjusted lumbar spine BMD showed correlation with duration of disease (r = 0.348 and P = 0.019). Patients with longer duration of hypoparathyroidism had higher BMD at lumbar spine (group I vs. group III, 0.951 ± 0.132 vs. 1.156 ± 0.180 g/cm2, P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation between BMD values in patients with SIH and their mean serum total calcium levels during the period of follow-up (r = 0.192, P = 0.206). Neither was the mean BMD significantly different between group A and B. Serum total alkaline phosphatase showed a significant negative correlation with BMD at lumbar spine (r = -0.445, P = 0.012). Conclusions: Patients with sporadic idiopathic hypoparathyroidism have increased mean BMD in the lumbar spine and hip but not in the forearm, compared to normal matched healthy controls. The increase in BMD is related to the duration of the disease rather than the serum calcium levels