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Category: CNN-IBN

  • CNN-IBN to present a special on ‘India’s Hidden Wars’

    Watch the parallel governments and standing armies of North-East India only on CNN-IBN’s special ‘India’s Hidden Wars’

     

    All through the week (October 7 – October 14)

    NSCN (IM) Calls For A New Federal Arrangement

    CNN IBN traveled to Camp Hebron and Mount Gilead Camp of NSCN (IM)

    NSCN (IM) want a special federal arrangement with India

    NSCN (IM) wants Nagas to manage their own law & order, local economy and let India manage foreign affairs, defense and currency

    NSCN (IM) has been demanding a separate statehood ie. Greater Nagaland culled out of Naga dominated parts of Manipur.

    NSCN (IM) has been engaged in a ceasefire with the government of India for last 9 years

    A New Federation

    “We have even proposed to the Government of India (GOI) that let us arrive at a sort of an agreement that these two nations – India and Nagaland remain inseparable entities. Two nations bound together with that special agreement but with respective identities,” Gen VS Atem, Special Emissary to collective leadership of National Socialist Council of Nagalim, Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) told CNN IBN Special Investigation Team. The next round of talks between the GOI and NSCN (IM) is scheduled to be held in the next 10 days in Amsterdam.

     

    CNN IBN Special Investigation got exclusive access to the insurgent group’s Hebron and Mount Gilead Camps in Nagaland. NSCN (IM) has been engaged in a cease-fire with the GOI for last 9 years. The President of Naga Ho Ho, an apex Naga tribal body, has also come out in support of the NSCN (IM) proposal. Keviletus Kiewhuo, told the CNN IBN Special Investigation Team: “A new dimension has to come up where it makes Nagas a part of India and India a part of Nagaland. Where both become inseparable sovereign instead of being a one nation state and quarrel over it.”

     

     

     

    The NSCN (IM) put forth a four-point proposal to make peace with India.

    1. India and Nagaland will remain inseparable entities

    2.A special constitutional arrangement will cement this federal arrangement

    3.The Nagas will manage their own law and order, and local economy

    4.While Foreign Affairs, Currency, Banking and Defence will remain with India

     

    NSCN (IM) expressed full confidence in Indian currency but the core of a final peace settlement is also – recognition of their traditional form of governance through the Naga Ho Ho…an assembly of Naga tribal leaders-which they call the purest form of democracy.

     

    NSCN (IM) aspires for a Greater Nagaland culled out of four Manipuri districts ie. Senapati, Ukhrul, Chandel and Tamenglong. A demand opposed by the splinter group NSCN (K). Clashes between the two have claimed 200 lives in the last four years.

  • CNN-IBN presents special stories on North-East India

    Watch the special investigation carried out by CNN-IBN
    “India’s Hidden Wars”…today onwards in all news bulletins

    New Delhi October 3, 2006: CNN IBN will telecast an exclusive series of news stories called ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ till October 14. Shot over four weeks in different inaccessible locations in North-East India, the CNN IBN Special Investigation Team (SIT) travelled and trekked to the camps of various insurgent groups for a first-hand account the ‘Hidden Wars’ in India’s North-East.

     

    ‘Hidden’ because the conflict situation in North-East India hardly finds news-space in mainstream India. The reportage on ethnic conflicts and insurgency movements in the North-East is minimal. CNN IBN in an effort to correct this imbalance of marginalization of the problems and issues facing the North-Eastern states mounted a special investigation of the conflict issues in the region. The brief was to reflect the ground realities of the conflict transparently and that is what ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ will attempt starting tomorrow.

     

    ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ is a series of exclusive news stories showcasing first time visuals of insurgent camps in the North East and along the India-Myanmar border and exclusive interviews. The series begin with reportage on the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM). For the first time since NSCN (IM) began negotiating with the Government of India, senior NSCN-IM leadership in Nagaland revealed details about its peace talks with the government. ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ will give out details of NSCN-IM’s peace proposal. The series will also spell out the position of the Nagas in case the peace talks fail.

     

    ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ will also telecast later in the week Sanayaima’s dramatic first ever interview to a TV news channel in which he spells out the strategies of the United National Liberation Front in the next five years. Sanayaima, chairman of UNLF, revealed clearly his agenda for an ‘independent’ Manipur by disclosing the military and political plans of the UNLF. These dramatic revelations of Sanayaima to take the war being waged by UNLF’s armed wing, Manipur People’s Army (MPA), “out of the jungles and to the cities”, will be aired as part of ‘India’s Hidden Wars’ exclusive series. The series will also feature reportage on MPA camps along the India-Myanmar border and how it functions and operates.

     

    An exclusive story detailing the intricacies of Manipur’s ethnic wars including exclusive reports on the Kuki National Army and its political aspirations, the demand for a Kukiland within the Indian Union, will also be telecast in ‘India’s Hidden Wars’. The CNN IBN Special Investigation Team also caught up with the Bodos at Udalgiri in Assam to report on their activities and their quest for a Bodoland within the Indian Union. Though the Bodos do not carry arms in their camps, they are constantly updating their training manuals and guerilla warfare tactics. The CNN IBN Special Investigation Team found them restless, edgy and frustrated because of the delay in the commencement of negotiations with the government of India. The National Democratic Front of Bodoland and the Kuki National Army recently extended the ceasefires and are waiting to the Government of India to begin talks. But CNN IBN Special Investigation Team found that the Kukis continue to remain armed to protect themselves from the NSCN (IM) and UNLF cadres, whereas their ethnic rivals claim that this is a ploy by the Indian government to keep the embers of ethnic rivalries simmering. Finally, the series will also have exclusive stories on the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).
     

  • CNN-IBN’s Devil’s Advocate interviews Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Pakistan Foreign Minister

    PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI REVEALS DETAILS OF INDIAN BACK CHANNEL PROPOSALS RECEIVED BY PAKISTAN SHORTLY BEFORE THE BOMBAY BOMBS AND DESCRIBES THEM AS “AN ADVANCE” AND “A STEP FORWARD”, IS HOPEFUL THAT AN EARLY DATE FOR FOREIGN SECRETARY TALKS WILL BE FIXED WHILST CLAIMING THAT THE BOMBAY BOMBS WERE THE WORK OF INDIAN ORGANISATIONS.

     

    In an astonishing revelation that will create widespread surprise both in India and Pakistan, the Pakistani Foreign Minister has revealed that shortly before the Bombay bomb blasts Islamabad received written proposals from India which he described as “an advance” and “a step forward” in the agreed process of exploring options for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute. In the first interview to an Indian television channel after the Bombay bomb blasts, Mr. Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told CNN-IBN’s Devil’s Advocate in an interview to be aired on Sunday the 23rd of July at 8.30 p.m.

     

    “You know it’s not proper that I talk that openly but still … we have received something from India. I think the back channels are working and I know what they are doing but I cannot speak more than what I have already said … They (the proposals) are definitely an advance because for the first time we have received something in writing. So it’s definitely an advance. (However) it would be inaccurate to say whether our two positions are beginning to merge but we are talking to each other…”

     

    Mr. Kasuri was asked by Devil’s Advocate whether this meant that both sides are now exploring options for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute and replied: “I can’t deny that”.

     

    Mr. Kasuri was asked whether the Indian back channel proposals he was referring to were a response to President Musharraf’s concepts of self-governance and joint management and whether they had allayed the disappointment the President had expressed at not receiving an earlier response and replied:

     

    “The President was disappointed (earlier) but now we’ve got something from India and I’m very sorry I’ve probably said more than what I should have said … Of course this is a step forward because if you won’t respond to something how can you go forward?”

     

    Commenting on the paradox that within a short time space there had been both the Bombay blasts and the back channel communication taking further the peace process and relieving General Musharraf’s sense of disappointment, Mr. Kasuri said that this was “because the leaders of Pakistan and India both value the peace process”.

     

    The Pakistan Foreign Minister also said that he had high hopes that when the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan meet on the 31st of July in Dhaka for the SAARC Standing Committee they might agree on fresh dates for the postponed India-Pakistan foreign secretary talks: “I definitely think so and hope so. I would like that.”

     

    Earlier in the half hour CNN-IBN interview, conducted during the afternoon of Friday the 21st of July at his residence in Lahore, Mr. Kasuri refused to accept that Pakistan had failed to fulfil its January 2004 commitment to ensure that no part of the territory of Pakistan was used in any way to inflict terror on India. He said:

     

    “You have the word of the President of Pakistan. You can’t go any higher. The President himself has been attacked thrice. Would he be supporting the sort of people who are trying to kill him? The Prime Minister has (also) been attacked. There were 45 people killed in Karachi. Who was behind that?”

     

    In the Devil’s Advocate interview to be broadcast on Sunday the 23rd, the Pakistan Foreign Minister went out of his way to angrily suggest that the blame for the Bombay blasts lay with organisations within India and that the accusation that Pakistan was responsible for the blasts was an attempt to mislead and distort the investigations. He said:

     

    “You know the biggest problem you now have in India? Let me give you advice in your own interest. Within thirty seconds of anything happening you already know it’s happening from something based in Pakistan. Why don’t you sometimes look at what your own newspapers are saying? I’ve been following your newspapers. I’ve (also) followed The Washington Post (and) what it’s said about the Bombay blasts. Your own people are pointing fingers inwards. So don’t (blame Pakistan). In fact you are misleading your police and you are misleading your investigating agencies … and please don’t try and distort the investigation by the police … your own media is pointing accusing fingers at organisations within India.”

     

     

    In the Devil’s Advocate interview Mr. Kasuri praised both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil for their initial restrained response. He claimed that both men had initially avoided blaming Pakistan and did not want the peace process derailed. Then Mr. Kasuri added: “What has happened three or four days later is actually a reaction to your own Indian domestic political compulsions.”

     

    In the CNN-IBN interview Mr. Kasuri was asked if, as a gesture of solid proof of Pakistan’s commitment to stop all terror, Islamabad would give India direct access to interrogate Mehmood Azhar and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and replied:

     

    “You are asking very strange things. For example, we have not allowed the United States of America, which is our ally for the last fifty years, (such access) … We are bending backwards to build peace and trust because we have not reached that level of trust (and) incidents are happening in Pakistan and in India. We need to go towards (that goal).”

     

    In the same interview Mr. Kasuri was asked if the interrogation records of Hafiz Mohammed Saeed when he was detained in 2002 or documents taken from the Lashkar-e-Toiba offices when they were raided in 2002 could be made available to India as a way of building trust and replied:

     

    “We need to build trust on lots of things … I’m saying let’s build trust and a stage will come when we will be able to conduct joint investigations for what happens in Karachi or Bombay … I would rather that we move towards what you are saying. We will have to help each other (to get there).”

     

    If you should in anyway quote from or refer to this press release please be sure to credit CNN-IBN and Devil’s Advocate. Please also mention the Kasuri interview will be broadcast on Sunday 23rd at 8.30 p.m. and repeated on Monday the 24th at 10.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m.

  • CNN-IBN races ahead of its competition

    New Delhi, May 02, 2006: CNN-IBN continues its winning walk… The latest viewership ratings captured by TAM for the period April 16th – April 22nd states, CNN-IBN has overtaken NDTV. According to latest ratings, CNN-IBN shares 0.08 (6 metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, Male 25-34, A CS) while NDTV 24 X 7 stands at 0.04 thus CNN IBN clearly leads 100% over NDTV. The channel has also taken over NDTV by 350% in All Markets in Male 25-34 A CS category.

    CNN-IBN’s channel share for the same period in Male 25+ A CS category stands at 0.29 taking a 38% lead over NDTV. The channel has specifically performed extremely well across markets with Male population in All Markets category (Male 15+ AB CS) with 22% lead.

    CNN-IBN also leads the genre among the cream population in the 6 important metros -. The audience of the channel stands highest among audience between 15-44 in the metros.

    Excited over the response, a company spokesperson said “We are thankful to our viewers for keeping in faith. As our commitment, we will continue servicing to best of our abilities and maintaining our symbol “Whatever It Takes”.

    GBN, a TV18 Group Company, is a 74:26 joint venture between the TV18 Group and professionals – Rajdeep Sardesai, Sameer Manchanda and Haresh Chawla. GBN’s charter is to launch channels in the general news space under the editorial leadership of Sardesai, one of India’s most reputed TV journalists. The TV18 Group is India’s leading and most successful business news broadcaster, in both English and Hindi.