This “prove your identity” is one sign on one barricade in Karimganj, on the Assam-Bangladesh border. In Assam, this is a demand being made everywhere as a bruising NRC exercise coincides with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, that has prised open a Barak Valley-Brahmaputra Valley split. So is being Assamese about language, religion, ethinicity, or citizenship? […]
Category: Politics
The Biren Singh 2.0 factor in one of Manipur’s worst ethnic clashes
Armed with an absolute majority, the BJP CM has been more aggressive; seen as more partial to Naga tribes, he has let resentments brew in Kuki-dominant areas Nearly 60 dead, thousands displaced, homes razed to the ground, places of worship torched, a legislator brutally assaulted by a mob. These have been in the images of […]
Two years of Assam NRC: Lakhs make it to list, but struggle for Aadhaar
State government officials reckon it is a “unique problem” and attribute it to red tape and a lack of clarity on the NRC exercise itself. For 18 months now, Bhanu Upadhyay, a postdoctoral fellow at IIT Bombay, has been running around for an Aadhaar card. After many calls to toll-free numbers, e-mails, and visits to […]
The rebel who chose peace
His years as an armed insurgent are two decades in the past. Since then, Zoramthanga has helped Mizoram emerge as NE’s most peaceful state. When it comes to land though, the 77-yr-old Chief Minister won’t back down. In the year 2000, weighed down by liabilities, and with few avenues for revenue, Mizoram had managed to […]
23 shot at, 5 dead: In Assam, the BJP’s ‘extreme action’ against criminals
Since Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took over on May 10, at least 23 people have been shot at while in police custody, with five dead. They had been held for crimes such as cattle-smuggling, rape, murder, drug-peddling, dacoity. This is apart from deaths of 10 militants in encounters in the past two months. INCIDENTS […]